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Is Noah's Ark on Mount Ararat?
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Flickr photo: martijnmunneke
(This article is a continuation of the Silk Road travels series)
Sometimes travelers must indulge in a philosophical moment or two when faced with the seeming contradiction of metaphor versus actuality.
Mount Ararat, the highest of two, dormant volcanic peaks in the easternmost part of Anatolia, is the mythical home of Noah’s Ark. Once merely signifying a doorway into magical Persia, the mountain has added disputed borders, fraudulent expeditions and altitude sickness to its resume.
But the prominent question for many armchair enthusiasts over the past decades has been whether the ark exists on this mountain (as opposed to any of the other mountains in the Ararat range or simply existing as Gilgamesh metaphor).
Google the question, "Does Noah's Ark exist?", and almost 4.5 million hits are pulled up, most involving some sort of Ararat location hypothesis. Run a query through YouTube and 7,000+ videos become available. Some, like Leonard Nimoy’s, In Search Of… series, complete with bad suits and psychedelic music, mixes science and creationism.Other websites simply twist findings into preconceived answers, frustrating scientists and genuine seekers alike.
Noah’s Ark has been such a hot point that in 2004, BBC Magazine waded into the fray:
“The traditional shape of Noah’s Ark comes from the imagination of 19th century artists. It would have been about 450 feet long and experts say it would have broken apart. Even if such a feat of marine engineering had been possible, there are about 30 million species of animals in the world.
Is it possible that the question isn't where Noah's Ark is located, but rather, can it exist?
In a September, 2007 editorial to the Boston Globe, Dr. Eric H. Cline, a professor at George Washington University, noted that within the past several years:
“Noah's Ark, the Ark of the Covenant, the Garden of Eden, Sodom and Gomorrah, the Exodus and the Lost Tomb of Jesus, have all been found. The discoverers: a former SWAT team member; an investigator of ghosts, telepathy, and parapsychology; a filmmaker who calls himself "The Naked Archeologist"; and others, none of whom has any professional training in archeology.”
An example of academic snobbery toward religious enthusiasts? Hardly. It’s more a cautionary note for those so eager to believe (and donate to) those dubious claims unable to stand the scrutiny of scientific peer review, yet capitalizing on vanity media.
Dr. Cline also points out that:
"It is not religious views that are the issue here; it is whether good science is being done. After all…while the data and opinions that we provide may not end any debates, they will introduce genuine archeological and historical data and considerations into the mix.”
Nevertheless, this can still prove an uneasy mix where ancient and often, volatile, Middle Eastern territorial claims are concerned. For those seeking to avoid this oil and water alliance, there appears to be a welcome compromise:
“The Iranians call the mountain, an extinct volcano, Koh-i-nuh, ‘Noah’s mountain.’ It has long been sacred to the Armenians, who have lived in this area for thousands of years and who believe that the ark does rest at the summit but that man has been forbidden by God to find it or see it.” *
Perhaps Noah's Ark does exist after all.
Other resources:
• *Rutstein. The Marco Polo Odyssey. Bennett & Hastings, 2008. Page 55
• European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs: The Closed Armenia/Turkey Border
• Addicted to Travel.com: Climbing Mount Ararat
• Raiders of the Faux Ark: Dr. Eric H. Cline, professor at George Washington University
• BBC Magazine: Did Noah really build an ark?
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