Raiders of the Lost Ark claims examined - Part 1

I love Indiana Jones. Agile and daring, dashing and handsome, quick witted and good with a whip or a gun, solving the riddles of the ancients. And he takes on the Ark of the Covenant.

But I also know I am not easy to watch movies with. Hollywood should hire me to check the consistency of the script before they make the movie. My suspension of disbelief is broken when the movie breaks any of it's own rules.

I first watched this movie when I was atheist, so I didn't worry about the claims they made about the bible. Later, when I watched it again, I was irritated at the little things. Why? Well, how accurate was the movie to what we see in the bible? Here is a snippet of dialog I copied down while watching my DVD version of the movie.

• Jones: The City of Tanis is one of the possible resting places of the lost ark.
• Small G-man: The lost ark?
• Jones: Yeah, the ark of the covenant, the chest that the Hebrews used to carry around the 10 commandments in 
• Large G-man: What, what do you mean, 10 commandments, are you talking about THE 10 COMMANDMENTS?
• Jones: Yes, the actual 10 commandments, the original stone tablets that Moses brought down out of Mount Herob and smashed, if you believe in that sort of thing. Didn't you guys ever go to Sunday school?
• Small G-man: Well I...
• Jones: Well look, the Hebrews took the broken pieces and put them in the Ark and when they settled in Caanan, they put the ark in a place called the Temple of Solomon.
• Brody: In Jerusalem
• Jones: Where it stayed for many years until all of a sudden, whoosh, it's gone.
• Large G-man: Where?
• Jones: Well, nobody knows where, or when
• Brody: However, an egyptial pharoh
• Jones: Shishen
• Brody: Yes, invaded Jerusalem round about 980 BC and he may have taken the ark back to the city of Tanis and hidden it in the secret chamber called the well of souls.

It is true, God inscribed the tablets with the 10 Commandments, and when Moses came off Mount Horeb and smashed the 10 Commandments since the people were trying to get a golden calf to guide them instead of God in Exodus 32.


<tangent>A calf... really? Some day, I need to investigate the meaning behind the golden calf, it's all over the old testament and brought down the nation of Israel. But I digress</tangent> 

But we never see those pieces again. Deuteronomy lays out the instructions for us nicely, this was missed by the script writer(s). But the instructions for the ark creation are pretty explicit.

Also, according to Hebrews and a other sources in the OT, there were other things in the ark as well. A jar of manna, Aaron's staff (not only does it turn into a snake and swallow other staffs, but it sprouted almonds) and the two tablets.  Details, details, details...