ETHIOPIA –  A leaky church roof is about to give the world a glimpse of the legendary Ark of the Covenant.

The home of the iconic relic – a small chapel in Ethiopia – has sprung a leak and so the Ark will now be on the move.

The Ark – which The Bible says holds God’s Ten Commandments given to Moses on Mount Sinai – is said to have been kept in Aksum, in the Chapel of the Tablet, adjacent to St Mary of Zion Church, since the 1960s.

According to the Old Testament, it was first kept in the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem for centuries until a Babylonian invasion in the 6th century BC.

Since then it’s been the goal of many adventurers and archaeologists to find it. Most-famously, but also fictitiously, Indiana Jones was shown in the 1981 Steven Spielberg film Raiders of the Lost Ark.

There has also been a long-running claim from the Orthodox Christians of Ethiopia that they have had the Ark for centuries, and since the 1960s it has apparently been kept in the chapel.

This small building is surrounded by spiked iron railings, and situated between two churches, the old and new, of St Mary of Zion in central Aksum.

No one has been allowed to see the holy object, described in scripture as being made from acacia wood, plated with gold and topped with two golden angels, except one solitary elderly monk, who must watch over the Ark for the remainder of his life, and is never allowed to leave the chapel grounds.

But now the chapel – which was designed by the Ethiopian leader Emperor Hailie Selassie – has had to be covered in a tarpaulin to stop rain getting in.

The water damage could mean the Ark will be moved for the first time in decades giving religious worshippers and adventurers alike a chance to see it.

British photographer Tim Makins, 54, who is a travel photographer for publications like Lonely Planet, discovered the church had sprung a leak whilst travelling through Ethiopia last Septembe

He believes the moving of the Ark could be one of the best ways to discover if there’s any truth in the claims of the East African state.

Tim said: ‘During my most recent visit to the church, I was surprised to see some ground adjacent to the ”Chapel of the Tablet” being cleared and levelled by workmen, and some quantities of building stone being assembled nearby.

‘Asking around, I managed to discover that a new temporary chapel is due to be built, and the Ark is to be moved into it while the original chapel is repaired.

‘It seems that the builders of the 1960s were not as careful as the builders of centuries past, and the roof of the chapel has developed some serious leaks that now need comprehensive repair work.

‘To protect the Ark, a tarpaulin now covers the roof of the chapel but this is just a temporary measure.

‘To renovate the building thoroughly, the roof must be stripped back to the bare bones and so a replacement chapel is to be built next door providing a temporary home for it.’

Tim said the construction of the new temporary chapel would take about three months according to workers and religious figures at the site, though he suspects that it will probably take much longer.

He added: ‘When the work is finished, the Ark of the Covenant will be carried to its new resting place.’

‘That this can be done by the one person allowed to see it is unlikely, as The Bible describes the size of the Ark as 2.5 cubits in length, 1.5 in breadth, and 1.5 in height.

‘Cubits in today’s measurements translate to about 1.31 metres x 0.79m x 0.79m and it is normally carried on two long wooden poles.

‘If it really is this size, and still contains the two stone tablets that list God’s Ten Commandments, then the elderly monk will no doubt need some help to transport it.’

ADDIS ABABA – The head of the Orthodox Church of Ethiopia has stated that the Ark of the Covenant will be revealed to the public.

Abuna Pauolos is in Vatican City this week, meeting with Pope Benedict XVI. It is from this holy city that Pauolos confirmed the Ark of the Covenant’s presence in Ethiopia, and that he will be announcing its unveiling this Friday: “Soon the world will be able to admire the Ark of the Covenant described in the Bible as the container of the tablets of the law that God delivered to Moses and the center of searches and studies for centuries.”

The Ark is a sacred container written of in the Old Testament. It is said to contain the original Ten Commandments tablets, as well as some manna, the mythical food that the Israelites ate while wandering through the desert.

It was made of wood, but covered in pure gold. On top, two cherubim faced each other, their wings outspread to form the “throne of God”. It’s supposed weight has been widely debated, with numbers ranging from 180 to 8,000 pounds!

Theologians have never been able to agree on the Ark’s fate, but many believe Menelik I brought it to Ethiopia. Menelik was the son of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, and was the first Jewish emperor of Ethiopia.

Today, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church boasts that it sits under lock and key in the Chapel of the Tablet, near the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion. It is only used occasionally in ritual processions, but almost no one has seen it, let alone gotten photographic evidence.

Said Pauolos, “The Ark of the Covenant is in Ethiopia for many centuries. As a patriarch I have seen it with my own eyes and only few highly qualified persons could do the same, until now.”

Even UFOlogists are excited, as some believe the Ark is an example of alien intervention in ancient times. They interpret its its supernatural aspects literally, such as that the operator had to wear a special gem-adorned breastplate, or that it could be used as a weapon of mass destruction.

The world anxiously awaits his announcement tomorrow. But will it be the real Ark, or just a hoax?