You may have been reading during the past couple of days that:
Ark hunters and Bible enthusiasts are buzzing about a report that the Ark of the Covenant, the ancient container that holds the Ten Commandments, is expected to be unveiled in Rome today.
The patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Ethiopia says he will announce to the world the unveiling of the Ark, which he says has been hidden away in a church in his country for millennia, according to the Italian news agency Adnkronos.
Abuna Pauolos, in Italy for a meeting with Pope Benedict XVI this week, told the news agency, "Soon the world will be able to admire the Ark of the Covenant described in the Bible as the container of the tablets of the law that God delivered to Moses and the center of searches and studies for centuries."
Ummm...not so fast. Pauolos has issued a clarification:
Non sono qui per dare delle prove che l’Arca sia in Etiopia, ma sono qui per dire quello che ho visto, quello che so e che posso testimoniare. Non ho detto che l’Arca sarà mostrata al mondo. E’ un mistero, un oggetto di culto.
In other words:
"All that which is found in the Ark--explained the Patriarch, responding to the curiosity of journalists--is described perfectly in the Bible. The state of conservation is good because it is not made from the hand of man, but it is something that God has blessed." "There are many writings and evidences of the presence of the Ark in Ethiopia. There is no reason why someone [would] dare to affirm to have something that he doesn't have," explained the Patriarch. "I am not here to give proofs that the Ark is in Ethiopia, but I am here to say what I saw, what I know and I can attest to. I didn't say that the Ark would be revealed to the world. It is a mystery, an object of veneration."
Grab the bullwhip and hat; keep looking.