Noah's Ark Found in Turkey

Noah's Ark is a legendary vessel, built by Noah at God's command. He was supposed to save himself, his family, and all the world's animals and birds from a deluge that was going to submerge the whole universe. Noah's Ark is spoken of by different world religions including Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and others.

It is said that God was angry with man's wickedness, and the sins he committed. The sinners had to be punished. But, at the same time, those who were innocent, had to be spared. So, God spoke to Noah, the most righteous man of his generation. He asked Noah to build a huge vessel that will help save his family ,and a pair of every animal of the world.

He was asked to board the ship along with his family, and seven pairs of birds and clean animals. One pair of the unclean animals were also asked to be taken along.

Noah was given detailed instructions of building the Ark by God. After completion of the Ark, God sent different animals to Noah to be taken into the vessel. Finally, the day came when the Flood was caused by God. It was so huge that it covered all the mountains of the world.  Each and every living thing in the world that was outside the Ark, was dead.

Only the fish survived the deluge. Then, God remembered Noah and asked the waters to recede, making the lands dry. Noah, his family, and the animals were asked to leave the Ark. After this, God vowed never to send flood on earth to destroy it. According to the Holy Bible, the Ark came to rest in Mount Ararat of eastern Turkey.

Taking the Biblical legend as the base, a group of Chinese and Turkish evangelical explores went in search of the Noah's Ark. This group of explorers claims to have discovered the vessel, some 13,000 feet above the sea level, near the peak of the mountain.

The explorers claim that they have radiocarbon dates, proving that the relic is about 4,800 years old, thus, matching with the date the Ark was supposed to be afloat. Many evangelicals and literalists have hoped to validate the Biblical story that the Ark finally rested in Mount Ararat.

Dutch Ark researcher, Gerrit Aalten, at a press conference announcing the find, said, "The significance of this find is that for the first time in history the discovery of Noah's Ark is well documented and revealed to the worldwide community".

Aalten believes this discovery to be a legitimate archaeological find. He further said, "There's a tremendous amount of solid evidence that the structure found on Mount Ararat in Eastern Turkey is the legendary Ark of Noah."

The structure that has been found contains several compartments, with wooden beams that may have housed the animals, according to the Noah's Ark Ministry representatives. These representatives also ruled out human settlements on Mount Ararat, saying that none have ever gone above 11,000 feet.

One of the team members, Panda Lee, described his visit to the mountain site. He said the plank was built at an elevation of more than 4,000 meters, with plank-like timber. These planks were about 8 inches wide with tenons, thus, proving that it was a structure that predated the use of metal nails.

Lee further described that broken wood fragments were embedded in a glacier, with a few that were about 20 meters long. The wooden structure is permanently covered with ice and volcanic rocks.

The local Turkish authorities have asked Central government in Ankara to apply for UNESCO World Heritage status. This is to protect the archaeological find in the future. The discovery has created a furor among believers. Though the excavation team claims they have made a major discovery, they still need a little more solid evidence to be 100% sure.

God asked Noah to build the Ark to get rid of the world from sinners and corruption. This discovery will prove to be a valuable proof for existence of God, and His path of virtue and righteousness for those who do not believe.