by Jim Plautz
The search for the Ark of the Covenant began in Ethiopia. Ken, Marco and I flew Ethiopian Airlines from Zurich and arrived in Ethiopia’s capitol city of Addis Ababa late afternoon. From 20,000 feet, the city of five million people looked like most European cities with new skyscrapers and roads signaling the progress and revitalization effort that was underway. It wasn’t until we landed that we saw this was mostly a mirage. As we made our way to our hotel, it was evident that living conditions and the economy left much to be desired.
My brief research on Ethiopia made me realize how little I knew about this fascinating country and how wrong my perceptions had been. Asked to describe Ethiopia in one sentence, I would have answered; “a war-torn country inhabited by a bunch of Arabs living in a big desert with no food.” That was all that I read about in Western newspapers and media accounts. I wasn’t proud of my ignorance, but that’s what it was.
Instead, I was surprised to learn that my preconceptions did little to justify the diverse and tradition-rich culture of a country credited with being the ‘origin of mankind’ with archeological evidence of civilization dating back 3,200 years. Yes, there still are periodic famines in the plains bordering Somalia on the East and Sudan on the West that are mostly inhabited by Muslim Arabs who constitute 45% of Ethiopia’s 70M population. But there is also a high central plateau inhabited primarily by Catholics that runs through the center of the country with average elevations of 6,000’ to 10,000’ and moderate temperatures ranging between 40F to 80F. The Simien Mountains reach elevations exceeding 15,000 feet, just prior to plunging into the Great Rift Valley that dissects the plateau. This is where Addis Ababa and Lake Tana are located.
My guidebook told me that Ethiopia is now a Federal republic divided into nine regions. Their last emperor of the Solomonic Dynasty, Haile Selassie I, was overthrown in the 1974 revolution. He was placed under house arrest and later found strangled to death in the palace basement. What caught my eye was his claim to have the Divine Right to govern based upon his royal blood. He was the 225th direct descendant from the dynasty of Menelik I, son of the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon of Jerusalem. Even the most radical revolutionaries that overthrew his dynasty and later murdered the last emperor in the Solomonic line accepted this claim as fact.
“Wow,” did you know this?” I asked Ken, showing him the guidebook. “I thought the Queen of Sheba was a myth.”
“Maybe she is,” Ken said with that twinkle in his eye that told me I wasn’t going to get a direct answer. “Some claim that the Queen of Sheba was real, but wasn’t Ethiopian. Still others say she is real, but question how and why she ever went to Jerusalem.”
“What do you think?” I asked, pressing the point.
“There is a plethora of historical evidence of a Jewish-Ethiopian connection. It’s likely that Menelik brought the Ark of the Covenant to Ethiopia.”
“You’re kidding,” I said, recalling that evening a year ago in Father Sean’s church. “Is that why Rosann asked us to look for the Ark while I we are here?”
“Yep, it might even be at Lake Tana. Most people think the Ark is 300 miles from here in a church in Axum, but some believe it was moved into hiding just before the rebels took control of the city. Lake Tana is one of the places it might have been taken to.”
“Why Lake Tana?”
“Because this is where many historians believe that the Ark was kept for several hundred years before it was taken to Axum.”
“I thought you said Menelik took it to Axum,” I said perplexed.
“No I didn’t; I just said that’s one of the stories. The Ark might be there now, but Menelik couldn’t have taken it there. The Ark disappeared around 640 BC, but archaeological evidence proves that Axum wasn’t founded until three hundred years later.”
“So, are the stories about Menelik being the son of Solomon and Sheba true?” I persevered, knowing that I was becoming hopelessly confused.
“Probably; most Ethiopian Jews today are descendants of Menelik’s bodyguards. The exception is the Falashas that settled around Lake Tana long before King Solomon’s time. Are you aware that the Falashas are indigenous to this area and are known as the Black Jews of Ethiopia?” Ken added with a grin.
“Enough,” I said. “Ken, let’s go get a drink. I have a headache.”
“Sorry, Jim, but it’s a dry country, no pun intended.”
The next morning we collected our travel papers from local officials and headed 310 kilometers northwest to Bahar Dar, a small village on the Southern tip of Lake Tana, headquarters for our project. I had spent a long evening researching some of the points that Ken raised the previous day, knowing that Ken was seldom wrong about the miscellaneous facts he spewed from the depths of his complex mind. I was not disappointed. Everything Ken said checked out.
The correlation between the lost Ark of the Covenant and Ethiopia was indeed real and the theory that the Ark was once brought to Lake Tana was a distinct possibility in the minds of many respected scholars. Graham Hancock, in his book The Sign and The Seal, posits that the Ark was stored on one of Lake Tana’s many islands and protected by the Black Jews of Ethiopia who trace their history back to 1500 BC. The strong Jewish presence in Ethiopia also answers the question; why take the Ark to Ethiopia? The obvious answer is; because this is where it would be safe from marauding conquerors that captured Jerusalem and looted Solomon’s Temple many times starting in the sixth century BC when the Babylonians ousted the Jews from Jerusalem in 587 BC.
