David Hatcher Childress - Ark of God: The Incredible Power of the Ark of the Covenant

Other Books by David Hatcher Childress:

VIMANA
ANCIENT TECHNOLOGY IN PERU & BOLIVIA
THE MYSTERY OF THE OLMECS
PIRATES AND THE LOST TEMPLAR FLEET
TECHNOLOGY OF THE GODS
A HITCHHIKERS GUIDE TO ARMAGEDDON
LOST CONTINENTS & THE HOLLOW EARTH
ATLANTIS & THE POWER SYSTEM OF THE GODS
THE FANTASTIC INVENTIONS OF NIKOLA TESLA
LOST CITIES OF NORTH & CENTRAL AMERICA
LOST CITIES OF CHINA, CENTRAL ASIA & INDIA
LOST CITIES & ANCIENT MYSTERIES OF AFRICA & ARABIA
LOST CITIES & ANCIENT MYSTERIES OF SOUTH AMERICA
LOST CITIES OF ANCIENT LEMURIA & THE PACIFIC
LOST CITIES OF ATLANTIS, ANCIENT EUROPE & THE MEDITERRANEAN
LOST CITIES & ANCIENT MYSTERIES OF THE SOUTHWEST
YETIS, SASQUATCH AND HAIRY GIANTS

With Brien Foerster
THE ENIGMA OF CRANIAL DEFORMATION

With Steven Mehler
THE CRYSTAL SKULLS

Ark of God:
The Incredible Power of the Ark of the Covenant

Copyright 2015
by David Hatcher Childress

ISBN 13: 978-1-939149-49-7

All Rights Reserved

Published by:
Adventures Unlimited Press
One Adventure Place
Kempton, Illinois 60946 USA

AdventuresUnlimitedPress.com

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

CHAPTER ONE

RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK

Jones, archeology is like a religion,
but you and I have fallen from the true faith.

French archeologist Belloq to Indiana Jones,
Raiders of the Lost Ark

The World Explorers Club, of which I am the founder, took a trip to Ethiopia, and during the two weeks that our group was there we had the chance to visit the northern city of Axum in Tigray Province. It is here in a small church protected by a heavy iron fence that Ethiopians believe the biblical Ark of the Covenant is kept.

Upon returning to the United States from that trip in early November 2014, I was surprised to receive a message from a friend that linked to the following article on the website worldnewsdailyreport.com. The headline was Ethiopia: Ark of Covenant Reported Stolen by Church Authorities (my friend, knowing I had just been to Ethiopia, asked facetiously if I had anything to do with the strange heist):

Axum: The Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, His Holiness Abune Mathias, announced this morning that the most prized biblical treasure in the world, the Ark of Covenant, was stolen last night from the catacombs of the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion. The guardians of the artefact were allegedly put to sleep through the use of chemical weapons, before the robbers entered the crypt and stole the precious Holy item.

The criminal operation was reportedly executed by a team of 12 to 16 highly-trained professionals who travelled aboard two black military helicopters. They landed less than 500 meters away from their objective after allegedly arriving from the East. The men were dressed in black military-style uniforms and seemed to function as a well coordinated army unit. They were equipped with night-vision equipment and armed with high caliber weapons, giving them an incredible advantage over the local security forces.

The protection of the Ark was left to a group [of] untrained volunteers with AK-47s. The Church did not see any need for more security as the Ark was expected to protect itself from people with impure intentions.

The 11 guards and armed volunteers present on the site to defend the Ark were neutralized by the thieves, using some high technology grenades that released a rare opium-based soporific gas. The robbers then went into strenuous labor, using jackhammers and explosives to enlarge the corridors in various locations inside the catacombs leading to the Ark, in order to be able to remove the large chest from its underground vault.

The entire operation was over in less than an hour, an incredibly short time considering the number of obstacles that had to be overcome. This amazing efficiency suggests that the thieves had repeated the operation and had carefully prepared their crime.

Few signs of the crime were visible this morning on the site, but a lot of damage was reported inside the catacombs under the building.

The Ethiopian Orthodox Church claims to possess the Ark of the Covenant in a chapel in the small town of Axum, in their countrys northern Highlands. It arrived nearly 3,000 years ago, they say, and has been guarded by a succession of virgin monks who, once anointed, are forbidden to set foot outside the chapel grounds until they die. No one except the Guardians are ever allowed to see the Ark, not even the Patriarch of the Church.

The story is told in the Kebra Nagast (in Geez language, Glory of the Kings), Ethiopias chronicle of its royal line: the Queen of Sheba, one of its first rulers, traveled to Jerusalem to benefit from King Solomons wisdom; on her way home, she bore Solomons son, Menelik. A few years later, Menelik went to visit his father, and on his return journey was accompanied by the firstborn sons of some Israelite nobleswho, unbeknown to him, stole the ark and carried it with them to Ethiopia.

When Menelik learned of the theft, he reasoned that since the arks frightful powers hadnt destroyed his retinue, it must be Gods will that it remain with him. It was then presumably kept in the islands of Lake Tana for about four hundred years and finally taken to Axum, where it was kept safe for more than two thousand years.

The disappearance of the Ark is certainly dramatic news for the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, as much of its prestige came from the possession of the relic and many of its rituals were centered on it. His Holiness Abune Mathias was visibly emotional when he made the announcement [and] many of the journalists and faithfuls present for the press conference, burst into tears when they heard the news.

This was a fascinating story, but having just been to this church, I could not picture it being real. Some details like the opium-based sleeping gas and general military assault on the church just didnt ring true, and indeed, it turns out that the worldnewsdailyreport website is in fact a hoax news website similar to The Onion humor website. The rather fantastic stories on the worldnewsdailyreport website are written in such a manner as to be believable, and its subtle humor is lost on many people who think that the stories are genuine news articles.

Many quite incredible stories are released by authentic news outlets daily and the only thing that is fabricated in this amazing story is that an assault team stormed the church in Axum and stole the Ark. The Ethiopian Church does indeed claim that the famous Ark of the Covenant of the Bible is kept in that small churcha church that has a single priest as its caretaker. A tall and heavy iron bar fence surrounds the church and other priests occupy several larger churches nearby. No one, not even the Prime Minster of Ethiopia, may enter the church. All Ethiopians are aware of this church and its importance.