The Truth is Out There: EVIDENCES FOR THE REMAINS OF NOAH’S ARK

EVIDENCES FOR THE REMAINS OF NOAH’S ARK

Taken from the course by Sunset International Bible Institute Online Studies:
Apologetics 2

INTRODUCTION

The Assyrian king, Ashurbanipal, wrote, “I had my joy in the reading of inscriptions on stone from the time before the Flood. The library of Ashurbanipal was “found to contain Assyrian copies of the Babylonian Flood and creation stories.” One tablet showed the ship resting “on the mountains of Nizir, followed by the account of the sending forth of the dove, and its finding no resting-place and returning. Josephus quotes Berossus, a Babylonian historian: “It is said there is still some part of this ship in Armenia, at the mountain of the Cordyaeans; and that some people carry off pieces of the bitumen. Hieronymus, the Egyptian, who wrote the Phoenician Antiquities and Mnaseas, and a great many more, make mention of the same. Josephus says the Armenians called the location of the Ark “Apobateirion, the “place of Descent” and still showed the ark’s remains in his own day.

BIBLE LOCATION OF THE LANDING SITE OF THE ARK

• The Location of the Landing of the Ark

• The Mountains of Ararat. “On the seventeenth day of the seventh month the Ark came to rest on the mountains [plural] of Ararat” (Genesis 8:4 Then the ark rested in the seventh month, the seventeenth day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat(NKJV))

Jack finegan, Light from the ancient Past, I.216-217

Josephus, Antiquities, 1.3.6

Josephus, Antiquities, 1.3.5

• The Bible does not say that the Ark rested on Mount Ararat, but on the mountains [plural] of Ararat.
• The Hebrew word for “on “is ‘al, which means “Above, over, upon, or against.
• The Hebrew word for “rest” is nuwach and in Ezekiel 41:9, 11, refers to an empty space between walls. Thus, nuwach does not necessitate “contact.”
• A better translation of Genesis 8:4 is “The Ark hovered [or rested] over the mountains of Ararat.”
• Biblical Ararat is the name of a country of ancient Armenia, not a mountain.
  • “They escaped to the land of Ararat” (2 Kings 19:37)
  • Jeremiah 51:27 calls Ararat “a kingdom.”
  • The Ancient Assyrian Records record many invasions of the country or nation of Ararat.
• Genesis 8:4 says the Ark rested over the mountains of Ararat on the 17th day of the 7th month and Genesis 8:5 says the tops of the mountains could not be seen until the 1st day of the 10th month, 74 days later.
• The Ark could not contact Mt. Ararat 74 days before its peak was seen; in hovered above the mountain peaks for 74 days before any mountain peak could be seen.
• The Ark could have landed on any of Ararat’s mountains.
• Most people think the Bible says that the landing place is Mount Ararat.

EVIDENCE THAT THE ARK LANDED ON MT. ARARAT

Source: Charles Sellier & David Balsiger, The Incredible Discovery of Noah’s Ark, 1995

