Tana Kirkos is a small, heavily forested island monastery rising dramatically from the waters of Lake Tana — described in the episode as a "wild-looking place" with a foreboding, cliff-lined shore and no visible dock. Lake Tana is Ethiopia's largest lake and the legendary source of the Blue Nile, lending the island a remote, almost primordial atmosphere. The island is considered deeply sacred by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and is generally closed to outside visitors, with access controlled by resident monks. Ethiopian tradition holds that the Ark of the Covenant rested on Tana Kirkos for approximately 800 years before being moved to Axum on the mainland. Gates visited the island with biblical investigator Bob Cornuke and Haifa University Professor of Archaeology Sariel Shalev to examine and potentially scientifically test ancient artifacts that, according to local tradition, accompanied the Ark during its time on the island.
Ethiopian tradition suggests the Ark of the Covenant may have arrived in the region during or after the reign of Solomon, according to accounts associated with the Queen of Sheba narrative
According to Ethiopian Orthodox tradition, the Ark is believed to have been moved from Tana Kirkos to the Church of St. Mary of Zion in Axum, following Ethiopia's Christianization — approximately 800 years after its supposed arrival
Gates, Bob Cornuke, and archaeometallurgist Sariel Shalev visit Tana Kirkos as part of Expedition Unknown Season 3's Ark of the Covenant investigation
The central figure on the Tana Kirkos investigation was Sariel Shalev, identified on camera as a Professor of Archaeology at Haifa University and an archaeometallurgist — a specialist in the scientific analysis of ancient metal objects. Shalev's role was to examine artifacts the island's monks claim came with the Ark of the Covenant, applying materials science to what had previously been a matter of faith and oral tradition. As he told Gates, his discipline is focused on "analyzing ancient metals, trying to understand how they were made and in what time" — a methodology that could, in principle, place objects within a datable historical range.
The Ethiopian Orthodox tradition regarding Tana Kirkos is longstanding and deeply held. According to this tradition, the Ark was brought to Ethiopia by Menelik I — the son said to have been born of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba — and kept on the sacred island for several centuries before Ethiopia's Christianization prompted its transfer to Axum. This narrative is not accepted by mainstream Western biblical scholarship, which generally treats the Ark's post-Temple fate as historically unresolved, but it is a serious and ancient religious tradition within Ethiopia, not a modern invention.
Mainstream archaeology has not confirmed the presence of the Ark at Tana Kirkos or anywhere else in Ethiopia, and the episode is careful to frame the investigation as exploratory rather than conclusive. Bob Cornuke is described in the episode as a "biblical investigator" — a framing that signals his work sits in the space between faith-based inquiry and empirical research. The episode's logic is transparent: if the artifacts can be metallurgically dated to a period consistent with the Ark's supposed journey, that would constitute circumstantial supporting evidence, not proof.
What Gates' episode contributed was rare access — Tana Kirkos is a closed holy site, and the suggestion that outside researchers had never previously tested the island's artifacts gives the visit genuine documentary value, regardless of what the testing ultimately yielded. The episode explores the question honestly, presenting the island as one link in a chain of circumstantial evidence rather than a smoking gun. Whether the artifact analysis produced results consistent with the Ethiopian tradition is something viewers of the episode would need to assess for themselves.
Lake Tana is Ethiopia's largest lake and is considered one of the sources of the Blue Nile, which flows north from the lake toward Sudan and Egypt.
Tana Kirkos is one of dozens of island monasteries scattered across Lake Tana, several of which are accessible to visitors — though Tana Kirkos itself is considered among the most restricted due to its sacred status.
Bob Cornuke, who accompanied Gates on this investigation, is a former police investigator and biblical archaeologist who has spent years tracking the possible route of the Ark of the Covenant through Northeast Africa.
According to Ethiopian tradition, the Ark rested on Tana Kirkos for approximately 800 years — a period spanning from its supposed arrival with Menelik I to the Christianization of Ethiopia around the 4th century AD.
Tana Kirkos is a sacred island restricted to Orthodox Christian monks and is generally not open to general tourists or outside visitors, as confirmed by Bob Cornuke's on-camera statement that "this is a holy island." Travelers visiting Lake Tana can take boat excursions to other island monasteries in the region, but access to Tana Kirkos specifically should not be assumed — check current guidance from local operators and Ethiopian tourism authorities before planning a visit.
Bahir Dar, approximately 35–60 kilometers by water depending on route, is the main gateway city for Lake Tana and offers boat services to the lake's island monasteries.
Lake Tana is most comfortably visited during Ethiopia's dry season, generally from October through May, when boat travel on the lake is more predictable. The rainy season (roughly June through September) can make access to the lake's islands more difficult.
Jerusalem
Jerusalem is the original home of the Ark of the Covenant in biblical tradition and the starting point of any investigation into its possible removal and journey to Ethiopia.
Kingdom of Kush Pyramid Tombs
The Kingdom of Kush, whose pyramid tombs Gates investigated, represents the ancient Nile corridor through which the Ark would have theoretically passed on its way from Egypt to Ethiopia, according to the theory explored in the episode.
Holy Land
The Holy Land appears as a broader Gates investigation region tied to biblical archaeology, the same overarching subject matter as the Ark of the Covenant inquiry at Tana Kirkos.