The Ark of the Covenant is well-known because of the popular Indiana Jones movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark. That pop culture film offers just one of over a dozen theories on what happened to the Ark of the Covenant. The question arises because the ark is not one of the artifacts taken to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar in the biblical account of the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple in 586 BC, nor is it listed among the temple treasures returned to Israel in Ezra 1, the account of the release of the captive Judeans. This episode surveys the more interesting and important theories as to the fate of the ark.
Sources:
John Day, “Whatever Happened to the Ark of the Covenant?” Temple and Worship in Biblical Israel (Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series 422; Bloomsbury T&T Clark; Rev. Ed edition, 2007), 250-270
John Bimson, “Shoshenk and Shishak: A Case of Mistaken Identity?” Journal of the Ancient Chronology Forum 6 (1992/93): 19-32
Michael S. Heiser, “Moses as High Priest and Sorcerer? A Response to Graham Hancock’s
Egyptian Explanation for the Ark of the Covenant” Near East Archaeological Society Bulletin 39-40 (1995) 48-65
link referenced:
https://www.breakingisraelnews.com/85762/enigmatic-dead-sea-copper-scroll-reveals-true-locations-lost-temple-treasures/#7h3EPE5c8FKGOWQZ.97