Eery so often, the crank press brings up the myth about the “Noah’s Ark”. Invariably, they say that an expedition to Mt. Ararat found the boat, but had to turn back. So, I assume a bunch of fundamentalists have been swarming all over Mt. Ararat for yeras-so what’s been found, and is it a boat?
Short answer: No. And they won’t.
I think someone found a piece of wood a few years back and claimed it was ancient.
Also I saw some history channel hokum about some giant stones that look just like they might have been used as anchors. It was the typical History Channel tripe, mainly along the lines of “Well, we didn’t really find anything, but we also didn’t find anything proving its NOT here, so we are just going to go ahead and assume it’s true.”
To be clear: I would be less surprised if someone found the Ark of the Covenant than I would Noah’s Ark. So, I agree with Cynical Gabe.
The only real serious contender left on Ararat is the so-called Ararat Anomaly of which wiki can say:
*The “Noah’s Ark” claims are not taken seriously by mainstream archaeology, many of whom claim it to be a rock formation. This belief is countered by the fact that the object seems to have moved since its initial discovery; however there are many theories to explain this. Some of these theories point to the insufficient technology of the mid 20th century to adequately chart its location, and some others say that it could be a rock formation that broke off from its original location and has since been moved by the glacier it is caught in.
One argument claimed in support of the anomaly being Noah’s Ark is that they share a 6 to 1 ratio. According to Scripture Noah’s Ark was 300 by 50 cubits, 6 times as long as it was wide. The anomaly is roughly 1,015 by 170 feet, which is indeed roughly 6 times longer than it is wide. But one cubit is equivalent to 18 inches, so 300 cubits is 450 feet, not 1,015 feet. Moreover the 6:1 ratio is a fairly common ratio in nature, so it would not be an extraordinarily impressive coincidence.
The Defence Intelligence Agency, which has custody of the images, has analysed the anomaly as showing "linear facades in the glacial ice underlying more recently accumulated ice and snow* "
There is evidence that the Black Sea was quickly flooded. Therefore it could have been the site of Noah’s flood.
Wonder if anyone has looked in that area instead of Mt. Ararat.
Yeah, not to jack the thread, but what’s the story on the Black Sea flooding being the origin of the Flood Story in all the cultures? I thought that was pretty interesting but forget where I read it.
There wouldn’t be an ark regardless. The Noah story is just one variation of an older sumerian myth. I wonder why none of thse ark hunters ever consider the possibility that the so-called “anomaly” could be Utnapishtam’s Ark.
Thank you! I knew about the older myth, but couldn’t remember the name.
It is interesting. I hadn’t realized that it was disputed- I thought it was a commonly accepted theory these days.
Yes, it’s been found and re-found numerous times. However it somehow always turns out that they ran out of film or didn’t take the lens cap off.
Unlikely, since that’s not exactly where the bible says it ended up anyway:
Mount Ararat is simply one of hundreds of mountains in the area covered by the Kingdom of Ararat; the highest, it is true, but there’s no particular reason to believe it was the one referred to (leaving aside the fact that the whole story is a retelling of an ancient myth anyway).
[QUOTE=jimmmy]
To be clear: I would be less surprised if someone found the Ark of the Covenant than I would Noah’s Ark. So, I agree with Cynical Gabe.
That is the best they can come up with? And no one has even been up the mountain to even check it out? Wow. :rolleyes:
Oops, excuse me. I meant to quote the part with the Wiki link in it.
So how many adults actually believe the Noah’s ark story, as written in the Bible, nowadays? I would hope that it would be very few.
It is commonly accepted-- on The History Channel. 
I think something like this would be extremely hard, if not impossible, to prove.
Since Biblical literalists have hovered around Ararat for years claiming this or that I think it is more accurate to say the best chance left, rather than the best they ever came up with. In my view there were two distinct eras of searchers.
The first era was based on local legends and purported sightings. This was based on rumor & long standing local legend (In the first century Josephus says he heard the Ark was in (now) Eastern Turkey), and possibly fueled a bit by local scammers separating credulous expeditions from their money.
Eventually in the 20th Century a second era opened up with the advent of aerial and satellite photos – an era that we are now nearing the end of and of which the Ararat Anomaly is really the last, best hope of literalists who believe an Ark is on Ararat. Photos from Airplanes began to intrigue some in my view, (and this has so far borne out and I think is SDGQ to say it), the way you can see faces on Mars or castles in the clouds if you look hard enough and expect to find something. That has happened several times and all come to nothing. This era has included some heavy weight folks and money and has always tried to wrap itself in the veneer of “science” – including most notably the Astronaut Jim Irwin in the 1980’s. Like the UFO/Bigfoot Industry a whole bunch of books from the 50-80’s were published which included stories of secret Russian/Smithsonian/National Geographic expeditions… but they were meant to sell books/videos and just muddy our waters. Again, most of the charges made by this Industry (& that is what it was) have proved false or have never offered a shred of proof beyond Noah literalists citing each others work.
So to repeat myself: the AA is best chance left, rather than the best they ever came up with.
It goes pretty much hand-in-hand with Young Earth Creationism, which is dead, but won’t lie down.
That’s because Noah is easier to spell than Utnapishtam
Far, far too many. Probably a good majority of the people I grew up with, my family, etc. believe that story to be true. And damn the lack of evidence… to quote, “If God wanted to flood the earth and not leave a trace of the Flood, then He can do that. He created the whole universe in one week, He can do anything.”
:rolleyes:
FWIW, it was my realization that the “Noah’s Flood is True” meme (of sorts) was false and in the current day and age quite possibly a bloody lie too by the upper, educated theologans that caused my first crisis of faith which has led, to the end to weak atheism. So, there is hope for my family and home town
Thanks for mentioning UFOs-did you see that mess on The hitler channel? ("MEXICO’S ROSWELL)? Same old crap- film of grainey objects in the sky (they looked like Christmas ornaments on a tring). plus interviews with mexican journalists. So what? This stuff is just so boring! Can any UFO beliver please send me a believable picture of one of these things?
Probably just a bit less money in finding Utnapishtam’s ark, too. I imagine that an archaeologist looking for Noah would be pretty disappointed if he found the other ark.