Thursday, April 07, 2022

How many Arks of the Covenant were there?

PROF. YIGAL LEVIN: The Precursors of the Ark (TheTorah.com).
At the battle against the Philistines at Michmas, Saul asks Ahiah the priest to bring forward the ark, so that he can consult YHWH. He is not referring to the ark of Shiloh, which was safeguarded in Kiryat-yearim at the time; in the early monarchic period, each worship site had its own priestly family with its own ark.
Could be. Any attempt to harmonize the texts has to read a lot into them. This suggestion also reads a good bit into the archaeology.

For many, many PaleoJudaica posts on the Ark of the Covenant, start here (cf. here) and follow the links.

For the model shrines excavated at Khirbet Qeiyafa, see here and links.

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