Posted on 04/28/2004 1:17:42 PM PDT by blam
Noah's Ark Found? Turkey Expedition Planned for Summer
Hillary Mayell
for National Geographic News
April 27, 2004
Satellite pictures taken last summer of Mount Ararat in Turkey may reveal the final resting place of Noah's ark, according to Daniel McGivern, the businessman and Christian activist behind a planned summer 2004 expedition to investigate the site. "We're telling people we're 98 percent sure," said McGivern, a member of the Hawaii Christian Coalition. "In one image we saw the beams, saw the wood. I'm convinced that the excavation of the object and the results of tests run on any collected samples will prove that it is Noah's ark. "
This satellite image of Mount Ararat in Turkey shows what looks like a large object emerging from melting snow. An expedition is planned to visit the site to see if it is Noah's Ark.
Image Courtesy Shamrock/DigitalGlobe
McGivern wrote a list in his Bible more than 20 years ago of ten great projects. Finding Noah's ark was at the top of his list.
McGivern began his quest in earnest in 1995, when the publication of a book on the topic moved him to arrange for satellite images to be taken of Mount Ararat.
Attempts to take satellite images in previous years had been foiled by clouds, unavailability of imaging equipment, and lack of image resolution. But the attempts had helped pinpoint the location. In the summer of 2003, everything came together.
"Last year was the hottest summer in Europe since 1500; more than 21,000 people died of the heat wave," McGivern said. "The summer melt was far more extensive than it has been in years."
DigitalGlobe, a commercial satellite-imagery company, confirmed that they took the images that McGivern is using.
An international team of archaeologists, forensic scientists, geologists, glaciologists, and others is being recruited to investigate the site sometime between July 15 and August 15.
Ahmet Arslan, a professor in Turkey who has climbed the mountain 50 times in 40 years, will lead the expedition. Arslan reported an eyewitness sighting of the ark and took a photograph in 1989 from about 220 yards (200 meters) away. However, he couldn't get any closer, and the picture is not definitive.
"We hope to assemble what we're calling the Dream Team," Arslan said. "The slopes are very, very harsh and dangerous on the northern faceit is extremely challenging, mentally and physically."
Noah's Ark
The story of Noah's ark is told in the Book of Genesis. It says God saw how corrupt the Earth had become and decided to "bring floodwaters on the Earth to destroy all life under the heavens." God is said to have told Noah, an honorable man, to build an ark 450 feet (137 meters) long, 75 feet (23 meters) wide, and 45 feet (14 meters) high, and fill it with two of every species on the Earth. It reportedly rained for 40 days and 40 nights. After about seven months, the waters receded, and the ark came to rest, according to the Bible.
Three major world religionsChristianity, Judaism, and Islambelieve in Noah and his ark. Reports of ark sightings have been numerous. Witnesses often describe an old wooden structure sticking out of the snow and ice near the summit of Mount Ararat.
Despite the numerous sightings and rumorsof pictures taken by the CIA and locked in vaults, of lost photographs taken by a Russian expedition at the behest of Tsar Nicholas Alexander in 1918no scientific evidence of the ark has emerged.
"On the one hand, I'm hopeful. On the other hand, I'm very skeptical" of the validity of the satellite images, said Rex Geissler, president of ArcImaging (Archaeological Imaging Research Consortium). "There is no publicly available picture that readily shows a man-made object that has any clarity whatsoever Some of the photos are outright misrepresentations, non-scientific, and do not prove anything.
"We think that with the hundreds of explorers who have visited the region, if the ark was jutting out of the ice, it would be obvious."
ArcImaging was the first organization to receive permission from the Turkish government to survey the mountain since 1981. The archaeological research organization conducted a preliminary investigation of the icecap using ground-penetrating radar in 2001.
The Search Continues
The Bible states that Noah landed in the region of the ancient kingdom Urartu. Mount Ararat (its name probably a corrupted version of Urartu) has been the focus of those seeking the ark because itat 17,000 feet (5,165 meters)is the highest point in the area.
