Could an old hebrew text reveal the location of the ark of the covenant?
The author of a translated ancient Hebrew text claims to know the location where the treasures of King Solomon's temple are hidden. The now famous Ark of the Covenant could also be found there. However, its exact location is not revealed and, according to the text, “will not be revealed until the day of the coming of the Messiah son of David.”
According to the historical books of the Bible, Solomon was the third king of Israel. King David's son, Solomon became famous for his wisdom, the size of his harem, and the splendor of his kingdom.
Solomon was responsible for the construction of the great temple in Jerusalem, also called the First Temple, which was sacked and burned by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II in the 6th century BC.
It contained the Ark of the Covenant, a fabulous chest with mysterious properties where the tablets of the Law received by Moses directly from the hands of Yahweh were contained.
In several parts of the Pentateuch, we read that Moses communicated with God through the Ark of the Covenant, making it a sort of communication device. Furthermore, anyone who touched the Ark died instantly, struck by the great power that emanated from it. Many of Israel's military victories during the campaign to conquer the Promised Land were achieved thanks to the use of the Ark of the Covenant.
During his rule, he appears to have amassed large fortunes from mining and trading. Archaeologists and treasure hunters have searched for King Solomon's treasure for more than a century.
A clue to the existence of the fabulous treasure comes from an old text, known as the Massekhet Kelim (Treatise of Ships), contained in a Jewish book written in 1648, published in Amsterdam and known as Emek Halchah.
The text was translated by James Davila, professor at the University of St. Andrews. According to the writing, the treasures were hidden by a group of Levites and prophets and "hidden in various points of the territory of Israel and Babylon, while another part was delivered directly into the hands of the angels Shamshiel, Michael, Gabriel and perhaps Sariel."
James Davila believes the author of the original text drew on several legends and traditional methods of interpreting Scripture to deduce where the treasures may have been hidden.
Surprisingly, the translator noticed the similarity between what is written in the Massekhet Kelim with what is reported on the "Copper Scroll", a 1900-year-old metal scroll found at the site of Qumran, near the Dead Sea, West Bank. The location of a hidden treasure is also discussed in the Copper Scroll, although it is not known which treasure it refers to.
The Treatise of Ships reports that the treasures of Solomon's Temple were recorded on a bronze tablet, a metal like the Copper Scroll. Both treatises then refer to vases and tools made of gold and silver.
According to what is written in the translated text, Solomon's treasure includes "seventy-seven golden plates, made from the gold from the walls of the Garden of Eden, which radiates like the brightness of the sun and the moon."
Is it possible that the Copper Scroll and the Ship Treaty refer to the same treasure? Are these accurate records of something that actually existed, or is it just a job to tell a fun story, like Indiana Jones? Obviously, if what is reported refers to something that actually exists, the next question is: where is it?
