Hidden Ark Discovered Through Revelation – Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahdo Church Sunday School Department

November 29, 2016

By Kassa Nigus

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In an interview with Seme’atsidk Newspaper, Megabe Selam Kesis Selomon Tolcha, Head of Heritage Protection, Library and Museum Department under the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church Patriarchate announced that more than half a century old Ark, dedicated to St. Michael, has been found in Addis Ababa University Museum.

The Ark has been handed over to Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church on November 19, 2016, and is now under the custody of Menbere Leul Saint Mark Church which was built by the Emperor adjacent to the main campus of Addis Ababa University (AAU) at Sidist Kilo.

According to Kesis Selomon, the Ark is discovered through a divine revelation to an 80 year old hermit called Zeneb Belete. Since 2011, the hermit has repeatedly said that an Ark existed in the Museum, but no one paid enough attention.

The hermit explained his vision saying "Saint Michael who holds the balance and sword has been taking me through the first gate of the campus and showed me where the Ark was kept.” The hermit also informed the Patriarch about his vision on the existence of the Ark in the university.

The church, then, formed a team to search for the Ark. During the search, the Ark was found cloaked in a small room built separately in the 3rd basement of the museum and was given to the church on November 19, 2016. Even the head of the museum did not know the existence of the Ark. The process to return the Ark to the church took much negotiation between the university and the concerned bodies of the church.

There are evidences which show that the Ark was made by the order of Emperor Haile Selassie over 68 years ago and bears the label ‘Altar stone, Number 1761’. The Ark was initially taken into the university’s museum on June 12, 1961 by a man named Stephen Write.

According to the guests and historians who took part in discovering the ark, Ethiopian Emperors had a culture of keeping an Ark in the Icon house of their palace for prayer service. Perhaps Emperor Haile Selassie used the Ark for the same purpose.

Previously, the main campus of Addis Ababa University, the oldest and largest higher learning and research institution in Ethiopia, was both the palace and residence of the imperial families of Emperor Haile Selassie. The compound was known as ‘Genete Leul Bete Mengist’ (Palace of Paradise of the Prince). Later, the Emperor donated it to be used as an educational institution following the shift of the Palace to Arat Kilo Bete Mengist (formerly known as Jubilee Palace).
Edition: Tsegaye Girma