The Lost Ark #1 :Theories

I already talked about my obsession with the Ark of the Covenent, so I won't tell you how I got interested in the Mysterious artifact. I will instead talk about some of the theories that are out there about the Ark. There are several authors out there who belive they are close to finding the Ark and some who claim they have found it. Two of the bigger names in the book world are Graham Hancock and Tudor Parfitt.

Hancock is a journalist/novelist that wrote the book "The sign and the Seal" The book talks of how he tracked the Ark evidence that he found to Ethiopia, Africa to the Church of Zion. The people at the church say they are decendents of the Priests who were in charge of the Ark of the Covenent. Hancock even spoke with the Priest who is "in charge" of guarding the Ark. He believes that the son of the Queen of Sheba brought the Ark back with him after he visited his father King Solomon. Some people don't believe that the Queen existed. Hancock and a team of German Archaeologist have been spending time in Ethiopia and in 2009 he believes that they found the Palace of the Queen of Sheba and in this palace he found an area that may have been where the Ark was placed. That was the last I had heard of the Palace and before I started this blog and couldn't find anything on his site. He has changed his site to include a lot of his colleagues work and I will search later and update this later. Hancock is not totally liked in the Archaeology world because they think of him as a treasure hunter. After reading his works I don't think he is a treasure hunter but I can see why they don't respect him. Tudor Parfitt is one who belittles Hancock in his book.

    Tudor Parfitt in his book "THE LOST ARK OF THE COVENENT: Solving the 2,500 Year Old Mystery of the Fabled Biblical Ark" wrote about how he found the Ark in Zimbabwe, Africa. He is an Archaeologist and a professor at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London. His journey started with the African tribe called the Lemba. He was spending time with them doing some ethnography on their way of life. He realized through years with them they had traveled through the years from Jerusalem to Africa. Through intermarriage with natives in Africa they went from being light skinned to being dark skinned. Parfitt was intrigued and theough a series of DNA testing he was able to determine that they were one of the Lost Tribes of Israel. They told him of a drum they called a ngoma lungundu. It held the same properties as the Ark. I will let you read the book to make your own assumptions. He found the drum in a museum in Zimbabwe. It was carbon dated and didn't come close to how old the Ark should be. His explanation was that the Ark had been blown up through time and was rebuilt and mixed with the old parts. The drum in use with saltpeter was used as a cannon. So that was what he used as his reason why.

   There are several other theories such as that the Ark made it to the new world, or that it remains in Israel. Some think that the Knights Templar took it or even that when the Babylonians took it when the sacked the city and melted it down. Whatever may be the case I will spend time diving into those theories, I may even share some of my theories. I just wanted this piece to show two of the theories that I enjoyed reading about.

Thanks for sharing you time with me.
James

Introduction

     I am using this space on the internet to share archaeological events that are happening around the world. Things that I have found to be of interest. Then I will give my opinion and I welcome you to chime in with your responses. I will also have a special interest page on a few of my favorite things. I am fascinated with World History and Native American Cultures especially that of the Cherokees.

     I am of Cherokee descent, my great grandfather was 3 when the Dawes Act was activated and received a Dawes number. I have traced my Cherokee heritage back to the late 1700's officially and back as far as Chief Moytoy in the early 1700's unofficially. I have found that I am related to Sequoya the Cherokee who invented the Cherokee alphabet, he is my 5th great grand uncle. I am proud of my past and it is one of the things that make me want to pursue a career in Archaeology.

     One of my favorite areas of study in History is the 18th Century. The main area I enjoy researching is the late colonial period in the US from its early years covering the time just before the American Revolution until just after the War of 1812. This is the time period when the United States really defines itself as a country. I would love to one day visit some of the Revolutionary war sites Archaelogically.

   Finally I come to how I found out about Archaeology in the first place. I was seven years old when Raiders of the Lost Ark came out in theatres. I watched the movie and became obsessed with the Ark of the Covenent. I went through every source we had at the house in the attempt to learn more about it. I copied every word I could find from the Bible and the Encyclopedia but unfortunately I ran out of sources and thus ended my crusade to learn more about it until years later. Indiana Jones is more of an Antiquarian but I would learn what Archaeologists really did and I still liked the idea of learning about the Worlds past.

    When in High School I did a little bit of research on the Ark but it wasn't until 2008-09 when Author/Archaeologist Tudar Parfitt came out with a book claiming to have found the Ark that my interest had been peaked again. I was back in college for my second time and was pursuing a pre-Law degree when the book came out. I changed to a double major of History and Anthropology I was already working on them for a BA  but decided to make it my focus. My thoughts have always been towards Archaeology I just didn't know what to do to achieve it. I still research it in my free time even though it is few and far between.

     I am studying Southwest Archaeology but I work on research for the Cherokees, the Revolution, and the Ark whenever I can, I want to learn as much as I can. In this blog I will have special sections that will chase the Ark and give some information that I find interesting on the three subjects that I love. I hope you enjoy my posts and feel free to make comments.
Thanks for stopping by,
James W. Palmer, Jr.