The Ark and the Statues of Gods

It may be at times a little dangerous to draw parallels between ancient texts of the Near East and the bible, or at the very least it may be a bit controversial. However I could not help but think of the Ark of the Covenant as I read about the statues of these ancient gods of the ancient Middle East.
The ark was believed to be the haven of the Almighty God on earth just as the statues and temples in other lands were homes to their respective gods. This was because though the Ark was not a representation of the God of Israel, it was in fact his throne. There are also other beliefs around these two objects that were similar. It might be recalled that the Ark had been a symbol of some religious significance to the people of Israel and was said to have been placed in the holy of holies, which was at the very heart of the temple (or in earlier times the Tabernacle). So too were the statues placed at the very heart of the temple. Like other statues that were carried off in times of war, the ark too was taken by the Philistines in battle. However the ark would return to its proper home and remain there for some time before disappearing into antiquity.
The ark like the godly statues was believed to have "a mind of its own," in that the ark though taken by force willed itself back to its homeland. In the biblical account the Ark's unique power is established in several different stories, including the story of how it caused a great deal of bad fortune to befall the Philistines who had taken it. After the Assyrians had abducted the god of Marduk from his temple we find the king was fearful of such retaliation from the gods and he often sought the intent of Marduk through Oracles. Through these stories we gain a sense of the power these objects were believed to have in controlling their fate, regardless of the powers that may have surrounded them.
I feel that the remembering of the ark and its place in modern Jewish and Christian religion may bring the accounts of the other ancient statues to life. These ancient beliefs seem to gain greater depth when one considers there are many who still hold a not so different faith today.