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Noah’s Ark nestled on Mount Ararat
The Peninsula ^ | January 19, 2008 | Satish Kanady

Posted on 02/17/2008 5:05:48 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet

Dogubayazit (Turkey’s Iran-Armenian Border) • For the first time in the seven decade-long history of the search for the legendary Noah’s Ark, a Turkish-Hong Kong exploration team on Tuesday came out with “material evidence”, to prove that the Ark was nestled on Mount Ararat, Turkey’s highest mountain peak bordering Iran and Armenia.

A panel of experts, comprising Turkish authorities, veteran mountaineers, archaeologists, geologists and members of Hong Kong-based Noah’s Ark Ministries International, also displayed an almost one-metre-long peice of petrified wood before the media and specially invited international experts.

The experts claimed it to be a part of a long structure they had unearthed during their February-August 2007 exploration. “It is for the first time in the history of the Ark search that an exploration team is getting a material evidence and graphic documentation. This makes it not only a the significant breakthrough in the Ark-search, but one that is supported with the most substantial evidence in recent history,” the panel said.

The revelation is expected to open up a fresh chapter in the ongoing debates in the scientific community on the search for Noah’s Ark.

Narrating the genesis of their exploration on Mount Ararat, the mount which has a direct reference in Holy Quran (Mount Judi) and Bible, the panel said the search team had made several foiled attempts before unearthing the evidence at an altitude of 4,500-metres of the estimated 5,165 metre volcanic mountain.

“The structure was discovered in the interiors of an unusual cave. The 11.5m wide and 2.6m high white wooden texture was revealed after removing thick layers of volcanic ash on the cave wall,” panel members said at a press conference.

One of the underlying issues in the search for the Ark is the proper identification of its wood fragments. A petrographic examination carried out by the Applied Geoscience Centre of the Department of Earth Sciences, University of Hong Kong, identified the object as a petrified wooden structure, the panel said.

“Some of the big holes found on the structure indicate the locations where branches used to grow on tree. In places, original holes are partly or completely replaced by individual minerals and crystalline materials that can be found in rock materials,” said Dr Ahmet Ozbek, a panel member, who is also a faculty of Geology Engineering Kahramanmara Suctcu Imam University.

Dismissing the possibilities of the structure being wood that could appear naturally around the discovery site, Professor Oktay Belli, director, Eurasian Archaeology Institute, University of Istanbul, said researches have proved that there was no vegetation on Mount Ararat ever since 2000BC, because of the asperities of Ararat’s climate.

Talking to The Peninsula, Cemalettin Demircioglu, Dogubayazit City Governor, under whose jurisdiction the mount is located, said the civic body will invite more international experts to conduct further scientific studies on Mount Ararat.

“History has more than one times corroborated the legendary evidence that the ark was nestled on Mount Ararat. We will introduce the latest findings to the world and continue the scientific study. All interested scientists and NGOs can join our missions” he said. However, he said, those who are involved in the project must ensure the findings are not used politically, religiously, or for any vested interest.

Located in the Far Eastern Turkey, Ararat is great prize for mountain collectors. Ark sighting has often been reported from this mountain. The observation of Vessel-shaped features in aerial photograph of Ararat had caused a stir in the late 1950’s. However, this is the first time an exploration team is coming out with “material evidence”.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; Foreign Affairs; Israel
KEYWORDS: ararat; bible; catastrophism; christianity; genesis; godsgravesglyphs; judaism; noah; noahsark; proof; turkey
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To: Strategerist
“Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.”
One cubit is about 18 inches.
One cubit is about 18 inches. Hmmm...

15 X 18 = 270
270/12 = 22.5

The water rose 22.5 feet and deposited the ark on Mount Ararat?
Okay.
81 posted on 02/17/2008 7:04:17 PM PST by Hiddigeigei (Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder. [Arnold Toynbee])
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To: pnh102

I think the cubit was supposed to be the distance from your elbow to the tip of your middle finger. Your cubits may vary.


