The Ark of the Covenant, The Holy Grail and Excalibur
also known as the Ark of the Testimony, is a chest described in the Book of Exodus as containing the Tablets of Stone on which the Ten Commandments were inscribed. According to the New Testament Letter to the Hebrews, the Ark also contained Aaron's rod, a jar of manna, and the first Torah scroll as written by Moses; however, the first of the Books of Kings says that at the time of King Solomon, the Ark contained only the two Tablets of the Law.
According to the Book of Exodus, the Ark was built at the command of God, in accordance with the instructions given to Moses on Mount Sinai In the Deuteronomy 5:6, these events are described as having transpired at Mount Horeb. God was said to have communicated with Moses "from between the two cherubim" on the Ark's cover.
The biblical account relates that about a year after the Israelites' exodus from Egypt, the Ark was created according to the pattern given to Moses by God when Israel was encamped at the foot of Mount Sinai. Thereafter the gold-plated acacia chest was carried by the Levites some 2,000 cubits in advance of the people when on the march or before the Israelite army, the host of fighting men.
When the Ark was borne by Levites into the bed of the Jordan River, the waters parted as God had parted the waters of the Red Sea, opening a pathway for the entire host to pass through (Josh. 3:15–16; 4:7–18). The walls of the city of Jericho were shaken to the ground with no more than a shout from the army after the Ark of the Covenant was paraded round them for seven days by Levites accompanied by seven priests sounding seven trumpets of rams' horns (Josh. 6:4–20). When carried, the Ark was always hidden under a large veil made of skins and blue cloth, always carefully concealed, even from the eyes of the priests and the Levites who carried it.
There are no contemporary extra-biblical references to the Ark.
The Ark is referenced in Tanakh, Second Book of Maccabees, New Testament and the Qur’an
Since its disappearance from the Biblical narrative, there have been a number of claims of having discovered or of having possession of the Ark, and several possible places have been suggested for its location.
Mount Nebo
2 Maccabees 2:4-10, written around 100 BC, says that the prophet Jeremiah, "being warned by God" before the Babylonian invasion, took the Ark, the Tabernacle, and the Altar of Incense, and buried them in a cave on Mount Nebo, informing those of his followers who wished to find the place that it should remain unknown "until the time that God should gather His people again together, and receive them unto mercy." Mount Nebo is also described in the Bible (Deuteronomy 34) as the site from which Moses views the Promised Land, and apparently also is his final burial place. Mount Nebo is approximately 29 miles (47 km) slightly south of due east from Jerusalem, near the east bank of the Jordan River.
Ethiopia
The Chapel of the Tablet at the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion in Axum allegedly houses the original Ark of the Covenant. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church claims to possess the Ark of the Covenant, or Tabot, in Axum. The object is currently kept under guard in a treasury near the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion. Replicas of the Axum tabot are kept in every Ethiopian church, each with its own dedication to a particular saint; the most popular of these include Mary, George and Michael.
The Kebra Nagast
Composed to legitimise the new dynasty ruling Ethiopia following its establishment in 1270, narrates how the real Ark of the Covenant was brought to Ethiopia by Menelik I with divine assistance, while a forgery was left in the Temple in Jerusalem.
Although the Kebra Nagast is the best-known account of this belief, the belief predates the document. Abu al-Makarim, writing in the last quarter of the twelfth century, makes one early reference to this belief that they possessed the Ark. "The Abyssinians possess also the Ark of the Covenant", he wrote, and, after a description of the object, describes how the liturgy is celebrated upon the Ark four times a year, "on the feast of the great nativity, on the feast of the glorious Baptism, on the feast of the holy Resurrection, and on the feast of the illuminating Cross.”
In the 1992 book The Sign and the Seal, controversial British writer Graham Hancock suggests, contrary to the Kebra Nagast, that the ark spent several years in Egypt before it came to Ethiopia via the Nile River, where it was kept in the islands of Lake Tana for about four hundred years and finally taken to Axum. Archaeologist John Holladay of the University of Toronto called Hancock's theory "garbage and hogwash," while Edward Ullendorff, a former Professor of Ethiopian Studies at the University of London, said he "wasted a lot of time reading it.”
On 25 June 2009, the patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Ethiopia, Abune Paulos, said he would announce to the world the next day the unveiling of the Ark of the Covenant, which he said had been kept safe and secure in a church in Axum, Ethiopia.[30] The following day, on 26 June 2009, the patriarch announced that he would not unveil the Ark after all, but that instead he could attest to its current status.
Southern Africa
The Lemba people of South Africa and Zimbabwe have claimed that their ancestors carried the Ark south, calling it the ngoma lungundu or "voice of God", eventually hiding it in a deep cave in the Dumghe mountains, their spiritual home. On 14 April 2008, in a UK Channel 4 documentary, Tudor Parfitt, taking a literalist approach to the Biblical story, described his research into this claim. He says that the object described by the Lemba has attributes similar to the Ark. It was of similar size, was carried on poles by priests, was not allowed to touch the ground, was revered as a voice of their God, and was used as a weapon of great power, sweeping enemies aside.
