Has the Biblical Ark of Noah been found?

“And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of ARARAT”

Genesis 8:4

Varoujan Davoud Amirkhanian

October, 2010

A Personal Quest for the Search of Noah’s Ark(Noyan Tapan)

The implications of finding the remains of Noah’s Ark are staggering

Former editor of National Geographic Magazine, Gilbert H. Grosvenor once said:

“If the ark of Noah is ever found, it will be the greatest archaeological discovery in history and the greatest event since the Resurrection of Christ; and it will alter all the currents of scientific thought.”

Ararat Climb 2008

Ararat Climb 2008

Davut Cimrin, Mt. Ararat Expert Climber

Ararat Climb 2008

Ararat Climb 2008

Ararat Climb 2008

Ararat Climb 2008

Noah’s Ark Search 2008 & 2009

Davut CimrinExpert Climber

Mr. Gerrit Aalten, renowned Dutch Ark

researcher

New Evidence Emerges in the Search for Noah’s Ark

Ancient Wood Structure Discovered on Mount Ararat

Press-Conference @ Hong Kong & Beijing

April 25 & 28, 2010

Chinese and Turkish explorers who found wooden structure on Mount Ararat in Eastern Turkey believe

is none other than Noah’s Ark

Noah’s Ark found on Mount Ararat?

On April 25th, the team from Noah’s Ark Ministries International (NAMI) that explored Mount Ararat announced at a press conference in Hong Kong that the wood specimens they had retrieved last year from the “large wooden structure” they discovered more than 4,000 meters above sea level were found to be 4,800 years in age – a figure that would correspond with the time of Noah, based upon a literal reading of the Bible.

Noah’s Ark found on Mount Ararat?

Backed by Turkish government officials and his group’s own set of experts, NAMI representative Man-fai Yuen said, “We believe that the wooden structure we entered is the same structure recorded in historical accounts and the same ancient boat indicated by the locals.” Dr Oktay Belli, an archaeologist at Istanbul University: “The search team has made the greatest discovery in history.

Noah’s Ark found on Mount Ararat?

This finding is very important and the greatest up to now.” According to Belli, there has never been human settlement above 3,500 meters on Mount Ararat, which has long been considered the location of where Noah’s Ark settled following the receding of the flood recorded in the Bible. In Genesis 8, it is recorded that “the ark rested upon the mountains of Ararat”.

“Mount Ararat is a holy place and has rich historical accounts about Noah’s Ark on the mountain,” said Belli on Sunday April 25, 2010. “Many people have searched the mountain for the holy Ark.

Hong Kong Press-Conference

Noah’s Ark Ministries International & the Team

Ark Researcher: Clara Wei

Mountain Guides & NAMI Team

Mehmet Ceven

Hong Kong Press-Conference

Governor of Agri With HK Headline

News

Hong Kong Press-Conference

Mr. Gerrit Aalten, renowned Dutch Ark researcher said, “The significance of this find is that for the first time in history the discovery of Noah’s Ark is well documented and revealed to the worldwide community.”

Just a few of the many details that are matching this find: “The Ark found above the 4000 meters level”“The Ark is slightly tilted”“The Ark has reddish/brown wood appearance”“The Ark is decayed and broken and has a hole” through which one can enter”“The Ark is partly embedded in the ice and rock debris”“The Ark is very solid and of high quality” “The Ark is very dark, long and rectangular”

In conclusion, Mr. Aalten said , “there’s a tremendous amount of solid evidence that the structure found on Mount Ararat in Eastern Turkey, is the legendary Ark of Noah.”

Beijing Press-Conference April 28, 2010

NAMI Team Ararat Expedition?

Noah’s Ark found on Mount Ararat?

Tenon construction was found in the structure witnessed by Panda Lee

Noah’s Ark found on Mount Ararat?

Panda Lee said, “In October 2008, I climbed the mountain with the Turkish team. At an elevation of more than 4,000 meters, I saw a structure built with plank-like timber. Each plank was about 8 inches wide. I could see tenons, proof of ancient

construction predating the use of metal nails. We walked about 100 meters to another site. I could see broken wood fragments embedded in a glacier, and some

20 meters long.

Noah’s Ark found on Mount Ararat?

The team has not entered this space. They viewed and took shots from a small opening above. The height and width are estimated to be 5 meters and

12 meters respectively

Noah’s Ark found on Mount Ararat?

This room is box-shaped, having a dimension of height, width and length of more than two meters. There is a wooden beam with wooden nails on one side of thewall. It is believed that a rope washooked on these nails to keep animals in place. On another sideof the wall, there are racks

Noah’s Ark found on Mount Ararat?

