According to CNN, a U.S. and Turkish month-long expedition will travel July 15 to Turkey’s icy Mount Ararat in hopes of locating Noah’s ark.
“Maybe the search is our response to what’s happening in the world. People have gotten away from the roots of the earth, we’re the ones who are destroying the world, not God,” said Father Terry Devino. “After the flood, God said he would never again destroy the earth and a great rainbow came across the sky. Every time I see a rainbow I think of that.”
Explorers have been searching for Noah’s ark for centuries in Mount Ararat, where the Book of Genesis places the ship. The mountain is Turkey’s tallest, standing at 12,820 feet. The team believes the ark is 45 feet high, 75 feet wide and up to 450 feet long and was partially exposed through the snow and ice last summer due to hot weather conditions.
In 1957, the Turkish Air Force spotted a ship formation in the slopes of the mountain. But a follow-up was not made because the Soviets banned explorers, who they feared were U.S. spies, from visiting. This is the first time explorers have found anything related to the ark since 1982 when the Turkish government retracted the ban.
Daniel McGivern, a Christian Activist and businessman from Hawaii, will be financially supporting the trip. He says the team only wants to enter the ship and photograph it. They are not planning on excavating or taking any artifacts. McGivern also says he is 98 percent sure the object is Noah’s ark because beams were visible in the pictures taken from satellites.
“Intellectually I can take no stand with it, because I am not an archaeologist or a biblical theologian. But from a faith perspective, yes, I think it’s possible this is it,” said Devino. “I think it’s exciting that archaeologists are looking into it. Throughout the years, archaeologists have always said there is historical evidence that there was a flood.”
But geologists say despite the evidence supporting a flood in Sumerian times, it is impossible that the ark could have landed at an altitude as high as Mount Ararat. Scientists have also said it would have been extremely difficult to get 460 organisms onboard the ark in 24 hours.
“I’m going to go with the experts on this one; I appreciate Turkey’s and the United States’ ambition to link us to the past,” said Bryant Duda ’06, “but over such a long period of time, with questions of altitude looming over the topic as well, I’d say Noah’s ark is a thing of the past, it best belongs in history books.”
Father Mark McGregor agreed and said he could not give the search validity.
“For me it seems like an adventure where people are taking the bible 100 percent literally. It sounds more like a promotional thing than something I can give real credence to,” said McGregor.
However, some people still have faith that this expedition may lead to the discovery of the ark.
“If there’s evidence on the boat that proves that it’s old enough to be in Noah’s time, then I definitely believe it could be the ark,” said Rob Diamond ’06. “It’s definitely a valid search.”
“Even thought it may be people taking a literal interpretation of the Bible… wouldn’t it make sense that humankind would set out in an effort to save creation?,” Diamond added. “People are trying to save the planet in the twenty-first century – what’s the difference? I love the story and I hope to God they find that people did seek to save the earth.”
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