In his book The Lost Ark of the Covenant (2008), Parfitt also suggests that the Ark was taken to Arabia following the events depicted in the Second Book of Maccabees, and cites Arabic sources which maintain it was brought in distant times to Yemen. One Lemba clan, the Buba, which was supposed to have brought the Ark to Africa, have a genetic signature called the Cohen Modal Haplotype. This suggests a male Semitic link to the Levant. Lemba tradition maintains that the Ark spent some time in Sena in Yemen. Later, it was taken across the sea to East Africa and may have been taken inland at the time of the Great Zimbabwe civilization.
According to their oral traditions, some time after the arrival of the Lemba with the Ark, it self-destructed. Using a core from the original, the Lemba priests constructed a new one. This replica was discovered in a cave by a Swedish German missionary named Harald von Sicard in the 1940s and eventually found its way to the Museum of Human Science in Harare. Parfitt had this artifact radio-carbon dated to about 1350, which coincided with the sudden end of the Great Zimbabwe civilization.
Europe - Chartres Cathedral, France
French author Louis Charpentier claimed that the Ark was taken to Chartres Cathedral by the Knights Templar.
Rennes-le-Château
then to the United States Several recent authors have theorised that the Ark was taken from Jerusalem to the village of Rennes-le-Château in Southern France. Karen Ralls has cited Freemason Patrick Byrne, who believes the Ark was moved from Rennes-le-Château at the outbreak of World War I to the United States.
Rome
The Ark of the Covenant was said to have been kept in the Basilica of St. John Lateran, surviving the pillages of Rome by Genseric and Alaric I but lost when the basilica burned. United Kingdom.
In 2003, author Graham Phillips hypothetically concluded that the Ark was taken to Mount Sinai in the Valley of Edom by the Maccabees. Phillips claims it remained there until the 1180s, when Ralph de Sudeley, the leader of the Templars found the Maccabean treasure at Jebel al-Madhbah, and returned home to his estate at Herdewyke in Warwickshire, England taking the treasure with him.
Ireland
During the turn of the 20th century British Israelites carried out some excavations of the Hill of Tara in Ireland looking for the Ark of the Covenant—the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland campaigned successfully to have them stopped before they destroyed the hill.
Egypt - Tutankhamun's Tomb
In the Egyptian Valley of the Kings the tomb of Tutankhamun (KV62) was opened by Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon. Among the artifacts was a processional ark, listed as Shrine 261, the Anubis Shrine. Almost immediately after publication of the photographs of this sensational archaeological find some claimed that the Anubis Shrine could be the Ark of the Covenant.
In Assassin’s Creed, the mythology of the First Civilization is heavily inspired by Ancient Astronauts/Aliens theories, except for the fact that the First Civilization evolved on Earth and did not come from space. Religious figures and miracles in the Assassin’s Creed lore are often explained by the fact that said prophet used a Piece of Eden to simulate the miracle itself or to lure the people into thinking that it actually happened. Moses used a Piece of Eden to simulate the Splitting of the Red Sea, and to turn staves into snakes, Jesus Christ use a Piece of Eden to turn water to wine..etc.
The Ark of the Covenant was first witnessed in the Solomon Temple, by Altair, who claimed that it’s just a story, and there’s no such thing. And that was before Altair found the Apple and used it to learn more about the First Civilization. That’s the first and only time we’ve seen this object and according to various scriptures, was moved to various locations.
The Ark of the Covenant, in the biblical story and the Zohar, is a mysterious object that defies logical explanation, and it could very well be science that we cannot yet comprehend, and of course, for a primitive civilization at that time, of course seeing the effects and the powers of such a mysterious device will certainly be translated as magic and miracles.
Now, when you read the stories about the Ark, written above, you’ll certainly notice a lot of familiar names, locations and monuments that you’ve heard of before in the Assassin’s Creed franchise, and specifically the Templars, or the Knights Templar, the main antagonizing group to the Assassins. And those were the ones who took place and carrying the Ark and transporting it from and to one of it’s possible locations.
One of the known locations is Ethiopia, which, long ago, was the First Civilization city “Eden” (possibly their capital or the center of power and government). If the Ark had such boundless powers like the ability to create life with the Manna or destroy through seemingly Nuclear-like devastating explosions and radiation, so there must have been some sort of place that they wanted to store such device with immense power.
Perhaps there’s some sort of First Civ. “Temple” where the Ark is stored in, in Ethiopia. One of the other possible locations is the United Kingdom, where the upcoming Assassin’s Creed: Victory will take place. So I can’t help but wonder whether this is the Piece of Eden that we’ll be searching for in AC:V. Abstergo said they’ll focus their resources on finding other artifacts than the Holy Grail, because they weren’t certain about it’s whereabouts and existence. So if we can exclude the Holy Grail from our possibilities, this could be what we’re looking for.
Another potential P.O.E. for AC Victory could be Excalibur, the Sword in the Stone, also known as The Sword of Eden, which we encountered in AC:Unity. In AC:U, we did not know much about where it came from or even if it will remain forever in Arno’s hands, and for all we know, there could be more than just one or perhaps the same Sword was somehow taken away from Arno and somehow found its way back to England.
And it’s not new in Assassin’s Creed where we encounter a Piece of Eden more than once. Could King Arthur possibly have been a Sage, hence he could be the only one to wield the sword, and we might somehow see him at the start of AC:Victory like how we saw Jacques De Molay in AC:U and centuries later, we encountered his reincarnation, Germain with Arno. Another possibility would be that King Arthur was perhaps someone like Desmond with high First Civ. DNA.
