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At the beginning of his reign, King David removed the Ark from Kirjath-jearim amid great rejoicing. On the way to Zion, Uzzah, one of the drivers of the cart whereon the Ark was carried, put out his hand to steady the Ark, and was smitten by God for touching it. David, in fear, carried the Ark aside into the house of Obed-edom the Gittite, instead of carrying it on to Zion, and there it stayed three months (2 Samuel 6:1-11; 1 Chronicles 13:1-13).<br/><br/> On hearing that God had blessed Obed-edom because of the presence of the Ark in his house, David had the Ark brought to Zion by the Levites, while he himself, 'girded with a linen ephod', 'danced before the Lord with all his might' and in the sight of all the public gathered in Jerusalem. In Zion, David put the Ark in the tabernacle he had prepared for it, offered sacrifices, distributed food, and blessed the people and his own household (2 Sam. 6:17-20; 1 Chron. 16:1-3; 2 Chron. 1:4).
The Ethiopian Orthodox Church claims to possess the Ark of the Covenant, or Tabot, in Axum (Aksum), not far from the border with Eritrea. The object is currently kept under guard in a treasury near the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion and is used occasionally in ritual processions. Replicas of the Axum tabot are kept in every Ethiopian church, each with its own dedication to a particular saint, the most popular of these include Mary, George and Michael.<br/><br/> The Kebra Nagast, composed to legitimise the new dynasty ruling Ethiopia following its establishment in 1270, narrates how the real Ark of the Covenant was brought to Ethiopia by Menelik I with divine assistance, while a forgery was left in the Temple in Jerusalem.<br/><br/> Although the Kebra Nagast is the best-known account of this belief, the belief predates the document. Abu Salih the Armenian, writing in the last quarter of the twelfth century, makes one early reference to this belief that they possessed the Ark.
In this tale from the Hebrew Bible, or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible, God was dissatisfied with the sins of mankind and he decided to purge the earth of every person except the righteous Noah and his wife.<br/><br/> God instructed Noah to build an ark and to save two of each earthly creature on board. Noah complied, and as soon as the ark was built, God flooded the earth and killed everyone except Noah and his wife.<br/><br/> After the waters receded, God appeared before Noah—as depicted in this scene on a huge wool and silk tapestry—and made a covenant: to protect Noah and his family, and allow them to inherit the earth.