The Ark of the Covenant

Once upon a time, on one boring evening over spring break, I rewatched the original Indiana Jones movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark.  For those who don't know, Indiana Jones is an archaeologist who races against both time and Nazis to recover the lost Ark of the Covenant in the ancient Egyptian city of Tanis.  In the movie, the Ark demonstrates many supernatural and deadly powers, these are most likely based upon a legend that the Ark was associated with several Old Testament miracles, including the fall of the Jericho walls.  As far as Biblical relics are concerned, the Ark is one of the most searched for.  In the Old Testament, the Ark was the ornate case built by the Israelites to house the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments.  The Israelites carried the Ark around with them throughout their journeys, including the famed Exodus from Egypt.  It is described as a chest made of gold-plated wood and topped with two golden angels. However, between 597 and 586 B.C., the Babylonians conquered the Israelites and the Ark, which was supposedly stored in the Temple of Jerusalem, was lost.
http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/archaeology/ark-covenant/

I was going to share a video from youtube that showed the opening of the Ark in the Indiana Jones movie, but my computer doesn't seem to want to do that at the moment.  Anyway, you can find the video on youtube if you search Raiders of the Lost Ark.  The Ark replication used in the movie seems to follow the description given in the Bible pretty well.  However, the lightning bolts that shoot out of it might be just some dramatization but I suppose you never know.