Posted on 02/17/2008 5:05:48 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Dogubayazit (Turkey’s Iran-Armenian Border) • For the first time in the seven decade-long history of the search for the legendary Noah’s Ark, a Turkish-Hong Kong exploration team on Tuesday came out with “material evidence”, to prove that the Ark was nestled on Mount Ararat, Turkey’s highest mountain peak bordering Iran and Armenia.
A panel of experts, comprising Turkish authorities, veteran mountaineers, archaeologists, geologists and members of Hong Kong-based Noah’s Ark Ministries International, also displayed an almost one-metre-long peice of petrified wood before the media and specially invited international experts.
The experts claimed it to be a part of a long structure they had unearthed during their February-August 2007 exploration. “It is for the first time in the history of the Ark search that an exploration team is getting a material evidence and graphic documentation. This makes it not only a the significant breakthrough in the Ark-search, but one that is supported with the most substantial evidence in recent history,” the panel said.
The revelation is expected to open up a fresh chapter in the ongoing debates in the scientific community on the search for Noah’s Ark.
Narrating the genesis of their exploration on Mount Ararat, the mount which has a direct reference in Holy Quran (Mount Judi) and Bible, the panel said the search team had made several foiled attempts before unearthing the evidence at an altitude of 4,500-metres of the estimated 5,165 metre volcanic mountain.
“The structure was discovered in the interiors of an unusual cave. The 11.5m wide and 2.6m high white wooden texture was revealed after removing thick layers of volcanic ash on the cave wall,” panel members said at a press conference.
One of the underlying issues in the search for the Ark is the proper identification of its wood fragments. A petrographic examination carried out by the Applied Geoscience Centre of the Department of Earth Sciences, University of Hong Kong, identified the object as a petrified wooden structure, the panel said.
“Some of the big holes found on the structure indicate the locations where branches used to grow on tree. In places, original holes are partly or completely replaced by individual minerals and crystalline materials that can be found in rock materials,” said Dr Ahmet Ozbek, a panel member, who is also a faculty of Geology Engineering Kahramanmara Suctcu Imam University.
Dismissing the possibilities of the structure being wood that could appear naturally around the discovery site, Professor Oktay Belli, director, Eurasian Archaeology Institute, University of Istanbul, said researches have proved that there was no vegetation on Mount Ararat ever since 2000BC, because of the asperities of Ararat’s climate.
Talking to The Peninsula, Cemalettin Demircioglu, Dogubayazit City Governor, under whose jurisdiction the mount is located, said the civic body will invite more international experts to conduct further scientific studies on Mount Ararat.
“History has more than one times corroborated the legendary evidence that the ark was nestled on Mount Ararat. We will introduce the latest findings to the world and continue the scientific study. All interested scientists and NGOs can join our missions” he said. However, he said, those who are involved in the project must ensure the findings are not used politically, religiously, or for any vested interest.
Located in the Far Eastern Turkey, Ararat is great prize for mountain collectors. Ark sighting has often been reported from this mountain. The observation of Vessel-shaped features in aerial photograph of Ararat had caused a stir in the late 1950’s. However, this is the first time an exploration team is coming out with “material evidence”.
Any webpage that mentions Alantis in an attempt at serious scientific conversation has already left the real universe.
HERETIC! You will burn in Hell for doubting the story of Noah. Don’t you know that scientific facts have no place in dicussing the history of our 10,000 year old planet. Real science is merely a distraction from our focused unreality...;)
Mark
"What's a cubit?"
Mark
I suppose this kind of ambiguity was the reason we finally settled on standardized units of measure in the Middle Ages right? :)
Hey, you’re right. The flood was 29 thousand and 57.5 feet high (give or take a few feet). Wow! That’s a heck of a lot of water!
I don’t know how they would do on Biblical geography, (they are more into linguistics and manuscript evidence). But I do agree with your position. I never believed the ark had to be on Mt Ararat, for that very reason: the Bible doesn’t say it has to be on Mt Ararat. That is lost to most people, even Christians. Check out anchorstone.com. Ron Wyatt was of the same vein when he came across what very much could be the ark. Personally, I believe it is, but good men can disagree.
It’s exciting to see people interested in the biblical account, but I hope they don’t miss the main message: the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Ping to read later
Water twenty-two and a half feet above Mount Everest. Wow! How did they know how deep it was? I reckon old Noah must have paddled over there and dropped a plumb line.
So it's not a reflection of the Bible at all, but a validation of God's assessment of man: that he is at enmity with God and is completely incapable, apart from Jesus Christ, of understanding God and His Word.
God is right and we are wrong, yet again.
Let me know when they find petrified lions poop and Llama poop in close proximity of one another.
What a great tagline.
Just checked, apparently wood can be petrified in “hundreds or thousands of years” Or 2 days in a lab.
Well, with Glowbull Warming, the ice might melt and free the boat. HUH?? Hi Dolly.
That’s what I love about FR, there are so many smart people. I think I learn more here than I did in college. Wait...I KNOW I learn more here... Thank you!
susie
Hey sweetie~ Well the way my friends have experienced winter, I expect anohter foot of ice a month atop the “find”
Point is, how would a wood structure get to the top of that mountain?
You were there? Amazing!
susie
I can appreciate that, but take care you don't eliminate anything, since it's ALL been done and being done with His hand. The earth has been and very likely will continue to be a violent place would you agree? Alls I know is there is plentiful evidence around the world of cataclysmic events, some within human history - for those that will but see. Why He made it so I haven't a clue.
There are stories/myths/legends from around the world of, for example, the flood. You can choose not to believe ANY of them or you can do as others have and search in every nook and cranny for evidence that may support the story. Your choice.
But it also tends to open one's eyes to the chicanery of the fast-talking charlatans who will present only that presumed "evidence" that seems to confirm their current-day pet theory.
If by that you mean catastrophic changes affecting the earth, it is an old hypothesis; very old. The latest pet theory, if you will, is just the opposite.
Best,
What IS that shrill yapping sound and that annoying nipping at my heels??? Oh, it's you...
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