some are nearly certain is the remains of Noah's
Ark. (Noah's Ark Ministries International)
A group of Chinese and Turkish evangelical
explorers say wooden remains they have
discovered on Mount Ararat in eastern Turkey are
the remains of Noah's Ark.
The group claims that carbon dating proves the
relics are 4,800 years old, meaning they date to
around the same time the ark was said to be
afloat. Mt. Ararat has long been suspected as the
final resting place of the craft by evangelicals and
literalists hoping to validate biblical stories.
Yeung Wing-Cheung, from the Noah's Ark
Ministries International research team that
made the discovery, said: "It's not 100 percent
that it is Noah's Ark, but we think it is 99.9
percent that this is it."
There have been several reported discoveries of
the remains of Noah's Ark over the years, most
notably a find by archaeologist Ron Wyatt in
1987. At the time, the Turkish government
officially declared a national park around his find,
a boat-shaped object stretched across the
mountains of Ararat.
Nevertheless, the evangelical ministry remains
convinced that the current find is in fact more
likely to be the actual artifact, calling upon Dutch
Ark researcher Gerrit Aalten to verify its
legitimacy.
"The significance of this find is that for the first
time in history the discovery of Noah's Ark is well
documented and revealed to the worldwide
community," Aalten said at a press conference
announcing the find. Citing the many details that
match historical accounts of the Ark, he believes it
to be a legitimate archaeological discovery.
"There's a tremendous amount of solid evidence
that the structure found on Mount Ararat in
Eastern Turkey is the legendary Ark of Noah," said
Aalten.
Representatives of Noah's Ark Ministries said the
structure contained several compartments, some
with wooden beams, that they believe were used
to house animals.The group of evangelical
archaeologists ruled out an established human
settlement on the grounds none have ever been
found above 11,000 feet in the vicinity, Yeung
said.
During the press conference, team member Panda
Lee described visiting the site. "In October 2008, I
climbed the mountain with the Turkish team. At
an elevation of more than 4,000 meters, I saw a
structure built with plank-like timber. Each plank
was about 8 inches wide. I could see tenons, proof
of ancient construction predating the use of metal
nails."
We walked about 100 meters to another site. I
could see broken wood fragments embedded in a
glacier, and some 20 meters long. I surveyed the
landscape and found that the wooden structure
was permanently covered by ice and volcanic
rocks."
Local Turkish officials will ask the central
government in Ankara to apply for UNESCO World
Heritage status so the site can be protected while
a major archaeological dig is conducted.
The biblical story says that God decided to flood
the Earth after seeing how corrupt it was. He then
told Noah to build an ark and fill it with two of
every animal species.
After the flood waters receded, the Bible says, the
ark came to rest on a mountain. Many believe that
Mount Ararat, the highest point in the region, is
where the ark and her inhabitants ran aground.
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