The Ark of the Covenant was rediscovered through the leading of God. Ron Wyatt, the archeologist whom God had permitted to re-discover a number of significant archeological finds including Noah's ark, the Red Sea crossing site with its encrusted chariot wheels, the real Mt. Sinai with its blackened top and altars, was directed by God to dig in an area outside of old Jerusalem known as the Calvary Escarpment. The place is also known as the place of the Skull, reflecting a pattern in the rock and is fairly close to the Garden Tomb, which turns out to be the legitimate burial places of Jesus (see map below). This was in an area located between the walls of Jerusalem and the Babylonian siege wall during the siege of Jerusalem prior to its fall and destruction around 586 B.C. Permission to excavate was granted by the Israeli government as well as by the owners of the two properties that would be affected.
The GPS coordinates of the location (within 50 feet) are: 31.783647,35.231202 according to Google Maps (31°47'01.1"N 35°13'52.3"E). However, do not rush to dig there unless you wish to die, seriously (see later in this paper)! You can walk to the area above the chamber with the Ark which is now a bus transit station and very close (~300 feet) to the Garden Tomb and ~300 feet from the entrance to Zedekiah's cave/Solomon's Quarries. It is directly below the face of the Calvary Escarpment. I will later post (on a new webpage) some photos that I took in June of 2013 while visiting this wonderful location.
A lot of rubble was removed from the excavation site and digging commenced. Efforts were fruitless on a number of trips, extending over a 3-year period. Finally the searchers dug into the hill, and found it honeycombed with natural tunnels, most quite narrow.
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At the time of the discovery, the diggers, an Arabian helper and Ron Wyatt came upon a small hole leading into another chamber. The hole was enlarged and the helper crawled into the chamber first, but with a horrified look on his face, rapidly exited, never to return to the honeycombs. Ron enlarged the access hole, entered the chamber, and when he saw the casement and the other sanctuary implements in the chamber and realized that he'd found what he'd been searching for over the past years, he fainted and remained unconscious for around 45 minutes. This was on January 6th, 1982 at approximately 2 o'clock in the afternoon. |
The chamber was about 22 feet long by 12 feet wide at one end with a with a flat ceiling about 8 feet high. It was filled to within 18 inches of the ceiling or closer with fist-sized rocks and other debris. The sanctuary implements (see list below) were covered with dry rotted wood and animal skins of some sort. At the far end of the chamber was a casement with a lid on it. It was of the right size to just hold an Ark of the dimensions indicated in the Bible.
Ron wondered how he would remove the rubble and expose the Ark. He returned several times to the chamber to attempt to photograph the ark, but none of the photographs turned out with any clarity.
Items later identified in the chamber included:
This find is probably the most significant archeological find in history. A number of dictators, including Adolph Hitler and Mussolini, felt that possessing the Ark would give them power over their enemies and aggressively sought for it. Yet it should be emphasized that the Ark itself has no power except as God's presence is dwelling there.
The Israeli government after examining artifacts brought from the chamber, has confirmed to its satisfaction that the Ark has indeed been found. However, to its credit, the government has been very careful with the release of information to prevent riots and the potential destruction of the Dome of the Rock by Jewish extremists. Some examples of what happened when people misused the ark discovery information.
The Israeli government, satisfied that the Ark has been found, has ordered the tunnel leading to the chamber to be sealed. Then one of the tunnels leading to the ark was covered with a steel plate and then covered with 2 feet of rock and dirt. It awaits a more critical time for God to reveal it. According to Ron's sons, Ron left a piece of pomegranate and one or more videos in the ark chamber as evidence that he was indeed there (see my 2013 update below).
The following graphics are an artist's computerized renditions from Ron's descriptions to Jim Pinkoski and Jim's sketches of the ark of the covenant (click here for details on those first sketches). The ark was initially viewed by Ron Wyatt through a crack running down the casement surrounding the ark (see picture below) and through a colonoscope (a flexible yet controllable fiber optic viewing device normally used for examining the insides of a colon). On Ron's fourth trip to the area, the 4 angels that accompany and protect the ark had cleared the chamber of all debris, removed the casement from around the ark and cleaned it up (other than Jesus blood which I will discuss later on this page). They had also cleared out the tunnels from Zedekiah's cave to the chamber in which the Ark was located. Ron was directed by one of the angels to set up his 8 mm video camera on the tripod he had brought along with him and video record what would happen next. Ron was allowed to see the ark directly, and at the angel's beckoning, to remove the two tablets of stone from the ark with his hands. He also observed the four scrolls of Moses' book in the side of the Ark and identified them as Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy (more details follow). He was also told the Ark would be brought out after certain events had transpired. So Ron had a very clear picture in his mind of what the ark looked like.
These pictures are adapted from segments of a computerized video clip that is on the Ark of the Covenant CD-ROM (see below).
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As mentioned earlier, when initially rediscovered, the ark was in a mortar casement with a lid on it which was cracked and the smaller part shifted away. (See sketch in a graphic below - also done by Pinkoski). The crack continued through the casement to its base and permitted viewing through the crack, as well as through a colonoscope. The poles were still in place in the rings attached to the ark.
The atonement cover was of solid gold and was encircled by the pomegranates as mentioned in the Bible. The two cherubim (angels), one on either end, had their wings positioned at right angles to the other, one wing covering the back side of the ark, the other at their sides.
