Archaeological Studies Of Noah's Ark

Regardless of whether anyone finds and proves their find as Noah's Ark, the South will have such an Ark in Kentucky in 2014. Construction began in 2010 approximately 40 miles south of Cincinnati OH off I-75 in Grant County. The exhibit is a living history museum under subsidiary ownership of Answers In Genesis, which operates the Creation Museum in the area. The construction is all-wood and sustainable, provided by Troyer Group and their LEED certified professionals. It will provide jobs for 900 individuals and boost the area economy,

This project is more massive than one might imagine. Following the measurements found in the original language of the Old Testament, the ark itself is a huge structure. The site will also include a walk-through aviary and a petting zoo, a 1st Century Middle Eastern town, a Walled City, the Tower of Babel, and a timeline path describing historical events from the era of Abraham through the Parting of the Red Sea during the lifetime of Moses.

While media releases insist the ark is not a theme park, live performances will occur, along with bird and mammal shows; and dining and retail will be provided.

With the rise of Ark Encounter , interest in and controversy over the original Noah's Ark may disappear.

A 97-year-old Hardwicke Knight of New Zealand dies in 2008 and left behind as a legacy a collection of 650 boxes of archaeological and historical artifacts and other materials. Rumors had it that Knight had pieces of Noah's Ark in one of those boxes.

They were never found, but Knight had traveled to Turkey and Mt. Ararat, looking for the Ark in the 1930s. He may have been the earliest 20th Century explorer to do so. Other researchers and linguists studying original Old Testament language feel that the Ark is in the Mountains of Ararat and not on one Mt. Ararat.

Knight discovered under melting ice, some exposed wooden beams on Mt Ararat, which many still feel is the place the Ark landed after the Great Flood. However, that may be a case incorrect English translations of the Old Testament. In the 2010s, some scientists believe that the orginal texts indicate that the Ark is in what is now Armenia - and that may also not be correct. However, Knight flew back to Mt. Ararat in the 1960s with a team of professionals he assembled, but could not find the place where he had previously explored. His work is inconclusive.

"The world is turning into a cesspool of imbeciles." - Harlan Ellison

Both sides of the Ark controversy contain members that feel those express sentiments.The quotation struck a chord as I've listened to sputtering profanity and wisecracks in the case of Noah's Ark from both sides of the controversy - existence and nonexistence.

I think an uproar provides additional reason to pursue studies to a logical ending, no matter what the results. If someone wants it stopped, other will want it completed, all the more.

If funding is not an issue and finances are provided from non-taxpayer funds (without swindling), I think that the researchers should be left unhampered, but still peer-reviewed. The fact that here and there an individual brings up the question on an Internet bulletin board or a Yahoo-answers type of site keeps a pot boiling or a wound festering and I wonder how much revenue, if any, is generated by resultant traffic. Still, the question is interesting, because of the controversy and the possibilities. The scene of the hundreds of animals waiting for Evan to open his Ark in Evan Almighty is otherworldly and as riveting as the dinosaurs first seen by visitors in Jurassic Park. Many people want to find the Ark.

If Bible history is nonsense, then why should not investigators pursue a Holy Lands archaeological project and prove that status of nonsense or not?

Why does a chorus shout to prevent an activity that costs taxpayers nothing and does not insist it believe in anything? Or would the finders and provers take the Ark and brow beat nonbelievers with it? --- Bad show.

And if proof of the Ark exists and is found, what will we all think?

Many projects have gone up Mt. Ararat and felt they found the Ark or falsified evidence in order to make it look as if they did. I no longer read any of the falsifications or hoaxes.

The first explorer I heard of in connection with the Ark was former astronaut James Irwin. Reading a book of his from the 1970s (out of print), I found photos of the end of a wooden structure buried in the ice atop Mt. Ararat. In warmer years of greater ice melt, more of the structure was revealed; one year, as much as to be able to stand up inside the opening.

Carbon dating, even though not infallible, placed it at approximately the correct century.

The "ark" was an odd structure, though: a large and rectangular box.

Estimated measurements approximated the Noah's Ark of the Bible; but it did not look like a boat. Of course, NASA tells us that spacecraft can be any shape, so perhaps boats can be rectangular, the sea being somewhat like space. Regardless, further springtime explorations by the Irwin group were not continued.

Irwin's widow has kept all of her husbands research papers and exhibits in order and lends them to research institutions working on the Ark question.

Bob Cornuke (web sites below) travels to various land sites mentioned in the Bible in order to gather evidence to prove Bible events historically. In addition, he runs structured tours of these sites for vacationers, especially those that wish to travel to the Holy Lands of the Middle East.

Among Cornuke's several research projects is Noah's Ark and he feels that his findings may show some potential toward finding it. Visit his websites and read about his research and view videos and photos of some of his investigations.

The short version of his Ark research is that he thinks the Ark may be in Iran and may be petrified wood - like rock of approximately correct dimensions that has been found.

Whatever his end results, they should be interesting, if only to vacationers. The website seems to show that people have a good time on adventures with the institute. This may be the closest humanity approaches to proving or disproving the Ark.