Pxxxxxxx Sxxxxx
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xxxxx
Murrells Inlet, SC #####

Dear Ms Sxxxxx,

Thanks for your interest in Sun's religious coverage, and your fascinating question about the location of the Ark of the Covenant.

To the best of our knowledge, the current location of the Ark is unknown. As you know, it disappeared from the historical record during the Babylonian captivity, and so may, in fact, still be somewhere in modern-day Iraq.

However, it seems unlikely that Saddam Hussein personally has control of the Ark. When the enemies of the Israelites (the Philistines) attempted to seize the Ark in 1 Samuel 4-6, they were afflicted with pestilence and tumors until they returned it to its rightful owners. (It's worth noting that the Biblical description is similar to descriptions of burns and illness from exposure to radioactivity.)

Some historians believe the Ark stayed with the Israelites and was installed in the Second Temple, until it was spirited away to safety during the Roman occupation. In their book The Hiram Key, (reviewed in prior issues of Sun) researchers Christopher Knight & Robert Lomas made a case for the Ark actually residing in a chamber underneath Scotland's Rosslyn Chapel. This church, they believe, was built by Knights Templar returning from the Crusades as an exact replica of the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem... to contain the sacred treasures they retrieved from hiding places in Israel.

Unfortunately, no one has ever actually found the Ark itself or direct, physical evidence of its presence. Until that happens, all we can do is guess. It may be in Jerusalem, or in the former Jewish ghettoes of Prague, or in a crypt in a Scottish church, or hidden somewhere in modern-day Baghdad. If this last possibility is in fact true, it does put the current conflict in a dangerous new light.

Rest assured, our Baghdad correspondents will be looking out for any clues as best as possible during the current state of war.

Thank you for your continued interest and kind words,

Beth Gimmel, Sun Reporter