Ark of the Covenant

The Ark of the Covenant is presented via illustration and exposition as the ultimate prize: its depiction provides theological and tactical context, explaining why the Nazis would risk a global effort to recover it.

The Ark of the Covenant operates as the named objective and macguffin: the commission's goal, the Museum's promised possession, and the reason Indy must pursue Hok, Ravenwood, and the Well of the Souls. It motivates characters' priorities and moral posture in the scene.

The Ark is physically revealed when the stone chest lid is removed; its charged presence hums, repels snakes and magnetizes the men's awe. Indy and Sallah thread poles through its golden rings, lift it into the wooden crate, and begin hoisting it toward the rim — it is the central prize that triggers the scene's reverence and conflict.

The Lost Ark is exposed when the stone lid is removed; it emits a deep hum that repels the snakes and mesmerizes Sallah. Indy and Sallah fit poles through its golden rings and place it into the wooden crate, making the Ark the pivot from discovery to extraction and the immediate cause of heightened peril and rival desire.

The Ark of the Covenant is already crated and being placed into the troop truck — the immediate objective around which the entire scene pivots. Its secured presence drives Indy’s decision to split the team and attempt an urgent interception.

The crated Ark sits on the truck's rear, physically bouncing as the vehicle careens; its presence is the convoy's raison d'être and the immediate cause of the officers' frantic protective actions during Indy's takeover.

The crated Ark rides unsecured in the back of the truck, physically bouncing as attackers try to reach the cab; it is the object whose protection drives Shliemann’s panic and the convoy’s frantic tactics throughout the sequence.

The crated Ark is the passive yet active cause of the scene: it sits alone at center while a low, uncanny HUMMING issues from it, directly provoking the rats' agitation and signaling a latent supernatural presence that shifts narrative tone toward threat and foreshadowing.

The crated Ark is the object of discovery in the breached hold; its mere sight galvanizes Nazi triumph and reframes the boarding as a successful retrieval rather than simple capture, converting tactical victory into strategic threat.

The crated Ark is the central prize: Nazi soldiers carry it from the Bantu Wind hold across the lower deck using long poles, transporting it to the waiting Wurrfler. Its removal signals tactical victory and converts the artifact into property under Nazi control.

The Ark, sealed in a crate, is physically carried from the Bantu Wind's hold across the deck and toward the Wurrfler by Nazi soldiers; its removal triggers the negotiation over Marion and signals Nazi control over the expedition's prize.

The Ark is the central object around which the argument orbits; its presence in the lead mine car provokes Belloq’s rhetorical gambit and Shliemann’s procedural anxiety, embodying both religious sanctity and potential military value.