What became of the ark when the temple of Solomon was destroyed by the Babylonians is a matter of dispute, and of much obscurity. Dr. Prideaux says: “Had it been carried to Babylon with the other vessels of the temple it would again have been brought back with them at the end of the captivity. But that it was not so is agreed on all hands, and therefore it must follow that it was destroyed with the temple, as were also the altar of incense, the shewbread table, and the golden candlestick; for all these in the second temple were made anew after the rebuilding of it. However, the Jews contend that it was hid and preserved by Jeremiah (say some, out of the second book of Maccabees, chap. 2.) But most of them will have it that King Josiah, being foretold by Huldah the prophetess that the temple would speedily after his death be destroyed, caused the ark to be put in a vault underground, which Solomon, foreseeing this destruction, had caused of purpose to be built, for the preserving of it.” A writer in the London Times, treating of the great interest now taken in explorations in Palestine, refers to 2 Maccabees 2: 4–7, in which passage we are told that Jeremiah was instructed, just before the Babylonian captivity, to deposit in Mount Nebo the most valuable treasures the temple contained,—the sacred ark, etc., and says: “If that historical book is to be relied on, we must credit the fact that these sacred treasures are there still. Would it not be worth the explorer’s while to seek for these in the place specified? The discovery of them would throw great light upon the Old Testament and the language in which the tables were written.” Dr. J. E. Cranage, of England, who has lately been on a tour through the Holy Land, seems to favor the tradition of the ark being hidden in an underground vault of the ancient temple, instead of Mount Nebo. In published notes of a lecture delivered by him in Birmingham, April 20, 1877, he makes the following interesting statements about the temple site, and a suggestion about the ark:— “You remember that Solomon’s temple was the most beautiful structure in the world, built upon the place of the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite. The magnificent building now erected on the site is called in Europe the ‘Mosque of Omar,’ but in the East always the ‘Dome of the Rock.’ This Mosque of Omar is beautifully spangled inside with precious stones. There are onyx stones two feet long. In this place it is believed Abraham went to offer up Isaac. It is guarded by a race of Ethiopians, who have no other duty, and who guard the Moslem building with their lives. By a special order from the Turkish Government, the Franks may now get a view of the interior, and so we had the gratification of seeing this magnificent pile. Its floors are beautifully laid with the finest marble covered with carpets. As you approach it, you realize the wonders that took place there. It is the scene of the greatest act of faith that was ever performed by any one except by our Lord Jesus Christ, and to us Christians, as well as the Mohammedans, it cannot but be a place of intensest interest.” “On reading of the construction of Solomon’s temple, you will find the holy place itself was covered over with fir, which appears to have been cypress wood, and then covered over entirely with gold, but the Holy of holies had no covering upon the floor. The center of the rock where Abraham performed his great act of faith has never been touched, and even when the ark of the covenant rested upon it, it was not covered at all. Beneath this rock there are caverns. For a thousand years or more no one has ever gone below the first cavern. The Jew believes that under that rock the ark of the covenant rests now. The sheik who showed us the place stamped his foot on the ground; we could distinguish a hollow sound, and he said, ‘My impression is that the Jew is right.’ I think that ‘when He that shall come will come, and will not tarry,’ that original ark of the covenant, about which there has been such wondrous mystery in all ages, will again be seen, either with these eyes of ours, or in our glorified bodies.”—Messiah’s Herald.