Ethiopian Patriarch to Announce the Ark of the Covenant is in Axum

Thanks to Goggle "Translate" and "Alert", I came across an intriguing article in the Italian Adnkronos news site. Adnkronos snagged an exclusive interview with the Patriarch of the Orthodox Church in Ethiopia. The Patriarch, Abuna Pauolos, has been in Rome for the last week at something like a G8 summit for religious leaders. During the interview with Adnkronos, the Patriarch announced that the time was right to show the world the truth about the Ark of the Covenant.

The truth being that the Ark does actually rest in Ethiopia.

The Ark has long been thought by some to be resting in Saint Mary of Zion Church in Axum. The legend goes that the son of Sheba and King Solomon came to Jerusalem and stole the Ark from under the noses of the Temple leaders. After some bouncing around Egypt, the Ark was taken to Ethiopia where it has been hidden ever since.

Until now, this has been something of a fairy tale in the legend of the Ark. Graham Hancock did some convincing research in his book, The Sign and the Seal on the theory. The Ethiopians themselves have never quite hidden the fact that the Ark rests in their country either. During the festival of Timkat, mock-ups of the Ark are paraded around Axum.

The Patriarch went on to say that on the 19th of June he would be meeting with Pope Benedict to apprise him of "the situation" in Ethiopia. Patriarch Pauolos is planning to hold a press conference this Friday in Rome where he will announce that Ark will be placed in a museum in Axum for the world to see. The possibilities of the announcement are no less than staggering. One of history's greatest enigmas might come to an end on Friday.

I'm still curious why Patriarch Pauolos would wish to apprise Pope Benedict of his announcement. The Vatican has made no moves at this point to publicly acknowledge meeting between the two Holy Men. There must be some reason Pauolos would inform the Catholic Church of the truth of the Ark. There also must be some reason as to why now? Why after centuries of hiding the Ark away, are there plans on putting the Ark in a museum.

Friday might just prove to be a very interesting day...

Remnants of a Secret Library Been Found in Bulgaria

Some of the writing I do here at Grail Seekers is speculation. Those of us who fish in the underground stream for the flotsam and jetsam of hidden knowledge will at best collect a few connected puzzle pieces. Those of us who have the integrity of seeking Truth, try not to force the jig saw puzzle together. We are satisfied with a corner piece fitting together here, or making half a recognizable image there. Such is the nature outsider looking into secret societies, cryto-history, and random Fortean weirdness.

Ever so often, the rules of the game change and some tiny bit of information comes along that gives one a WOW moment. We look back on the trail behind us more clearly, because what we had thought all along has the light of validity attached.

Such seems to be the case with my following of the events in Bulgaria over the last year and a half. I won't rehash all of the events leading up to last week's news story, but if you're interested you can check out my articles entitled Templar Dig in Bulgaria and Templar Dig in Bulgaria Continues.

The short and sweet version is that a group of modern day Templars has funded Bulgaria archeologist Nickolay Ovcharov to find evidence of Templar activity in Bulgaria. Given findings last year, I had speculated that Ovcharov was looking for a legendary secret library of the last Bulgarian Tsar, Ivan Shisman. The story goes that Shisman hid his library before the advancing Ottoman's took over the country in the 14th Century.

The possibilities of finding an undisturbed medieval royal library are staggering. Dependant on the level of activity that the Templars might have had in the area, the unblemished records could be astounding. Especially since Bulgaria was a overland route into Constantinople, who knows what clues to the 4th Crusade's sacking of the town could be held in a such a library.

Last Friday, Novite.com ran another find of our friend Ovcharov. In Saint Peter and Paul's church in Veliko Tarnovo, a "silver and gold casing of a medieval book... contains a golden image of Archangel Michael with a scepter in his hand" was found. The article goes on to say that "He [Ovcharov] also announced his team had discovered a bronze hasp at the same spot which confirmed the testimonies that in the 19th century a secret room with hand-written medieval books was discovered at the church."

I haven't been able to track down the source of the 19th Century account as of yet, but it seem pretty clear that Ovcharov is looking for it. Sometimes one's chickens do come home to roost in a positive way...

At the moment, I'm looking into some other seemingly non-connected stories happening in Bulgaria that circle into Ovcharov's professional connections and some European Union politics. If I can make some of the dots connect, I'll go to press in the next week about my findings. Until then think good thoughts that if Ovcharov does find the library, the world will get a look at the documents. It would be very easy for a find like this to get overlooked and hidden away for another 700 years.