A Legendary Quest
Not of This Earth
Missing for almost three thousand years, the Lost Ark of the Covenant is the greatest lost treasure of the ancient world. According to tradition, the Ark was created by the prophet Moses and later brought to Jerusalem by King David. Commemorating the Hebrews’ escape from slavery in Egypt, this artifact was housed in a tent near the king’s palace for forty years.
A Love Story
According to the story, King David was a just and courageous leader. But at times he fell prey to the temptations of power. After falling in love with the beautiful Bathsheba, he neglected his duties and tried to conceal their affair. Ashamed and disgraced, David married Bathsheba but suffered a series of tragedies, including the death of their first child. Chastened and determined to do better, David ruled peacefully for several more decades before leaving his kingdom to his most promising son, Solomon.
Hidden in a Time of War
After more than three centuries of rule, King David’s dynasty fell under the influence of brutal empires on all sides. The last king, Zedekiah, faced a stark choice—remain loyal to his traditional allies in Egypt to the west or embrace the rising empire of Babylon to the east. Fatefully, he allied his kingdom with Egypt and watched in horror as the invincible Babylonian army invaded. Hiding the Ark of the Covenant safely underground, Zedekiah preserved a legacy of freedom that remains to this day.
Until a New Era Begins
As the patchwork of small kingdoms in the Near East fell victim to the brutal terror of the Babylonian regime, the power of the Ark as a symbol of lost freedom only grew. Exiled in bondage to Babylon’s imperial elite, priests and poets began dreaming of a future era of liberty and peace. The Lost Ark, it was said, would return to its place of glory when a great leader emerged. This new King David, it was believed, would rid the world of empires and their violence and lead the entire world to peace.