Real-life raiders hunt Ark of the Covenant

[bedolido]

Relic searchers dig near Jesus' crucifixion site in quest for chest holding 10 Commandments

For centuries, many have wondered whatever happened to the Ark of the Covenant, the box the Bible says contained the Ten Commandments of God. Now, a new quest is underway for the legendary chest featured in the film "Raiders of the Lost Ark," trying to prove the claim the Ark is buried below the purported site where Jesus Christ was crucified.

An international team has just completed what it calls its first stage of exploration, spending two weeks beneath Mount Moriah outside the walls of ancient Jerusalem.

Some 30 explorers from the U.S., Australia, Norway and Estonia have been in a cave system north of the city's Damascus Gate to try to determine if the Ark is indeed located there.

The group is trying to verify the claim made by relic hunter Ron Wyatt who said he actually saw the Ark there two decades ago after tunneling through a small passageway.

Wyatt died of cancer in 1999 after years of searching for biblical antiquities, claiming to have found Noah's Ark near Mount Ararat in Turkey, the remains of Pharaoh's chariots that chased Moses through the Red Sea, and the "true" location of Mount Sinai in Arabia.

"I just want to know the truth, whatever it is," says Richard Rives, president of Wyatt Archaeological Research in Cornersville, Tenn., which is spearheading the latest effort. While members of his group are not archaeologists by trade – they're doctors, nurses, structural and construction engineers, and businessmen – they are teaming with professional archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority, which has sanctioned the dig.

In 1982, Wyatt entered the caves from a location since sealed, but believed there was an alternate passageway used by the prophet Jeremiah to protect the Ark from invading Babylonians some 600 years before the birth of Christ.

Ironically, during his Ark quest 21 years ago, Wyatt and his crew decided to take a break and go to the movies. Unaware of what was playing, they were surprised to see "Raiders of the Lost Ark," which had just been released.

This summer's research team used ground-penetrating radar to peer below the surface, trying to pinpoint the alleged tunnel of Jeremiah.

Rives believes they met great success while taking samples behind a man-made wall.

[bedolido]

[OXENinFLA]

Gotta link?

[bedolido]

Forgot to Excerpt this article. IT IS AN EXCERPT! sorry

[bedolido]

Forgot the link too... here it is

Been a bad morning... getting worse. sorry

[xrp]

[MizSterious]

Thanks for posting this--hope your morning gets better!

[ChewedGum]

Interesting story, but the old archaelolgist saw the ark and then forgot where it was? Doesn't seem right to me. I would be a very interesting artifact to find though. Although I feel it's purpose is out of date - since Pentecost.

Gum

[LiteKeeper]

SPOTREP

[TheBigB]

Coming this Fall...

[waverna]

I thought it was being looked at by "top men"

[wideawake]

Some problems with the underlying assumptions here.

(1) The story about the prophet Jeremiah is just that, a story. It seems unlikely that Jeremiah would be able to secrete the ark anywhere since he was under arrest in the royal palace until the Babylonians overran Jerusalem.

(2) According to Jewish tradition the Temple Mount is Mount Moriah, not Calvary. A bare assertion that Mount Moriah and Calvary are one and the same is leaping to an unwarranted conclusion.

These guys are not serious researchers.

[duckbutt]

In reading this, I was under the impression (perhaps incorrectly) that because the Palastinians were in control of the Temple Mount, that they have prohibited all archeology explorations, and in fact, have descecrated many of the sites aready explored.

While this would be a wonderful find, I doubt the veracity.

anyway, what about the alternate history of the Ark being taken to Ethiopia by the son of the Queen of Sheba and Solomon?

Could it be that the Ark, if found under the Temple Mount, may be a reproduction?

Anyway......

[SubSailor]

"It seems unlikely that Jeremiah would be able to secrete the ark..."

That sounds painful.

[DonQ]

... spending two weeks beneath Mount Moriah outside the walls of ancient Jerusalem. ...

Mount Moriah is now known as the Temple Mount, the location anciently of Solomon's Temple and now of the Dome of the Rock. It very definitely is inside the ancient walls of Jerusalem.

This sort of elementary geography mistake is not a good omen.

[wideawake]

LOL!

[ConservativeMan55]

That not only sounds painful, it sounds series!

[talleyman]

They're too late. I already found the Ark - it'e on ebay.

[ConservativeMan55]

I think we've found a new word though! Secrete!

[Centurion2000]

Could it be that the Ark, if found under the Temple Mount, may be a reproduction?

If they look inside and it doesn't melt their faces off .... it's a fake :)

[Buck W.]

"The group is trying to verify the claim made by relic hunter Ron Wyatt who said he actually saw the Ark there two decades ago after tunneling through a small passageway. "

Why didn't he retrieve it? Did he take a picture, at least?