THE ARK OF NOAH DISCOVERED

THE ARK OF NOAH DISCOVERED IN TURKEY IN 1948

Discovery! Noah's Ark was discovered in mid May of 1948 by a local Kurdish shepherd boy named Reshit Sarihan, who lives to this day (Sep. 2000), in the village of üzengili (previously called "Nasar" but changed to üzengili after the ark was discovered. - One should take note that "Nisir" was the Babylonian name for Noah's city). Heavy rains in May of 1948, combined with three noteworthy earthquakes exposed the ark impression from the collapsing, expansive and loose mud that had entrapped it for nearly 2 thousand years revealing the ark impression standing up, out of the terrain. In Josephus' time (1st-century A.D.) the Ark of Noah was well-known, because he mentions in Antiquities of the Jews , that people were still visiting the place and removing pieces of bitumen from the ark for amulets against imagined evils.

Hull shape intact Aerial view is among the first ones taken eleven years after discovery, in 1959, and shows very little erosion, with hull shape intact. This photo will prove essential in the future, as time, and weather erodes the structure. One Ararat fan derogatorily called this "The boat-shaped object." One would quite naturally expect a boat to be in the shape of a boat, it does seem quite logical doesn't it?

Magazine Coverage in 1960 Early photo of expedition examining structure (presumably 1959). Here we look up to the south from the bow section directly into the hull impression. The photographer was standing in the pulpit prow which is 538 feet to the stern - measured by Fasold. 12 feet of vessel is not included in the impression (overhang) making the entire length of the ship 550 feet. This makes the cubit used 22 inches in length. This cubit figure is verified by subsurface bulkhead measurements with iron connections taken by Dave Fasold and Baumgartner (March,1985). This cubit figure means that Noah was probably 7 feet tall or more, that is if he had a 22 inch cubit (measured from elbow to middle finger with hand extended). One must realize there was no standard cubit except in instances such as the "royal Egyptian cubit." Each man's cubit is what he would have used to measure, and all were slightly different.

Above the mud An artist's compilation of how the ark model fits the mold impression. It is elevated above the mold and was constructed with the actual ark-mold as the guide for shape. The other dimensions -width and height, were dictated by Genesis account. Spaceframe construction was necessary, a point confirmed by naval architects who claim a ship this large cannot be constructed of wood using conventional rib and keel techniques.

Ark landing Here we see another artist's rendition, based on the evidence, and the shape of the mountain, precisely how the ark would have landed on Mt. Cudi pronounced "Judi" (the "mountain of the Kurds" "kHuD" meaning, in Hebrew, "the first." The slightly crescent shape of the island (mountain) keeps the ark from being washed around by fast currents. This feature allows the ark to be driven to a point near the center of the island, and after the anchor comes aground, the ark remains in position offshore. As the water descends, the ark swings into the current laterally, and is deposited, leaning against the small 30 foot high escarpment, with minimal handling required, shown in the picture. For a perspective cutaway drawing of how the ark must have looked, based on the mold shape impression,  Space shot of Mt. Ararat and vicinity. This is a great photograph of Mt. Ararat and surrounding regions, however, the actual landing place of the ark of Noah is just off the top of the picture, indicated by the white arrow. The other arrow on the right of the photo points to the village of Arzap / Kazan, 10 miles to the west, just near the dark shadow of a large butte formation seen at the edge of the photo., where the ark stood at anchor for several months, waiting for the tops of the mountains to appear as islands.

ARK MODEL This model shows the construction technique called "spaceframe," though usually considered modern, this concept would not have been outside the grasp of Yahweh as he designed the ship for Noah. If the ark was constructed of wood, as the Bible claims, then it must have been built this way. It is the combined opinion of naval architects that a ship this large cannot be constructed of any type of wood using conventional keel and rib construction methods. Wood is not strong enough for a boat this large if it were made in the usual way. However, built in this "spaceframe" manner, using iron pins at the connections thereby allowing for 100% connection efficiency in torsion, compression and tension, all stresses required by such connections would be reduced by "tributary loading." A wooden ship this large could indeed be built and would be many times stronger, perhaps 10 fold than its conventional counterparts.

"Gopher wood" "Gopher wood" is a misreading and scribal error. "Kopher" wood is correct and means wood (any wood) that is covered with Kopher. Kopher is bitumen. In the Genesis text (6:14), the context is clear. The GPR wood used, (a scribal error) is to be covered in KPR. G and K in Hebrew are so similar that inexperienced Hebrew "scholars," such as those translating the King James Version of the Bible, could have been prone to such errors, indeed, they made many such errors. Acts 7: 45 & Hebrews 4: 8 are classic examples of such scribal errors. gpr = "g," as in gopher, k pr = "k,"as in kopher The piece of petrified wood from the Ark shown below was excavated in the presence of a number of Turkish officials.  This piece was sawn in several places, exposing the wood grain.   Note the lamination of 3 layers in the photograph.  Later analysis confirmed its organic nature.  After many corroborating tests, the Turkish government agreed that the structure was indeed Noah's Ark.  They subsequently built a Visitors Center near the Ark.  Due to ongoing fighting between the Turkish government and Kurdish rebels, the Visitors Center and the area have restricted access.  The goal eventually is to build a protective structure over the ark and begin excavations.  A metal detector scan showed the presence of metal at the joints of the ark.  Note the regular pattern of these joints.  Later the joints were excavated and the metal analyzed.  Many of the joints were held together with large rivets.  The metallurgical structure indicated that the makers had a fairly advanced level of knowledge of metal alloys.  A computer reconstruction based upon the ruin profile showed that the original shape had a highly sophisticated profile. The length of the ship was measured independently by two teams and found to be 515 feet long.  Since Moses who wrote the book of Genesis was familiar with the Royal Egyptian cubit which is 20.6 inches, the biblical record of 300 cubits is exactly correct! (300 cubits x 20.6 /12 = 515 feet)