The Arc (Bahá'í)

The Arc is a number of Bahá'í administrative buildings at the Bahá'í World Centre on Mount Carmel located at Haifa, Israel. They include the Seat of the Universal House of Justice, the Seat of the International Teaching Centre, the International Archives, and the Centre for the Study of the Sacred Texts. A fifth building, the International Bahá'í Library, has yet to be built.

Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, in his Tablet of Carmel, wrote that God would "sail His Ark" on Mount Carmel and saying, the mountain will be "the seat of His throne." This statement was interpreted by Shoghi Effendi, the head of the Bahá'í Faith during the first half of the 20th century, as referring to the establishment of the Universal House of Justice, the governing body of the Bahá'ís; connected with this establishment, the prophecy was linked to a number of administrative institutions which would be established on Mount Carmel. Shoghi Effendi decided that the buildings housing the institutions would be designed on an arc and surrounded by gardens. The fulcrum of arc would be Monument Gardens, which hold the graves of some of the members of the Bahá'í holy family.

The first of the buildings to be built was the International Archives. Shoghi Effendi chose the site of the building and its classical style, which has been used as a model for the other buildings. While the building was erected under Shoghi Effendi's supervision, but he died before the completion of the interior and thus he was not able to arrange the historic exhibits which he had been collecting. Instead the Hands of the Cause completed and arranged the interior and it was opened to Bahá'í pilgrims during 1961.

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