A close-up of the
cherubim's face indicated it looked much like we would expect an Levitical priest to
appear, with miter and full beard, not as many artists depict angels today.
"In the back 'side' of the ark is a small cubicle. Only during a subsequent visit into the cavern, after the stone casement was removed, would this become visible. When Ron caught sight of this, his heart almost skipped a beat. The cubicle still contained four scrolls...presumably the original 'Book of the Law' which Moses himself wrote. The books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy were there. 'Perhaps Genesis is there. I don't know.' recalled Ron, after an examination. 'Maybe it's rolled up with one of the others. They are written on split leather scrolls. They are still in wonderful condition, almost as if they'd been made yesterday. They are written on soft leather. Just as the shoe leather of the Israelites did not wear out in the desert, so has this leather remained in perfect condition and shows no deterioration." (Ark of the Covenant p. 343). God had promised the Israelites that during their wanderings in the wilderness, their clothes and sandals would not wear out! (Deut. 29:5)
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During the excavations around the Calvary escarpment,
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While the above may seem too incredible and perhaps like a tabloid story, we recommend that you check it out for yourself (and read the updates following on this page). For many more marvelous details, facts, and pictures, surrounding the Ark rediscovery, order either the marvelous 595 page book by Jonathan Gray, Ark of the Covenant or the CD-ROM with the Ark of the Covenant discovery and many more pictures of the other discoveries mentioned on the Discoveries page.
Update 2008: After Ron's death from cancer in 1999, the leadership of the Wyatt Archeological Research (WAR) attempted to substantiate Ron's testimony regarding his discovery of the Ark. Several attempts were made in 2005 and 2006 to excavate the cross hole area and find the chamber with the Ark. While they found the crack photographed by Wyatt, it appears in the process of doing the excavation, that they destroyed the cross hole and plugged up the crack. Subsequently pouring water over the top of the crack simply caused the water to run down their excavation channel. They also found mollusks (snail-like animal shells) and the dark substance the mollusks emit (Chitin) and concluded that what Ron Wyatt saw and gathered was this Chitin. The speaker in their video, Richard Rives, WAR's President, mistakenly said that Ron never stated that the dark substance was blood (6:21). Thus based upon their lack of finding substantiating evidence, they pulled Ron's materials pertaining to the Ark of the Covenant discovery off of their website.
However, based upon reading Ron's materials, watching updated videos (Dec. 2007) of his sons Danny and Ronnie who assisted with the original digs and discoveries and who share their dismay at the destruction wrought by the more recent excavation efforts, and watching Ron's own testimony on the videos linked to above, this editor finds WAR's conclusions to be questionable at best.
Firstly, Ron gathered the dark substance at its exit from the crack above the Ark of the Covenant, had it tested, and has consistently testified that the lab reported it to be human blood with the characteristics noted in the asterisked (*) footnote. Furthermore, it was clear that Ron was God-led through all his discoveries through the frequent supernatural interventions that played a role in the discoveries (watch his Zedekiah cave videos above). Alternatively, the more recent excavation were not done on faith, but rather to satisfy skeptics. It is evident from their video that they did not locate the exact passageway of the crack to the Ark chamber, and thus could not have obtained a blood sample. As you will find below, God had said the ark would not come forth until a given event had taken place. Their ill-motivated attempt was predestined to fail. Thirdly, while they did gather a dark substance, it was not blood and thus wouldn't have tested as blood.
It appears that God has hidden the Ark from current eyes, as the search was not conducted in faith, but rather to please skeptics. Beside the evidence presented to the Israeli Antiquities Department at the time of Ron's original discovery, there is evidence outside of hard evidence including the veracity of the witnesses. Ron's sons and a profile of Ron's humility testify to his honesty and truthfulness. This editor stands fully behind Ron and his discoveries. God Almighty will bring out the Ark is His appointed time and not before then.
A number of people have asked the question, "Why not send some Levites in to get the Ark?" According to a section of the Ron's sons' Zedekiah cave video (4:43-6:35) (and alluded to in Ron's Zedekiah cave video part 7), they mention an incident in which the Israeli government sent 6 supposed Levites into the tunnel system (via Zedekiah's cave) towards the Ark. All 6 were struck dead and Ron had to fly to Israel to assist with removing the bodies from the cave. God has permitted Ron to behold and report what He will not allow others to do or see and this was recorded on a video that will be brought out with the Ark. The Ark is very sacred and still holy, set apart and protected. Woe be to those who try to mess around with it, who are not commissioned by God to do so. Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!
*Counting of the chromosome under an electron microscope (which was video taped) showed that the cells had only 24 chromosomes, 23 X-chromosomes from the woman, and one Y-chromosome (from God or the Holy Spirit). The usual number of chromosomes is 46, 23 X-chromosomes from the woman and 23 X or Y-chromosomes from the man. This condition is extremely rare, if present at all in other than this blood. An article entitled, The boy whose blood has no father published by David Bonthron and his colleagues at Edinburgh University in Nature Genetics (Vol. 11, p 164) talked about a 3-year-old boy whose white blood cells had only X chromosomes, normally a signal for a female (a skin sample showed normal chromosome counts). Normally haploidy individuals cannot survive (as opposed to duploidy, having two sets of chromosomes). At least one Y-chromosome is required to trigger the production of a male.
Some of the photos are copyrighted by MindVision
Interactive Pty Ltd., Adelaide, South Australia and Jonathan Gray.
The last one is from the www.formypeople.org
website.
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