

By Mail Foreign Service




Noah's Ark

This picture released by the evangelical group claims to show one of the explorers examining part of a structure which they claim might prove the existence of Noah's Ark on Mount Ararat. There are no external images of the site and the Hong Kong-based group refuse to say precisely where they made their discovery until the Turkish government designate it an archaeological site

Mt. Ararat

The snow-capped peak of Mt. Ararat. The discovery is said to have been made 12,000ft up the mountain which lies in eastern Turkey


In the Bible, the story of Noah's Ark appears in chapters six to nine of the Book of Genesis.


It tells how God, spurred by the wickedness and corruption of man, vows to send a great cleansing flood. Deeming Noah to be the only righteous man worth saving, God commands him to build a vast ship, the ark - capable of saving himself, his family and a representation of the world's animals.

When Noah has completed his task, and God has sent 'two of every sort' of animal to the Ark, the flood waters rise until all mountains are covered and life (except fish) is destroyed. When the flood subsides, the animals leave the Ark and God vows to never again send a flood to destroy man. The story can also be found in the texts of Judaism and Islam. Although considered a historical event, most scholars and archaeologists do not believe in a literal interpretation of the Ark story. The vessel was said to measure '300 cubits, by 50 cubits, by 30 cubits', which translates to up to 515ft long, 86ft wide and 52ft high.

They said wood taken from the site, which is more than 13,000ft above sea level, dates to 2,800BC. If it is the ark, the discovery would be the greatest in the history of archaeology and bear out one of the most famous stories in the Bible.

The team of Turks and Chinese researchers from Noah's Ark Ministries International in Hong Kong say they made the discovery on Ararat - the biblical resting place of the ark - in October


At a press conference yesterday to announce the discovery, another team member, Panda Lee, said: 'I saw a structure built with plank-like timber.

'Each plank was about eight inches wide. I could see tenons, proof of ancient construction predating the use of metal nails.

'We walked about 100 metres to another site. I could see broken wood fragments embedded in a glacier, and some 20 metres long.'

The structure had several compartments, some with wooden beams, the team said.

The wooden walls of one compartment were smooth and curved while the video shown by the explorers revealed doors, staircases and nails.

The team said the wood appeared to be cypress although, according to the Bible, the ark was built from gopher.

The group ruled out identifying the find as a human settlement, saying none had been found so high up in that area. They are keeping the exact location secret.



He added: 'If there had been a flood capable of lifting a huge ship 4km up the side of a mountain 4,800 years ago, I think there would be substantial geological evidence for this flood around the world. And there isn't.'


Nicholas Purcell, a lecturer in ancient history at Oxford University, said the claims were the 'usual nonsense'. He added: 'If floodwaters covered Eurasia 12,000ft deep in 2,800BC, how did the complex societies of Egypt and Mesopotamia, already many centuries old, keep right on regardless?'

According to Genesis, the first book in the Old Testament, Noah was told to build the ark by God, who wanted to flood the world to punish sinners.


The story was widely seen as fact until the 19th century, when scientists began to question the evidence for a worldwide flood.

Noah's Ark

This photo, also put out by the evangelical group, is said to show part of a wall inside the structure found by the explorers. One of the team said: 'It's not 100 per cent that it is Noah's Ark but we think it is 99.9 per cent that this is it'

mount ararat

Mount Ararat

In 2006, U.S. national security analyst Porcher Taylor claimed this satellite image revealed a baffling 'anomaly' on the mountain's north-west corner that he believed to be the remains of the Ark

Noah's Ark

Wooden beams which the explorers said they found at the site. The search for the physical remains of Noah's Ark has held a fascination for Christians, Jews and Muslims for hundreds of years. But despite various claims no scientific evidence has ever been found

The comments below have been moderated in advance.

God did not flood the earth to punish sinners, He flooded the earth to destroy all man - Glen, Topock, 29/4/2010 19:01 Woman inherits the earth? \O/

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- Leroy, L.A., USA, ¿Qué?

