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a terrible fascination for some, almost ruining lives, fortunes,
and honor. Despite the passion, there has been no scientific
evidence—ever.
According to the Holy Scriptures, the Ark came to rest
“on the mountains of Ararat.” (Genesis 8:4). This statement
has been backed up by such distinguished historians and
recorders as Berossus, Hieronymus the Egyptian, Mnaseas,
and Nicolaus of Damascus. “The mountains of Ararat,”
is the geographical location known as Armenia, roughly
corresponding to Eastern Anatolia.
Mount Ararat isn’t the only location. Local traditions
of Syria and Armenia have the Ark landing at Mount Judi.
This last seems to be backed and recorded by Josephus, who
wrote that ruins from the boat could still be seen in the First
Century. Later historical accounts claim that Josephus had
his mountains “mixed up” and that he had been writing
about Ararat all along. In some parts of Turkey, Ararat is
known as the “Place of Decent,” and that Noah’s vessel was
a hundred kilometers to the southeast of the peak, in what
today is Northern Iraq.
The famous traveler Marco Polo (1254-1324) wrote
about the Holy Ark in his journals once. He said:
In the heart of the Armenian mountain range, the
mountains peak is shaped like a cube (or cup), on which Noah’s
Ark is said to have rested, whence it is called the Mountain of
Noah’s Ark. It is so broad and long that it takes more than two
days to go around it. On the summit the snow lies so deep all
the year round that no one can ever climb it; this snow never
entirely melts, but new snow is forever falling on the old, so that
the level rises.
Sir Walter Raleigh, while writing his masterpiece
“History of the World,” stated that the biblical term
“mountains of Ararat” originally explained all the adjoining
ranges of Asia, and that the Ark must have landed in the
Orient because Armenia was not east of the plain of Shinar
(or Mesopotamia), but more northwest.
The Bible was quite evasive about the landing. However,
there was something about Mount Ararat that kept people
from all races, creeds, and beliefs coming. The search never
tired.
The Nineteenth Century proved to be the “golden age” of
The Durupinar Site: Ark searchers say this is the fossil of Noah's Ark
Credit: Mfikretyilmaz
Ark research.
Dr. Fredrick Parrot wrote in his book, “Journey to
Ararat,” in 1829, that “all the Armenians are firmly persuaded
that Noah’s Ark remains to this very day on the top of Ararat,
and that, in order to preserve it, no human being is allowed
to approach it.”
Could that be a possibility? That, like the Ark of the
Covenant, God has used His powers to keep man away
from His legacy, until the day he becomes worthy enough to
appreciate it?
Scientists would simply cry out “tourist trap!”
In 1876, James Bryce, historian, statesman, diplomat,
explorer, and Professor of Civil Law at Oxford, shocked the
world by climbing above the known tree lines of Mount
Ararat and came across a piece of hand-hewn wood, five
inches thick and over four feet long. Scientists giggled,
lightly, when he identified it as that of Noah’s Ark. Years later,
after a huge avalanche, Turkish officials reported the sighting
of “a huge wooden vessel” sticking out of the ice, in about the
same area.
What makes scientific institutes skeptical about most of
these discoveries is that they are mainly funded by evangelical
or “millenarian” churches. Faith-based magazines also seem
to cause confusion on the subject by publishing any and
all claims in the sightings of the Ark. Occasional television
specials, videos, and the Internet also help those who would
profit from fraud, by publishing first and asking questions
later.
Still, there are those in the world of science that believe,
men and women of great accomplishment, who have risked
their lives to help prove, at least, the validity of the Book of
Genesis.
Astronaut James Irwin led two expeditions to the
mountain, was kidnapped once, and failed to find even a
small piece of proof leading to Noah. “I’ve done all I possibly
can,” he said, “but the Ark continues to elude us.”
The circle of “Ark Experts” was later put on its ear when,
in the 1980s, an adventurer and former nurse named Ron
Wyatt claimed that Noah’s Ark was nowhere near Mount
Ararat, but located near a mountain known as Mount Cudi
(or Judi). At the now-famous Durupinar site, there is an
indentation of a “boat-shaped” footprint in the earth that
Wyatt claims to be the fossil remains of Noah’s Ark. The ship
itself has long since rotted away, leaving its imprint as the
only evidence of existence. However, geologists have studied
the area, and have labeled it a natural formation—just one of
those “weird” coincidences.
Some wealthy individuals have gone to great lengths to
prove the existence of Noah’s Ark. In 2004, a Honolulu-based
businessman offered a $900,000 chance to explore the “Ararat
anomaly.” He had been known to purchase satellite pictures
of the mountain, and investigations led by him produced
several interesting artifacts. However, after much fanfare,
the Turkish Government refused his permit, claiming that
the man he put in charge was well known as a “faker” of
photographs of the Ark.
The stories of false claims cloud up the legend of Noah,
more so than the original storm that created the flood.
54 Suspense Magazine September 2012 / Vol. 038