82 posted on 02/17/2008 7:05:42 PM PST by farfromhome (What does this button d.....)
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To: lasereye

Very interesting, I’ve never heard of that. Thanks.


83 posted on 02/17/2008 7:09:20 PM PST by Balding_Eagle (If America falls, darkness will cover the face of the earth for a thousand years.)
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To: dread78645
From Strong's Hebrew Dictionary:

Gopher wood - From an unused root, probably meaning to house in; a kind of tree or wood (as used for building), apparently the cypress.

84 posted on 02/17/2008 7:10:17 PM PST by pjd
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To: fso301
Apparently not much more than 4 hours according to all the ED commercials

But if your wood is still petrified for more than 4000 years, consult your priest.

85 posted on 02/17/2008 7:12:00 PM PST by Tanniker Smith (Any Monday you can walk away from is a good one.)
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To: gondramB
Now, I don’t doubt there was a local flood that was referenced in the Bible but even the base of what is called Mt Ararat today is 5000 feet above sea level and to be even a few thousand feet above that as part of a world wide flood would have left observable evidence.

Not to nitpick, but it's ~5000 meters high. Anyway, there's a good deal of evidence re a global flood or huge wave of water that covered the earth, maybe more than once.

Found this when doing a search for fossil-bones-crevices-flood. As good a place as any to start UNNATURAL GRAVEYARDS:

UNNATURAL GRAVEYARDS

Well, let your mind go wild on this!

A DESPERATE DASH TO SAFETY

Can you just imagine it! The terror-stricken dash by man and animal alike to reach safety - only to be sucked under by the relentless force of advancing waters. The agonised cries of drowning men and beasts piercing the air.

UNNATURAL GRAVEYARDS

Gripped by the same terror, wild beasts and tame struggle together to higher grounds.
       
Some of the people bind their children and themselves upon powerful animals, knowing that these will climb to the highest peaks to escape the rising waters.
        
Some fasten themselves to tall trees on the hills or mountains, but the trees are uprooted and hurled into the billows.

As the waters rise higher, the people flee for refuge to the loftiest heights.
       
In amphitheatres in the hills, they find themselves trapped. In great numbers they throng together, pushing into caves, swarming over the ground in front.
        
Until the waters rise and cover them.

Strong animals, without a sign of degeneration, come to an end.

Yes, worldwide, the traditions of the human race recount this terrifying disaster.

They recall that it was accompanied by enormous universal rains, violent waterspouts, earthquakes and hurricane winds. 

THE FIT DO NOT SURVIVE

This is not the survival of the fittest. Fit and unfit, and mostly fit, old and young with sharp teeth, with strong muscles, with fleet legs, with plenty of food around, all perish.

The earth is even at this moment convulsing, opening up fissures to swallow many of them, as they collect on the tops of these hills. Then the huge waves smash over them large rocks and debris, until their bones are crushed and smashed.

Here, often thousands of feet up, they are washed into crevices and held tight.

WHAT YOUR TEACHER DIDN'T TELL YOU

There is a most crucial circumstance concerning the earth's strata and the fossils that is not generally disclosed to the public, and which many geologists apparently do not recognise.
       
On every continent, and in numerous places on each, are vast "fossil graveyards", where
masses of flora and fauna have been swept to a sudden death in their millions. 
       
These areas are often packed with both land and sea creatures from different habitats and even different climatic zones - all mixed and buried together in a completely unnatural way.

There is evidence that a great disaster took place, in which creatures of all types perished together - mostly fit, young and old, with fleet legs, strong muscles and sharp teeth. 
       
And with plenty of food around.  Artifacts of man are found among them. 
       
They all died together, suddenly and violently, high up on hills and mountains.
       
What did it?
       
Come with me on a global tour.  You'll see what I mean.

In France, numerous clefts crammed to overflowing with animal bones have been found.  Along with them are human remains.

