The searchlight. [volume] (Culbertson, Mont.) 1902-current, 1911-08-18


been rioting with fanatical tur-
bulence and all Christendom
has been exercised because the
sacrilege of stealing the Ark OF
the Covenant was wrongfully imputed
to Captain the Honorable Montague
Parker of the First Life Guards of ne
English army. and a party OF archeol.
ogists whom he commanded. He was
aided and abetted. II was alleged, by
Lieut.. Robin Duff. an officer OF the
Second Life Guards and a relative OF
King George v.
Assisted by the connivance OF the
Turkish government and by brides to
Mohammedan soldiers. the English
men are accused of rifiing the sacred
bowels of Mount Moriah. the site Of
the Temple Of Solomon and of the
Mosque of Omar at Jerusalem, and OF
making off with the Ark. after I'M
earthing the venerable Golfer from its
purported place Of concealment for
more than twenty centuries. The ex-
plorers. according to news cablegrams,
were pursued to the coast by the hue
and cry of scandalized Moslems, and
echoes of their pious indignation are
reverberating through Europe and
America.
Mortified clergymen have predicted
that some such fate would overtake
the English officer as befell the men
of Bethshemesh, of whom 5000 are
declared in the Old Testament to have
been smitten OF the Lord because GER
look inside the Ark; or as happened to
Uzzah. who put forth his hand to
steady the holy chest when II rocked
upon its cart. and who was slain ''for
his error" by Jehovah. in his suddenly
kindled wrath.
Explorers Invited to Continue Work.
The outcry Of sacrilege has not been
completely quieted by Capt. Parker's
solemn declaration that he found no
Hebrew antiquities whatever beneath
the Mosque Of Omar, and that he was
not searching for the Ark. but for the
tombs of David and Solomon. A con-
elusive refutation of the accusation is
the fact that the Turkish authorities
have invited the Englishmen to renew
their excavations next autumn. For
Jerusalem and its relics are as hal
lowed to Moslem as they are to a
Jew, because Mahomet is reputed to
have begun at the Holy City his tabled
expedition to the Seven Heavens.
Besides. 1t is the opinion Of most
students of the Bible that the Ark was
probably destroyed when the temple
was burned by Nebuchadnezzar. and
that 1t had certainly disappeared be-
fore the composition OF the book ii
Maccabees.
Speculation as to the present exis-
tence Of the Ark is perhaps due to
the remarkable phenomenon Of its
abrupt disappearance from Holy Writ.
In one verse of the book OF ii Chron-
icles the Hebrew palladium Is restored
with rejoicings to the Temple of Solo
mon. In another verse of the same
chapter II is dismissed. as with a wave
Of the hand, in the words: "And there
1t Is until this day" Except meta
phorically or incidentally. the Ark is
but once again mentioned in the Bible.
While most scholars believe that the
Ark was lost Immediately before or
during the Hebrew captivity in Baby
Ion. some hold that IL was taken by
the conquerors to the capital city Of
the Chaldees. But, II so. II was almost
certainly restored when the Jews were
reinstated in Jerusalem, In 520-I6 b. C.
Others declare that the Ark was not
taken into captivity. but was hidden
away In the secret chambers of the
temple, in the apartment where wood
was kept. and It is related that a Ger.
tain priest. while working in the apart.
ment, noticed that some stones pro-
1ected above the others. He no soon.
er began to tell the story to a fellow
priest than he expired. That was re-
garded as a sure sign that the Ark
was buried in that place.
However. IL the Ark was really ia
ken to Babylon. which most scholars
doubt. II seems to have been returned
to Jerusalem. according to the sequel
related in the book Of Ezra.
II IL possible. some writer's say. that
the Ark had declined In esteem among
the Hebrews themselves. during the
calamities which befell their nation.
Perhaps. also. the leaders may have
taken alarm over the honors of wor-
ship paid to the Ark from the day
when Joshua rent his clothes and
fell to the easSh upon his face before
the Ark of the lord until eventids. he
and the elders Of Israel. and put dust