The search for the biblical “Noah’s Ark” is perhaps the most famous quest to find real evidence of objects, places and events from the Old Testament. Many believe that the petrified outlines with the silhouette of a ship at the foot of Mount Ararat are the remains of the ark. Turkish scientists are now looking for confirmation or refutation of this legend.
Multiple researchers have been trying to find Noah’s Ark, which survived the Flood and described in the Old Testament, on Mount Ararat since the 4th century AD. Since the 19th century, dozens of scientific expeditions have visited Ararat in search of the biblical ark. In the 2000s, the media reported on satellite images of the slopes of Greater Ararat, in one of the saddles of which the remains of the biblical ship are allegedly clearly visible. Conspiracy theorists also support the version that the truth about Noah’s Ark and its images from US military satellites are stored in the Vatican and CIA archives.
And now, a scientific sensation is being prepared in Turkey with claims that Noah’s Ark is found. Geologists at Istanbul University and the University of Agra located in eastern Turkey, near Ararat and not far from the border with Armenia and Iran, decided to put an end to the debate whether this is true or a myth. Ağrı is also the Turkish name for Mount Ararat.
Wood fossils in rock and soil samples were collected from Mount Ararat, a dormant volcano in Turkey’s Far East that is one of the prime candidates for the Ark’s location – if it existed. The Book of Genesis mentions the “Mountains of Ararat”, but biblical scholars disagree as to what this means.
Professor Farooq Kaya, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Agra, who has been dealing with the Noah’s Ark theme for almost 20 years, expects to receive a verdict at the end of January – February. Together with his colleagues, he is ready to continue field work in the spring of 2023, to look for new artifacts.
Everything is like in the Bible?
Back in 2021, using a 3D ground-penetrating radar scan, researchers claimed they had located the boat’s structure underground. According to scientists, the structure found during the scan matches the dimensions of Noah’s Ark described in the Book of Genesis.
The Bible says that God told Noah to build an ark and take on board “a pair of every creature.” The text also describes the dimensions of the ark: 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high. 1 cubit is about 50 centimeters.
Scientists Andrew Jones and Fethi Ahmet Yuksel believe the scan results point to a man-made artifact below the surface that could very well be an ark. GPR data show parallel lines and angular structures at a depth of 2.5 to 6 meters.
“Those parallel lines and right angles below the surface are something you don’t expect to see in a natural geological formation,” the scientists said.
Not everyone agrees with the assumption
Since the original discovery of the boat-shaped footprint, scholars have repeatedly questioned claims that this is where Noah’s Ark is located.
For example, geologist Lawrence Collins in 1996 called this formation a natural rock formation with an unusual structure. The Turkish Ministry of Culture has declared this site a national park, but no official excavations have been carried out here.
Although many do not believe that Noah’s Ark is located here, scientists continue their research using GPR to convince the scientific world that the biblical relic rests under the surface.
Nevertheless, this winter we will know the truth as scientists are now waiting for the results of the examination of the found artifacts, which are similar to parts of the petrified tree of the legendary raft. Other details are not reported, but some are already saying that a world sensation is being prepared.