Noah's Ark: Its Final Berth
Bill Crouse
Since the early '50's the search for Noah's Ark has been the
subject of many books and movies.1 What gave rise to this
interest was the distinct possibility that actual remains of
Noah's Ark might be found. The spark which set off this burning
interest among Christians was the claim in 1948 of an eyewitness
who said he stumbled onto the Ark high on the snowcap of Mt.
Ararat.2 Since that time others have made similar claims. Based
on these alleged eyewitness accounts many expeditions have been
launched, countless hours have been spent in research, and large
sums have been spent to verify what many critics said was an
impossible quest.
More recently in the decade of the Eighties, Col. James
Irwin, the late moon-walking astronaut and his associates, combed
most of the mountain on foot. Still not satisfied, they surveyed
and photographed the mountain with various aircraft. While the
efforts of Irwin and others have received much attention from the
media, there is still no tangible evidence of an ark on Ararat.
Indeed, many who have been involved in the search, are now
becoming convinced that the Ark (1) may have merged with the
elements, or (2) God may not want it revealed at this time.3
In this article I would like to propose a third reason why
the search for Noah's Ark has been unsuccessful, namely, that it
may have landed on another mountain and the remains may no longer
be extant. From the perspective of history, there seems to be
compelling ancient sources which argue for another site as the
final berth of Noah's Ark. Before we look at this evidence, it
might be helpful to the readers if we give some of the reasons
why the search has been concentrated on Mt. Ararat of eastern
Turkey.
First, and foremost, are the alleged eyewitness accounts.
If it weren't for these, it is doubtful if a search would ever
have arisen on the mountain the Turks call "Agri Dagh" and the
Armenians, "Masis".
A second reason given for searching for remains of Noah's
Ark on Mt. Ararat, is its altitude. At nearly 17,000 feet it has
a permanent icecap which would lend itself to the Ark's
preservation.4 Indeed an Ark perpetually frozen in ice would
never decay. It could lie undisturbed for thousands of years.5
The third reason given has to do with the level of the Flood
waters. Since Mt. Ararat is the highest mountain in the region
it is assumed by some that the Ark must have landed on the
highest mountain since Noah could not see the tops of any other
mountains for some time after the Ark grounded.
After the many expeditions of the last several years, some
questions should now be raised about the above reasons for
looking for the Ark on Ararat. The eyewitness accounts have not
been helpful in locating the lost artifact. The accounts are
often contradictory, and under close scrutiny most are suspect.
Some of the sightings have been made by pilots who appear to be
of reputable character. However, these sightings, in our
opinion, are explainable by the fact that the mountain has an
abundance of large blocks of basalt, and when seen under the
right conditions, they can easily resemble a huge barge.6
Some question the age of the mountain itself. Is it not of
recent origin?. That is, was it not formed after the Great
Flood? There seems to be almost a total lack of evidence this
mountain was ever under water.7 If the Ark landed on Ararat, why
is there not some evidence of flooding such as sedimentation,
fossils, etc.? Geologically, we can conceive of a scenario where
the mountain may have risen during the Flood, but we still need
evidence of the Flood waters.
Others have been attracted to the mountain because of its
altitude and its ability to hide and preserve the Ship in its
icecap. Certainly this could be a valid reason, and it is one
that this author once maintained. However, we again have
geological problems in that the permanent icecap is not
stationary.8 It flows down the mountain in several glacial
fingers. Any structure would be gradually destroyed because of
the uneven rate with which a glacier flows. Like water in a
river, a glacier flows faster on the surface than near the
bottom.
In conclusion, it is difficult to be optimistic that remains
of the Ark of Noah might someday be found on Mt. Ararat. Not
only has it been thoroughly searched in recent years, an intact
Ark 500 feet in length would be difficult to hide! Given the
geological reasons, and the dubious eyewitness accounts, there
are compelling historical reasons for believing that Noah's Ark
will never be found on Mt. Ararat. We now turn to these
arguments.
If Noah's Ark did indeed land on the 17,000 foot peak of Mt.
