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Dr. Randall Price, Professor of Judaic Studies at Liberty University, looks through ancient Israeli artifacts in the university’s Center for Judaic Studies on Thursday.
It’s one of the most familiar Bible stories.
Saddened by the wickedness of man, God directs the righteous Noah to build an ark for his family and two of each species of animal.
Together, they ride the ark through 40 days and 40 nights of torrential rains that God unleashes upon the Earth. And when the waters subside, Noah and the animals return to land.
“That seems almost like a fairy story,” said archaeologist Randall Price, who is director of Liberty University’s new Center for Judaic Studies. “But we believe it was an actual event.”
This summer Price, 57, plans to continue on a journey to prove just that as he joins an expedition to Mount Ararat. His team believes that it is there, in Eastern Turkey, where Noah’s Ark remains preserved underneath layers of rubble and ice.
“There’s a whole trail of history pointing to it (Mt. Ararat),” Price said. “But in our age, people tend to think it is more of a story like ‘Jack and the Bean Stalk.’ Our aim is to show that the Bible is good history.”
Price has led dozens of expeditions in biblical archeology and has been to Israel on more than 90 separate occasions over the past 30 years. His expeditions there include the site of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, where he has led archeological digs. The trip to Mount Ararat will be his second to the hoped-for site of the ark.
He pointed to Genesis 8:4, which states, “and on the seventeenth day of the seventh month the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat,” in The New International Version of the Bible.
For centuries, expeditions have set out to find Noah’s Ark but have been unable to find any concrete evidence, beyond that of an unwavering faith, to support its existence.
Richard Bright, 64, has visited Turkey more than 30 times over the past 25 years in search of the vessel. Bright, who currently is writing his third book on the search for the ark, will join Price on the expedition this summer.
“We’ve received many leads over the years, dating back into antiquity,” he said in a recent phone interview. “We’ve had so many reports over the years, and they talk about the same mountain.”
Last fall, a new tip piqued both his and Price’s interest.
A Kurdish shepherd told them that he had seen the ark, and even climbed on top of it, when he was a boy.
The team hypothesizes that the ark is preserved in several pieces beneath a glacier on the mountain, and every so often the glacier recedes, exposing part of the vessel.
“That’s when he saw it as a boy,” Price said, adding that they had interviewed the shepherd and could find no reason to distrust him.
The shepherd asked for nothing in return, and agreed to lead Bright to the site where he said he had seen the ark.
Bright first climbed to the site in September. Then a team including Price, the shepherd, a mountaineer and several others made a follow-up ascent to 15,000 feet later the same month.
They found the spot, Price said, but it now is covered by an estimated 60-foot-deep pile of boulders. Price believes the landslide may have resulted from attacks against Kurdish rebels on the mountain, or perhaps from explosives that were set off to cover up the ark.
“It’s a very delicate and almost clandestine environment,” he said of the area, which is near the Turkish border to Iran and Armenia. “The danger level is high.”
But his team has negotiated with government and military authorities and gained access to work at the site starting this spring, Price said.
That’s when the team of archaeologists, geologists, explorers and other volunteers plan to start removing boulders.
By summertime, they hope to reach the glacier and use ice-melting equipment to access what they believe is preserved beneath. If a structure is found, they plan to take samples to have analyzed and dated.
But that may not be proof enough for some. Bright said people would have to make up their own minds.
“We intend to, God willing, find enough of it to at least show that we have an ancient structure,” he said. “If we find a great big structure up there that fits the dimensions, and if there are compartments in there, and it’s ancient — What else could it be, way up there, thousands of feet in the air?”
Work also must be done leading up to the expedition.
Price estimated that the team needs to raise about $60,000 to pay for permission to use the site, to buy the necessary machinery and to fund about two months of work on location.
Bright said a discovery would “mean so much to so many, many people worldwide.”
“Keep your ear to the road, so to speak, this summer,” he said. “Because there will be discovery. The only thing that’s holding us back is to finance the machinery that we need.”
Reader Reactions
I could photoshop the London Bridge with a picture of George Washington hanging from it on the side of Mt.Ararat but it doesn’t mean that either the bridge or President Washington are there. Even the Armenian government says that, even as much as they would like it to be there, Noah’s Ark is not there. As for evolution being mythology, its well settled that it is more than just mythology or faith. It has been observed, tested, documented, confirmed and forms the basis of science as we know it. As for the Ark, well, according to one post here, it has been seen by an old Turkish man.
It is interesting how quickly this blog has changed into a discussion about evolution and religion.
Can it be that the three pieces of Noah’s Ark near the eastern summit of Mt. Ararat, which have been photographed, and are shown on our web site, ( right where the Bible says they are ) are a threat to the evolution myth that has swept across this nation?
There is a community of about 50 or so explorers, who have been on Mt. Ararat many times. I have read much of what they have written, and been in e-mail contact with a number of them.
