Was Noah’s Ark Really Found?
Recent stories circulating across the airways the past few years have many of us wondering what happened to Noah’s Ark exactly. Answers to that question have been somewhat fuzzy and unclear.
Maybe we need to start with some back story.
In 1959, a cartographer named Ilhan Durupinar first happened upon a boat-shaped footprint on a mountain top located in Turkey’s Dogubayazit region. More recently, Turkish scientists and American researchers working for Noah’s Ark Discovered Project have claimed that they now have the necessary proof indicating this significant biblical relic is located underneath the surface of Durupinar.
What scans of the alleged Ark revealed
They used ERT and GPR technologies to obtain 3D scans of the area. The research team revealed that they have indeed located some sort of human-made boat structure underneath the ground — and this is before any excavation has been started. The team also claims that the scans support dimensions outlined in the book of Genesis, which pertain to Noah’s Ark.
As many of us know, the biblical story of Noah and the Ark he was instructed to build by God also furnished detailed instructions. The first was that God commanded Noah to carry his family along with a female and a male of every animal on Earth.
Ark dimensions
God also told Noah what the dimensions of the Ark needed to be for such an undertaking. Precisely, the Ark needed to have a length of 300 cubits, a height of 30 cubits, and a width of 50 cubits. The term ‘cubit’ means Ama in Hebrew, which means ‘forearm,’ and this measurement works out to be around 18 inches.
Scripture informs us that the Ark eventually settled upon Mt. Ararat, a dormant volcano located along Turkey’s eastern border. The Durupinar site is some 30 km south of that mountain.
Researchers and scientists from the project team believe that the dimensions observed in the 3D scans support those found in biblical text. The structure observed appears to be around 20 feet beneath the surface.
A skeptical science community
As we all know, science and religion haven’t always played well together. And because of this, the scientific community has not been eager to embrace these findings.
Ever since the original discovery was made, the Durupinar site has been constantly refuted and questioned. Many doubt it to be the actual location of Noah’s Ark.
From the 1970s until the 1990s, an American researcher named Ron Wyatt rigorously studied the location and routinely published his findings. However, a geologist named Lorence Collins would eventually refute these findings in 1996 — claiming the unknown structure was merely a natural rock formation with an odd form.
All of the frenzied interest in this region was enough to persuade the Turkish Ministry of Culture into placing a national protection order on the site — labeling it as a national park — but without any official order to excavate. Thus, several independent teams have been studying the region. These teams have been made up of Turkish personnel as well as foreigners.
