Noah's Arc

Is Noah's Ark a fact or a fiction? Are there credible evidences to substantiate the biblical claims that Noah's ark is a historic reality and not a myth? Whether Noah's ark is a fact or fiction -- the unexplainable thing is that every culture and civilization in the past and in the present have been immensely influenced by the story of Noah's ark.

History is replete with accounts of scientists, archaeologists, explorers, critics and skeptics of the ark story embarking in expeditions and scientific investigations using satellites, computers, powerful cameras and other sophisticated equipment and tools attempting to pinpoint the exact location of the 5,000-yearold wooden ark atop a mountain in Eastern Turkey - despite insurmountable odds. Many have failed, others have died, and not a select few executed documented testimonies that they were awed to see personally evidences of the existence of Noah's ark that according to biblical account landed on top of Mount Ararat.

Simply put, people of all ages and culture have never given up searching for this ancient biblical ark despite the death-defying climbs to the biblical site. Indeed, if Noah's ark is a fact and a reality, it is one if not the greatest archeological finding ever. On the other hand, if Noah's ark is just a legend or a myth or a fiction, it is the oldest running hoax in history.

One may ask: Why is the search for the biblical ark that has challenged many people of different creed, races and professional background concentrated only in Mount Ararat? Simply because in the ancient biblical story of the mighty and universal flood narrated in the Book of Genesis of the Old Testament, Noah's ark is supposed to have rested "on the mountain of Ararat." In the words of the Holy Bible: "The waters flooded the earth for one hundred and fifty days... At the end of the hundred and fifty days the water had gone down and on the seventeenth day of the seventh month the ark came to rest on the mountain of Ararat."

Critics say that it was impossible for an old man during ancient times (like Noah, grandson of Methuselah) to have the constructive skill to undertake a massive construction job like a gigantic barge. How could Noah then 480 years old have the technical wisdom which far outshone the ingenuity of his contemporaries? But more than this puzzling thing. How can four people (Noah and his three sons) have the capability to construct a huge 3-storey vessel?

What seemed to be overlooked by bible critics is the fact that the ark was supernaturally designed by God and it took Noah and his three sons about 120 years to complete its construction. From biblical account, it was our almighty and omniscient God who personally gave Noah instructions as the specifications of the ark.

Thus, in Genesis 6:14-18, God said to Noah: "So make yourself an ark of cypress; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. This is how you are to build it. The ark is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high. Make a roof for it and finish the ark to within 18 inches of the top. Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks. I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. But I will establish my covenant with you and you will enter the ark - you and your sons and your wife and your son's wives with you."

Mount Ararat, the site mentioned in the Holy Bible as the place where Noah's ark landed after the universal flood is a mountain in western Asia. The place is now part of Eastern Turkey. To the Turks, the mountain is called Aghri Dagh, meaning "the painful mountain." To the Hebrews, the place called "the mountain of descent." To the Persians, Mount Ararat is "Kuhl-nuh" or the mountain of Noah or Saad Dagh, "the blessed mountain." The Armenians call the place Masis which means "mother of the world." However, the ancient Armenians name was Masis Leusar meaning "the mountain of the ark." What is coincidental is that almost all the names attributed to Mount Ararat and even the towns surrounding it relate the place to the history of Noah's ark. A town at the foot of the Ahora Gorge, the most rugged area of Mount Ararat is called Arghuri or Ahora which means "the planting of the vine." This name is believed to have been inspired by the biblical account that after the flood, Noah has planted his vineyard. There is also a town in the region called Sharmakh which means "Village of Noah." Another village by the name of Tabriz or Ta Baris means "the ship."

