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”.
And what exactly is 'gopher wood'?
How could you tell the difference between it, and lets say, 'beaver wood'?
Actually, “Gopher Wood” is a misnomer due to translation.
The word is signified by the consonants KPR, which which would just as easily identify a kind of bituminous cement or pitch.
“Well, I wonder if they can analyize the petrified wood sample and tell whether or not it is gopher wood?”
And can they find any evidence that it once was covered with pitch?
That’s interesting, I didn’t know that. I wish I could read Hebrew.
susie
According to that site they also found the Ark of The Covenant containing the Ten Commandments which happened to be right under where Jesus was crucified and they found that His blood had seeped into the ground and landed on the Ark. Im sure thats all true too... /s
Look, I’m pretty religious, but we hear these “they found Noahs’ ark!” things about twice a year now.
"God? What's a 'cubit'?"
-- bill cosby
>>came out with “material evidence”, to prove that the Ark was nestled on Mount Ararat, Turkey’s highest mountain peak bordering Iran and Armenia<<
I wonder how they would prove its “the ark?”
Even if there is a boat there thats the right size, it would take a good bit more to show it was the original and not a copy and that it was used to transport all those different animal.
I would think they should find the DNA of hundreds of species of animals who live no where near the are on “the Ark.”
Now, I don’t doubt there was a local flood that was referenced in the Bible but even the base of what is called Mt Ararat today is 5000 feet above sea level and to be even a few thousand feet above that as part of a world wide flood would have left observable evidence.
Oooh a one meter long piece of petrified wood.
This story is posted here anually. Yawn...stretch...
wake me up when you really find something.
Uh, hello!!! The Nazis found the ark more than half a century ago. Thankfully, an American archeologist was able to rescue it. It’s currently been studied by “Top Men” at a facility in Washington with the usually title “Warehouse 23”.
Let's just say... the wood you get from Beaver is just a little harder than that gotten with gopher, nudge, nudge, wink, wink.
blueletterbible.org cites some authorities believing it to be cypress. The Vulgate merely states “lignis levigatis” — which is “smoothed wood.”
It looks like the Septuagint just says “xylon,” meaning “wood.”
“Gopher wood” does come from the Hebrew. It looks like the word is “gfr” (actually rfg but Hebrew is backwards), which can be translated as “pitch.” Translating it simply as “gopher” is misleading.
Now cypress does decompose very slowly.
I think that’s:
Riiiiiiight. What’s a cubit?
Apparently not much more than 4 hours according to all the ED commercials
> Ah, how many millions of years does it take to petrify wood?
Wood can be lithified pretty rapidly.
If I remember correctly, the logs blown into the mud from the explosion on Mt. St. Helens were petrified within a few years.
One season we were particularly annoyed by a delivery of firewood that was dry when we got it, but it was unusually heavy. It did not burn well, but rather smoldered like a cigar and left a sandy-textured ash.
When we called to complain to the seller about it, he said that the wood had been laying around in the mud for a few of months before he had stacked it to dry. Apparently, it already been partially petrified from sitting in the mud just a few months.
We had to buy more firewood, from another source, of course, because that stuff was just unusable. We just left it in a pile and used it for bordering the garden and for corduroy walkways.
True. Much needs to be verified still, in regards to the Ark of the Covenant, and I’m not one to chase every claim. But it has to be somewhere. :-) There is no record of it going into the Babylonian captivity, or coming out of exile during the Persian empire. So it must have been secured before the Southern Kingdom fell. Theologically, the possibility of the blood of Christ being spilt on the Ark doesn’t do violence to the Gospel at all, and it’s really not important. In fact, if the Ark were wheeled out today, people would worship the Ark of the Covenant, forgetting how Jesus Christ paid man’s sin debt once and for all: for those that believe and trust in Him.
With respect to Noah’s ark, the size does match with the biblical account. And it’s a lot more than a meter of wood the Turkish government is claiming. Interesting how archeology always seems to catch up with the Bible, and not the other way around.
Good study though. God Bless.
Noah had it easy.
I had to ride it out on an ice floe. Man, I got tired of eating fish.
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