Unveiling! Arc of the Covenant - Ethiopia. Surprised?

"The Ark of the Covenant," affirms Paulos, "has been in Ethiopia for many
centuries. As Patriarch I have seen it with my own eyes, and only a very
few qualified people have been able to do this, so far." According to the
Patriarch, it is kept in a church, but to defend the authentic one, a copy of
the religious symbol has been placed in every church in the country.

The official announcement, in which Ethiopia will give to the world the
keys to the millennial secret of the Ark, will be given next Friday during a
press conference at 2:00 p.m. at the Hotel Aldrovandi in Rome, by the same
Orthodox Patriarch of Ethiopia, along with Prince Aklile Berhan Makonnen
Haile Selassie and Duke Amedeo D'Aosta, who will be in Rome tomorrow morning.

According to some studies, the Ark was stolen from Jerusalem by the son of
King Solomon and brought to Axum, regarded as the Jerusalem of Ethiopia. A
museum will be built in Axum to host the Ark, a project funded by the
Foundation of the Prince, designated heir to the throne by Haile Selassie
shortly before his death. The Foundation is named Crhijecllu, an acronym of
the initials of the children of the Prince: Christian, Jessica, Clarissa,
Lucrezia.

But what is the Ark of the Covenant, one of the greatest mysteries of
antiquity, on which fantasy, legend and history have continued to be interwoven
for centuries? The Ark, in Jewish tradition, contained the Tables of the
Law, that is, the Ten Commandments, and the artifact, made of acacia wood,
was built by Moses. The outside decorations were of gold, and it was for a
long time kept by the Jewish people. It accompanied them in their
vicissitudes, the battles and defeats, the wanderings and struggles against the
Philistines, and was kept in various places until King David placed it in the
fortress of Jerusalem.

But it was Solomon, son and successor of David, who put the Ark in the
Temple of Jerusalem which he had built. The story is then interwoven with
historical events and other religious and national traditions. In fact, the
Ark disappeared in 586 BC with the conquest of Jerusalem by the Babylonians
and the consequent destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem.

However, there is no written testimony of its destruction, and so the Ark
became a symbol eternally sought by men and traced in several parts of the
world, from Africa to the Middle East. Ethiopian tradition places the Ark
in the kingdom of Axum, after Solomon had given it to the son of the Queen
of Sheba, Menelik I. Here, it remained over the centuries, protected by
Orthodox monks in the holy city of Lalibela, near Axum, where it would still
be found today.