Noah’s Ark found on Mount Ararat?

Noah’s Ark found on Mount Ararat?

Noah’s Ark found on Mount Ararat?A few wooden staircases were found inside the structure, which seemingly craved by tree logs. Our team climbed one and found a door in the ceiling and concluded the wood structure has more than one floor. We tried to open it but failed. Since we did not want to destroy the structure, we will try again with appropriate equipment in the future

Noah’s Ark found on Mount Ararat?

Seven spaces revealed

Noah’s Ark found on Mount Ararat?

Specimens from the Ark for Scientific Analysis

Wood specimens were dated as 4,800 years old

MA WAN Park in Hong KongNoah’s Ark 1:1 Scale

MA WAN Park in Hong KongNoah’s Ark 1:1 Scale

“Then the ark rested in the seventh month, the seventeenth day of the month, on the mountains of ARARAT”

Ararat717 Organization

The Great Flood and Noah’s Ark

as described in the Bible

Genesis 6, 7 & 8

 Genesis 5, Jude 1, Hebrews 11 (Old & New Testament)

Enoch was descendant of Adam, he became the father of Methuselah.

Enoch lived in close fellowship with God for another 300 years. One day Enoch disappeared, because God took him.5 It was by faith that Enoch was taken up to heaven without dying—“he disappeared, because God took him.” For before he was taken up, he was known as a person who pleased God. 6 And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.

 Methuselah became the father of Lamech.  Lamech became the father of Noah, for he said, “May he bring us relief from our work and the painful labor of farming this ground that the LORD has cursed.”

 Noah was the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

 7 It was by faith that Noah built a large boat to save his family from the flood. He obeyed God, who warned him about things that had never happened before. By his faith Noah condemned the rest of the world, and he received the righteousness that comes by faith.

14 Enoch, who lived in the seventh generation after Adam, prophesied. He said, “Listen! The Lord is coming with countless thousands of his holy ones 15 to execute judgment on the people of the world. He will convict every person of all the ungodly things they have done and for all the insults that ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”

Wickedness of Man(Gen. 6:5-8)

The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth

And that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually

But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord

a. Faithful (God opened the heart through his faith)

b. Just (upright)

c. Perfect man (Does not mean Sinless)

d. Righteous

e. Devoted (with patience for 120 years he worked to build the Ark)

f. Obedient (without seeing rain he worked for God sacrificially)

g. Blessed (he worked for God and witnessed to others)

The Ark

Make yourself an ark of gopherwood (which would preserve the Ark to be found one day)

Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch

Make the ark 300 L X 50 W X 30 H Cubits Cubits = 18” (0.457 m elbow to fingertip) The Ark ~ 137 X 22.8 X 13.7 meters Noah worked for God and never gave up

Biblical specs of the Ark

Assuming an 18-inch cubit [45.72 centimeters], Noah's Ark would have had a cubic volume equal to 569 modern railroad stock cars.3 floors. 40,000 animals in 167 RR cars

God’s patience(Gen 6:3 & 1 Pet. 3:20)

My Spirit shall not strive with man forever For he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall

be 120 years It took Noah about 120 years to build the

ark …God waited patiently in the days of Noah

while the ark was being built

Election(Gen. 6:17-18)

I am about to cover the earth with a flood Everything on earth will die But I will confirm my covenant with you So enter the ark—you and your wife and your

sons and their wives (total 8 people) Bring a pair of every kind of animal—a male and

a female—into the ark with you to keep them alive during the flood

Separation(Gen. 7:16 & John 10:9)

A male and female of each kind entered, just as God had commanded Noah

Then the Lord closed the door behind them

Judgment / The Flood(Gen. 7:10-13)

After seven days, the waters covered the earth.

 …on the seventeenth day of the second month, all the underground waters erupted from the earth, and the rain fell in mighty torrents from the sky

The rain continued to fall for forty days and forty nights

Purification(Gen. 7:17-24)

For forty days the floodwaters grew deeper, covering the ground and lifting the Ark high above the earth

…The water covered even the highest mountains on the earth

…All the living things on earth died The only people who survived were Noah and

those with him in the ark (total = 8) And the floodwaters covered the earth for 150

days

Salvation(Gen. 8 & 4)

…At the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters decreased

Then the ark rested in the seventh month, the seventeenth day of the month, on the mountains of ARARAT

Salvation (Matthew 24:36-39 & John 10:9)

But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be

For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man (Jesus Christ) be

I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved…

New Testament References to the Flood, Noah & the Ark

Matthew 24:37-39 Luke 3:36

“the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech”

Luke 17:26 & 27“And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: 27 They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all”

Hebrews 11:7“By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith”