Dr. Price has been in contact with these people also, and is benefiting from their expertise, and will continue to benefit from it as he travels to Mt. Ararat.
I have also swapped e-mails with Dr. Arslan, the Turkish man who took the 1989 photo, and actually saw that piece of the Ark with his own eyes.
Every once in a while, a few people come along with an Ark claim, which is obviously bogus. They offer no real photos, and cite no real eye witness testimony. They usually insist loudly that they have found the real thing.
Until they can publish a real photo, or cite real eye witnesses, who have seen their so called Ark, it is best to just ignore them.
The same is true about those who are willingly ignorant of the truths that are stated in our Bibles. They listen to some persuasive speaker, a professor perhaps, who eloquently delivers false information, and then they parrot the same false information. Doesn’t anyone search things out for themselves any more?
In your magic formula to get into heaven, some of you have forgotten what Jesus said.
To enter the Kingdom of Heaven, Jesus said, “You must be born again.“
I hate to burst your bubble, but none of the Bible authors wrote in English.
According to the original Greek, Jesus said,“ You must be born from above. “ You can find this in all four Greek New Testament texts. Maybe you need to look at what the original Biblical writings said!
(Older says) : **“Given ..... it should be possible to find these objects again and make duplicate photos.“**
If you have to find them again they are not found. They are lost. Even if duplicate pictures are taken, it means little since the first pictures don’t have an established and conclusive link between the ancient text describing the object of which the pictures allegedly portray. No link=no proof.
Vonbra.org has given the exact location. They explain the process to link the location and the ancient text. It is there or it isn’t.
Perhaps it isn’t conclusive, but the abundance of prominent individuals and testable facts presented make it the only website that cannot be discounted out of hand.
Frederic, you’re wasting your time with any factually based argument with most of the posters on here. Before the fall of the Soviet Union when Armenia was a vassal state of the USSR, the excuse for not finding the ark was that the Soviets wouldn’t let anyone look for it on the slopes of the mountain. Since the break up of the USSR and Armenia’s independence, that excuse doesn’t work anymore. Now, its that the ark is under a permanent glacier. Despite the fact that most Armenians are Christian (Armenia was the first country to adopt Christianity as its state religion about 1700 years ago), even the Armenian government says that the ark isn’t on Mr. Ararat. It is patently obvious that so many posters here NEED for the ark to be there in order for their faith to have some validity. It seems to me that the faith of so many Christians never matures past the level of an eight year old. The ark is a beautiful story—an allegory. It doesn’t have to be literally true in order to hold value.
Two problems with this.
1 - Mt. Ararat in Turkey was named in the thirteenth century by an Armenian king to entice pilgrims to the area. It was never considered to be Noah’s mountain until then.
2 - When Noah’s descendants left the Mt. Ararat area the bible says they went west to the plain of Shinar (Babylonia). So Mt. Ararat would lie in in Afganistan not in Turkey.
God’s Daughter, I promise I won’t stay long. I’ll just check up on you.
And you’re still preaching.
I’m sorry your self-esteem is so low that you consider yourself slime. I don’t feel the same way about myself, so I’m afraid I can’t join in as you wallow in your…well, slime.
Do I admit that I’m a sinner? I suppose that depends on whose rules you’re using. I try to be a decent person without hurting anyone else and that’s good enough for me.
Jesus? I believe he existed, sure. He wasn’t the only person named Jesus living in that area at the time. He wasn’t even the only one claiming to be the Messiah at the time. There were others before him who made the claim and others after him. I don’t believe he was any more divine that you or I.
And I know where you’re going, too. You’re going exactly where you want to go and good for you. I’m doing the same thing. The only difference is that where I’m going, nobody’s damned to eternal hellfire unless that’s what they think they should have. They’ll always have the option to leave, but it’s always going to be up to them.
Do I have anyone who’d give his only son’s life for me? Hell no. I have a neighbor who’d probably shoot his dog if I got him drunk enough and bet him $100 that he wouldn’t do it, but that probably doesn’t count.
And please don’t love me yet. Wait until we meet in your heaven and I show you the way out.
vi11agemouse
I Praise God for the seeds you brought to us here today.
dwest I am sorry it has taken me so long to reply to you.
My reply to your remarks can be read in BOLD Letters. I am not yelling, I am only wanting to make sure I get my comments in the right place.
dwest you said…
“And one day, God’s Daughter, you will remember me. I promise to stop by and visit your version of heaven to see how that’s working for you. I really will.
HEAVEN IS NOT BE A PLACE FOR “DROP INS, BUT I SURE WOULD LOVE FOR YOU TO GO WITH ME IN THE RAPTURE.“
Your heaven, where there’s nobody left to save, nobody left to preach to,
PREACHING IS NOT MY MESSAGE BECAUSE IT IS SUCH A TURN OFF TO NON BELIEVERS, BUT SINCE WE DO HAVE NEW PARTICIPANTS IN THIS ONGOING DISCUSSION I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE EVERYONE HEARS ANYTHING I MIGHT BE ABLE TO SHARE WITH THEM ABOUT CHRIST.
nobody left to feel superior to.
