# Expedition Will Seek to Find Noah's Ark **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 26, 2004, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expedition-will-seek-to-find-noahs-ark/242160 "2004-04-26T22:28:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2004, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expedition-will-seek-to-find-noahs-ark/242160/1 "2004-04-26T22:28:01Z")
I just had to post this. All I can say is :rolleyes: [Link.](http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040426/ap_on_sc/noah_s_ark) > [@](#): > > An expedition is being planned for this summer to the upper reaches of Turkey’s Mount Ararat where organizers hope to prove an object nestled amid the snow and ice is Noah’s Ark. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2004, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expedition-will-seek-to-find-noahs-ark/242160/2 "2004-04-26T22:43:21Z")
Well, there could have been some actual, prehistoric event on which the flood legends of the region were based. There is the Black Sea Flood[theory](http://www.nationalgeographic.com/blacksea/ax/frame.html) > [@](#): > > Columbia University geologists William Ryan and Walter Pitman wondered what could explain the preponderance of flood legends. Their theory: As the Ice Age ended and glaciers melted, a wall of seawater surged from the Mediterranean into the Black Sea. > • During the Ice Age, Ryan and Pitman argue, the Black Sea was an isolated freshwater lake surrounded by farmland. > > • About 12,000 years ago, toward the end of the Ice Age, Earth began growing warmer. Vast sheets of ice that sprawled over the Northern Hemisphere began to melt. Oceans and seas grew deeper as a result. > > • About 7,000 years ago the Mediterranean Sea swelled. Seawater pushed northward, slicing through what is now Turkey. > > • Funneled through the narrow Bosporus, the water hit the Black Sea with 200 times the force of Niagara Falls. Each day the Black Sea rose about six inches (15 centimeters), and coastal farms were flooded. > > • Seared into the memories of terrified survivors, the tale of the flood was passed down through the generations and eventually became the Noah story It’s conceivably within the realm of possibility that some well-known pastoralist of the time did build a large boat and collect some of his livestock into it. The way I see it happening is that this farmer, or a group of farmers, noticed an outbreak of saltwater springs in the mountains to the south of them, and if they journeyed far enough south they would come to the peak of the southern mountains. There, instead of looking down on a distant plain, they would have seen salt water as far as the eye could reach, and at an elevation much higher than where they came from. Returning to their village, they decide to build a large boat and gather some of their livestock into it. Most of their neighbors think they’re nuts, but they turn out to be right in the end. But actually finding evidence of it? That’d be pretty hard to imagine. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2004, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expedition-will-seek-to-find-noahs-ark/242160/3 "2004-04-26T22:51:36Z")
I would love for them to find something up there. I think it would be an awesome historic and archaelogical find, and I’m really excited about it. The only thing that sucks is that it will just give creationists ammo to say “I told you so!”, when all it will really mean is that someone built a boat a long time ago. ---
**Author:** ![CaptBushido](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e4f/32.png) [@CaptBushido](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptBushido)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2004, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expedition-will-seek-to-find-noahs-ark/242160/4 "2004-04-26T23:17:21Z")
I don’t even see how its possible for them to find anything. What would a boat that old be made of other than wood? And after 12, 7, whatever thousand years I don’t there will be any wood left. Nor can I imagine any other non-wood artifacts that would survive or be findable. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2004, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expedition-will-seek-to-find-noahs-ark/242160/5 "2004-04-26T23:19:14Z")
Exactly. But I am fascinated by prehistoric legends of this sort. Among a Pacific Northwest Native American tribe there’s even a myth that supposedly mentions the woolly mammoth. (Just google “Bladderheaded Boy” for more info on that.) ---
**Author:** ![START](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@START](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/START)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2004, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expedition-will-seek-to-find-noahs-ark/242160/6 "2004-04-27T00:34:49Z")
I think Noah’s Ark is real and that would be a great historical find although those that don’t believe in it will never be satisfied even if “Noah’s Ark” was carved into the side of the boat. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2004, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expedition-will-seek-to-find-noahs-ark/242160/7 "2004-04-27T00:54:06Z")
> [@START](#): > > I think Noah’s Ark is real and that would be a great historical find although those that don’t believe in it will never be satisfied even if “Noah’s Ark” was carved into the side of the boat. As for those who don’t believe when faced with a mountain of evidence, you’ve got it exactly backwards, kid. Wanna buy an authentic Turin Shroud? I’ve got one in my garage. Haj ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2004, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expedition-will-seek-to-find-noahs-ark/242160/8 "2004-04-27T00:58:32Z")
It’s all been done before; this expedition will be every bit as much a sham or failure as the others. Just out of interest (As an exercise for the reader) how much water (over and above what is already present on the Earth, including the polar ice caps) would it take to raise sea level to the height of Ararat’s summit? (let’s ignore Everest and all those other inconveniently tall mountains). ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2004, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expedition-will-seek-to-find-noahs-ark/242160/9 "2004-04-27T01:29:58Z")
> [@START](#): > > I think Noah’s Ark is real and that would be a great historical find although those that don’t believe in it will never be satisfied even if “Noah’s Ark” was carved into the side of the boat. I would think that finding the words “Noah’s Ark” carved into the side would be pretty strong evidence that it wasn’t real, or at least that vandals had gotten to it. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2004, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expedition-will-seek-to-find-noahs-ark/242160/10 "2004-04-27T01:36:16Z")
