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down from the northwestern highlands of Ethiopia? remember it, nor shall they visit it, nor shall it be
Reassured by remarkable traces and testimony he made any more (Jer. 3:16).
gained by exploring some of the 20 islands of Lake
Tana, from which flows the meandering Blue Nile, Quite frankly, I'm ready to end the discussion right
Graham Hancock reasons that a fifth century BC mi- there. Jehovah God declares through His seventh-
gration of a number of Jews would explain the pres- century prophet that the piece of Temple furniture
ence in Ethiopia of both the Falashas, descendants by known as the Ark of the Covenant is no longer needed.
intermarriage, and the Ark of the Covenant. Important as it was at the time of Moses and the mon-
archy, from this point on we look to Messiah, Im-
Of particular significance was the tradition reported by manuel ("God-with-us"), in Whose appearance Ark and
a priest on Tana Kirkos island. It says the Ark was re- Temple find their real fulfillment.
moved from that island and taken to the capital Axum
by Emperor Ezana, newly Christianized, 1600 years Hancock's Lesser Indicators
ago -- after 800 years on the island. That would con-
flict with the Ethiopic story about Solomon and Sheba But I did promise to explain what connection "Prester
in Kebra Nagast ("Glory of Kings"). But it agrees re- John" has in all this. Trouble is, 'all this' gets very com-
markably with the AD fourth century introduction of plex, as Mr. Hancock works through his data maze.
Christianity into Ethiopia, via two young Syrian Ortho- Over a dozen 12th-century AD situations, carefully
dox guests of the royal court, and with a possible Jew- dated and documented, are linked up by Hancock. He
ish entrance in the fourth century BC, with their great moves among them as one walking on thin ice, testing
treasure, the Ark of the Covenant of Israel.
each step, yet ever ready to stand confidently on his
own assumptions and conclusions.
Removal of the Ark from Jerusalem
AD 1165 dates a purported "Prester John" letter to
This brings us to a final consideration on the plus side. various Christian kings in Europe, boasting of his
After flunking his Bible exam on the Pentateuch (re- wealth and military might. Pope Alexander III's re-
call what we thought of his treatment of Moses and the sponse in 1177, referring to still another communica-
Ark), Hancock does a remarkably careful job, re- tion, grants a requested chapel in the Jerusalem Church
searching the Historical Books for the right window of of the Holy Sepulcher to the Ethiopian Church. At this
opportunity for the Ark to be removed from the Jeru- time, "John" (cf. Amharic address to an emperor, as
salem Temple. Noting that there are precious few men- Jan Hoy, "O Great One") would be Harbay, half-
tions of the Ark after the Temple's dedication by brother of the next king, Lalibela, who was in Jerusa-
Solomon, he highlights a significant command of the lem awaiting chance to seize his rightful throne.
reformer king, Josiah. "Put the holy ark in the house
which Solomon...built," he orders the Levites (2 Chr. So Hancock figures: Wasn't it Lalibela who informed
35:3). How and when did it get out? the Knights Templar Crusaders of the whereabouts of
the sacred Ark? Didn't they accompany him to Roha
Josiah's grandfather, Manasseh, whose wicked reign of (="Lalibela") and engineer his rock hewn churches, one
55 years (697-642 BC) included such abominations as of which bears a Templar cross? Isn't the Holy Grail
astral worship, child sacrifice, pagan altars in the Tem- epic, created in 1182, actually about the lost Ark? Was
ple precincts, witchcraft and sorcery, went so far as to it not a suspicious Ethiopian king who advised the
desecrate the House of God with a carved idol (2 Chr. Pope to outlaw the Templars -- whose successors in
33:3-7). It was then, reasons Hancock, that faithful Portugal and Scotland were very interested in
priests carried the Ark away to safety, to Egypt, where Ethiopia?
they built the Elephantine temple to house it. Even
King Josiah was unaware of this, he suggests, and he See? It does get complicated. And the more it does, the
finds support in what was said by Josiah's contempo- more uncertain his case, in places. Graham Hancock
rary, the Prophet Jeremiah. has produced a masterful picture puzzle, but he proba-
bly has pieces left over.
They will say no more, "The ark of the covenant of
the Lord." It shall not come to mind, nor shall they

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