DWEST I IN NO WAY FEEL SUPERIOR TO ANYONE. I AM LIKE THE SLIME OF THE EARTH, THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ME AND YOU IS THAT I HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN FOR MY SLIME!! SLIME = SINS
I wonder how long before that starts getting old.
TRUST ME, IT WILL NEVER GET OLD. COME GO WITH ME AND YOU CAN SEE FOR YOURSELF!!
JUST IN CASE YOU DON’T KNOW HOW TO GO WITH ME, I’LL SHOW YOU AND I DO APOLOGIZE FOR NOT HAVING SHARED THIS WITH YOU SOONER.
ADMIT THAT YOU ARE A SINNER
BE WILLING TO TURN FROM YOUR SIN (BUT THIS WILL NEVER MAKE YOU PERFECT BECAUSE YOU ARE HUMAN)
BELIEVE BY “FAITH” THAT JESUS CHRIST DIED FOR YOU, WAS BURIED AND ROSE AGAIN
BY PRAYER, ASK GOD TO COME INTO YOUR HEART TO LIVE AND BE YOUR PERSONAL SAVIOR.
I’LL PRAY WITH YOU
GOD, I AM A SINNER AND I ASK YOU TO FORGIVE ME OF MY SINS. I BELIEVE THAT JESUS CHRIST SHED HIS BLOOD AND DIED FOR MY SINS. I AM WILLING TO TURN FROM SIN. GOD I INVITE YOU TO COME INTO MY HEART AND MY LIFE TO LIVE AS MY PERSONAL SAVIOR. AMEN
And I won’t invite you to join me
because I wouldn’t want to rain on your rapture.
DWEST, I WOULD LOVE FOR YOU TO BE RAPTURED WITH ME AND MEET THE LOVING SAVIOR THAT LOVES YOU JUST AS MUCH AS HE LOVES ME.
So all you people are leaving one day?
THE HAIRS ON OURS HEAD ARE NUMBERED (THAT INCLUDES YOU TOO) AND YES, WE ARE GOING HOME ONE DAY WHEN OUR PRECIOUS LORD CALLS US.
All of you?
YES ALL OF US AND THAT INCLUDES “YOU TOO.“ THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN YOU AND ME IS THAT I KNOW WHERE I AM GOING!!
Is that a promise or are you just toying with me?
I WOULD NEVER LIE TO YOU DWEST, NEVER!!
THERE IS ONE MORE THING I WANT TO SHARE WITH YOU THAT IS REALLY HEAVY ON MY HEART. I HOPE YOU DON’T MIND….
SOMETIMES AS HUMANS WE ARE SAVED AND STRIVE TO LIVE RIGHT, BUT WE FALL BY THE WAYSIDE. WHEN WE DO, GOD IS RIGHT THERE WAITING FOR US TO WELCOME US BACK INTO HIS ARMS.
HE LOVES US SOOOO MUCH DWEST THAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY SON TO THIS WORLD THAT WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT DIE AND GO TO HELL, BUT WILL HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE.
MAY I ASK YOU SOMETHING DWEST?
DO YOU HAVE ANYONE IN YOUR LIFE RIGHT THIS VERY MINUTE AS YOU READ THIS THAT WOULD GIVE THEIR ONLY SONS LIFE FOR YOU?
GOD LOVES YOU DWEST AND I LOVE YOU TOO!
Some comments with regard to payattent1on’s Vonbora.org site. Who was the eye witness who actually saw the man made object from the ground, above the ice? Perhaps there was one, but I didn’t see it mentioned on the web site. What real photo/s exist of the object that is claimed to be Noah’s Ark. All I see is a shadow in the ice.
On our site, we feature the testimony of one eye witness, Ed Davis, who saw TWO pieces of the Ark, from the ground in 1943, and show a sketch that he made of the uppermost object. We show actual photos of the uppermost of these two pieces, one taken in 1972 and again in 1988.
The photo of the other piece was taken in either 1972 or 1973.
We also show a third piece of the Ark photographed by an eye witness, Dr. Ahmet Ali Arslan, who saw the piece on the ground, and took the photo from the ground in 1989.
Unless they are faked ( which in this case, I seriously doubt ) photographs capture a moment in time. It has been 20 years since these pieces have been photographed. We can only speculate as to whether the pieces are still in their previous locations, or have moved, or have been moved, or destroyed. Given permission by the Turks to search these locations from the air, given a severe melt back of the ice pack, and given clear weather conditions, it should be possible to find these objects again and make duplicate photos.
The photos of these three pieces of Noah’s Ark can be viewed at:
www.mexicobeachcwc.com/NoahsArkfound.html
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