One could mention Mount Genay, near Semur in Burgundy - 1,430 feet high. 

Here, capped by a breccia (a cemented mass of stone fragments), is a fissure filled with mixed bones of numerous animals.
       
Near Chalon-sur-Saone, between Dijon and Lyons, stands an isolated hill, flat-topped Mont de Sautenay.
       
It rises 1,030 feet above the plain.  Near the summit is a fissure crammed with bones.  The bones are unweathered and un-gnawed.
       
I ask you, Why should so many wolves, bears, horses and oxen have ascended a hill isolated
on all sides? 
     
These broken and splintered bones are evidently not those of animals devoured by
beasts of prey;  nor have they been broken by man. 
     
The state of preservation of the bones indicates that the animals perished in the
same period of time. 
     
It appears that all these animals had fled there to escape rising waters. 
     
Caves and fissures on the Cote d'Azur have yielded mixed land and sea remains -  bones of lions, rhinoceros, hyenas, macao monkeys, elephants and whales.  All together. 

In Britain (for example, Yorkshire, Plymouth, Devonshire and Wales) and Eire, are similar mixtures.

What could have brought, together in quick succession, all these animals and plants, from the tundra of the Arctic Circle and from the jungle of the tropics. from lands of many latitudes and altitudes, from freshwater lakes and rivers, and from the salt seas of the north and south? 

There is evidence of submersion to a depth of not less than about 1,000 feet. 

In Germany, coal beds contain a complete mixture of plants, insects and animals from all climatic zones. Their muscles and skin are perfectly preserved.

Although leaves are preserved in fresh condition (retaining their fine fibre and green colour) and insects their membranes and colours perfectly preserved, ALL ARE VIOLENTLY TORN INTO PIECES.

Were they carried there by onrushing water - from all parts of the world???

Numerous crevices down to 290 feet deep on the Rock of Gibraltar are filled with bones of the wolf, bear, lynx, hare, ibex, rabbit, horse, panther, rhinoceros, ox, wild boar, deer and other animals. 
       
The bones are neither worn, rolled, nor gnawed.  They are splintered and broken.  And
found together with land and marine shells - as well as coral.
        
Tell me, what but a great and common danger, such as a colossal flood, could have driven together the animals of the plains and of the crags and caves? 
       
A handful of bone samples still in the Natural History Museum in London confirm their "freshness", indicating that they had been entombed with the flesh still on them - and not eaten by predators.

These show a consistently unrolled and fresh appearance.  Flood, not glacial action, is indicated.

We could cite similar evidence from Sicily - where bones of hippopotamus, deer, ox and elephant were mixed together in wild confusion, again without sign of weathering or gnawing. 

The fact that bones of animals of all ages were piled together, indicates that the catastrophe was SUDDEN.

On the island of Malta are caves crammed full of hares, lemurs, tigers, rhinoceros, elephants - and birds. 

Giant swans (twice as large as any swans now on earth) and huge sea birds are crammed in with the animals.

Now Malta is an island 170 miles (270 km) from the nearest other land (Sicily).
       
And please note, these birds are sea birds.
 
Had this been a mere local flood, these giant swans would have taken off for Sicily and been there in half an hour.

These sea birds would never have been drowned - they're sea birds!  So what happened? 

You've guessed it! These birds kept flying until they could fly no more!!!
       
The same mixture of LAND animals and SEA shells is found in caves and fissures from Western Europe to Russia - and in Cyprus, Greece, Lebanon and elsewhere.
       
The bones are broken into innumerable fragments.  They are still "fresh". 

Artefacts of man are found among them.  Fissures are in rocks on top of isolated hills. 

Often, birds and animals are MIXED TOGETHER WITH trees and vegetation. 

THE CAUSE?

QUESTION:  "COULD THEY HAVE FALLEN IN ALIVE, OR BEEN BURIED THERE"


The answer is no, for there are no complete skeletons.
       
