Archaeology

The Durupinar site, proponents | Opponents, of Durupinar and otherwise | Black Sea theory | Other

Summary: I have placed a long summary of modern "Ark-eology" in a footnote at the bottom of this page[1].

The Durupinar site, proponents

Wyatt Archaeological Research. Wyatt, who died in 1999, was a major proponent of the "Durupinar[2]" site (the "boat shaped object" near Ararat). He also claims to have discovered Sodom and Gomorrah, the spot of the Red Sea Crossing and the Ark of the Covenant[3].

CIA Concealed Noah-s Ark! from the English-language edition of Pravda (January 30, 2003). The question is: was it before or after they created AIDS and killed Kennedy?

"The ancient lost-city of Noah," "discovered" by David Deal. Deal claims to have found a thousands-year-old city near the Durupinar site. We get a sort of rough imitation of a survey map and one small image of somebody standing in a field that might have once had a farm house on it. Even better, the identification is supported by the "Ohio Decalogue" , a 19c hoax with (orthographically modern) Hebrew letters and a figure in low relief from, yes, Ohio, which has the same shape as a grave from Turkey. According to Deal, both look like the Durupinar site, and not just in their shape. Indeed, again according to Deal, when photographed from a height, the dirt at Durupinar resembles the carved figure from the Ohio Decalogue. He also has some amusing noodling about French mountains, the ark and the Templars. We must, however, comment Deal's restraint in omitting references to Mary Magdalene, the Trilateral Comission or the Masons. We won't have to kill him now.

Throne of God the website of Dr. Michael A. Bonilla "Biblical Archaeologist" (no, I'm not being catty; he actually puts the quotes around it). Bonilla (who also runs arkman.us / Bonilla Archaeological Research) promotes the work of Ron E. Wyatt, who claims to have discovered Noah's Ark, Sodom & Gomorrah, the exact spot of the Red Sea Crossing Site, Mount Sinai and the Ark of the Covenant, etc. I'm not clear on what Bonilla's contribution was, but did go on one of Wyatt's trips to the Ararat region. Bonilla provides a very comprehensive list of "ark archaeology" books.

Tourism photos taken by Andrys Basten. Includes many photos of articles from within the "visitors center," helpfully donated by the ark proponents.

Anchor Stones: Wyatt Archaeological Discoveries. Another website promoting Wyatt's many "finds."

Cheerful American archaeo-tourist Dr. T. V. Oommen (trip arranged by Anchorstone International), "collects samples," contemplates turning over anchor stones, dismisses local Kurds as "late occupants of this area" and so forth.

Opponents, of Durupinar and otherwise

Bogus "Noah's Ark" from Turkey Exposed as a Common Geologic Structure by Lorence Gene Collins, Department of Geological Sciences (California State University Northridge), published in the Journal of Geosciences Education (1996). Refutes discovery.

Christian Answers: Has Anyone Discovered Noah's Ark? Fundamentalist lense (they assert the ark was "largest seagoing vessel known before the 20th century"), but throwing some water on claims:

"Unfortunately, return visits to proposed sites have produced no further evidence, the whereabouts of all photographs are presently unknown, and different sightings do not suggest the same location on the mountain. Furthermore, Astronaut James Irwin has since died, a purported eyewitness has recently recanted publicly, and there have been few new expeditions up the mountain in the 1990s."

Creation Magazine: Amazing "Ark" exposé by Andrew Snelling (September 1992). Creationist author examines the "evidence" for scientific believability, internal consistency, and in light of the source problems. The latter are handled particularly well, with a list of the dozen or so other major sites "discovered" by Ron Wyatt, and an exposé of some of the scientific authorities Wyatt gives as supportive. (Not surprisingly, they vociferously deny any involvement or approval.)

Could the ark have existed? from the PBS show Lost World of the Holy Land. Sceptical survey from a show about regional wildlife preservation.

Christianity Today: National Geographic Suggests Noah's Ark Expedition Was Just a Stunt compiled by Ted Olsen (09/22/2004) Mine other entries on this page

Jimmy Akin worries about the "archaeological" expeditions' potential to embarrass Christianity.

