While I was reading for our book review, I came across something pretty interesting. There is a following of people who believe that remnants from Noah’s Ark to this day can be found just chilling on Mount Ararat. These explorers claim that we’re talking the real deal here. For some background info, Mount Ararat is in Turkey and is the highest point in the country. It was first climbed in 1829 and, according to Wikipedia (this is why I like blogs), only about 20 people have climbed it since. Many creationist websites cite the “Noah’s Ark Project” as evidence pointing towards literal, Biblical truth. Interviews from explorers who claim to have seen the remains up close are abundant on a site promoting the "Noah’s Ark Project” called “Noah’s Ark Sightings Throughout History.” (Take a gander at http://www.nwcreation.net/noahsightings.html). According to one interviewee, when scientists found the remains of the Ark, “they were so angry and mad that they said they would destroy the ship, but the wood was more like stone than any wood we have now. They did not have tools or means to wreck so mighty a ship and had to give up. They did tear out some timbers and tried to burn the wood, but it was so hard it was almost impossible to burn it.” This quote, along with some of the pictures on the page encouraged me to try and find more.
If you look at Google Images, you can see lots of far off shots of pieces of ruble on Mount Ararat. Most of it looks like nothing… to me at least. But many claim that they are pieces of the famed ark. Here is the page of images I found: http://www.google.com/images?client=safari&rls=en&q=mount+ararat+noah's+ark&oe=UTF-8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&sa=X&ei=kBKITaiFBsbTgQeVz6zFDQ&ved=0CCEQsAQ&biw=1170&bih=657.
But anyways, here’s my question: Why haven’t more people gone to explore these huge claims? I don’t know anything about mountain exploration, but with all the technology we have today and planes and such, I’d think that more people would want to explore these assertions from Biblical literalists. Gung ho, literal Bible believers could explore it in hopes of confirming their belief in specific Biblical events and those who don’t believe it could explore in the hopes of debunking a claim. Everyone has something to gain from a little bit of exploration and I’m sure someone can track down a guy with money who’d be willing to fund some research.
I fully side with you about the lack of exploration into these claims. I read a book in high school called "Walk the Bible" which does exactly that. The author Bruce Feiler starts at the beginning of the Old Testament and chronicles his journey through the Bible, and the Middle East as he researches and visits the most likely places for all the events in the Bible to have happened. One of my favorite sections was about Moses crossing the desert and how he went very in-depth into three possible routes, did Israelis actually come through the desert at all? could the dessert have supported an entire people for 40 years? In my opinion it is Biblical Archeology at its best. But Feiler isn’t trying to prove anything he is just looking for answers in his own faith while doing solid and, most importantly, based in reality research. He would be the first one to admit if something didn’t fit with reality. So I promise you, there are people out there doing the work properly, not just people like the Creationists we have read about in class using and abusing science and reality to fit their views.
ReplyDeleteDo you know if he has done any exploration near Mount Ararat? I'd be curious to see what someone like him would say about that. The claim that something is still on top of that mountain seems pretty easy to confirm or deny, especially if some point to aerial pictures as proof.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of people doing research at sites mentioned in the Bible. If it helps people look at discoveries scientifically (unlike the people at the "Noah's Ark Project") while still agreeing that they can hold religious meaning for an individual, then more power to them.