Imagine for the sake of argument the story is based on a grain of truth, as **Spectre of Pithecanthropus** ’s post describes. If somehow enough boat-remains are found to determine the size of the thing, some borderline fundies might actually be convinced that the bible is not to be taken as literally as he/she previously thought. After all, it certainly cannot be big enough to hold 2 (or 7, depending on which part of Genesis you believe) of each animal. Of course, the fact that story already contradicts itself (2 vs 7) should be enough, but maybe the ark size will be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. Hey, I can dream, can’t I? ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2004, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expedition-will-seek-to-find-noahs-ark/242160/11 "2004-04-27T01:41:36Z")
> [@Spectre of Pithecanthropus](#): > > Well, there could have been some actual, prehistoric event on which the flood legends of the region were based. There is the Black Sea Flood[theory](http://www.nationalgeographic.com/blacksea/ax/frame.html) Naaah. The Flood myths stem from the survivors of the sinking of Atlantis, everybody knows that 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Beauty\_Personified](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e480ec/32.png) [@Beauty\_Personified](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beauty_Personified)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2004, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expedition-will-seek-to-find-noahs-ark/242160/12 "2004-04-27T02:41:36Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Naaah. The Flood myths stem from the survivors of the sinking of Atlantis, everybody knows that 🆒 And, just today, I read of another mission to find [Atlantis](http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=583&e=5&u=/nm/20040426/od_nm/atlantis_dc). This one’s off the coast of Cyprus. On the subject of Mount Ararat, I seem to recall something about the entire chain of mountains Ararat belongs to having been simply known as Ararat in general long ago. So, the mountain mentioned in the Ark story may not actually be the mountain we specifically call Mount Ararat today. Nonetheless, I wish all those who endeavor to find both Noah’s Ark and Atlantis the best of success, and safe passage. The quests themselves are often more interesting that the outcome. And, even if they don’t find the fantastic, they could still find something interesting and enlightening. Anyhoo… ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2004, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expedition-will-seek-to-find-noahs-ark/242160/13 "2004-04-27T03:01:46Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > It’s all been done before; this expedition will be every bit as much a sham or failure as the others. > > Just out of interest (As an exercise for the reader) how much water (over and above what is already present on the Earth, including the polar ice caps) would it take to raise sea level to the height of Ararat’s summit? (let’s ignore Everest and all those other inconveniently tall mountains). Don’t forget that only Biblical fundamentalists need to explain that. I’m certain that most Flood investigators are legitimate scientists who consider the flood a real, but only regional event. . ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2004, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expedition-will-seek-to-find-noahs-ark/242160/14 "2004-04-27T03:02:33Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > …If somehow enough boat-remains are found to determine the size of the thing, some borderline fundies might actually be convinced that the bible is not to be taken as literally as he/she previously thought… Nah, they’ll just say that they found some other boat and keep looking for the real one. Unless, of course, “Noah’s Ark” is carved on the side… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2004, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expedition-will-seek-to-find-noahs-ark/242160/15 "2004-04-27T12:32:38Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > Nah, they’ll just say that they found some other boat and keep looking for the real one. Unless, of course, “Noah’s Ark” is carved on the side… 🙂 Well, what if SS Minnow is carved on the side? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2004, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expedition-will-seek-to-find-noahs-ark/242160/16 "2004-04-27T12:38:37Z")
My money is still on that so-called “ark” in the photo being a barn. Or a mining site. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2004, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expedition-will-seek-to-find-noahs-ark/242160/17 "2004-04-27T12:56:01Z")
> [@](#): > > Just out of interest (As an exercise for the reader) how much water (over and above what is already present on the Earth, including the polar ice caps) would it take to raise sea level to the height of Ararat’s summit? (let’s ignore Everest and all those other inconveniently tall mountains). Yes, I think that’s the big problemo, since the article says Ararat is 17,820 feet tall. And then there’s the problem of where the water went. ---
**Author:** ![garius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e19b73/32.png) [@garius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garius)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2004, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expedition-will-seek-to-find-noahs-ark/242160/18 "2004-04-27T12:59:12Z")
Actually, they can call the whole thing off - i found Noah’s Ark the other day when i was clearing up - it had fallen down the back of my sofa. It’s always in the last place you look… :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2004, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expedition-will-seek-to-find-noahs-ark/242160/19 "2004-04-27T15:38:57Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > Well, what if SS Minnow is carved on the side? \ Actually, that would be “Minnow I” \ ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2004, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expedition-will-seek-to-find-noahs-ark/242160/20 "2004-04-27T16:16:39Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > Well, what if SS Minnow is carved on the side? Skipper’s ark? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expedition-will-seek-to-find-noahs-ark/242160.md?page=2)