Ark of the Covenant... a recovered prop?

Rating: Null/10 (2 August 2001)

I was just watching a horrible 1950s biblical epic called "David and Bathsheba," starring Gregory Peck playing King David in a kind of superhero outfit with a Star of David on his chest.
But the prop used for the Ark of the Covenant looked absolutely identical to the one used in Raiders of the Lost Ark! Anyone know if this was a little filmmakers' joke of some kind between Lucas and Spielberg? Or if maybe the even re-used the actual prop from that earlier film?