Posted on 07/21/2006 10:13:22 AM PDT by Sopater
This article was first published in the July 2006 ABR Electronic Newsletter.
And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. – Genesis 11:1–2 (KJV)
The Media Blitz
Since mid-June, 2006 there has been a flurry of reports in the media and on the Internet about the possible discovery of Noah's Ark on a mountain in northern Iran. Robert ("Bob") Cornuke, who has previously claimed to have found such notable things as the true Mount Sinai, the place of Paul's shipwreck off the coast of Malta, and the location of the Ark of the Covenant, has now focused on what is perhaps the biggest target of all, both literally and figuratively – Noah's Ark.
In brief, on a mountain known locally as Takht-e Suleiman in the Elborz range of northern Iran, Cornuke and his team found an "unusual object" at the 13,120-foot elevation which is currently (7/16/06) described on his website (http://www.baseinstitute.org/noah.html) as "dark rock with an uncanny beam-like appearance in several places," having a texture and color unique to the area, and of the approximate dimensions of Noah's Ark. Cornuke adds that some samples were tested by an independent lab and "showed signs of petrified wood," though what those signs were has not yet been announced, and these signs evidently did not apply to the entire object. There was additionally a second finding of wood near the summit that may be from a shrine, reportedly dated to 500 years old.
[snip] - cut to chase...
Conclusions
For the above and other reasons which space does not allow me to deal with, it appears that Bob Cornuke's "filters" have prevented him from dealing fairly with much information which does not fit into his "Ark in Iran" hypothesis. When such data is considered, it raises great doubt that he has found anything related to Noah's Ark on Takht-e Suleiman. I would love to see his find hold up to close scrutiny so it can be used as a witness to the world of the trustworthiness of the Bible, but if I – who, as a brother in Christ, am "on his team" – can come up with this many problems in identifying the find on Mount Suleiman with the Ark, we can be sure that an unfriendly, secular world full of dyed-in-the-wool skeptics will find many more reasons to reject it. The best I think he can hope for is that many will want to hear his story as an adventure tale – but that may be enough for him, an expected benefit of the aggressive promotion of the site at the beginning. I just hope that in view of the many problems that have come to light, he presents his audiences with the FULL story, warts and all.
Yes, but the story exists, and for a purpose. All this debate about whether it 'really' happened is sidetracking energies that ought to go into understanding the meaning of the story.
There are photos on this thread at reply #33 & 35. #33 is the second link below.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1662218/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1662218/posts?page=33#33
Probably not.
Not hardly. Josephus mentions him, and there is other documentation of the public record type, some no doubt questionable.
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There are pictures on the following article and two threads. This article today is dissappointing. It provides no new information. It neither confirms nor disproves the claim.
Team believes it found Noah's Ark (In Iran) 06/30/06
Noah's Ark Discovered in Iran? 07/08/06
I'd like to see your list.
Believing that the entire planet was covered with water that had to be at least 26,000 feet deep (it had to be deep enough to cover Mt. Everest, which is over 26,000 feet ABOVE sea level)is just a bit farfetched. Just where did all that water go when it "receded"?
I heard that Noah's Ark was really a little 30 foot long river barge in which he loaded his family and some livestock and set sail along the Tigris River down to the Gulf to escape some localized flooding.
The claim was never believable in the first place. Do you have any idea how petrified wood is formed?
Even IF they found petrified wood, that would conclusively prove that it is NOT the ark.
His geologist says "looks like petrified wood. looks like basalt." Well, which is it?
I'm no geologist, but I've seen outcroppings of layered, splitting rock locally. Must have been the North American ark.
Mrs VS
They sure do. Here's a photo.
It's right there. Clear as day. By God it's Noah's Ark!!!
Here's another one.
Who can possibly doubt the existance of Noah's Ark after this hard evidence???
yep. looks like every other petrfied mountain boat i've run across.
There has to have been an Australian Ark, too. Either that, or Noah made a pit stop to drop off the marsupials before heading back to the Middle East.
Both pix look like an outcropping of basaltic rock.
There is more evidence for Jesus than anyone else in history from that time.
Very few writings of any kind at all secular or otherwise survived from that era. From the decade of the 30's, all that survives is a fragment of an amateur history of Rome by AVelleius Paterculus. From the 40's, are fables written by Phaedrus. And from the 50's and 60's about 1 foot of material survived.
I agree, the article just didn't seem to add anything at all. I knew nothing more after reading the article than I had gathered from the 6/30/06 thread.
But if you step back about 20 feet and squint your eyes really hard while cocking your head to the right, it sorta looks like a boat that could've carried one pair of every animal on earth while the entire globe was covered with water.
Umm... < /sarcasm>
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