QUESTION:  "COULD THEY HAVE BEEN BROUGHT THERE BY STREAMS?"

Again, no, for there are no signs of them having been rolled.
       
QUESTION:  "COULD THEY HAVE BEEN SLAUGHTERED BY RUTHLESS MEN?"

No, there could have been no way to bury them in such numbers before other animals gnawed
them or the weather affected them. 
       
Considering the number of the remains found, thrown together in great heaps, mixed in great confusion, large and small animals, grass-eating and flesh-eating animals and birds, all in one pile, buried in alluvial deposits, intermingled with remains of plants and trees, seashells and fish, such an idea becomes absurd.

QUESTION:  "DID SOME DISEASE STRIKE THEM DOWN?"

All animals at the same time and in every part of the world?  Land animals and deep sea creatures, all mixed together?  Of course not.
       
Certainly animals stricken by sudden disease would be too weak to ascend to the hilltops!
       
The bones could not have been exposed to weather for long, for none of them shows marks of weathering.
       
That water deposited them is indicated by the very general cementing together of the bones by calcite.
       
Moreover, these bone-filled chasms are usually found on isolated hills of considerable height - places on which we might expect animals to gather in seeking safety from an approaching flood.

This scene is enacted on hundreds of thousands of hills in every part of the earth.

While panicked men, women and animals were rushing to the highest points in Europe, the
very same scene was being enacted ALL OVER THE WORLD.

From North America (California, Maryland, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico and
Canada, for example), the story is the same.

Human remains are mixed chaotically with those of land and sea animals - just as in South America, Australia, Africa, Siberia, India, China, Korea, Burma. In fact, all over Asia.

WHAT COULD DO THIS, BUT WATER?

Clearly, nothing but a flood would have driven such strange mixtures of animals - animals that don't normally live together - into caves and crevices in all parts of the world.  And buried them together.
       
The evidence everywhere strongly suggests that they were drowned en masse by violent
water action.  This bone-cave phenomenon is of world-wide extent.
      
Was this a global Flood? Of course it was.
       
Here is a fact of utmost importance: Creatures of every kind died in great
numbers and were buried almost instantly. 
       
Each of these animals, by the unbelievable uniformitarian explanation, fell into their
graveyards by accident - one at a time!
       
However, the facts reveal not normal, slow processes, but unusual transportation and
rapid burial mechanisms.
       
DINOSAURS LIKEWISE DROWNED

Yes, big as they were, dinosaurs suffered the same watery fate - followed by rapid burial. 
This is evidence that some scientists prefer to ignore.
       
Great dinosaur beds have been excavated in Alberta, Belgium, New Mexico, Tanzania,
Spitzbergen and many other places.
       
All over the world, paleontologists have found caches of fossilized dinosaurs that were buried instantly in a catastrophic movement of water.
       
Fascinating, don't you think?
And yet, we have hardly scratched the surface. If you would like to discover more, here's where you can go:
       
http://www.beforeus.com/second.php
 
Warm regards,
Jonathan Gray
info@archaeologyanswers.com
       
International explorer, archaeologist and author Jonathan Gray has traveled the world to gather
data on ancient mysteries. He has penetrated some largely unexplored areas, including parts  of the Amazon headwaters. The author has also led expeditions to the bottom of the sea and to remote mountain and desert regions of the world. He lectures internationally.
 


86 posted on 02/17/2008 7:13:20 PM PST by ForGod'sSake (ABCNNBCBS: An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly.)
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To: ForGod'sSake

Interesting site. I’ll check it out. One thing is for sure: all of the people during Noah’s time had the opportunity to heed God’s Word as it was preached to them. I regret we live in a time where the same is happening.

Mat 24:37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Mat 24:38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
Mat 24:39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

The ark saved Noah because he did what God prescribed in order to escape the wrath. God provided an escape then, and He has provided an escape now, through Jesus, the messiah (the Christ). I would conclude that good counsel would be to get into Christ, and escape the wrath to come.