• Sightings Analyzed by Richard Bright. Thirty-two sightings of the Ark on Mt. Ararat from 1800 to 1996 B.C.were examined with the following results.
  • Four sightings report the Ark’s door was missing; 7 reported that the end of the Ark was broken off; 18 reported the Ark was sticking out of the ice and snow; 9 reported a melt-water pond; 8 reported a ledge; 6 reported a ravine, valley or gully; 3 reported a difficult climb to reach the ship; 2 reported the Ark leaning against rock or a ridge; 2 reported the Ark was lying in a northern/southern plane.
  • Sellier’s and Balsiger’s conclusion: “We can choose to believe that all of these reports are based on lies, or…we can choose to believe the Ark or a large wooden barge is on Mt. Ararat-if just one report is true.”
• Russian Expedition to the Ark in 1917
  • A Russian pilot claimed to see Noah’s Ark on Ararat in 1916
  • In 1917 the Russian Czar sent an expedition of 150 men to investigate the sighting. They claimed to have found the Ark and photographed it.
  • The Czar archived the evidence, but the communists later confiscated everything and killed many of those who went on the expedition.
• Sellier and Balsiger Report Many Eye-witness Sightings by the United States Pilots and Scientists
• The Navarra Expedition
  • In 1955 Fernand Navarra claimed he found the Ark and brought back a 5-foot piece of wood as proof. In 1969 Navarra returned with a team of explorers; they could not find the Ark, but he found 5 pieces of wood in a runoff stream below the area of the original find.
  • Several institutes of science analyzed the wood’s cell structure and wear and estimated its age at about 5,000 years.
  • However, Scientists of two different laboratories dated samples of the different pieces of wood by the more reliable method of carbon-14 testing. The carbon-14 dates varied between 862 and 1557 years old, proof that the wood is not even B.C. wood, much less from the Ark.
• Other Modern Day Witnesses Who Claim to Have Seen the Ark
  • Ed Davis, a U.S. serviceman in Turkey in 1943, claims a Turkish man led him to see the Ark, which was broken into two pieces.
  • Ed Behling, stationed in turkey by the U.S. Air Force, was taken by two Turks in 1973 to a site on Mt. Ararat when he saw the Ark with the front end broken off. HE BROUGHT BACK NO PHOTOS.
• The Irwin ExpeditionIn 1986 Jim Irwin, the famous astronaut, took a photo of what appears to be a wooden structure with a roof sticking out of the ice. Irwin attempted to lead an expedition to the site to confirm the photo, but was not permitted to go to the Russian side. He died in 1991. No one has yet gone to the site to measure it or analyze it.
• The Ahmet Ali Arslan PhotographIn 1989 Dr. Ahmet Ali Arslan, chief of the Washington Bureau of a Turkish newspaper, photographed a man-made wooden, ship-shaped structure located below the north east summit on Ararat (facing Russia) just above the Ahora Gorge.
• In 1990 Carl Baugh Went by Helicopter to the Spot Dr. Arslan Saw from the SummitOne hundred fifty feet away he saw a huge beam (4 feet thick) of laminated wood protruding 12’ out of the ice. Their advanced satellite information revealed lines of a barge like wooden object buried beneath the ice.
• Unsolved Mysteries ReportGeorge Stephen, inventor-satellite analyst, reported on the national TV program Unsolved Masteries in 1992 that satellite photos reveal a large, wooden structure under the Ararat show and ice above the Ahora Gorge, the same place where Dr. Ahmet Arslan photographed the structure in 1989
• A wooden Object Above Ahora GorgeThe French SPOT satellite agency provided satellite photos, which a satellite imagery analyst analyzed. In the same area above the Ahora Gorge, he would a wooden object 80’ wide with 90’ of the length sticking out of the snow.
• The Shockey-Baugh Fiber PhotographsIn 1990 the satellite photos of the Shockey-Baugh FIBER expedition found two wooden objects, one at 15,800 feet and the other at 14,900 feet, all in the same area of the other finds. They believe that the Ark was severed and part of it fell 1,100 feet from its original landing spot. Other remains of the Ark appear to be scattered between the two locations.

CONCLUSION

The evidence appears strong that wooden objects are encased in the ice on the north east slope of Mount Ararat. Only on-site excavation will demonstrate whether they are man-built houses, barns, Noah’s Ark, or smaller ships that came down on Ararat after the flood.

Point to Ponder

Mt. Ararat is a high rugged mountain with ice over the upper quarter of it the entire year. This would be a dangerous mountain for animals and humans to descend after a year’s journey by ship.

EVIDENCE FOR THE REMAINS OF NOAH’S ARK ON A SMALLER SISTER MOUNTAIN TO ARARAT

• The Case For The Doomsday Mountain Site

Ron Wyatt claims to have found the remains of Noah’s ark on Doomsday Mountain, located 12 to 15 miles southeast of Mt. Ararat in Turkey about 2 miles west of the border between Iran and turkey.

