Keepers of the Lost Ark? Christians in Ethiopia

SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE
By Paul Raffaele

A huddle grows around the high priests, with one young priest bearing
an ikon, or holy picture, while others hold ornate gold and silver crosses.

ETHIOPIA---"They shall make an ark of acacia wood," God commanded Moses in the Book of Exodus, after delivering the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. In the final moments of my search, I could not judge whether the ark of the covenant truly rested inside this nondescript chapel. Perhaps Menelik's traveling companions did take it and spirit it home to Ethiopia. Perhaps its origins here stem from a tale spun by Aksumite priests in ancient times to awe their congregations and consolidate their authority. But the reality of the ark, like a vision in the moonlight, floated just beyond my grasp, and so the millennia-old mystery remained. [link]