A volcanic mountain, Ararat is covered by an icecap from 14,000 feet (4,300 meters) to 17,000 feet (5,200 meters). The icecap is about 17 square miles (44 square kilometers) in size and is as deep as 300 feet (90 meters).
Known to locals as Agri DagiTurkish for "mountain of pain" Ararat is not easy to access. Located in eastern Turkeyclose to the borders of Armenia and Iran, and only 150 miles (240 kilometers) from Iraqthe region is politically volatile and often dangerous. Much of the region is part of a military zone, and getting permission to explore it is extremely difficult.
The ArcImaging team hopes to visit the region to continue their mapping of the icecap this summer.
McGivern is optimistic his group will also be on the face of the mountain this summer. He and Arslan met last week with the Turkish ambassador to the U.S. Arslan, who at one time worked in the Turkish prime minister's office, plans to meet with the prime minister next week.
"The ark is broken into a minimum of three pieces, up to six, from a huge earthquake that occurred in 1840. But it's been miraculously preserved. The satellite imagery shows vertical beams, and one horizontal beam," McGivern said.
A number of people are strong believers and have spent large sums of money to go there and find it. Time will tell.
What are you gonna say when it's a bust?
Last time I ckecked (more than a decade ago) there had been 80+ Ark Expeditions in the last 50 years. It's probably well in the three figures now.
My theory is they are really carrying wood UP the mountain to add to the ARK PROJECT.
Whe it's complete, they will announce the discovery to the world.
The really high resolution imaging satellites are currently in use against real bad guy targets.
Using them in an attempt to look for myths would be wasteful misuse of an
important intelligence collection platform.
Nope! That's where it landed. Has nothing to do with where it was built. Could'a been built anywhere, even America, and been pushed to Ararat by winds, currents, or the will of God.
They can fail to find it a thousand times and it doesn't prove a thing. But find it once and bring back incontrovertible proof and civilization's history is totally rewritten!
Not Really, there is the following evidence:
Deuteronomy 28:15 But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee: ... 28:41 - Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but thou shalt not enjoy them; for they shall go into captivity.
Deuteronomy 30:3 - That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee.
I'm sure there's a lot more evidence, but that's just what I can rattle off of the top of my head. It takes more faith not to believe.
There is no mention of ice when they disembarked, so one can reasonably assume that the climate immediately following the flood was different. If God caused the animals to come to Noah, I have no doubt that He could lead them safely down the mountain.
Actually, in Genesis 8:15 the Lord tells Noah to come out of the ark along with his family and the animals. This means that if the Lord did not take Noah out of the ark, He also did not take the animals out of the ark. It's in the biblical record. In fact the Lord said "bring out every kind of animal.."
I agree that the Lord can do all things, but the issue is whether or not he'd place them on a hill like this. It sure seems that there'd be some mention of the miracle of getting them down this steep incline. If the miracle of crossing the Red Sea on dry land was mentioned, why would this have not been?
The ice is not the issue I have: It's the steepness of the hill.
I am convinced of the biblical account of the ark, but it seems strange this this is the best shot they can get of this object on the mountain. Sounds like hogwash to me.
LOL. You expect us to believe that Noah built an ark way up high on a mountain? That he carried wood way up there? And for what purpose? A boat doesn't do any good on a mountain. It only does good where it is accessible. Either on the sea. Or in the case of the Ark where people live.
Noah probably did endure ridicule for building the Ark and it took him 120 years to build it. But to build one way up on a mountain is ridiculous. And y'all think WE are the illogical ones!!!
I'll reserve judgement on whether it is really Noah's ark, until they have proof. But I certainly wouldn't dismiss it simly because the mountain looks steep and dangerous today.
Genesis 8:13-15
13- By the first day of the first month of Noah's six hundred and first year, the water had dried up from the earth. Noah then removed the covering from the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry.
14- By the twnty-seventh day of the second month the earth was completely dry.
15- Then the Lord said unto Noah, "Come out of the ark..."...
The Biblical record does not support the possibility that there was water on the ground when the animals came out.
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