Ark Read Free Page B

had envisioned a flat rectangle of solid gold that had two large flat cookie-cutouts of angels attached to its ends. From the description he envisioned the lid extended at both ends and fashioned into outspread wings. The two pieces were folded up and curved so that they arched over the lid in a half circle.
    “I’ve seen renditions of the ark,” said Gene. “The angels are sculptures of cherubs with their wings aimed toward one another. You know, kneeling on the lid.”
    Jim shook his head. “The text says that they were fashioned from beaten gold and were ‘one with the mercy seat.’ Also, wasn’t there a law against making graven images?”
    “Interesting,” said Gene. “Okay. Can I copy these?”
    “So I guess this means I’m out fifty dollars?” asked Lou.
    Gene continued to stare at the drawings. “I’d say you won the bet, Jim.”
    Jim held out his hand triumphantly.
    “Okay, I’ll pay you tomorrow,” said Lou.
    “You better!” The bet had lost its importance, and curiosity had taken its place. “You should read the text of Exodus, Lou,” he said. “It’ll change your mind about the Bible.”
    “Sure it will,” said Lou as he walked back to his drawing table. “If you’ll excuse me, gentlemen,” he added, “I have to recover some of my losses with some honest work.”
    Gene smiled at Jim. “So it grabbed you too?”
    “I want to know more,” answered Jim. “How big is a cubit, for instance?”
    “As much as twenty-one inches, by my reckoning,” answered Gene. “The measure of Pharaoh’s forearm. It had to be bigger than everyone else’s, of course.” He gave a cynical smile.
    “But wasn’t the Babylonian cubit the standard?”
    “To everyone but the Egyptians,” said Gene. “I wondered the same thing, so I’ve done some research. It seems that Biblical experts are sold on the idea of the Babylonian cubit and the sculptural angels, but I think these are both mistakes. Both concepts are relatively modern, based on thirteenth century ideas.”
    “What did Von Daniken make of the description?”
    “Well, that’s what got me going in the first place,” replied Gene. “In Chariots of the Gods he simply says that the ark was a radio for talking to God, suggesting that the God of Israel may have been a space alien.”
    “That’s bound to piss off a few folks,” said Jim. “How does he back up that claim?”
    Gene raised his eyebrows. “That’s just it,” he said. “He DOESN’T back it up at all. Like he was getting his info from somewhere else.”
    “You think he’s right?”
    Gene shrugged and looked back at the drawings. “I didn’t until I read the thing myself and did some research,” he said. “Now I’m not so sure.”
    Jim was confused. He couldn’t imagine that Gene, an expert at electronics, would end up agreeing with the fantasies of Von Daniken, and he said as much.
    Gene appreciated Jim’s frankness.
    “It’s probably a coincidence that the ark is a resonator,” he said. “After all it’s a simple configuration, a box of wood covered inside and outside with gold. But ...”
    “But what?”
    “The box, the wood that the ark was built from. It’s acacia, used to make tone arms for record players because it’s non-resonating.”
    “So?”
    “That’s two coincidences,” replied Gene. “The more I learn, the more I find.”
    “More?”
    “Well, like the fact that the Tabernacle is made of the same wood and covered with a layer of gold. That means that the resonator is sitting in a microwave reflector, like a wave guide. If I look at the ark in total I see similarities to electronic components.”
    “That could just be a coincidence,” argued Jim.
    “Yes,” said Gene. “What bothers me is there are a lot of them. It made me wonder if the ark could be rebuilt using modern materials.”
    “What would that accomplish?” asked Jim. “You want a radio to talk to God?”
    Lou heard this as he came in from the back room. “Hey, if you