Ararat one should reasonably expect this event to have support
from antiquity. When the search for Noah's Ark became a hot
topic in the early '70s, this was assumed to be the case.
Evangelical scholar, Dr. John Warwick Montgomery, argued this
case in his well-documented book: THE QUEST FOR NOAH'S ARK. It
is our contention that Montgomery erred in his interpretation of
these sources.
As some of the readers may know, the Bible only gives a
general reference as to the landing place of the Ark. Many
enthusiasts of the Ark search, however, mistakenly believe the
Bible names Mt. Ararat as the Ark's specific resting place. This
is not the case as the Bible says only that the Ark came to rest
on "the mountains (plural) of Ararat" (Gen. 8:4). At the time
Moses wrote Genesis "Ararat" was a very remote region north of
Assyria centered around present-day Lake Van. Modern
archaeological studies have pretty well delineated the boundaries
of this ancient kingdom. (see map).9
A careful study of the historical sources indicates that the
earliest undeniable (a key word) reference for Ararat as the
landing site of Noah's Ark is the middle of the 13th Century
A.D.10
By the end of the 14th century it seems to have become a
fairly well-established tradition. Prior to this time the
ancients argued that the remains of the Ark of Noah could be
found on a mountain known as "Cudi Dagh".Let us look now at the
evidence of what we believe are those compelling ancient sources.
Cudi Dagh is located approximately 200 miles south of Mt.
Ararat in southern Turkey almost within eyesight of the Syrian
and Iraqi borders.11 The Tigris River flows at its base. The
exact co-ordinates are 37 degrees, 21 minutes N., and 42 degrees,
17 minutes E. In literature it has also been called "Mt Judi",
"Mt. Cardu", "Mt. Quardu", "the Gordyene mountains", "Gordian
mountains", "The Karduchian mountains", "the mountains of the
Kurds", and to the Assyrians: "Mt. Nipur "(see photo #1) . It is
also important to note that at times this mountain has even been
called "Mt. Ararat". At about 7000 feet altitude it is not a
terribly high mountain, though it is snow-capped most of the
year. The current edition of the ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ISLAM lists it
as "over 13,000 feet and largely unexplored." We are unsure of
the exact altitude, but it seems strange that it would not be
noted on our modern aerial navigation map if it were 13,000 feet!
Most modern maps do not show the location of Cudi Dagh. It
is, however, located about 25 miles from the Tigris River (see
map), just east of the present Turkish city of Gizre and still
within the bounds of the Biblical region of Ararat (Urartu).12
Cudi Dagh overlooks the all-important Mesopotamian plain and
is notable for its many archaeological ruins in and around the
mountain. There are also many references to it in ancient
history.13 Sennacherib (700 B.C.), the Assyrian king, carved
rock reliefs of himself on the side of the mountain (see photo
#2).14 The Nestorians (a sect of Christianity) built several
monasteries around the mountain including one on the summit
called "The Cloister of the Ark". It was destroyed by lightning
in 766 A.D.15 The Muslims later built a mosque on the site. In
1910, Gertrude Bell explored the area and found a stone structure
still at the summit with the shape of a ship (see photo #3)
called by the locals "Sefinet Nebi Nuh" "The Ship of Noah". Bell
also reports that annually on September 14, Christians, Jews,
Muslims, Sabians and Yezidis gather on the mountain to
commemorate Noah's sacrifice.16 As late as 1949 two Turkish
journalists claimed to have seen the Ark on this mountain, a ship
500 feet in length!17
The evidence for this site as the landing place of Noah's
Ark is not so strong that it demands a verdict, yet it is indeed
compelling. If we only had the ancient references, the evidence
for the site easily outweighs the evidence for Mt. Ararat
(excluding modern sightings of course!) These ancient witnesses
are as follows:
BEROSSUS. A Chaldean priest and historian (3rd Century
B.C.). His writings were published about 275 B.C. in Greek but
his work survived only as far as it was quoted by others,
notably, Polyhistor (1st Century B.C.), and by Josephus (1st
Century A.D.). He is also quoted by a few others as late as the
5th Century A.D. Berossus' account is basically a version of the
Babylonian Flood account. He notes that the Ark "…grounded in
Armenia some part still remains in the mountains of the
Gordyaeans in Armenia, and some get pitch from the ship by
scraping off, and use it for amulets." Some believe that
Berossus was acquainted with both the Hebrew version, which puts
the Ark in Armenia (Urartu,) and the Babylonian, which puts the
Ark in the Gordyaean mountains. They conclude the reason he
mentions both territories is that he is trying to reconcile the
two accounts. This may be true, but it is an argument from
silence. The fact is, this location, Cudi Dagh, is both in the
Gordyaean mountains and within the borders of ancient Armenia
(Urartu)! It may be that Berossus is just trying to be precise.