"The worst of all worlds would be for them to go up, retrieve some wood that they loudly proclaim to be proof of Noah's Ark, only to have the 'proof' fall apart under laboratory examination."

NoahsArkSearch.com "provides a 'big tent' for ark researchers to share their information and research." This is, however, a creationist tent. If this sort of thing interests you, be sure to visit their link page. They also have a Long, detailed examination of Ron Wyatt's claims from various angles, from Biblical fidelity to checking out his various degrees and Korean War service (none checked out).

Debunking the 1993 documentary "The Incredible Discovery of Noah's Ark" aired on CBS. Ouch.

A Great Christian Scam by Gary Amirault, on Ron Wyatt's "finds," backed by devestating page of complete documentation. Both come from "tentmaker.org," promoters of Christian universalism.

The Sceptic's Dictionary: Noah's Ark by Robert Todd Carroll. Anti-fundamentalist attack on "arkeology" and ark theology. I enjoy his description of the 1993 show "The Incredible Discovery of Noah's Ark"

"During his show, Jammal produced what he called 'sacred wood' from the ark, which he later admitted was wood taken from railroad tracks in Long Beach, California, which he had hardened by cooking in an oven. He also prepared other fake wood by frying a piece of California pine on his kitchen stove in a mix of wine, iodine, sweet-and-sour and teriyaki sauces. He also admitted that he had never been to Turkey."

About.com Atheism on the McGivern expedition.

"When the explorers fail to find anything, I wonder what the reaction will be. Will the backers give up on their belief that Noah's Ark is or ever was there? Will they instead insist that Ark must be located elsewhere or perhaps has sunk into the rock? The question here is, obviously, whether they will allow facts to lead their beliefs or if they will make up "facts" in order to preserve favored beliefs. There's nothing "scientific" or even very rational about their actions if the latter is the case."

Of course, I'm with the author for thinking the expedition silly, but this is a classic argumentum ex nihilo. The failure to find the ark is not a very strong blow against the belief the ark exists somewhere else or at some prior time. About.com Atheism also covers the cancellation, very humorously.

" I guess I'm not surprised that the expedition never got off the ground. We in the Evil Atheist Conspiracy haven't yet finished moving all of the Ark's remains off the of the mountain so that they can be buried in various members' basements. I myself have several pieces hidden behind the water heater and it will take a few more years for the rest to be removed. Until then, our agents in the Turkish government will keep explorers away. It's good to have friends in high places!"

Black Sea theory

Amazon. Noah's Flood : The New Scientific Discoveries About The Event That Changed History by William Ryan and Walter Pitman.

London Review of Books review: "Most Curious of Seas" by Richard Fortey (July 1, 1999). Geology professor enjoys the book, gives a brief history of the "long and uneasy relationship" between Geology and the Deluge.

"A historic event of such supposed magnitude should have left more direct evidence than there is. But surely the most foolish interpretation is the Biblical reading which claims that rocks are wood, and whips up evidence from dubious scraps to persuade the devout to betray their rationality."

Is the Black Sea Flood the Flood of Genesis? It's not large enough, etc.:

"The entire concept of the flooding of the Black Sea, as the basis of the Genesis Flood story, provides an excellent example where "science" supersedes the facts of Scripture with the ideas of man."

Other

Satellite Search Underway For Noah's Ark by Leonard David (August 30, 2002) on efforts to get images from QuickBird, a commercial satellite operated by California company DigitalGlobe. Apparently cloud cover is a problem. Imaging team is led by Boston University prof. Farouk El-Baz.

New Underwater Finds Raise Questions About Flood Myths by Brian Handwerk, for National Geographic News (May 28, 2002), on a site in Cuba.

"While images of catastrophic floods are popular, many scholars argue that the real rising sea level slowly invaded the Stone Age hunting territories for thousands of years, and the stories compress this event into overnight floods, storms, and destruction."

A New Theory for Noah's Ark by George Potter (Saudi Arabia), from the "Nephi Project," Mormon literalism.

