BIBLICAL archaeologists have claimed to have narrowed down locations that may be the secret hiding place of the legendary lost Ark of the Covenant.

       The sacred relic — known as the thrown of God — has been sought for centuries by archaeologists, a search made famous by the fictional 1981 Steven Spielberg film Raiders of the Lost Ark.

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       The hunt continues for the legendary Ark of the Covenant - how it might have looked Credit: Getty 4

       A scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark where Indiana Jones discovers the Ark of the Covenant

       Scholars of the Old Testament believe that the Ark was a wooden box about four feet long, two feet high and two feet wide.

       It was said to be covered inside out with gold and crowned with two winged angels.

       When complete it contained two stone tablets inscribed with the Ten Commandments which Moses received from God on Mount Sinai.

       The Ark is also believed by some to contain other biblical items such as Aaron’s rod — thought by some to wield supernatural powers.

       For this reason, treasure hunters and archaeologists have long been fascinated with finding the Lost Ark, which is believed to have vanished around 687 BC when the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem.

       But two compelling theories are today being pursued in the bid to find the Bible's most important relic.

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       NILE JOURNEY TO ETHIOPIA?

       Researchers at the Bible Archaeology, Search & Exploration (BASE) Institute, founded by NASA moonwalking astronaut James Irwin, have been pursuing a theory for more than 20 years that indicates the Ark was secretly taken out of ancient Israel and to Ethiopia.

       Leading the BASE’s quest is Dr Bob Cornuke, an ex-crime scene investigator and member of an elite Swat team unit, who is now a real-life Indiana Jones hunting down relics of the Bible.

       He told Sun Online: "After 23 years of research and more than 20 trips to Ethiopia, as crazy as it may sound.

       "I believe the Ark may very well be hidden away today in a church called Saint Mary of Zion in Axum, in the highlands of Ethiopia."

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       Dr Bob Cornuke has spent 23 years hunting the Ark and countless expeditions

       Dr Cornuke continued: "A logical trail can be made that connects the Ark going missing from the Temple during the reign of a wicked King named Manasseh in Judah.

       "From there it went to Egypt and about 400 years prior to the birth of Christ the Ark was brought to Ethiopia.

       "Having the benefit of brilliant research from author Graham Hancock and myself having spent much time in Ethiopia I can make a solid case that the Ark is in Ethiopia today."

       He added: "If you should happen to go to Ethiopia, be prepared to have your mind convinced and your heart changed forever."

       But one barrier stops anyone from viewing or opening the Ark.

       ELEPHANTINE ISLAND

       A holy man, known as the Guardian of the Ark, is sworn to guard with his life.

       The suspected route begins in around 687BC when King Manasseh took the throne of Judah.

       Jews escaping persecution moved the Ark from King Solomon’s temple — located in today’s Temple Mount in Jerusalem — and moved it down the River Nile to a small colony on Elephantine Island.

       BASE claims they found evidence of a temple built to the dimensions of Solomon"s Temple that may have housed the Ark.

       It appears the temple was destroyed in 410BC and the holy chest was then shipped down the Nile as it travelled to Ethiopia.

       TANA KRIKOS ISLAND

       Along the way, the Ark was brought to the Tana Krikos island on Lake Tana, where there is evidence of Levitical style rituals.

       It then appears to have been taken to Axum in around 338AD as Christianity took over Ethiopia — where it is housed at St Mary's of Zion Church in Axum.

       The BASE institute claims to have spoken to a man at the church who was “The Guardian of the Ark of the Covenant” and who spent his life inside a fenced-off area surrounding the church and claimed he would not leave the compound until he died and a new guardian took over the role.

       ‘I'M THE GUARDIAN OF THE ARK’

       The man claimed he was the only person who could look at the Ark because it was a holy object and he and the villagers would protect it with their lives, if necessary.

       When an investigator from the Smithsonian approached the guardian in 2007, he was told: "I'm the guardian of the Ark, I have no other name."

       While the BASE institute did not claim the Ark had been found it did say: “At this juncture, we cannot say with certainty that it is, but neither can be said for certain that it isn’t.

       "What we have concluded is that St. Mary’s of Zion church in Axum, Ethiopia, is the resting place either of an incredible replica of the biblical Ark of the Covenant, or, of the actual Ark of the Covenant itself."

       A chapel in the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion which is the most sacred place for Orthodox Ethiopians and where the Ark is said to be under guard

       Doubting Thomas Research Foundation (DTRF), a non-profit organisation that investigates the historicity of Biblical accounts, believes the Ark was hidden in a cave by the prophet Jeremiah during the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem in 586 BC.

       President of DTRF Ryan Mauro told Sun Online: "There have been many theories on the location of the Ark of the Covenant.

       "While we do not at all have a firm position on any one idea and are open to studying each, our favoured view is that the ark was hidden in a cave by the prophet Jeremiah during the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem in 586 BC.

       "This appears to have historical confirmation in the Second Book of Maccabees, which - although not included in the Biblical canon - is largely viewed as historically accurate by scholarship."

       Researchers have pointed to clues in the Old Testament suggesting three possible locations.

       MOUNT NEBO?

       In the verses in 2nd Maccabees Chapter 2, it states Jeremiah having received an oracle, ordered the ark should follow with him, and that he went out to the mountain where Moses had gone up and had seen the inheritance of God — which was Mount Nebo.

       Here he found a cave-dwelling and stored it there before sealing up the entrance.

       TEMPLE MOUNT OR NEARBY CAVES?

       A second possible hiding place is beneath the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

       Many Israeli Rabbis throughout history have believed this.

       But the third and final view of the Jeremiah camp is that the ark is not hidden directly beneath the Temple Mount.

       Instead, it is thought to be within a cave system in the surrounding Mount Moriah area.

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