THE SAMARITAN PENTATEUCH. This manuscript contains only the
first five books of the Old Testament. It puts the landing place
of Noah's Ark in the Kurdish mountains north of Assyria. The
Samaritan Pentateuch was the Bible used by the Samaritans, a
Jewish sect who separated from the Jews about the 5th Century
B.C. Ancestry wise, they were of mixed blood dating back to the
time the Assyrians deported many from the Northern Kingdom. The
Assyrians then colonized the area with citizens from Assyria.
The intermarriage that resulted when some of these Assyrian
colonists married Jews who were not deported became known as the
Samaritans. Their version of the Pentateuch shows a definite
propensity to update geographical places and harmonize difficult
passages. There is much evidence that the Samaritan Pentateuch
arose during the 5th Century B.C. though the earliest manuscript
extant today dates to about the 10th century A.D.
THE TARGUMS. The targums are paraphrases in Aramaic which
were made for the Jews after the they returned from the captivity
in Babylon (See Nehemiah 8:8). After their long captivity many
of the Jews forgot their native tongue (Hebrew) only
understanding the language of their former captors (Aramaic).
These paraphrases were originally oral. They were rather loose
paraphrases, and in some instances were like running
commentaries. These targums later attained a fixed form and were
written down and preserved. They give Bible scholars a valuable
tool for textual criticism and interpretation. Three of these
targums (Onkelos, Neofiti, and pseudo-Jonathan) put the landing
place of the Ark in the Qardu mountains. It should be remembered
that this mountain was not far from where some of these Jews
spent their captitivity! They probably did not know of the
kingdom of Ararat since this kingdom had ceased to be around the
7th Century B.C.
JOSEPHUS. First Century A.D. Josephus was a man of Jewish
birth who was loyal to the Roman Empire. He was a man of great
intellect and a contemporary of the Apostle Paul. As the
official historian of the Jews for the Roman Empire he had access
to all the archives and libraries of the day. He mentions the
remains of Noah's Ark three times. All are found in the
ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. The first is found in Vol. IV on p. 43
of the Loeb edition.18 Here he says:
Then the ark settled on a mountain-top in Armenia: . . .
Noah, thus learning that the earth was delivered from the
flood, waited yet seven days, and then let the animals out
of the ark, went forth himself with his family, sacrificed
to God and feasted with his household. The Armenians call
that spot the Landing-place, for it was there that the ark
came safe to land, and they show the relics of it to this
day.
Comments:
First, note that Josephus says the remains of the Ark
existed in his day though he himself was not an eyewitness.
Second, the mention of the Armenians assigning a name to the
landing site is intriguing, even that he calls them "Armenians".
They were first called "Armenians by the Greek historian,
Hecataeus, who wrote of the "Armenoi" in the 6th Century B.C.
Josephus, who also undoubtedly used the Septuagint (the Greek
version of the OT), knew that it substituted "Armenia: for
"Ararat" (in the Hebrew original) where it occurs in Isaiah
37:38. At the time Josephus wrote (near the end of the First
Century), the Armenians were still a pagan nation. However,
there is a tradition that some Armenians were being converted at
this time through the missionary efforts of Bartholomew and
Thaddeus. The big question is: was Josephus quoting Christian
Armenians at this early date? Or, did pagan Armenians know of
the Flood? Nevertheless, it might be significant if the
Armenians had this tradition at this early date. We continue to
search for the evidence.
