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A fresh translated Hebrew text claims to bring out where treasures from King Solomon ’s temple were hide and discusses the fate of theArk of the Covenantitself .
But unlike the Indiana Jones movie " Raiders of the Lost Ark , " the text leaves the accurate location of the Ark ill-defined and states that it , and the other hoarded wealth , " shall not be revealed until the day of the coming of the Messiah son of David … " put it out of reach of any would - be treasure searcher .
This bas-relief image showing the Ark of the Covenant being carried is from the Auch Cathedral in France. A newly translated Hebrew text claims to reveal the locations of treasures from King Solomon’s Temple and discusses the fate of the Ark itself.
King Solomon ’s Temple , also send for the First Temple , was pillage and torched by the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar II in the sixth century B.C. , according to the Hebrew Bible . The Ark of the Covenant is a pectus that , when earlier built , was said to have held tablets containing the 10 commandment . It was house in Solomon ’s Temple , a place that control many different treasures . [ Religious Mysteries : 8 Alleged Relics of Jesus ]
The newly translated text , ring " Treatise of the Vessels " ( Massekhet Kelimin Hebrew ) , says the " treasure were conceal by a figure of Levites and prophets , " writes James Davila , a professor at the University of St. Andrews , in an clause in the book " Old Testament Pseudepigrapha More Noncanonical Scriptures Volume 1 " ( William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. , 2013 ) .
" Some of these ( treasure ) were hidden in various locations in the Land of Israel and inBabylonia , while others were extradite into the hands of the angel Shamshiel , Michael , Gabriel and perhaps Sariel … " pen Davila in his clause .
The Treatise of the Vessels (Massekhet Kelim) is recorded in the 1648 Hebrew book Emek Halachah, published in Amsterdam. In the book the Treatise is published as Chapter 11 (one of its two pages shown here). The two pages also contain material from other book chapters.
The treatise is similar in some room to the metallic " Copper Scroll , " one of theDead Sea Scrollsfound near the site of Qumran in the West Bank . The Copper Scroll also discusses the location of hidden gem , although not from Solomon ’s Temple .
The treatise describes the treasures in an inventive way . One part bring up to " seventy - seven tables of gold , and their gold was from the wall of the Garden of Eden that was revealed to Solomon , and they radiate like the radiance of the sun and moon , which ray at the pinnacle of the human race . "
The oldest confirmed example of the treatise , which survives to present daylight , is from a book publish in Amsterdam in 1648 call " Emek Halachah . " In 1876 , a scholar name Adolph Jellinek published another written matter of the school text , which was virtually very to the 1648 rendering . Davila is the first to translate the text fully into English .
A story of legend
The author of the text likely was not trying to transmit factual position of the hidden gem of Solomon ’s Temple , but rather was writing a piece of work of fiction , based on different legends , Davila told LiveScience . [ In photo : Amazing Ruins of the Ancient World ]
" The writer draws on traditional method of scriptural exegesis [ version ] to deduce where the treasures might have been conceal , but I remember the writer was draw near the narrative as a piece of entertaining fable , not any kind of real scout for find thelost Temple treasures , " he wrote in the e-mail .
The structure of the story is perplexing . In the prologue it states that Shimmur the Levite ( he does n’t appear to be a scriptural soma ) and his companions hid the treasures , " but later on the textbook advert the treasures being in the keeping of or hidden by Shamshiel and other angels , " Davila said . " I mistrust the author collected various legends without too much concern about making them consistent . "
Similarities to the Copper Scroll
The Copper Scroll , which dates back around 1,900 year , and is made of copper , shows several " prominent parallel of latitude " with the newly translated treatise , Davila said .
The treatise say that the treasures fromSolomon ’s Templewere put down " on a tablet of bronze , " a metal like the Copper Scroll . to boot , among other law of similarity , the Treatise of the Vessels and Copper Scroll both denote to " vessels " or " implements , " including examples made of gold and silver .
These similarity could be a co-occurrence or part of a tradition of recording crucial information on metal .
" My guess is that whoever wrote the Treatise of Vessels come up with the same idea [ of writing a treasure listing on metal ] coincidentally on their own , although it is not unthinkable that the writer knew of some ancient tradition or custom about inscribe important information on metal , " wrote Davila in the email , noting that metal is a more indestructible material than lambskin or Egyptian paper rush .
An on-going story
The subject area of the treatise is ongoing , and discoveries go along to be made . For example , in the mid-20th century a copy of it ( with some variation ) was discover and immortalise in Beirut , Lebanon , at the conclusion of a serial publication of inscribed plate that read the Book of Ezekiel .
Those plate are now at the Yad Ben Zvi Institute in Israel , although the plates contain the treatise itself are now miss . late enquiry has disclose , however , these plates were created in Syria at the turn of the 20th C , about 100 years ago , suggesting the treatise was being told in an elaborate way up until relatively modern times .
