Archaeologists Will Soon Excavate Biblical Site Where Ark Of The Covenant Once Stood

AncientPagaes.com -  Israeli and French team of archaeologists begin excavations of an ancient and unexplored Biblical site, where the famous Ark of the Covenant was kept for two decades, before King David relocated it in Jerusalem.

The location of Kiriath-Jearim, Israel

This Judean site, called Kiryat Ye'arim (Kiriath Jearim), is mentioned several times in the Bible during the period of Biblical history related to the judges and King David.

The excavations of the site are of significant value because it represents one of the last such Biblical landmarks.

"The place is important for several reasons," Israel Finkelstein, one of the three archeologists heading the project, told Times of Israel.

"It's a large, central site in the Jerusalem hills that hasn't been studied until now. It may be the only key site in Judah that hasn't undergone a systematic archaeological excavation."

The place of the excavations will concentrate on the hill ('tel'), of which crown is largely bare, save for a 20th century monastery dedicated to Our Lady of the Ark of the Covenant, which sits atop the ruins of an earlier Byzantine edifice at the summit.

The archaeologists will explore the area around the monastery. Much of the site is believed to be relatively undisturbed, according to Finkelstein.

King David

Based on the biblical narrative, Kiryat Ye'arim is mentioned as a site of religious worship and such names as "Kiryat Ba'al", "Ba'alah" and "Ba'ale Judah" in the Book of Joshua, suggest the site was at some time linked toworship of storm god of the Canaanite pantheon - Ba'al.

According to the Book of Samuel, the Ark of the Covenant was stored at Kiryat Ye'arim for 20 years after it was returned to the Israelites by the Philistines, who had captured it in battle and to their dismay were smitten with disease.

The text also informs that the ark was stored "in the house of Avinadab in the hill" and tended by the priest Elazar before King David conveyed it to his capital in Jerusalem.

The Ark of the Covenant was built during the time of Moses in the Book of Exodus. The sacred gold-plated wooden box held the two stone tablets where the 10 Commandments were inscribed after God gave the covenant to Moses at Mount Sinai.

The Ark of the Covenant mysteriously vanished around 589-587 BC when the Babylonians destroyed the temple, built by King David's son King Solomon, where it was placed.

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