In Judaism and Christianity, the ornate, gold-plated wooden chest that in biblical times housed the two tablets of the Law given to Moses by God.
The Levites carried the Ark during the Hebrews' wandering in the wilderness. Following the conquest of Canaan , it was kept at Shiloh but was sometimes carried into battle by the Israelites. David took it to Jerusalem, and Solomon placed it in the Temple of Jerusalem , where it rested in the Holy of Holies and was seen only by the high priest on Yom Kippur . It is believed to have been captured when Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians in 586 BC, and its subsequent fate is unknown.