Musings about the Ark of the Covenant
On the first night of Rosh Hashanah 5781, a friend who shares my fascination with Tanach gave me as a gift an old copy of Werner Keller's The Bible As History translated into Hebrew. Later that night I skimmed the book. The first page that opened up had the following picture on the bottom: For some reason, I was captivated (and I knew the book was definitely a keeper, if for nothing else but having access to this picture :)). I still can't quite explain why it interests me so much. Some about how it never occurred to me that the styling of the Ark could be Egyptian of all things. Don't get me wrong, I think Egyptian wings are awesome, but there's always a feeling that if the Mishkan was merely a copy & paste of a classical Egyptian temple, then what's the point? Therefore, it was a head-scratcher for a couple of weeks: Who would draw an Egyptian-style Ark and why? Nobody is credited in the book, at least not in my edition. Finally, earlier this evening, I goog...