Where is the Ark of the Covenant today?

Josiah hid it

Josiah told the Levites: “Put the holy Ark in the house that Solomon built” (2 Chronicles 35:3). The Talmud understands this as an instruction to hide it, together with the jar of manna, Aaron’s staff and the anointing oil, so that it would not be taken into exile as the Torah had warned. Maimonides writes that Solomon, knowing the Temple would one day be destroyed, built a hidden place for the Ark “in deep and winding tunnels”, and that Josiah stored it there.

The view of the Mishnah

The Mishnah tells of a priest who noticed an unusual floor stone in the woodshed of the Temple court and began to tell his friend, but died before he could finish – “and they knew with certainty that the Ark was hidden there”. Another view in the Talmud is that the Ark was taken to Babylon.

In the Second Temple

The Mishnah describes the Holy of Holies of the Second Temple as empty except for the even shetiyah, the foundation stone, on which the High Priest placed the incense on Yom Kippur.

Today

Since the place is believed to be under the Temple Mount, no excavation is possible, and the halachah restricts entry to the area of the Temple itself. Claims that the Ark is in Aksum, Ethiopia, or was found elsewhere, come from other traditions. Jewish prayer looks forward to the rebuilding of the Temple, not to the discovery of objects.