In biblical accounts of the wanderings of the Israelites after the Exodus and their settlement in the Promised Land, the Ark of the Covenant is celebrated as a dangerously powerful object--a physical locus for the holiness and worship of God. In the centuries after its placement in the Jerusalem Temple by King Solomon, however, the Ark begins to recede from biblical history. What happened to it when the Temple was destroyed, and where is it today? Dr. Annette Y. Reed, Assistant Professor in...