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The quest for the Ark of the Covenant : the true history of the tablets of Moses / Stuart Munro-Hay.
Van Pelt Library BM657.A8 M86 2005
By Request
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Munro-Hay, S. C. (Stuart C.), 1947-2004.
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Ark of the Covenant.
- Church buildings--Ethiopia--Āksum.
- Church buildings.
- Ethiopia--Āksum.
- Physical Description:
- xi, 276 pages : illustrations, map ; 25 cm
- Place of Publication:
- London ; New York : I.B. Tauris, 2005.
- Summary:
- In a chapel in the old crenellated church of Mary of Zion in Aksum. Ethiopia is kept an object that emperors, patriarchs and priests have assured the world is the most important religious relic of all time: the tabota Seyon, Ark of the Covenant, the Ark of Zion. This Ark is alleged to be no other than the Ark that Moses had constructed at Sinai and which destroyed the walls of Jericho. It was brought into Jerusalem by King David and installed in a magnificent temple by King Solomon. Then, the story goes, it came to Ethiopia of its own choice with the half-Ethiopian, half-Jewish son of Solomon and the King of Sheba.
- Are the legends true? Or is this story a monumental deception? Is there any real proof or is it the faith of a people alone that has created this Ark? From ancient texts to local stories, from the Bible to the writings of sixteenth and seventeenth century Jesuits. Stuart Munro-Hay traces the extraordinary legend of Ethiopia's Ark in what is a triumph of historical detective work. Munro-Hay scrutinises every mention of the Ark in Ethiopian records and tests every theory before he reaches his shocking conclusion. The Quest for the Ark of the Covenant promises to settle the mystery of the Ark of the Covenant for once and for all.
- Contents:
- The Holy Relic at Aksum 1
- 'A Ridiculous Fable'? 4
- Unravelling the Web 8
- 1 Historical Outline 11
- 2 The Great Myth: Solomon and Sheba 16
- The Legend of the Heavenly Zion 16
- Makeda, Queen of Sheba 20
- The 'Glory of Kings' 22
- 3 The Tabot and the Ark: The Mysterious Altars of Ethiopia 27
- Tabotat, Ark and Tablets 27
- Tabot: Confused Definitions 31
- Linked Identities 35
- 'It is here...' 37
- A Chapel and its Guardian 42
- Zion at Aksum 47
- Tabot and Grail 49
- 4 The Ark and the Tablets: From King Solomon to Queen Gudit 52
- Manuscript Treasures 52
- A Search Begins 54
- Nine Saints 56
- War in Himyar 59
- Dating the Kebra Nagast 63
- After Kaleb 66
- Queen Gudit 68
- Coptic Memories 70
- Khazar Interlude 72
- The Ark and the Zagwe Kings 74
- The Usurpers 75
- The Ark of Lalibela 76
- A Colophon 80
- Tabot of Seyon 82
- Heirs of Solomon 83
- The nebura'ed Yeshaq 84
- King Yeshaq, Lion of David 88
- Coronation at Aksum 89
- Quest for a Legend 95
- Some Literary Fragments 95
- European Rumours 97
- Three Books 99
- The Book of Aksum 100
- Ho Preste Joao das Indias 104
- The Conquest of Abyssinia 105
- Tales of Solomon and Sheba 107
- Francisco Alvares 108
- The Golden Legend 110
- Saga Za-Ab 112
- Joao de Barros 114
- Nicolao Godinho 115
- 5 The Ark of Zion: The Coming of the Ark 116
- The Ark of the Covenant at Aksum 116
- Pero Pais 117
- Manoel de Almeida 118
- Manoel Barradas 120
- Afonso Mendes and Balthasar Telles 122
- The Flight of the Ark 123
- Gadla Marqorewos 126
- An Arabic Tale 128
- Exotic Embroideries 131
- Emperor Iyasu I and the Ark 135
- Charles-Jacques Poncet 139
- Abba Gorgoreyos and Job Ludolf 139
- Emperor Iyasu II and Remedius Prutky 140
- Foreign Commentaries, 1764-1881 141
- An Armenian Visitor 141
- James Bruce and the Kebra Nagast 142
- Father Dimotheos, Gerhard Rohlfs 146
- 6 Mary of Zion: The Dwelling Place of the Ark 153
- Maryam Seyon, Aksum 153
- The Foundation of Maryam Seyon Church 158
- Dedication to Mary of Zion 165
- Mariolatry and the Kebra Nagast 170
- The Ark at Dabra Makeda 171
- Wanderings of the Ark 177
- 7 The 'Ark' at Aksum Seyon? Conclusions 181
- Royal Propaganda 181
- Ethiopia's Tribulations 189
- Metamorphosis 192
- The White Stone 195
- Jesuit or Christian Arab? 199
- Survival 206
- Appendix Selected Documentation 209
- Chronological Chart: History of the Ethiopian Ark 265.
- Notes:
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 227-263) and index.
- ISBN:
- 1850436681
- OCLC:
- 58749132
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