Third, concerning the Armenian name for the landing place,
William Whiston, in his translation of Josephus, has the
following footnote:
This apo bah tay reon or "Place of Descent", is the proper
rendering of the Armenian name of this very city. It is
called in Ptolemy Naxuana, and Moses Chorenensis, the
Armenian historian, Idsheuan; but at the place itself
Nachidsheuan, which signifies "The first place of
descent", and is a lasting monument of the preservation of
Noah in the Ark, upon the top of the mountain, at whose
foot it was built, as the first city or town after the
flood. See Antiq. B. XX. Ch. Ii. Sect. 3; and Moses
Chorenensis, who also says elsewhere, that another town
was related by tradition to have been called Seron, or,
"The Place of Dispersion", on account of the dispersion of
Xisuthrus's or Noah's sons, from thence first made.
Whether any remains of this ark be still preserved as the
people of the country suppose, I cannot certainly tell.
Mons. Tournefort had, not very long since, a mind to see
the place himself, but met with too great dangers and
difficulties to venture through them.
Whiston wants to identify "the place of descent" (apo bah tay
reon in Greek) with the modern day city of Nakhichevan situated
southeast of Ararat about 65 miles in the former U.S.S.R. Ark
researchers in the past have used this footnote as a seemingly
early evidence for Mt. Ararat being the site for the Ark's
landing.19 However, we must asked if this is the intent of
Josephus, or the 18th Century interpretation of Whiston (from his
footnote)? There seems to be linguistic and other evidence that
such is not the case. First of all, to identify the current Mt.
Ararat as the landing place of the Ark, as per the footnote of
Whiston, is contrary to Josephus clearly identifying it as a
mountain in Gordyene. Second, the early Armenian historians
identified the Gordyene ("Gortuk") mountains as the landing place
of Noah's Ark at least up to the 11th and 12th centuries.20
Thirdly, According to the Armenian language scholar, Heinrich
Hubschmann, the city of Nakhichavan, which does mean "Place of
First Descent" in Armenian, was not known by that name in
antiquity. Rather, he says the present-day name evolved to
"Nakhichavan" from "Naxcavan". The prefix "Naxc" was a name and
"avan" is Armenian for "town".21
The second, and perhaps most important reference is found on
p.45 of the Loeb edition and is a quote from the above-mentioned
Chaldean priest, Berossus.22 We quote here the entire paragraph:
This flood and the ark are mentioned by all who have
written histories of the barbarians. Among these is
Berosus the Chaldaean, who in his description of the
events of the flood writes somewhere as follows: "It is
said, moreover, that a portion of the vessel still
survives in Armenia on the mountain of the Cordyaeans, and
that persons carry off pieces of the bitumen, which they
use as talismans." These matters are also mentioned by
Hieronymus the Egyptian, author of the ancient history of
Phoenicia, by Mnaseas and by many others. Nicolas of
Damascus in his ninety-sixth book relates the story as
follows: "There is above the country of Minyas in Armenia
a great mountain called Baris, where, as the story goes,
many refugees found safety at the time of the flood, and
one man, transported upon an ark, grounded upon the
summit; and relics of the timber were for long preserved;
this might well be the same man of whom Moses, the Jewish
legislator, wrote."
Again, note that Josephus is not an eyewitness. Rather he
is quoting all the ancient authorities he had access to. Most of
whom are no longer in existence, and indeed are known only from
his quotations of them. It is impressive to this researcher,
that Josephus seems to indicate there is a consensus among the
historians of his day, not only about the remains of the Ark
still existing, but also concerning the location.
