The Ark of the Covenant, one of the most mysterious and significant religious artefacts of the ancient world, is an object surrounded by many legends and myths. According to biblical descriptions, the Ark was made of acacia wood, covered inside and out with pure gold. Its dimensions were two and a half cubits long, one and a half cubits wide, and one and a half cubits high.

 At the top of the ark was a golden lid known as the Throne of Mercy, decorated with two cherubim with outstretched wings, which symbolized the divine presence. Inside the ark, legend says, were kept the two tablets containing the Ten Commandments that Moses received from God on Mount Sinai. The ark may also have contained Aaron's rod, symbolizing his role as high priest, and a golden jar of manna, the food God provided for the Israelites during their forty-year wilderness journey.

The fate of the Ark of the Covenant is one of the greatest mysteries of the ancient world. There is no unequivocal archaeological evidence to confirm its existence, and all that researchers can rely on are written sources and oral traditions preserved in various religious and cultural traditions. Much of the information about the Ark of the Covenant is found in the Old Testament, where it is described as the centerpiece of the cult of ancient Israel. According to the biblical narrative, the Ark of the Covenant was originally kept in a portable tent temple, called the Tabernacle, which accompanied the Israelites on their wanderings in the wilderness. The Ark was used as a symbol of divine presence and protection, and it was often carried before the Israelite armies on battlefield campaigns. For example, the book of Joshua tells us that the ark was used to destroy the walls of Jericho: seven priests carried the ark around the city, and on the seventh day, on a signal, the walls of Jericho collapsed.

Later, the Ark of the Covenant was moved to Mount Zion on the orders of King David, who sought to unite the religious and political centers of his kingdom in Jerusalem. After the completion of the First Temple, the Ark was placed in the Holy of Holies, the most sacred place of the Temple, to which only the High Priest had access, and then only once a year, on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). The Holy of Holies was separated from the rest of the temple by a veil, and the Ark of the Covenant remained there until the destruction of Jerusalem by the Neo-Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II in 586 B.C. After the destruction of the Jerusalem temple, the Ark disappeared, and its fate remains unknown. Historians and archaeologists put forward different hypotheses about what could have happened to the ark. One view is that the ark was destroyed or captured by the Babylonians along with the other treasures of the temple. However, there is no written evidence to support this. The Second Book of Maccabees, one of the Deuterocanonical texts, offers a different version.

It claims that the prophet Jeremiah, by divine revelation, hid the ark in a cave on the mountain where Moses had once been. After the cave was sealed, the location of the ark was lost and no one could find it. This version, although based on religious tradition, has no archaeological evidence and remains a subject of controversy.

There are also more modern theories concerning the location of the ark. Some scholars believe that the ark may have been taken from Jerusalem before its destruction and hidden in a remote area to avoid capture by invaders. Various regions have been mentioned as possible locations for the Ark, including the Arabian Peninsula, Jordan, and even South Africa. One of the most famous and popular theories is the version proposed by British writer and journalist Graham Hancock. In his book Guardians of the Sacred Seal: In Search of the Lost Ark of the Covenant, Hancock claims that the Ark was not transported to the Middle East, but to Ethiopia. According to his version, the Ark was taken from Jerusalem during the reign of King Monashiah, who turned away from the traditional Jewish faith and began worshipping the Sumerian goddess Asherah.

Hancock believes that the Ark was moved to the Jewish temple on the island of Elephantine on the Nile River and then, after the destruction of that temple, was moved further south to Ethiopia. Hancock claims that the Ark is in an underground chapel near the church of St Mary of Zion in Axum, a city of importance in Ethiopian history. He bases his conclusions on extensive historical research, although he admits that he himself has never seen the ark with his own eyes. In his book, he cites testimonies from local monks who claim to be guarding the sacred artefact. According to Hancock, guarding the ark is an extremely dangerous task: the monks charged with this mission are allegedly at risk of blindness and premature death, which Hancock attributes to the possible radioactivity of the ark. However, Hancock's hypothesis, despite its popularity, has not been supported by any concrete evidence. Most historians and archaeologists are skeptical of it, considering it more the product of speculative literature than the result of scientific research. Nevertheless, the theory continues to attract interest, and many explorers and travelers continue to seek to confirm or refute it.

Other attempts to find the Ark of the Covenant have also failed. Over the centuries, the Ark has been repeatedly ‘discovered’ in various parts of the world, but none of these finds have been recognized as genuine. For example, the European Crusaders during their campaigns claimed to have found a series of secret tunnels under the Temple Mount in Jerusalem that supposedly led to the Ark of the Covenant. However, no concrete artefacts have been found to support these claims. In the early 20th century, British aristocrat Montagu Brown Low Park attempted to penetrate beneath the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem in search of the Ark, but was stopped before he reached his goal. In the 1920s, Antony Futterer, an explorer, claimed to have found a secret passage in Mount Nebo in Jordan that he believed could lead to the ark. However, he was unable to re-find this passage, and his claims remained unconfirmed.

While the legends and myths of the Ark of the Covenant continue to inspire explorers and adventurers, most historians and archaeologists agree that any search for this artefact requires a critical approach and careful fact-checking. The story of the ark, like many other religious and cultural artefacts of antiquity, remains largely a mystery, shrouded in the mists of time. Modern archaeology provides an increasing number of tools for investigating ancient artefacts and locations, but the Ark of the Covenant, if indeed it existed, remains elusive. Without concrete archaeological findings and written sources to confirm its existence and location, the Ark continues to be more a matter of faith and legend than science. Nevertheless, interest in the Ark of the Covenant has not waned, and perhaps in the future new discoveries or technology will help shed light on this ancient mystery.