[blam]

"Ethiopian tradition claims the Ark, which allegedly contained Moses' stone tablets on which the Ten Commandments were written, was smuggled to Ethiopia by their son Menelek and is still in that country. "

Not many people believe this, do they?

[chopperman]

There is a strong ancient Jewish presence there.

[SunkenCiv]

Most Ethiopians do. :’) According to local lore (recounted by Graham Hancock, but still...) the Ark spent time of years at Elephantine before moving further south. That move resulted from some kind of military problem, wild guess, the Assyrian conquest and retreat of the 25th Dynasty. I think Solomon wound up in Egypt, in exile. Not too sure about the “Solomon’s son” part of the tale, but a trace of the story can be found in Josephus (if memory serves, I’m at work, shame on me).

[muawiyah]

Blam, Ethiopians believe it, and a whale of a lot of archaeologists who've dabbled in Arc related things also believe it to be possible.

You did know that each and every Ethiopian Coptic church has within it a replica of the Arc of the Covenant.

Makes it very difficult to figure out which is the "real" Arc.

I've been wondering if the fast growing Ethiopian Pentecostal Movement continues this tradition ~ my understanding is they've picked up about 1/3 of the Coptic population since the fall of Mengistu, which is absolutely incredible.

If I were deeper into Biblical prophecies I'm sure I'd be concerned with this particular juxtapositioning of the Arc and the Conversions.

[Ann Archy]

The Ethiopian Orthodox Church has always said they have the ARK. END TIMES if they find it.

[Boagenes]

Actually, a lot of people do believe this, these days. There are a number of authors and scholars who have pursued the Ark and made a good case that it is, indeed, in the monastery there in Axum, guarded by a group of monks.