Josephus also quotes the work of Nicholas of Damascus, the
friend and biographer of Herod the Great. Nicholas claimed that
he put great labor into his historical studies and apparently had
access to many resources. It is possible he was one of Josephus'
main sources. His story of the Flood, however, deviates from the
Biblical account in that he has some surviving the Flood outside
the Ark. His location for the final resting place of the Ark
seems to be in harmony with the Gordyene site. He claims the Ark
landed above Minyas on a great mountain in Armenia. According to
ancient geographers, Minyas was a country slightly below and to
the east of Armenia, below present-day Lake Urmia in Iran. The
name he gives this mountain, "Baris", is a mystery. According to
Bailey, the Greek word baris means "height", or "tower", and can
also mean "boat"!23 The third reference to the remains of the
Ark is found in Volume XX, p. 403 of the Loeb edition.24
Monobazus, being now old and seeing that he had not long
to live, desired to lay eyes on his son before he died.
He therefore sent for him, gave him the warmest of
welcomes and presented him with a district called Carron.
The land there has excellent soil for the production of
amomum in the greatest of abundance; it also possesses
the remains of the ark in which report has it that Noah
was saved from the flood---remains which to this day are
shown to those who are curious to see them.
The context of this citation of the Ark's remains has to do
with a certain royal family (King and Queen of Adiabene) who
converted to Judaism. In the immediate context of the above
citation, Monobazus, the man who converted, gives his son, Izates
the land of Carron. The clues given as to the location of the
Ark's remains in this passage are not unequivocable. The remains
are said to be somewhere in a country called Carron which must be
found in the greater country of Adiabene. Why? Because the king
could not have given what was not his, therefore, Carron must be
found within Adiabene.
It is fairly certain that Adiabene is bounded by the Tigris
on the West and the Upper (north) and Lower (south) Zab Rivers.
Today this would be northeastern Iraq. The land of Carron
presents some difficulties. It is mentioned only by Josephus.
There does seem to be some doubt about the text here since the
Loeb edition emends the text to read Gordyene where the same
"Carron" is mentioned elsewhere in Antiquities.25 If this is the
case, then Josephus is not giving us a second location for the
remains of Noah's Ark. He may have associated Adiabene with
Gordyene since they were next to each other. There is precedent
for this. Pliny, a Roman author and contemporary of Josephus,
places the city of Nisibis in Adiabene when it is actually
located to the west of Gordyene (Natural History, 6.16). It is
interesting to note also that Hippolytus (2nd Cent.)agrees. He
says, "The relics of the Ark are . . . Shown to this day in the
mountains called Ararat, which are situated in the direction of
the country of Adiabene. This would be correct since he wrote
from Rome. "(Refutation of All Heresies,10, Chapter 26.).
From the above there seems to be grounds for arguing that
Josephus pinpoints the Gordyene site (Judi Dagh) as the landing
place of Noah's Ark. While we cannot say this with absolute
certainty, we feel we can conclude that nowhere does Josephus say
anything definitive that might lead us to assume that present-day
Mt. Ararat is in view. We also disagree with Bailey who believes
that Josephus gives three different locations for the Ark's final
resting place.26
EUSEBIUS. In the 3rd Century A.D. this early church father
notes that a small part of the Ark still remains in the Gordian
mountains.
THE PERSHITTA. The Pershitta is a version of the entire
Bible made for the Syrian Christians. Scholars are not sure when
it was translated but it shows up for the first time around 400
A.D. In Gen. 8:4 it reads "mountains of Quardu" for the resting
place of Noah's Ark. This version shows a definite influence
from the Targums mentioned above.
FAUTUS OF BYZANTIUM. Faustus was a historian of the 4th
Century A.D. Very little is known about him except that he was
one of the early historians of Armenia though he was of Greek
origin. His original work is lost but has survived through
translations.