87 posted on 02/17/2008 7:37:00 PM PST by Salvavida (Restoring the U.S.A. starts with filling the empty pew at a local Bible-believing church.)
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To: Tanniker Smith

One of Cosby’s best sketches!


88 posted on 02/17/2008 7:40:36 PM PST by Vor Lady (Empty text box seeking witty tagline for long term relationship.)
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To: ForGod'sSake

bookmark


89 posted on 02/17/2008 7:42:59 PM PST by Faith65 (Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior!)
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Comment #90 Removed by Moderator

To: 2ndDivisionVet

Pictures?


91 posted on 02/17/2008 7:46:25 PM PST by dangerdoc (dangerdoc (not actually dangerous any more))
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To: Balding_Eagle

You’re welcome.


92 posted on 02/17/2008 7:46:39 PM PST by lasereye
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To: SunkenCiv

Ping?

If more of this story comes out, I might be tempted to make a crypto-ping. Granted, it’s not a crypto-topic, but if true, it would be HUGE enough to justify one, methinks.


93 posted on 02/17/2008 7:47:01 PM PST by pcottraux (I can't tell the difference between Carl Cameron, Chris Wallace, or Bill McCuddy.)
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To: ForGod'sSake; gondramB

Well, that’s a very pretty story, and very artfully done, too.

But my own eyes tell me, when I look upon layer after layer of millenially deposited sedimentary rock, squeezed and hardened over time, and occasionally containing the fossilized bones of creatures who died from all manner of causes, including having tooth marks on their bones, that the reality was very much different from your apocalyptic description.

Those sedimentary layers make a book of their own, with hundreds of thousands of pages, and they can be seen and read by any with eyes, in thousands of places where highways have been cut through them.

To me, it is a most beautiful heritage, that was artfully crafted by a loving, creative hand. A hand with the patience to wait thousands, and thousands of millions of years, for the conditions to become right for intelligent eyes to read the patiently inscribed record of truth.


94 posted on 02/17/2008 7:47:12 PM PST by NicknamedBob (Hillary is a member of the Senate, but the house is circling overhead . . .)
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To: Salvavida

Is blueletterbible’s (through Gesenius’s lexicon) explanation plausible?

GFR (or GPR) = cypress (Gk. kuparissos)?
(Latin cupressus)?

Now in Latin, C was often interchangeable with G (say Gaius and Caius).


95 posted on 02/17/2008 7:48:26 PM PST by scrabblehack
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To: IllumiNaughtyByNature

Ask a gopher.


96 posted on 02/17/2008 7:52:39 PM PST by Sudetenland (Mike Huckabee=Bill Clinton. Can we afford another Clinton in the White House...from either party?)
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To: brytlea

Yea? Well that certainly narrows it down.!??!!???


97 posted on 02/17/2008 7:54:35 PM PST by Sudetenland (Mike Huckabee=Bill Clinton. Can we afford another Clinton in the White House...from either party?)
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To: Yogafist

No but they did find the remains of a Loch Ness monster.


98 posted on 02/17/2008 7:55:19 PM PST by Sudetenland (Mike Huckabee=Bill Clinton. Can we afford another Clinton in the White House...from either party?)
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To: dread78645

Beaver wood has a curly grain.


99 posted on 02/17/2008 7:56:52 PM PST by Sudetenland (Mike Huckabee=Bill Clinton. Can we afford another Clinton in the White House...from either party?)
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To: MrPiper
...."how many millions of years does it take to petrify wood?".....

Well, in a Texas creek bed, they found a fossilized foot, in a boot, made in the 1950's.

It's not actually wood, but minerals have taken the shape of the organic material that rots away. It can actually take a very short time or a long time to do this, depending on the circumstances.

100 posted on 02/17/2008 7:57:31 PM PST by chuckles
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