• Specific Evidence Found at the Site and Seen on the Accompanying Video
  • The satellite photos, take before the ship was completely covered with mud, shows a clear outline of ship-shaped walls sticking out of the ground.
  • The internal length of the boat measures 300 Egyptian cubits, at 20.6” per cubit = 515 feet long. Jody Jones and Ted Stewart measured the length and it proved to be exactly 515 feet long.
  • Rib timber beams are visually seen on one side.
  • Radar scopes shows that the timber beams are separated by equal distances the entire length of both sides of the formation. This proves that a humanly designed object lies under the mud.
  • Metal detection shows iron in 13 parallel longitudinal lines and nine latitudinal lines. These reveal the iron spikes used in construction. The lines reveal the bulkheads or walls of the different partitions within the ship.
  • The ends of 2 latitudinal deck support beams (appearing to be petrified wood) can be seen sticking out of each side of the walls of the ship.
  • Radar scopes revealed a deck only a few feet from the surface. Mr. Wyatt got permission from the Turkish government to dig down to this deck and take a sample of the petrified wood that was found. This sample is a dark red or mahogany color, is obviously petrified wood, and is composed of three layers of 1 to 1 ½ pieces of wood, laminated together. This sample is the only petrified, man-laminated wood ever known to be found.
  • Chemical analysis of the soil proves that the site encloses ancient wood and metal; the area around the formation does not show the same composition.
  • Ten of the largest anchor stones ever found has been located near and leading up to the site.
  • Elevation of the site is 6,300 feet above sea level.
  • ABC’s “Twenty Minutes” went to the site and broadcasted a program to record radar scopes of the sine in 1984.
  • The middle keel is found stuck in the mud up above the present location of the formation, indicating the ark slid down the valley of mud to its present location.
  • The Turkish government has built a visitor’s center above the site.
  • Parts of Mr. Wyatt’s video demonstrating these evidences for the remains of Noah’s ark are incorporated into this course. This entire video can be purchased from biblemart.com Book Store, 3720 34th St., Lubbock, Texas 79410

SUNSET’S INVESTIGATION OF THIS SITE

• Eyewitness InvestigationIn June, 1991, Ted and Dot Stewart, Virgil Yocham, the Dean of Sunset’s International Bible Institute External Studies and Jody Jones, a missionary in Toluca, Mexico, accompanied Mr. Wyatt and other to investigate the site.
• Video recording of the SiteVirgil took video tapes of the tourist center and the ship-like formation that is sticking out of the ground in a former mud slide. His video also includes some of Mr.Wyatt’s comments as we toured the site and looked at specific objects sticking out of the formation. A copy of Virgil’s’ video may be purchased from the External Studies Department of the Sunset International Bible Institute. See front of book for address.
• Physical Measurement of the Site Jody and Ted measured the length of the site and found it to be 515 feet long, precisely 300 Egyptian cubits (300 X 20.6). Moses was raised as an Egyptian and would likely have used Egyptian measurements.

Wayne Newman (wayne@a-1salvage.com) points out
something here I hadn’t noticed, Ted measured
the site according to Egyptian cubits,
but Egyptian cubits had nothing to do with Noah,
this was before the Egyptians even existed,
or the Jews for that matter.
What Ted is referring to is the fact that Moses
wrote this account, and therefore uses the measurements
according to Egyptian cubits. Now, in my mind this raises
a whole new conversation, such as what was revealed to
Moses in the first place? What measurements?
Moses did not measure the Ark,
he received the information from God.

And, is this just speculation on Ted's part. Basically it must be.

Now, one fact that remains concerns Shem, the son of Noah lived through 13 generations of his descendants giving each one an eyewitness account of the flood. He actually lived past the time of Abraham, so I am sure that whatever measurements were used were passed down in “legend” to the time of Moses, and those would be the measurements that Moses would have referred to, not Egyptian cubits.

Now, this is conjecture on my part, which has no more bearing on truth than Ted’s did, which means we should leave all this conjecture out of our studies.

When it comes to statements such as these, it needs to be left under the heading of conversation.