It is from Faustus that we first hear the story of St Jacob
of Nisibis, the godly monk who asks God to see the Ark.27 After
repeatedly failing to climb the mountain an angel rewards him
with a piece of wood from the Ark. It is this story that is
off-quoted in succeeding centuries, and the location given for
the event in these later sources is Mt. Ararat. However, please
note, Faustus, the one who presumably originated the story, puts
this event not on Mt. Ararat, but in the canton of Gordukh. The
St. Jacob of the story is the Bishop of Nisibis (modern Nusaybin)
a city which is only about 70 miles (not quite within sight) from
Cudi Dagh.28
Mt. Ararat to the bishop would have been near the end of the
known world. If Faustus had meant this mountain he undoubtedly
would have called it by its Armenian name of Masis as he does
elsewhere in his work. Armenian historians are in agreement that
the early Armenian traditions indicated the southern location as
the landing place of the Ark.29 Up to the 10th Century all
Armenian sources support the southern location as the landing
place of the Ark.
Wouldn't it be strange for the Syrian bishop to ignore what
his own Syrian Bible (the Pershitta) told him was the landing
place of Noah's Ark? Also, St. Jacob's own student, St.Ephraem,
refers to the site of the landing as "the mountains of Qardu".
It is hard to believe that one of his intimates could be that
confused! The natives of the area even today tell the story of
St. Jacob, the Bishop, and similar traditions associated with Mt.
Ararat, i.e. the city built by Noah and his grave, etc.30
EPIPHANIUS. The Bishop of Salamis and a fierce opponent of
heresy (a real heresy hunter!) in the 4th Century A.D. On two
occasions he mentions that the Ark landed in the mountains of the
Gordians. In fact he says the remains are still shown and that
if one looks diligently he can still find the altar of Noah.
ISIDORE OF SEVILLE. 6-7 Century A.D. He is quoted in the
16th Century as saying the Ark landed in the Gordyaean mountains.
EUTYCHIUS. Bishop of Alexander in the 9th Century. He
says, "the Ark rested on the mountains of Ararat, that is Jabal
Judi near Mosul." Mosul is a city near ancient Ninevah about 80
miles south of Cudi Dagh.
Muslim sources.
The QURAN. 7th Century. The Quran says: "The Ark came to
rest upon Al-Judi…" (Houd 11:44). The Modern Muslim
Encyclopedia is familiar with the early traditions that the Ark
came to rest on Cudi Dagh. However, the writer of the article
under "Jebel Judi" believes Mohammed was referring to the Judi
mountains in Saudi Arabia. This is not certain. Mohammed was
very familiar with Christian and Jewish traditions not to mention
the fact that he probably traveled to this area during his days
as a merchant. In the English translation of the Quran made by
George Sale in 1734, a footnote concerning the landing place of
the Ark, states that the Quran is following an ancient
tradition.31 At least the following Muslim sources seem to
agree.
AL MASUDI. 10th Century. "The ark came to rest on Jabal
Judi…8 P(F)arasangs from the Tigris. The place can still be
seen." Eight P(F)arasangs is approximately 25-30 miles. This
puts you right on Cudi Dagh!
IBN HAUKAL. 10th Century. He places Al-Judi near the town
of Nesbin (modern Nusaybin) and mentions that Noah built a
village at the foot of the mountain.
IBN AL-MID. 13th Century. He informs us that an emperor
(Heraclius) wished to climb Jabal-Judi to see the site in the 7th
Century.
ZAKARIYA ben MUHAMMAD al KAZWINE. A Muslim geographer of
the 13th Century also reports that wood from the Ark was used to
construct a monastery.
He does not, however, give a location.
Jewish Source
BENJAMIN of TUDELA. 12th Century. He says he travelled
"two days to Jezireh Ben Omar, an island in the Tigris on the
foot of Mt. Ararat…on which the ark of Noah rested. `Omar Ben
al-Khatab removed the Ark from the summit of the two mountains
and made a mosque of it." Several things to note here: the ruins
of this city, Jezireh Ben Omar, are located at the foot of Cudi
Dagh (see photo #4); and also, here is evidence that this
mountain was also called "Mt. Ararat"; it does have two peaks;
and remains were still there at this date.
