[Pol.ethiopia] Ethiopian Christians treasure Ark of the Covenant

Sun Jan 20 07:57:58 SAST 2002

Ethiopian Christians treasure Ark of the Covenant

January 18, 2002 Posted: 10:20 PM EST (0320 GMT)

AXUM, Ethiopia (AP) -- In Axum, there's no mystery about what's become
of the lost biblical Ark of the Covenant. 

Like the vast majority of Ethiopian Orthodox Christians, nearly everyone
in this dusty, windswept town believes the ark is tucked neatly away in
a stone chapel on the grounds of Axum's biggest church, safeguarding
Ethiopia as it has for nearly 3,000 years. 

Fueled by faith, thousands flocked to churches in Axum and throughout
Ethiopia on Friday for Timkat, an Ethiopian celebration of the baptism
of Jesus Christ. At the center of the festivities are "tabots" --
tablets kept in every Ethiopian Orthodox church that symbolize the ark. 

It is an annual reaffirmation of Ethiopia's 1,700-year-old Christian
tradition, with its unique focus on the ark. 

"I can understand that outsiders are skeptical" about the ark, said
Mersa Belay, head priest of Axum, 370 miles north of the capital, Addis
Ababa. "They do not have our faith." 

"God knew Ethiopians were the people most willing to accept his religion
so he placed the ark here," said Mersa, before launching into the tale
of how Moses' ark came to this northern Ethiopian town of ramshackle
stone houses set on arid plains and rocky hills. 

Story dates back 300 years

The details differ with each telling, but the basic account remains: The
Queen of Sheba and King Solomon of Israel had a son named Menelik who
was raised in Ethiopia, his mother's home. As a man, Menelik I visited
his father in Jerusalem, stole the ark and returned to Ethiopia with an
entourage of Israelite aristocrats and founded a kingdom based in Axum. 
That was about 3,000 years ago. Ethiopians converted to Christianity
about 1,300 years later. The dynasty they believe Menelik founded ruled
Ethiopia until 1974, when Emperor Haile Selassie was deposed. 

Historians agree Ethiopia was converted to Christianity around A.D. 330.
The rest of the story is dismissed as propaganda dreamed up in the 12th
century to support a new line of Ethiopian kings who hoped to gain
legitimacy by tracing their roots to King Solomon. 

"The story of the ark ... cannot be documented, although many have
tried," says historian Richard Pankhurst, founder of Institute of
Ethiopian Studies in Addis Ababa. 

Scholars are not sure where the Queen of Sheba lived, although modern
Yemen -- not Ethiopia -- is cited as the most likely spot. Outside
Ethiopian chronicles there is no mention of the ark's leaving Jerusalem.
And the first Ethiopian kingdom didn't appear until about 800 to 900
years after Solomon was believed to have lived. 

Belief in ark runs deep

Despite the skepticism of outsiders, belief in the ark's powers runs
deep in Ethiopia, where about half the 63 million people are Christian. 

"The ark protects us in all ways," said Haile Mersa, a 57-year-old
farmer, adding that its powers are not limited to protection. "If we
don't respect (the ark) our belief is that we may lose our lives or
become disabled." 

The ark has helped keep Ethiopia -- the only African country never
colonized -- independent throughout most of its history, said Belai
Giday, an Ethiopian historian. 

"Ethiopia has been invaded, but has never been subjugated by a foreign
power," said Belai, citing Ethiopian resistance to Italian occupation
between 1936 and 1941. "The Italians tried ... but they never ruled
because we never lost faith in the ark and kept fighting." 

Annual festival in Axum

That faith was on display Friday as Axumites gathered at the chapel they
believe houses the ark. 

Draped in white linen sheets, they watched as robed priests removed a
tabot covered by richly embroidered green and red velvet cloths from the
stone building and began a solemn procession to a tent a half-mile away.

At the front was the tabot, accompanied by priests and an honor guard of
soldiers with assault weapons. Men marching behind sang haunting
Ethiopian Orthodox Church music. At the rear, women quietly wailed. 

Solemnity gave way to riotous celebration as the tabot reached the tent.
Men and women mingled, singing and dancing, clapping to the beat of
drums. 

Timkat reaches its climax in the morning with a mass baptism. With
believers outside, the tabot representing the ark remains in the tent
through the night, a symbol to the faithful that God is present. 

The lone priest who now guards the ark -- Gebrelebanos Teklemariam --
rarely, if ever, speaks with outsiders. He refused to be interviewed. 

Some priests in Axum said they have seen the ark but were not supposed
to talk about it. 

Patriarch Abune Paulos of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church said he had seen
the ark and described it as the one whose construction is recounted in
the Bible. It is a wooden box covered in gold and topped with two winged
cherubim, he said, and inside are two mirrorlike tablets with Hebrew
inscriptions. 

The description differed from others given by priests in recent years.
But on Friday, there was no debate among believers. 

"If it were nothing ... we would take it out and walk with it," said
Merha Godega as he waited for the priests to remove the tabot. 

"But the ark is too powerful," he whispered. "If we took it out, it
would destroy us." 

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