A few more questions I and others wanted to have answered were:ġ) How carefully was the excavation performed and documented?Ģ) Where were the samples tested for radiocarbon dating (i.e., what lab)?ģ) Have all the data been released for peer-review by other scientists?Ĥ) Are there enough remains - and of the Biblically-stated dimensions, composition, etc. Some skeptics’ objections I did not feel were necessary (especially if one does not feel an historical ark & flood are inextricably linked to “flood geology”), but others were quite legitimate. Plus, I know nothing of NAMI or any of the people involved, so I have no idea whether they are an honest ministry with good reputation or a fly-by-night sham organization pulling off a stunt for fame & fortune. I prefer some more scientifically tested evidence and confirmation by disinterested, or even hostile, third parties. Yet, that is the group that typically pooh-poohs the accuracy and validity of radiometric dating, especially carbon-14 dating! (For example, loose, dry straw that hadn’t disintegrated after 4800 years?) I also found it amusing that they supposedly used carbon-14 dating to determine the wood was 4800 years old - i.e., right in the allowable range for the Flood as calculated by many young-Earth creationists and those who hold to “flood geology”. (For example, how do we know where the images/videos were really taken?) And, upon further consideration, there were a couple things that seemed a little suspect. (A wooden structure on an icy mountainside with some rooms/compartments with wooden beams, apparently.) But, frankly, nothing I saw in the pictures and video or read in the news articles were proof of anything on their own, either. Nothing in the Fox News report seemed particularly suspicious, although it’s a little unclear exactly what was found. The rest of us were a bit more careful and held a wait-and-see pattern. A filmmaker accompanying the evangelists/explorers from Noah’s Ark Ministries International (NAMI) said, “we think it is 99.9 percent that this is it.” So, many of “the faithful” assumed it must be so. The hopeful and the uncritical just ate it up. So, when this latest “discovery” was announced - and in the MSM, yet - I couldn’t help but groan (inwardly, of course). (This last speculation assumes that the Flood was local/regional, as I do, though I believe it was “universal” in terms of wiping out all of humanity (save eight).) After all, the local tree population would have been pretty devastated for some time, even if they managed to get some seeds or saplings to (re)plant from a nearby region.
![noah noah](https://worldofwonder.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Screen-Shot-2019-05-26-at-10.46.36-AM.png)
(It might not have been that difficult if the ark actually rested in the foothills.) They could have used it to build cabins/shelters, wagons, bridges, animal pens, etc. I think it’s reasonable to postulate, at least, that they would have made many trips up & back to bring wood down to their new home site. Mount Ararat from east of Dogubeyazit, TurkeyĪnother problem I have with the idea of finding Noah’s Ark - intact, that is - is that I doubt Noah and his family would have left all that great, pre-treated lumber up there.
![noah noah](https://noahsarkcharity.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/HJ-TeddyPicnic-A36P8651.jpg)
![noah noah](https://i.dawn.com/2011/07/noahs-ark-640.jpg)
(Read this article for more.) So, why do these “arkeology” groups put so much focus on that one mountain?
![noah noah](https://media2.fdncms.com/orlando/imager/u/original/5085885/14612482_1227395983991617_5759588650118605839_o.jpg)
In fact, the complex of mountain ranges where Ararat is located covers more than 100,000 square miles, from northeast of Mount Ararat itself to the foothills skirting the Mesopotamian plain. Genesis 8:4 says that “the ark rested upon the mountains of Ararat.” No specific peak was identified, so it could have been anywhere in the area. Ararat itself, even if it is the same peak as the one called that in Scripture. (Although, I think the best date for it is well before the 4000-5000 years ago that most ark-hunters and their followers place it.) But, I really doubt it would be on Mt. It’s not that I don’t believe in the veracity and accuracy of the Biblical story of the Flood. I have to admit, every time one of these discoveries hits the news, I (figuratively) roll my eyes and shake my head. I wasn’t really going to get into this, but… what the heck!