Conclusion
The above evidence to us seems impressive. As we mentioned
above it's not conclusive, but certainly compelling when compared
to the evidence for Mt. Ararat. This of course does not include
the eyewitness accounts for Mt. Ararat, which taken at face
value, are spectacular. Only one verified eyewitness invalidates
all of the above! However, since we have no absolutely
verifiable eyewitness, we wonder if any of the eyewitnesses in
the lists given in the various books about the search for Noah's
Ark could have possibly been at this southern location. We feel
that some of them can, and at least one, seems to us to be
certain. Here are two examples:
First, we are not entirely convinced, but it is possible
that the discovery of the Ark by Prince Nouri may have been at
this southern site, and perhaps what he saw was the stone
reconstruction somewhat covered with snow.32 We find it
interesting that he was travelling from India to take over the
leadership of the Nestorian church which just happened to have
its center a little to the east of this mountain. Certainly he
would have been acquainted with the Nestorian tradition which
puts the Ark on Cudi Dagh! The Nestorians once had a famous
monastery called "The Cloister of the Ark" upon the summit of
this mountain. It was destroyed by lightning in 766 A.D. as
mentioned earlier. Question: Why did he say he was on Mt.
Ararat? Because to most Christians, if the Ark is there it had
to be Mt. Ararat.
We believe a second and more certain possibility is the
chance discovery of the 5 Turkish soldiers who were returning
home after WW1 who were leaving from Baghdad to return to their
homes in Adana when by chance they came upon Noah's Ark.33 Now
why would they deliberately go several hundred miles out of their
way toward Ararat, climb a 17,000 ft. mountain which was still
under the control of their enemies (the Russians) when their home
was in the opposite direction? These questions need answers. If
you look at a map, they most likely followed the Tigris River
right to their country's border. This would have put them right
on target to Cudi Dagh. They could not have gone a more direct
route through Syria because of the British Army. This makes
sense!
The above arguments and historical references may not
constitute a conclusive argument for the Ark's final berth, but
they are compelling, and to us, overwhelming. More digging is
necessary, perhaps even in the literal sense, on Cudi Dagh!
Endnotes
1. For the beginner who wants to survey the literature we
recommend the following three books: John Warwick
Montgomery, The Quest for Noah's Ark (Minneapolis, MN:
Bethany Fellowship, Inc., 1972), Tim LaHaye and John
Morris, The Ark on Ararat (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson,
Inc., 1976), and Violet Cummings, Noah's Ark: Fact or Fable?
(San Diego, CA: Creation-Science Research Center, 1972).
2. For a complete account of this report see: LaHaye and
Morris, The Ark on Ararat, pp. 115-116.
3. Many Ark enthusiasts link the discovery of the Ark with end-
time prophecy, an idea which could be true, but as far as
we know is without any Biblical support.
4. This icecap is approximately 17-20 square miles in size. At
some places it is 200-300 feet thick.
5. As most of the readers may be aware, Wooly Mammoths have been
found which science dates at over 10,000 years. The flesh
was still edible!
6. The author has in his possession a collection of photos of
these "phantom arks". Some of these are heart-stoppers.
Given the right combination of light and shadows arks can be
seen all over the mountain!
7. The scientist and early Ark searcher, Clifford Burdick,
claimed to have found pillow lava on the mountain as well as
sedimentation. Neither claim can be substantiated. The
sedimentation he found was instead laid down by volcanic
action and not by water.
8. There are some areas of the icecap which some thought might
be stationary. These areas have recently been bored into and
examined with sub-surface radar with negative results.
9. For more information on the land of Ararat, or Urartu as it
is known in non-biblical literature, we recommend: Edwin M.
Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (Grand Rapids, MI:
Baker Book House, 1982), and Edwin M. Yamauchi, and Charles
Burney and David Marshall Lang, People of the Hills (New
York: Praeger Publishers, 1971).
10. We do not regard this as a settled issue; we are still
searching for any references prior to this.
11. This area was in the news early in 1992, as it was the area
to which the Kurds fled Hussein's murderous troops.