As we approached Bahar Dar I noticed signs pointing to the city of Gondar, an area noted to be the cultural center of the Falashas, or Black Jews. I still had many questions in my mind about the Ark. What better place to start than in this region? I vowed to dig deeper into this mystery if time allowed. However, getting our resort project going came first and took most of my time over the next two months.
Marco divided the project into five components with the resort construction as the focal point. The four other tasks were designed to improve the infrastructure to support the new resort. This included roads, public utilities and housing to support the construction crews.
First, we needed to identify why tourists would come to the Lake Tana area. We huddled with local leaders from Gondar and surrounding communities and compiled a list of tourist attractions. I was amazed at the plethora of attractions that Lake Tana offers. The clear, fresh water lake already supports a major commercial fishing industry as more than 1,400 tons of fish are taken from Bahar Dar annually, but the lake also had the potential for sport fishing, swimming, water skiing and canoe rides using the papyrus-reed boats that are native to this region. Marco planned to import tons of sand from the Somalia desert to build a two-mile long, fifty yard deep, white sand beach surrounding a 200 foot fishing pier and 80 slip marina.
The 37 small islands dotting Lake Tana contain countless tourist attractions for anyone interested in the rich history of this region. There are active monasteries or churches on 19 of the 37 islands, many resting on earlier religious sites tracing back almost four thousand years. Tana Qieqos Island contains a rock where the Virgin Mary rested on her journey back to Egypt. Tana Kirkos Island is where Graham Hancock believes the Ark rested for 800 years before being taken to Axum. Frumentius, who introduced Christianity to Ethiopia, is buried on Tana Cherqos; Daga Island is the resting site of St. Stephanos and five emperors that can trace their lineage to King Solomon; Dek Island contains the tombs of several emperors in the Solomonic line.
“The possibility for one-day tours and excursions is unlimited,” Marco gushed. “Both Jews and Christians will want to investigate their origins.”
“Not to mention that archeologists have discovered human bones and fossils dating back more than 3,000 years,” Ken added. “This area has plenty to offer if we market it correctly.”
Adamu, our Ethiopian project manager had another suggestion. “Why not set up a ferry service to Georgina and other lakeside villages surrounding the lake? Every small village has its own st
ory.”
“Good idea, Adamu. What about Ark-related activities?” I continued. “How can we take advantage of the stories that the Ark might have been kept here for hundreds of years?”
Adamu thought for a few moments before answering. “Gondar is only 300 kilometers away and is one of the last remaining areas where the Falashas still practice their religion the old way. They are famous for their Timket Festival which uses Tabots to represent the tablets containing the 10 commandments.”
I must have had a perplexed look on my face as I tried to see the correlation, before Ken came to my aid. “According to the Bible, the tablets containing the 10 commandments were the sole contents of the Ark of the Covenant. The fact that Tabots are a fundamental part of the Falasha ceremony lends credence to their claim that the Ark might have been brought to Ethiopia. Why else would the Black Jews have ever started this practice? It ties into the traditions of the Ark’s journey nicely.”
“Is there any way we could set up a tour to retrace the journey?”
“It’s possible, but it would take too long. The original journey must have taken more than two months to sail up the Nile, assuming they didn’t stop in Egypt for a couple hundred years.” Ken replied with his trademark ‘I know something you don’t’ smile.
“How about two or three day tours to Axum?” Adamu suggested. “Their Timket festival reportedly features the real Ark.”
“Great idea. Are there any other tourist attractions that we haven’t discussed?” I asked, trying to speed up the meeting.
Adamu had another suggestion. “Tis Abay is just 30 kilometers south and the home of the Blue Nile Falls where Lake Tana discharges its water into the Blue Nile. In Ethiopia we call it Tis Issat, which means ‘Water that Smokes’. It has a sheer drop of 45 feet and is one of the largest waterfalls in the world. The hike is beautiful and the area is famous for Burke watching. Kids can swim under the falls if they avoid the hippos.”
“I’ll pass,” I replied.
“You’re from Florida,” Ken observed. “Hippos are nothing more than manatees, just a little bigger.”
“Size matters,” I responded, drawing groans from Marco and Ken.
“Moving on, what about the coffee industry? I would think there would be a way to take advantage of Ethiopia’s reputation for coffee production. Are there any coffee plantations tourists could visit?”
Twenty minutes later we were out of ideas, but satisfied that if we built it, the tourists would come.
Chapter 5 - Sophomore Year - Al McGuire Era
1976 Indiana Hoosiers
