Is that the Ark of the Covenant over there?
Mysterious image on the ancient Roman Arch of Titus
Greetings Gold and Silver Level Templar knights! The Arch of Titus in the Roman Forum is often overlooked by visitors to Rome, gawping instead at the Colosseum and other ancient monuments. But is there a clue to the long lost Ark of the Covenant?
The Arch of Titus was built by the emperor of that name to celebrate the crushing of the first Jewish revolt (the second happened under Hadrian) and the burning/sacking of the Temple of Jerusalem. This was the magnificent second temple constructed by the biblical King Herod in a vain attempt to prove to his subjects that he was a good Jew. Many people thought otherwise.
It housed a huge Menorah - the Jewish candelabra that is still a potent symbol of Judaism. You can see it being looted by Roman soldiers on the Arch of Titus. It subsequently went missing and was never seen again. Some think the Goths made off with it when the sacked Rome in the early fifth century CE.
The arch dates back to first century when Titus and his father Vespasian were emperors - part of the Flavian dynasty. They featured as characters in the recent Netflix drama series, Those About To Die. Take a closer look at the Menorah below.
Now some argue that they can also see the Ark of the Covenant being carried though I struggle to make that out. The Ark went missing when the first temple in Jerusalem was sacked by the Babylonians in the sixth century before Christ. It definitely was never seen again. Except by Indiana Jones of course!
There is an interesting theory in a book called Kebra Nagast, in which I see a lot of similarities when Moses and his people fled Egypt. The pharaoh told them to go out in the desert to worship their god, because it involved animal sacrafice. However, as it's written the army went after them. Was this because, as some have speculated, they stole an arch?