# So, Has NOAH's ARK Been Found? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 20, 2006, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-has-noahs-ark-been-found/361488 "2006-06-20T21:54:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2026, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-has-noahs-ark-been-found/361488/121 "2026-10-08T18:38:28Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > So the story goes he just bumped into it. That’s what she said. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2026, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-has-noahs-ark-been-found/361488/122 "2026-10-08T23:20:08Z")
Does anybody ever ask how they would know it was Noah’s Ark even if they found a ship on a mountain? Do they think it would it would have a plank reading the U.S.S. Noah in English, the language Jesus spoke? ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2026, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-has-noahs-ark-been-found/361488/123 "2026-10-09T00:12:44Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > I used to work around a bunch of JWs, they told me they believed God put things like that there to test their faith. They honestly believed that. I’ve actually thought that’s logical reasoning and would explain many of the illogical things that God does. If God is looking for souls that are absolutely faithful followers no matter what, a good way to filter people out is to create lots of illogical conundrums. The logical people will look at these situations and realize none of it makes sense. God doesn’t want those souls. The absolutely faithful people will believe everything that they are supposed to believe regardless of whether it makes sense or not. They believe it because God wants them to believe it. That may be exactly the personality type that God is looking for. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2026, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-has-noahs-ark-been-found/361488/124 "2026-10-09T00:31:08Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > I’ve actually thought that’s logical reasoning and would explain many of the illogical things that God does. If God is looking for souls that are absolutely faithful followers no matter what, a good way to filter people out is to create lots of illogical conundrums. I used to wonder why scammers would have such ridiculous stories, until I realized that it’s a similar set up. By making the story absurd, they weed out the ones who would have figured it out anyway. I grew up Mormon, and can attest to how strongly people cling on to faith over logic. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2026, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-has-noahs-ark-been-found/361488/125 "2026-10-09T00:33:11Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > And if the water was receding fast enough that they could walk down to the lowlands, why not just wait? Says the person who didn’t spend months and months shoveling out elephant poop. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2026, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-has-noahs-ark-been-found/361488/126 "2026-10-09T00:58:40Z")
Would there have been a nearby source of good lumber _besides_ the ark? Just speculating. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2026, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-has-noahs-ark-been-found/361488/127 "2026-10-09T02:02:44Z")
You can substitute “grifters” in place of “God” in @filmore’s post and it reads just as well. Which may well be indicative of something… ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2026, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-has-noahs-ark-been-found/361488/128 "2026-10-09T02:05:26Z")
They’ll know in the same way they know that a piece of cloth with someone’s outline on it is - even assuming assuming it’s a burial garment at all - Jesus’ burial garment. Which is to say, by sheer force of desire. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2026, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-has-noahs-ark-been-found/361488/129 "2026-10-09T02:10:25Z")
**Erasmus (16th-century Dutch humanist):** > _“So they say of the cross of Our Lord, which is shown publicly and privately in so many places, that, if all the fragments were collected together, they would appear to form a fair cargo for a merchant ship.”_ ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2026, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-has-noahs-ark-been-found/361488/130 "2026-10-09T05:35:01Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > If God is looking for souls that are absolutely faithful followers no matter what, a good way to filter people out is to create lots of illogical conundrums Since this god is allegedly omniscient it already knows who is absolutely faithful and who is not. What’s the point of the test? ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2026, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-has-noahs-ark-been-found/361488/131 "2026-10-09T05:41:44Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > That’s what she said. Or that’s what he told the insurance company. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2026, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-has-noahs-ark-been-found/361488/132 "2026-10-09T06:31:56Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Does anybody ever ask how they would know it was Noah’s Ark even if they found a ship on a mountain? Do they think it would it would have a plank reading the U.S.S. Noah in English, the language Jesus spoke? That could be easily faked by some unscrupulous spiv. You’d need some sort of official document, properly signed ‘Jesus H. Christ.’ ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2026, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-has-noahs-ark-been-found/361488/133 "2026-10-09T10:12:54Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > Any metal would have been iron Not when the Flood is usually dated to, it wouldn’t. It’s firmly in the Bronze Age. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2026, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-has-noahs-ark-been-found/361488/134 "2026-10-09T16:53:02Z")
> [@Banksiaman](#): > > You’d need some sort of official document, properly signed ‘Jesus H. Christ.’ That’s not good enough. It would have to be notarized. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2026, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-has-noahs-ark-been-found/361488/135 "2026-10-09T18:00:26Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > That’s not good enough. It would have to be notarized. The notary stamp being made of bronze apparently… ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2026, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-has-noahs-ark-been-found/361488/136 "2026-10-09T18:13:11Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > Since this god is allegedly omniscient it already knows who is absolutely faithful and who is not. What’s the point of the test? Or, since this god is allegedly omniscient why make unfaithful beings in the first place? > [@Yllaria](#): > > Would there have been a nearby source of good lumber _besides_ the ark? Just speculating. You mean Iraq? > [@](#): > > Iraq has very little natural forest cover, with total natural forests spanning roughly 19,000 hectares (less than 0.1% of the country’s total land area) > [@](#): > > **Kurdistan Region (Northern Iraq):** Holds about 97% of Iraq’s natural forests, concentrated in the rugged Zagros Mountains Not unless Noah built the ark high up in the mountains. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2026, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-has-noahs-ark-been-found/361488/137 "2026-10-09T18:26:59Z")
I personally would find it hilarious if someone found a boat on top of a mountain with a plaque reading “Nebuchadnezzar, my ship”. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2026, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-has-noahs-ark-been-found/361488/138 "2026-10-09T18:43:06Z")
Even funnier if it read “Utnapishtim, my ship.” ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2026, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-has-noahs-ark-been-found/361488/139 "2026-10-09T18:46:10Z")
That name looks like something in the background of early AI. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2026, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-has-noahs-ark-been-found/361488/140 "2026-10-09T18:53:26Z")
It’s the Gilgamesh Noah, for those who haven’t read the Epic. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-has-noahs-ark-been-found/361488.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-has-noahs-ark-been-found/361488.md?page=8)