Axum, Ethiopia

[BeTheGoddess]

Welcome to Axum, allegedly the home the "true Arc of the Covenant".

..., UNESCO added Axum's archaeological sites to its list of World Heritage Sites due to their historic value. Prior to the beginning of the Tigray War in 2020, Axum was a leading tourist destination for foreign visitors.[sup][4][/sup]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axum

I first read this in a Graham Handcock book, then later a documentary of the book, but he pisses me off these days so lets ignore him, its not about entheogens so he wont care. There are some dubious claims in the wiki article. But some are strongly heald beilifes by some groups..

It was rumored to house the Biblical Ark of the Covenant, in which lie the Tablets of Stone upon which the Ten Commandments are inscribed.

The basic jist of the story is that the Arc was smuggled out of Jerusalem after it was sacked by Titus in the whatever year 77?, and got heavy into... no, the Arc was said to be taken up the Nile, then to Ethiopia. One of those claimed places it was held is the Church of Our Ladyof Zion..

Accordingly, the Ark was moved to the Chapel of the Tablet adjacent to the old church because a divine 'heat' from the Tablets had cracked the stones of its previous inner sanctum. The Ethiopian Empress Menen funded the construction of the new present chapel.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_...ry_of_Zion

But is it the real Arc?, copies are known to exist in Ethiopia...

Tabot (Ge'ez ታቦት tābōt, sometimes spelled tabout) is a replica of the Ark of the Covenant, and represents the presence of God, in Ethiopian Orthodox and Eritrean Orthodox Churches.[sup][1][/sup][sup][2][/sup][sup]: 135 [/sup][sup][3][/sup] Tabot may variously refer to an inscribed altar tablet (tsellat or tsilit; Ge'ez: ጽላት tsallāt, modern ṣellāt), the chest in which this tablet is stored (menbere-tabot, or throne of the tabot), or to the tablet and chest together.[sup][1][/sup][sup][4][/sup]

[sup]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabot

I did actually try search for the Handcock book, but its not by the name I thought it was. If you know the book, do post it.[/sup]

[PhyloCFly]

There was a book written by Umberto Eco titled ''Foucault's Pendulum''. The gist of the story was concerning treasure hunters, or antiquity hunters on the trail of some long ago treasure. Throughout the book the protagonists followed obscure clues found in books and old parchments, one after another leading them on getting ever closer to the final ''find''.

Meanwhile there were other groups of hunters searching as well, a few of these hunting clubs went back decades and in a case or two, centuries. All of these hunters finally zeroed in on the final ''find'' only to discover that for the most part, all the mysterious clues they had been unearthing along the way were just speculations written by earlier treasure hunters and they all ended up in the same place at the same time and there was no treasure. They had all been chasing each others tails, or tales.

I wonder why anyone would place any importance on finding the Arc, or for that matter the Ark. For that matter the Shroud or the Chalice.

[BeTheGoddess]

There was a book written by Umberto Eco titled ''Foucault's Pendulum''. The gist of the story was concerning treasure hunters, or antiquity hunters on the trail of some long ago treasure. Throughout the book the protagonists followed obscure clues found in books and old parchments, one after another leading them on getting ever closer to the final ''find''.

Meanwhile there were other groups of hunters searching as well, a few of these hunting clubs went back decades and in a case or two, centuries. All of these hunters finally zeroed in on the final ''find'' only to discover that for the most part, all the mysterious clues they had been unearthing along the way were just speculations written by earlier treasure hunters and they all ended up in the same place at the same time and there was no treasure. They had all been chasing each others tails, or tales.

I wonder why anyone would place any importance on finding the Arc, or for that matter the Ark. For that matter the Shroud or the Chalice.

Havnt heard the name Umburto Eco in years, maybe I should get my hands on a copy of this book.

[PhyloCFly]

Yeah, I spent maybe a year reading his novels. That one was a particular favorite of mine as I was really into hidden historical conspiracies at the time. Another was my favorite' The Island of the Day Before'. This one dealt with the confusion among people when global sailing was new. The idea that the world was round was new and the question of just how, when and where today turns into yesterday was causing that confusion. So in the book he chronicles an adventurer who sets off in a ship to find a reported island that was this magical place where one becomes the other.

[BeTheGoddess]

Yeah, I spent maybe a year reading his novels. That one was a particular favorite of mine as I was really into hidden historical conspiracies at the time. Another was my favorite' The Island of the Day Before'. This one dealt with the confusion among people when global sailing was new. The idea that the world was round was new and the question of just how, when and where today turns into yesterday was causing that confusion. So in the book he chronicles an adventurer who sets off in a ship to find a reported island that was this magical place where one becomes the other.

That "mythical" place wouldnt be Hy Brasil would it?.

[PhyloCFly]

That "mythical" place wouldnt be Hy Brasil would it?.

Nah, that would be the Atlantic Ocean. This island was in the Pacific, over the Western Horizon where the sun sets and the day ends before the next day arrives. He did a good job of reconstructing the thinking that moving from seeing the world as flat to a world that was round would take.

[Nugget]

[sup]I did actually try search for the Handcock book, but its not by the name I thought it was. If you know the book, do post it.[/sup]

Could it be his 1992 book "The Sign and the Seal: The Quest for the Lost Ark of the Covenant"?

[BeTheGoddess]

Could it be his 1992 book "The Sign and the Seal: The Quest for the Lost Ark of the Covenant"?

That would be it, yes. Thank you. I didnt search that because I thought Sign and Seal mwas the 4th in the Holy Blood Holy Grail series...

Also he pisses me off so I didnt search that hard.