Final resting place of the 'lost' Ark? Photo: Alastair Rae (merula on Flickr via CCBY2.0)
According to The Guardian and Discovery News, archaeologists have just discovered an ancient gold mine in northern Ethiopia, along with the ruins of a lost temple and bones at the site of an old battlefield. It has been hypothesized that these once belonged to the Queen of Sheba, the monarch of the Sheba kingdom of the 8th century BCE, that thrived for a millennium by trading with the Roman Empire and, more significantly, Jerusalem.
According to Koranic and Biblical folklore, King Solomon of Jerusalem wooed the Queen of Sheba in what evolved into a romantic and political affair. The Queen of Sheba traveled to Jerusalem to visit her suitor Solomon — along with caravans of her riches as gifts — and the two monarchs had a love child, Menelik I. This boy eventually went on to become the first king of the Abyssinian Empire, back in what is now Ethiopia.
“One of the things I’ve always loved about archaeology is the way it can tie up with legends and myths,” says Louise Schofield, former British Museum curator and head archaeologist of the British excavation in northern Ethiopia’s Gheralta plateau. “The fact that we might have the Queen of Sheba’s mines is extraordinary.”
Speaking of legends and myths…
Did you know that Aksum, the northern Ethiopian city filled with UNESCO World Heritage sites, is one of the possible resting places of the “lost” Ark of the Covenant? (It may not actually be where Indiana Jones found it.) According to legend, Menelik I had journeyed back to Aksum from Jerusalem after meeting his father as an adult, and brought the Ark of the Covenant — the holy chest that holds the original stone tablets of the Ten Commandments — back with him, since his people interpreted that it rightfully belong to him.
If you travel to Aksum today, you’ll note that the Ark is supposedly housed in a building on the grounds of the St. Mary of Zion church. However, it is behind a metal fence and guarded by a lone monk, one of a centuries-long lineage of guardians, who is the only person that is allowed into the building where the Ark supposedly rests. On my own trip to Aksum, I myself tried to sweet talk my way in with the guard, but he wouldn’t budge.
But now that Schofield and her team of archaeologists have found an empty gold mine shaft once belonging to the Queen of Sheba, let’s hope that one of the tunnels leads right under the building of the Ark and gives us a secret way in — so many we might finally sneak a peek at this legendary antiquity. Then again, maybe it’s a good idea that we don’t; I’ve seen Raiders of the Lost Ark and would prefer if my face didn’t melt off.
Photo: Alastair Rae (merula on Flickr via CCBY2.0)
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