EXPLORERS CLAIM TO HAVE DISCOVERED NOAH'S ARK

Yeung Wing-Cheung Examing the Heavy Timbers They Found

 Hello My Friend and Welcome.

File this under even though this isn’t the first time a story like this has run, it’s still interesting…

Did you happen to see the news reports about a group of Chinese and Turkish explorers who say they have discovered the remains of Noah’s Ark on Mount Ararat in eastern Turkey? They’re hardly the first to make such a claim and undoubtedly won’t be the last.

The group claims carbon dating proves the relics are 4,800 years old, meaning they date to around the same time the ark was said to be afloat. Mt. Ararat has long been suspected as the final resting place of the craft. Yeung Wing-Cheung, from the Noah's Ark Ministries International, the research team that made the discovery, said: "It's not 100 percent that it is Noah's Ark, but we think it is 99.9 percent that this is it." 

The group has called upon Dutch Ark researcher Gerrit Aalten to verify the legitimacy of its find. “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 said at a press conference announcing the find. “There’s a tremendous amount of solid evidence that the structure found on Mount Ararat in Eastern Turkey is the legendary Ark of Noah.”

Representatives of Noah's Ark Ministries said the structure contained several compartments, some with wooden beams that could have been used to house animals. They ruled out human settlements on the grounds none have ever been found above 11,000 feet in the vicinity.

During the press conference, team member Panda Lee described visiting the site. “In October 2008, I climbed the mountain with the Turkish team. At an elevation of more than 4,000 meters, I saw a structure built with plank-like timber. Each plank was about 8 inches wide. I could see tenons, proof of ancient construction which predated the use of metal nails. We walked about 100 meters to another site. I could see broken wood fragments embedded in a glacier, some 20 meters long. I surveyed the landscape and found that the wooden structure was permanently covered by ice and volcanic rocks."

Local Turkish officials intend to ask the central government in Ankara to apply for UNESCO World Heritage status so the site can be protected while a major archaeological dig is conducted. As we said earlier, this is not the first, and probably won’t be the last, time that a group of adventurers claim to have the remains of Noah’s Ark. The subject is apparently too tantalizing to put aside.

Until next time, we  wish you Peace and Blessings.