Was the Ark of the Covenant really a kind of Leyden Jar?
From Thothweb...
"The Ark of the Covenant was a machine designed, created and used for a specific purpose, and the technology involved is easily understood by anyone who has ever received a shock from a supermarket trolley or had the misfortune to wear nylon. Today, the concepts behind the Ark are readily understood, but at the time of its creation it must have been beyond the comprehension of most people, an awe-inspiring artefact."
Was the Ark of the Covenant a capacitor?
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Was the Ark of the Covenant a capacitor?
Post #1And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto His people. Exodus 32:14
Post #2
Personally I doubt whether it existed.
It just seems odd to me that such an important relic - supposedly containing stones actually written upon by God - would be carelessly misplaced, or would be destroyed without a mention in the Bible.
I suppose it may have been hidden and deliberately not referenced to keep its hiding place a secret. Or perhaps it was just myth all along.
Although the Irish claim to know its true location!
It just seems odd to me that such an important relic - supposedly containing stones actually written upon by God - would be carelessly misplaced, or would be destroyed without a mention in the Bible.
I suppose it may have been hidden and deliberately not referenced to keep its hiding place a secret. Or perhaps it was just myth all along.
Although the Irish claim to know its true location!
I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours. (Stephen Roberts)
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Cathar1950
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Post #3
I think it is under my bed and makes awful noises at night.
I have read that it was a Moabite sacred object stollen by David from his relatives and used to unite them with Jerusalem.It seems His son didn't have much use for it what ever it was. But there is doubt that it was with Moses who ever he may have been, or with any one Hebrew except the Moabites. I wish I knew where I read about that. Maybe it was in David's Secret Demons: Messiah, Murderer, Traitor, King (The Bible in Its World) by Baruch Halpern?
I have read that it was a Moabite sacred object stollen by David from his relatives and used to unite them with Jerusalem.It seems His son didn't have much use for it what ever it was. But there is doubt that it was with Moses who ever he may have been, or with any one Hebrew except the Moabites. I wish I knew where I read about that. Maybe it was in David's Secret Demons: Messiah, Murderer, Traitor, King (The Bible in Its World) by Baruch Halpern?
Re: Was the Ark of the Covenant a capacitor?
Post #4Yes, but much stronger!
A Big Battery, and liken to the smaller ones they had but this one was much more powerful.
A Big Battery, and liken to the smaller ones they had but this one was much more powerful.
Post #5
That's nice.chachynga wrote:Yes, but much stronger!
A Big Battery, and liken to the smaller ones they had but this one was much more powerful.
Do you have anything at all to support your opinion?
And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto His people. Exodus 32:14
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Cathar1950
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Post #6
chachynga wrote:
Why don't you just make one and test it out. I think the biblr has directions.Yes, but much stronger!
A Big Battery, and liken to the smaller ones they had but this one was much more powerful.
Post #7
I think this raises an interesting point. There are a lot of natural physical phenomena in the world (like static electricity) that are well understood today but would have been considered as "magic" or supernatural at one time. This time was also a period of great superstition and the physical phenomena would have probably served as evidence for their being a supernatural component to the world. Isn't it inevitable then that our current superstitions are built upon this earliest foundation of confusion?
Where in the past we might have supported certain philosophies on the mistaken assumption that there was "magic" in the world, today it seems that that particular support has been replaced by tradition.
Where in the past we might have supported certain philosophies on the mistaken assumption that there was "magic" in the world, today it seems that that particular support has been replaced by tradition.
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captaincaustic
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Post #8
I think this whole concept is very interesting and is plausible, for the technology almost definitely existed in that region at the time (for example, the Baghdad battery- http://www.world-mysteries.com/sar_11.htm) and it is logical to think that a shocking sensation would be seen as an "act of God" like other things such as natural disasters were perceived. I also think, however, that there isn't enough evidence (if any) to indicate such a use for this particular device. Also, it is possible that this theory could be used not only because of the motivation of solving a mystery, but to provide a way to take away from the significance of belief in God.
Post #9
It is interesting to me that the construction technique (Gold leaf all over the outside and inside of wood) employed because of beauty, describes exactly a very powerful Leydon jar accumulator, and in the hot dry winds of the desert(static charge conditions) and a few polishing strokes with some wool fabric, could easily strike a man dead without anyone understanding the natural process behind the phenomina.
That it could only do this once and then must spend days recharging would not have been noticed, because no one in his right mind would be willing to touch this deadly device, having had it's effectiveness so recently demonstrated.
That this Ark would be used by the preists(rabbis) to guard holy relics would be expected, they probably knew safe handling practices(wooden handles) and this would be a great trick to fool the flock.(Isaac Asimov said that a sufficiently advanced science is, to the uneducated, indistinguishable from magic(or gods,supernatural beings, etc). The Greeks had hidden mechanisms that opened the Temple doors when a fire was built on the alter in front of them, exposing the idol, and would close them when water was poured on the alter, maybe the same group of "Magicians" built the ark, who knows???
Grumpy
That it could only do this once and then must spend days recharging would not have been noticed, because no one in his right mind would be willing to touch this deadly device, having had it's effectiveness so recently demonstrated.
That this Ark would be used by the preists(rabbis) to guard holy relics would be expected, they probably knew safe handling practices(wooden handles) and this would be a great trick to fool the flock.(Isaac Asimov said that a sufficiently advanced science is, to the uneducated, indistinguishable from magic(or gods,supernatural beings, etc). The Greeks had hidden mechanisms that opened the Temple doors when a fire was built on the alter in front of them, exposing the idol, and would close them when water was poured on the alter, maybe the same group of "Magicians" built the ark, who knows???
Grumpy
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Goat
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Post #10
The 'mythbusters' show used the description in the Bible to build a 'ledyen jar' duplicate, and it did not provide a charge at all.Grumpy wrote:It is interesting to me that the construction technique (Gold leaf all over the outside and inside of wood) employed because of beauty, describes exactly a very powerful Leydon jar accumulator, and in the hot dry winds of the desert(static charge conditions) and a few polishing strokes with some wool fabric, could easily strike a man dead without anyone understanding the natural process behind the phenomina.
That it could only do this once and then must spend days recharging would not have been noticed, because no one in his right mind would be willing to touch this deadly device, having had it's effectiveness so recently demonstrated.
That this Ark would be used by the preists(rabbis) to guard holy relics would be expected, they probably knew safe handling practices(wooden handles) and this would be a great trick to fool the flock.(Isaac Asimov said that a sufficiently advanced science is, to the uneducated, indistinguishable from magic(or gods,supernatural beings, etc). The Greeks had hidden mechanisms that opened the Temple doors when a fire was built on the alter in front of them, exposing the idol, and would close them when water was poured on the alter, maybe the same group of "Magicians" built the ark, who knows???
Grumpy
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