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So Christians believe that Noah had 40,000 species on his ark, but there are clearly more than 40,000 species alive today. Shouldn't that mean that they believe in evolution? Only, they don't. So that would mean that God would have had to do whatever he does to create species since the time people were smart enough to build wooden ships, so that would mean we would observe him doing this when new species arrive on Earth. Why can't evolution simply be what we see happening when he does this! Nobody's ever seen a species just "appear" out of no where and it's stupid to refuse something that's as factual as the fact we exist. Evolution doesn't prove God one way or the other, but it is proven, and I'm on neither side with this argument, but if evolution is proven then it must be they way by which God makes new species to Christians. You can't say Noah only saved 40,000 species and be as stubborn to say that evolution doesn't exist. It just doesn't work both ways.

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Kinds - cat, dog, horse, mouse. For a more detailed view of "kind", look up baraminology. - Steve, Kent, 30/4/2010 22:09 So 36 species of wild cat have evolved in less than 5,000 years? 50+ species of mouse in less than 5,000 years? Darwin rules! Evolution is proved and accepted. The timescales are a bit shorter than Darwin said, but hey, the basic principles are right. I'm impressed - 36 species of wild cat evolve from a common ancestor in less than 5,000 years. I have looked up baraminology - let's juST say that it as scieNtific as most of Creationism and ID - i.e. not at all. But at least we agree that Tigers, Lions, Leopards all evolved from a common ancestor. I don't think it happened as quickly as you do, but at least we agree on the principles.

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I was physically sick for 13 years and was about to have to endure risky medical treatments. Everybody in the church i went to at that time prayed for me and so did other friends and family. My mother woke up in the middle of the night, worried about me and sat down at the table with her bible praying for God to give her comfort. She then just happen to open her Bible to a part that speaks about miracles and she just knew that I was healed. From that point on I was not sick, no treatments needed. The doctors have no explanation; there is no scientific proof or explanation. I am a christian, who believes that with God nothing is impossible. I don't know why he chose to heal me; there is nothing I have ever done or can do to deserve it but I am very thankful.

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To - David, Cheltenham, England," Kinds - cat, dog, horse, mouse. There was plenty of water outside the ark for fish and whales to survive in. But of course, not all of them survived, due to the massive shifting of earth which buried millions of them and causing them to fossilize. I see kind as biological family of animal. Cats are Felidae, dog is canidae etc. Animals that can mate and produce offspring together are the same kind. There are boundaries though, because eventually the animals become sterile (such as mule stallions), which of course makes evolution between kinds impossible. For a more detailed view of "kind", look up baraminology.

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Fundamental belief systems are comfortable allowing anomolies. In this case, God could do anything He wanted, so a regional, 4km deep Great Flood could be possible, because it is what He wanted. To the commentators above: no matter what you might say about the physical, scientific impossibility of the existence of Noah's Ark, no matter how logical and measurable it might be, what you say will be by some rejected, with facility. Faith is absolute in the fundamentalist mind. It must be this way. There is no room for questioning a fundamental belief, for the very act of questioning is in itself a betrayal of Faith in God. When you believe, you believe completely and anything anyone says to you that impugns or otherwise diminishes that belief is just plain wrong. If only people could just think things out a little more, we could get all this nonsense behind us and really start to evolve intellectually as a species.

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"the devout Creationist Christian who funded this expedition has called this find a hoax..." - David, Cheltenham, England, 30/4/2010 19:40 Yes, there can be no doubt now that this was a hoax. Since we can't post links here, for anyone interested in the truth, go to Google and enter: PaleoBabble+noah+ark+update

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I believe there are many mysteries to be discovered. Some are hoaxes, others are real. Doubt of course is acceptable from all of us; however, I do not like those people come to a conclusion to others people new discovery ... A true expert will not say any negative to other without certainty; don't you think it is too pretentious? - peter, New York City, 30/4/2010 19:12 Since the devout Creationist Christian who funded this expedition has called this find a hoax, saying that he saw the wood being carried up, and explaining how the film was made, I don't think that there can be very much 'doubt' about this. The full details of the hoax are given in earlier comments on this post. So I think we can safely say this is not Noah's Ark. If there was ever any such thing. Which I personally doubt. I hope that's not too pretentious for you.

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You know what, scientists regularly change their minds. New evidence comes along & they say, "Hey, I was wrong." How often have you heard a theist say that in regards to their religion? Scientists also often say, "I don't know", and don't try to fill the gaps in their knowledge with claims to know it was the acts of supernatural entities, aka 'goddidit'. And some of you have the gall to complain of atheist arrogance? What was that about motes, planks & eyes?

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