ark of the covenant

ark (def. 2).

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In Judaism and Christianity, the ornate, gold-plated wooden chest that in biblical times housed the two tablets of the Law given to Moses by God.

The Levites carried the Ark during the Hebrews' wandering in the wilderness. Following the conquest of Canaan, it was kept at Shiloh but was sometimes carried into battle by the Israelites. David took it to Jerusalem, and Solomon placed it in the Temple of Jerusalem, where it rested in the Holy of Holies and was seen only by the high priest on Yom Kippur. It is believed to have been captured when Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians in 586 BC, and its subsequent fate is unknown.

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▪ religion

Hebrew  Aron Ha-berit,  

      in Judaism and Christianity, the ornate, gold-plated wooden chest that in biblical times housed the two tablets of the Law given to Moses by God. The Ark rested in the Holy of Holies inside the Tabernacle of the ancient Temple of Jerusalem and was seen only by the high priest of the Israelites on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.

      The Levites (priestly functionaries) carried the Ark with them during the Hebrews' wanderings in the wilderness. Following the conquest of Canaan, the Promised Land, the Ark resided at Shiloh, but from time to time it was carried into battle by the Israelites. Taken to Jerusalem by King David, it was eventually placed in the Temple by King Solomon. The final fate of the Ark is unknown.

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