Mount Ararat is an awesome creation of God. It is one of the largest mountain in the world and certainly dominates the barren plains of Eastern Turkey. In contrast to its fiercely rugged and perilous terrain, there is a rainbow that appears daily over the northern part of the mountain with such indescribable beauty. The mountain is 17,000 feet high. Capped by a 17-square mile glacier, the winds blow more than 100 miles per hour. Unbelievably, there is a storm every afternoon, even during summer time - either in the form of rain, snow, or wind. One fellow who climbed Mount Ararat said that the temperature up the mountain can scale down to minus 40 degrees. Climbers to the mountain experience breathing problems and severe nausea due to toxic volcanic gases and the sulfur fumes emitted. What is terrifying when one is up on the glacier is the bottomless crevasses. Aside from the peak called Big Ararat, there is an adjacent mountain peak known as Little Ararat which is 3,000 feet above sea level and about 12,806 feet from the plains at the foot of the mountain. Up above the mountain, one can get a glimpse through the clouds into Russia, Iran and Turkey.

People wonder how a 5,000 year-old ark could be preserved up to this day. Many are unaware that Mount Ararat is at least 17 square mile s of solid ice year-round with the thickness of the ice ranging from 80 to 800 feet. One scientist made the startling revelation that this is like a refrigerator freezer that is perpetually frozen. In this condition, an ark can be preserved indefinitely. Unbelievers of the Noah's ark story raise the point that is impossible to see any object in this ice-filled condition. But then Mount Ararat is a volcanic mountain and the fissures and vents emit gases and steam from the mountain. This heat released through the surface then can result in the periodic cycles of meltback. Not to mention the hot and powerful East winds coming from the desert of Iran. Whatever causes the meltback cycles of the mountain - It is during the meltback times that parts of the ark become visible to climbers as well as to aerial observers and reconnaissance pilots.

Nowadays many people are still wondering whether Noah's ark is a fact or a fiction. Many people from all over the world in the past and in the present civilization get excited every time there are reports of evidences to substantiate the claim that Noah's ark is a historic reality. Last Sunday, July 22nd, I wrote an article about the mysterious Noah's ark. My article this week is the continuation of my last week's article.

Mount Ararat lies within a major earthquake fault zone. This explains the fact that earthquakes occur then and now. But it was the strong earthquake that rocked and shook Mount Ararat on June 20, 1840 that stimulated and challenged adventurers to pursue the search for the biblical Noah's ark. The powerful earthquake destroyed the ancient Armenian village of Arghulri (Ahora). Unbelievably, the happening of this catastrophic event unveiled the inner core of Mount Ararat and gradually melted the glacier which had been in deep freeze for ages... and lo! An ark said to resemble the biblical description of the Noah's ark was reportedly sighted amidst a slowly melting glacier.

Actually even before the 1840 earthquake of Mount Ararat, there have already been numerous rumors and reported sightings of an ark believed to be Noah's ark. Josephus and other ancient historians mentioned in their writings about the existence of the ark. Even medieval travelers and historians like Marco Polo mentioned that according to the Armenians the ark is preserved in Mount Ararat. It was only after the 1840 earthquake that more and more people developed great interest to search for the ark. Coincidentally too, all those challenged to search for the biblical ark had the same target site - Mount Ararat.

During World War II, there were several reported aerial sightings of the ark. One such report appeared in an US Army paper called Stars and Stripes. Also, a group of Russian flyers during World War II were able to take aerial photos of the ark protruding out of the ice in at least two occasions. This Russian aerial photo even appeared in some American papers. There are many other accounts of reported sightings of the ark.

Let me, however, mention here about an expedition in 1955 where a Frenchman named Fernand Navarra - acting on information from his Armenian friends went up to Mount Ararat four times between 1953 to 1955. He recovered from Mount Ararat a large piece of hand-tooled wooden timber lying in a deep crevasse in a large ice field. According to the Frenchman, deeper in the ice, he saw a dark mass which he believed were portions of the ark. The hand-tooled timber was displayed in Paris.