12. Readers should be aware that there is another Cudi Dagh in
Turkey (a mountain of about 2100 feet) located near the city
of Urfa not far from the Biblical city of Haran.
13. One of the most descriptive of the area is by Xenophon in
Anabasis (5th Cent.B.C.).
14. See L.W. King, "Sennacherib and the Ionians," Journal of
Hellenic Studies 30 (1910), 327-35. See his footnote on p.
328.
15. Gertrude Bell, Amurath to Amurath (London: McMillan, 1924), p. 292.
16. Bell, Amurath to Amurath, p. 292.
17. Andre Parrot, The Flood and Noah's Ark (London: SCM Press
LTD, 1953), p. 65. We can't vouchsafed for the accuracy of
this report! We do know that Kurds in the area say that
wood has been found there as late as 30 years ago.
18. The most popular translation of Josephus is by William
Whiston in 1737. However, the most accurate translation is
the Loeb edition from the Classical Library. We also used
this edition to enable us to consult the original text. In
Whiston's translation this quotation is in Book one, Chapter
3.
19. Montgomery apparently makes this assumption. See his book,
The Quest for Noah's Ark, p.60ff.
20. See Lloyd R. Bailey. Where is Noah's Ark? (Nashville, TN:
Abingdon Press, 1978), p. 102ff. See also V. Kurkjian, A
History of Armenia (New York: Armenian General Benevolent
Union, 1959), p. 1-2.
21. See the work of Heinrich Hubschmann in "Armeniaca,"
Strassburger Festschrift zur XLVI Versammlung Deutscher
Philologen und Schulmanner (Strassburg: Verlag von Karl
Tauberner, 1901), Section V. cited in Lloyd R. Bailey, Noah
(Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 1989) p.
190ff.
22. Found in Whiston, Book 1, Chapter 3.
23. Bailey, Noah, p. 216, see footnote #19.
24. In Whiston it is found on Book 20, Chapter 2.
25. The Greek is carrown. The Loeb edition suggests in a
footnote that the original reading may have been cardu.
This is certainly within the realm of plausibility. This,
then would just be another variant spelling of Gordyene, the
country of the Kurds! Interestingly enough there is a land
called "Kirruri" located southwest of Lake Urmia! See L.D.
Levine, "Geographical Studies in the Neo Assyrian Zagros,"
Iran 11 (1973) p. 105. This land is a small district
adjacent to, and north of Adiabene, just across the little
Zab River!
26. Noah, p. 66.
27. Montgomery's translation of this story from the French can
be found in The Quest for Noah's Ark,p. 66-69. It is
important to note that Faustus wrote from the same century
as St. Jacob.
28. St. Jacob of Nisibis was one of the prominent figures at the
Council of Nicea (325 A.D.). He was known for his ability
to perform miracles and was known as the Moses of
Mesopotamia. He may also have figured in the
evangelization Armenia.
29. See endnote # 20. Also see the 10th Century Armenian
historian, Thomas Artsruni: Robert W. Thompson, History of
the House of the Artsrunik (Detroit, MI: Wayne State
University, 1985), p. 81.
30. Bell, Amurath to Amurath, p.294.
31. This footnote is found in the Appendix on p. 496. The
footnotes were the responsibility of Frederic Mynon Cooper.
32. For an account of this story see Violet M. Cummings, Noah's
Ark: Fact or Fable?, p. 188ff.
33. Violet Cummings, Has Anybody Really Seen Noah's Ark? (San
Diego, CA: Creation-Life Publishers, 1982), p. 103ff.
For Ark Researchers who wish to do further critical study of the
above mentioned ancient texts we recommend the scholarly work of
Jack P. Lewis, A Study of the Interpretation of Noah and the
Flood in Jewish and Christian Literature (Netherlands, Leiden:
E.J. Brill, 1968), and Lloyd R. Bailey, Noah (Columbia, SC:
University of South Carolina Press, 1989).
This article originally appeared in the journal: ARCHAEOLOGY AND
BIBLICAL RESEARCH, Vol. 5, No. 3. Summer, 1992. |