• Evidence of the Structural MeasurementsThe width of the first bulkhead near the head of the ship-shape formation was 35 feet to 138 feet in the middle is an average of 86.5 feet wide (35 + 138=173 /2 =86.5), almost exactly the 85.83 feet (50 cubits) of Genesis 6:15. The width of the ship may have spread some in the middle before it was buried with mud.
• Evidence from Radar ScopeRadar scopes shows that the timber beams are separated by equal distances the entire length of both sides of the formation
• On-site Discovery
  • During our visit to the site in 1991, Jody Jones saw Mr. Wyatt pick up from the ground, at the site, an iron spike driven through a washer into petrified wood.
  • Ted Stewart examined both the iron spike and also a copper or bronze spike driven into petrified wood that was found at this same time by Dr. Jerry Nicewonger, a physician from Paradise, California.
• Deck Support Beamsthe ends of two latitudinal deck support beams, which appear to be petrified wood, can be seen sticking out of each side of the walls of the ship: see Ted’s slide in his video presentation of this lesson.
• A Laminated Deck BoardIn the home of Mr. Wyatt Ted examined a laminated deck board that the Turkish soldiers dug up at the site.
• Ten Large Anchor Stones
  • Ten of the largest anchor stones ever discovered was found near the site.
  • The holes at the top of the anchor stones were finely drilled so that the diameter in the center was smaller than the diameter on the outside edges.
  • These were likely drag stones to slow down the velocity of the ark and give it stability in the tempestuous waves.
  • In Acts 27:18, Paul’s ship voyage to Rome, a powerful sea storm forced the sailors to let the anchor down, not to stop the ship, but to stabilize it and slow down it velocity through the stormy waves.
• Conclusion on the Ark Remains on Mt. Ararat
  • The Bible specifies that the Ark hovered above the mountains of the country of Ararat.
  • Large wood structures, one with a roof on it, have been seen by many eye witnesses and detected by radar scopes on Mount Ararat.
  • These wooden structures may have come down on the mountain during the Flood. No trees appear on the mountain.
  • The structures could also be wooden cabins or houses built on the mountain since the time of the Flood.
  • Only on-site excavation can reveal the true identity of these objects.
• Conclusion on the Ship-Shaped formation on dooms-Day Mountain
  • A ship-shaped formation with the dimensions of Noah’s Ark is seen in a mud slide on Doomsday Mountain about 15 miles southeast of Mt. Ararat.
  • However, the questions as to whether the Ark is on Mt. Ararat or Doomsday Mount will not be settled until excavation occurs on both sites.

SIZE AND SPACE OF THE ARK

• The Scientists’ Claimsmany scholars claim the ark was not large enough to house all of the land and air species of animal life.
• The Ark’s Dimensionsthe dimensions of Genesis 6:15 are 300 X 50 X 30 cubits. Most scholars calculate an 18” cubit, but Moses was raised in the wisdom of the Egyptians and would have likely used the 20.6” Egyptian cubit (Acts 7:22 And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds.(NKJV))
• Size of the Ark in cubit feet
  • Egyptian cubit = 20.6 = 515’ X 85.83’ X 51.5’ = 2,276,429 cubic feet.
  • Babylonian cubit = 18” = 450’ X 75’ X 45’ = 1,518,750 cubic Feet.
  • Box car (Train) = 2,760 cubic feet:= 824.79 box cars (Egyptian cubit).=550.27 box cars (Babylon Cubit).
• Animals
  • 500,000 species of land life.
  • 498,000 are insects, worms and animals smaller than a sheep
    • Box car holds 240 sheep.
    • Space needed = 10.5 box cars
  • 2,000 are the size of a sheep or larger.
    • Total size equivalent to 10,000 sheep.
    • Space needed = 42. 5 box cars.
  • 25% animals are clean = 500 species.
    • Total size equivalent to 2,500 sheep.
    • Six pair extra of each = 30,000 sheep.
    • Box cars needed = 125 box cars.
  • Total box cars needed = 231 box cars
• Space Left over for Food, Humans and Movement of Animals
  • Babylonian cubit = 319 box cars.
  • Egyptian cubit = 594 box cars.
• The Dimensions of Noah’s Ark Obviously Had Sufficient Space to House Everything the Bible Mentions.