Скачать или смотреть የሙሴ ጽላትና ንግሥት ሳባ King Solomon, the Queen of Sheba, and the Ark of the Covenant

In Ethiopian belief, the Ark is intimately connected to the identity of the Ethiopian people.
According to tradition, the Ark was brought to Ethiopia by Menelik I, the son of King
Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.

Construction of the Ark: The Ark of the Covenant is built according to God's instructions to Moses (Exodus 25:10-22).
The Ark of the Covenant
10 “Thus you shall make the ark of testimony from incorruptible wood; two and a half cubits shall be its length, a cubit and a half its width, and a cubit and a half its height.† 11 You shall overlay it with pure gold; inside and out you shall overlay it and shall make on it a wreath of gold all around. 12 You shall cast four golden rings for it and put them on its four corners; two rings on one side and two rings on the other. 13 You shall make poles of incorruptible wood and overlay them with gold. 14 You shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, that the ark may be carried by them. 15 The poles shall remain fixed in the rings of the ark. 16 Then you shall put into the ark the testimonies I will give you. 17 “You shall also make a mercy seat of pure gold; two and a half cubits shall be its length and a cubit and a half its width. 18 Then you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work you shall make them at the two ends of the mercy seat.† 19 Make one cherub at one end and the other cherub at the other end; you shall make the cherubim at the two ends of it of one piece with the mercy seat. 20 And the cherubim shall stretch out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, and they shall face one another; the faces of the cherubim shall be toward the mercy seat. 21 You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimonies I will give you. 22 There I will make Myself known to you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of testimony, about everything I will give you in commandment to the children of Israel.†

(1 Kings 8: 1-9)
The Ark Is Brought to the Temple
1 Twenty years later, when Solomon finished building the house of the Lord and his own
house, King Solomon assembled all the elders of Israel in Zion, to bring up the ark of the
covenant of the Lord from the City of David, which is Zion,†† 2 in the month of Ethanim.
3 The priests took up the ark 4 and the Tabernacle of Testimony and all the holy furnishings
in the Tabernacle of Meeting. 5 King Solomon and all Israel were before the ark, sacrificing
sheep and oxen without number. 6 Then the priests brought in the ark to its place, into the
inner sanctuary of the temple, to the holy of holies, under the wings of the cherubim. 7 For
the cherubim spread their two wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim
overshadowed the ark and the holy things. 8 The holy staves extended so the ends of the
poles could be seen from the holy place, in front of the inner sanctuary; but they could not
be seen from outside. 9 Nothing was in the ark except the two stone tablets, the tablets of
the covenant Moses put there at Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant with the children
of Israel, after they came out of the land of Egypt.

This event is symbolically significant as it represents Ethiopia's unique role in the biblical
narrative. The Ark's presence in Axum, where it is said to reside in the Church of St. Mariam
of Zion, reinforces the idea that Ethiopia is a chosen nation blessed with a divine heritage.
This theological perspective fosters a sense of pride and belonging among Ethiopian
Christians, who view themselves as custodians of a sacred legacy. Professor Richard
Pankhurst, the leading historian of Ethiopia had founded the scholarly and well-respected
Institute of Ethiopian Studies at Addis Ababa University. I discussed with him the Ark of the
Covenant and the seemingly far-fletched claim that it might now rest in Axum. He
mentioned a thirteenth-century manuscript known as the Kebra Nagast, which most
Ethiopians believed IN telling “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth”.

The #ark is also interpreted as a manifestation of the divine presence in the Ethiopian
Orthodox Church. Its significance extends to the liturgy and sacramental life of the Church,
where the Ark is seen as a foreshadowing of Christ Himself. The Ethiopian liturgical texts
often draw parallels between the physical Ark and the spiritual reality of Christ's
incarnation. This understanding emphasizes the transformative power of the Eucharist,
where believers enter into communion with the divine, much like the Israelites did when
they encountered the Ark. Thus, the Ark becomes a symbol of hope, redemption, and the
promise of salvation. #ark #arkofnoah #arkofthecovenant #arkofheaven #ethiopian #ethiopiancross #eotc #orthodoxchurch #zion