Regarding how the ark of Covenant was brought to Axum the following are the main two theories:
- According to the Kebra Negast the Ark of Covenant was stolen from the temple by Menelik I, with divine assistance. However, I do not understand the need for divine assistance to steal someone’s property!
- Graham Hancock in his 1992 book titled “The Sign and the Seal”, illustrated that the Ark of Covenant may had come via Egypt to Tana Lake by the Bete Israels’ but later it was taken by force by the Axumites probably during war among the two. He also tried to prove that the Ark of covenant was in the Jews Temple in Jerusalem for some hundred years later than claimed by the Kebra Negast that it was transferred to Axum.
Without going to the argument which of the above theories is correct, one common fact is that the Ark of Covenant was stolen or forcibly taken from the Jews by the Axumites. According to the bible in 1st Samuel 4: 1-10 the Ark of Covenant was captured at one time by the Philistines after defeating the Israelites’ army. 1st Samuel 5 and 6 describe how God sent devastating punishment to Philistines for capturing the Ark of Covenant and how they were forced to return it, with gifts, to its rightful owners, the Israelites. The writer of this article has strong conviction that the fall of the Axumite Empire and the suffering and persecution of its descendants, the Tigrayans, until today are attributed to a punishment by God for stealing and hiding the Ark of Covenant. The immediate solution to come out of the curse is repentance and being ready to give it back with gifts (Isaiah 18:7) to the Jews when they are ready after building the third temple, which could happen in the near future. There is also no biblical foundation for hiding the Arc of Covenant from the public view (Matthew 5:14-15) and the Tigray Orthodox Church must display it to be visited by the whole world as a testimony that the word of God is true. As an information, I had a chance of meeting the guardian of the Arc of Covenant in Axum Zion Church a couple of years ago and I asked him “what will be the church’s reply if Israel ask for the return of the Arc of the covenant to Israel”. His answer was “that depends on the will of God, He was the one who gave us to guard it and when God wants to take it back to is owners, we have to give it”, which I completely agree!