What does the Holy Bible say of Noah's ark? The Holy Bible says that the ark is 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high with lower, middle, and upper decks (Genesis 6:15). Based on these figures, the ark had about 1.5 million cubic feet of space (a.5 feet to a cubic space). This space is even more than the total area of 20 modern-day standard basketball courts! Or a space equal to 569 extended railroad cars! By the way the gopher wood used in making the ark belongs to the cypress family that grows only in the plains of Euphrates.

Even those who believe in the Holy Bible find it hard to accept that there was enough space in the ark for all the animals that were taken on board. The Holy Bible says that Noah was instructed by the Lord "to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female; to keep them alive with you. Two of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive." (Genesis 6:19-20). The Word of God also says that the ark was big enough to accommodate all the animals. To bible-believing Christians, this statement found in the Holy Bible settles the issue as to whether there was enough space in the ark to accommodate all the animals brought on board the ark. But as expected, there are skeptics who do not believe in the authenticity of the Old Testament including the Noah's ark story. These skeptics say that since they do not believe in the authenticity of the Old Testament, it follows that the Genesis story of an ark floating on waters in a world wide flood is just a fiction and a fantasy. In short, to skeptics, this biblical account of Noah's ark is no longer relevant in our modern times. Today, many people also feel that there is really no logical basis for a shipwreck to be found on top of a mountain.

Many people are also wondering whether the members of the Noah's immediate family (Noah's wife, sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth and their 3 wives) were the only survivors of the mighty flood mentioned in the Book of Genesis in the Old Testament. In the Holy Bible, particularly (Genesis 6:7-8; 1 Peter 3:20; II Peter 2:5) only 8, including Noah survived the flood. There were no stowaways in the ark. In fact, the Holy Bible records that the Lord personally closed the door of the ark after all the animals and Noah and his family entered the ark.

For forty days, the flood lifted the ark high above the earth. The water rose and covered the mountains to a depth of more than 20 feet. (Genesis 7:17-20). The waters flooded the earth for 150 days (Genesis 7:24). On the 7th day of the 7th month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. (Genesis 8:4-5) The Ararat mountain, unknown to many is not within the proximity of any great body of water. How the ark floated to that high elevated place is still an unsolved puzzle that continues to confound the human mind. Indeed, this is part of the mystery of the universal flood; of Noah's ark; and also the manner in which the flood water subsided. From biblical account, God sent a wind over the earth and the waters receded. This is found in Genesis 8:1 and also in Psalm 104:5-9. From the bible we also see a similar wind in the Book of Exodus 14:21 when the Lord caused a strong east wind to blow all night and turned the Red Sea into dry land. The Book of Psalm mentions how the flood water subsided.

From the biblical standpoint, Noah's ark did exist. This fact is confirmed not only in the Book of Genesis in the Old Testament but also in the New Testament particularly in the Book of 1 Peter 3:20; Book of Hebrews 1:27; Book of Luke 17:27 and in the Book of Matthew 24:38. No less than our Lord Jesus Christ mentioned about Noah, the ark, and the flood in the Book of Matthew.

All events happen in God's own time. The momentous day when Noah's ark will be exposed to the world will definitely strengthen the faith of the believers and will shock the unbelievers. It is not an impossible event that someday there will be a long dry hot spell powerful enough to melt totally the icy mantle up there in Mount Ararat and reveal to the whole world the reality of Noah's ark's existence.

Questions raised by critics of the Noah's ark like: how Noah gathered all the animals (from biblical account the creatures and animals went to the ark); or how Noah then 480 years old, and his 3 sons had the capability to build such a gigantic ark; or how an ark could be on top of a mountain; as well as other questions relating to the ark - are actually challenges to the absolute omnipotence of our Almighty God. If our God who created us has the power to resurrect Himself as well as others; if He was able to create everything out of nothing - of course He can do anything and everything including giving wisdom and direction to Noah to construct the huge ark.

The story of Noah's ark is just one of the many incidents and events recorded in the Holy Bible that is causing so much controversy among the modern "intellectuals" today.