Notes:

Genesis 8:4 reports that the ark came to rest upon the "mountains of Ararat," a fairly vague region apparently centered on the mountain in Armenia that bear the name today. Berossus, a Babylonian author who set down a version of the Mesopotamian flood story in Greek during the 3c BC, stated that part of the ship was still preserved in Armenia, and that locals used pieces for amulets. Various later Jewish and Christian authors repeated this story or came upon it independently, with some differences on the location. Eventually the story crystalized around Mount Ararat, and travellers through the region, such as Marco Pollo, were told the ark still rested upon the summit. For about the last century a number of people have claimed to have seen the ark—some going to far as to have walked inside it—its wood preserved either miraculously or by being covered with ice. More recently interest has focused much lower on the so-called Durupinar site, a boat-shaped rock formation near Ararat. Unlike the others, this site can and has been walked on, photographed and so forth. Indeed, noticing a parade of American tourists the Turkish authorities have even tried to promote it and allowed its proponents to build a "visitors center." Until his death in 1999, the site's main promoter was one Ron Wyatt, a nurse anesthetist, who also claims discovery of the Ark of the Covenant, the site of Sodom and Gomorrah, the place where the Israelites crossed the Red Sea, etc.

The prospect of the discovery of Noah's Ark has been of great interest to many Evangelical and Fundamentalist Protestants on the web—the discovery of an ocean-liner sized boat in the Armenian mountains would be a powerful argument for their faith. Others of similar belief criticize the site on Biblical grounds—it seems too wide—or are suspicious of Wyatt's motives and methods. Meanwhile, "Internet atheists" heap scorn upon its proponents' credentials, strange methods and scientific ignorance, their lack of verifiable evidence, hucksterism and so forth. (Many seem convinced if the ark were proved a hoax the entire edifice of Christian religion would come tumbling down.) All told, there is an ocean of web pages upon this topic, of which I present only the merely shallows.

If you want to wade in deeper, I have the following caution: the web distorts according to interest. With topics like this the web does not represent the opinion of neutral, dispassionate and informed observers, but those of people driven to talk about the topic. The effect is well known in the case of the 9/11 attacks. The overwhelming majority of reporters, building engineers and so forth are in no doubt about the basic story and do not feel the need to convince anyone of what is commonly known. By contrast, conspiracy theorists—those who say the Pentagon was hit by a missile not a plane, or that no Jews were killed at the World Trade Center—are strongly motivated to churn out websites about their theories, network with like-minded people and so forth. From this imbalance of interest arises a crazy "mirror world," where the consensus of webpages is virtually opposite that of the public, experts or of more reliable printed material.

This is very much the case with the "search for Noah's Ark." To my knowledge, no "real" archaeologist will touch the subject with a ten-foot pole. You will not find it discussed among Near Eastern scholars in secular universities, and it has only just barely touched the world of secular geologists. The field is thus left to a few educators at Christian colleges and the vast soup of amateurs and enthusiasts.

Lastly, don't believe what you read on the internet. That applies to what I say too. After all, you don't know me! All Cretans are liars, said the Cretan. (back)
More correctly Durupınar (with an undotted-ı). Not all Americans computers can see that letter, so I haven't used it generally. Incidentally, although Durupınar ("clear-spring") sounds like a toponym it is said to be named after the Turkish Air Force captain who first saw the formation, and a quick check found it a fairly common last name. (back)
I am a big believer in the human capacity for self-delusion. We are wired for irrationality, sign-seeking and ecstatic experience. Most people who think they've been abducted by aliens or can predict the future from tea leaves are not actually "frauds." Many of those who promote Wyatt's ideas are clearly well-intentioned, diligent truth seekers, however methodologically flawed or sloppy their work. In Wyatt's case, however, the evidence points very strongly toward bold, conscious and pervasive fraud. Oh, since I'm on the topic, check out this gem: Deathbed Testimony of the Discoverer of The Ark of the Covenant. On Wyatt's discovery of the Ark of the Covenant (which, incidentally, was also the site of Jesus' crucifixion) the author proclaims:
"There are many who believe his findings are genuine, and there are a few who are not so willing to accept his claims."
Or this, on whether anyone else has tried to move the Ark, quoting Wyatt:
"'Let me say this, and this is a touchy point and I try to avoid it. There's some 14 to 16 individuals that have died because they have tried to in some way to manipulate this" he explained without providing the details."
"14 to 16." Nice rhetorical trick! (back)

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