1 Peter 3:20“…in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water”

2 Peter 2:5“…did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly”

2 Peter 3:5 & 6“For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, 6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water”

When was Noah’s FloodFirst published: Creation 4(1):10–13, March 1981, by Dr J. Osgood

Christ was born approximately 2010 years ago

Solomon laid the foundation of the Temple (1 Kings 6:1): 967 BC

Kings 6:1 tells us there was a time span of 480 years from the time Israel left Egypt (the Exodus) until Solomon began to build the Temple

Exodus occurred roughly 2010 + 967 + 480 = 3,457 years ago

Genesis 11:10-26, are father-son statements and link Abraham to Noah’s son, Shem

Between Shem’s 100th year (Gen. 11:10) and Abraham (Gen. 11:26) we get 350 years. Since 9 names are mentioned it is 350 years +/- 9 (9 margins of error of up to 1 year each)

Genesis 11:10 tells us that Shem was 100 years old, 2 years after the Flood had finished.

The Biblical data places the Flood at: ~ 2,370 BC add 2010 brings it to total = 4,380

Mount Ararat

Armenian: Մասիս, ԱրարատTurkish: Ağrı Dağı

Kurdish: Çiyayê Agirî

Persian: آرارات (Kuh-e Ararat) کوه

Greater Ararat (the tallest peak in Turkey, and the entire Armenian plateau with an elevation of 5,137 m/16,854 ft)

Lesser Ararat (with an elevation of 3,896 m/12,782 ft)

Ararat Location

Mount Ararat is located in the Eastern Anatolia Region of Turkey between Doğubayazıt and Iğdır, near the border with Iran and

Armenia, between the Aras and Murat Rivers. Its summit is located some 16 km (10 mi) west of the Iranian and 32 km (20 mi)

south of the Armenian border. The Nakhchivan exclave of Azerbaijan is also in close proximity to the mountain. The

Ararat plain runs along its northwest to western side

Geology

Ararat is a stratovolcano, formed of lava flows and pyroclastic ejecta, with no volcanic crater. Above the height of 4,200 m

(13,780 ft), the mountain mostly consists of igneous rocks covered by an ice cap

Mount Ararat

View of Ararat from Iğdır, Turkey

View of Ararat from Khor Virap, Armenia

Mount Ararat

Satellite view of Mount Ararat

Armenia / The Ark

The Holy Etchmiadzin, located not far from the biblical Mount Ararat: the flood, Noah’s descent from the ark, his planting of the first vineyard on the slopes of Mount Ararat, his offering of the first sacrifice where later would be built a temple of Artemis; then an Urartian temple; then a Zoroastrian holy site; then St. Gregory the Illuminator with his vision of the Only Begotten Son descending from the heavens. The Etchmiadzin Chronicles

Mother See of Echmiadzin“Descent of the Only-Begotton Son”

Etchmiadzin / Mt. Ararat

St. Gregory the Illuminator ordaining King Trdat to Christian Faith 301 A.D.

Armenian History & The Ark

Saint Mesrop Mashtots (Մեսրոբ ; Մաշտոց361- 440) was an Armenian monk, theologian

and linguist. He is best known for having invented the Armenian alphabet,

Armenian History & The Ark

The Battle of Avarayr by Grigor Khanjian. Yeghishe Vardapet (Եղիշե, 410 – 475 AD;

was a prominent Armenian historian. History of Vardan and the Armenian War

Armenian History & The Ark

St. Jacob Mtzbenatzi (hand painting), 318 AD brought the Ark relic to Echmiadzin.(Book: Armenian Capital Cities by Sergei Vartanian; year 1780)

Yerevan (Amsterdam produced World Map), Mt. Ararat with the Ark of Noah, 1681

George Hagopian claimed to have seen Noah's Ark

two times, when he was a little boy, around 1900 and 1905.

It took Hagopian and his uncle eight days to reach the high

grazing areas and glacier of Mt. Ararat, from the city of Van.

George Hagopian

The Ark is buried in the rocks and ice The Ark is near by Ahora Gorge (Akori Kirj)

Armenian History & The Ark

Map of Armenia printed 1828

Armenian History & The Ark

Yerevan (unknown painter) Paris, 1683 Map of Armenia printed 1751 Venice (Tigranakert)

Armenian History & The Ark

Ark of Noah on top of Mt. Ararat(hand carving), Germany 1735

Map of Armenia, Mt. Ararat with Noah’s Ark on top, Venice 1751

Coat-of-arms-of-Armenia

Coat-of –Arms-of-Armenia, 1827 A.D.

Coat-of-arms-of-Armenia

Noah and his family descending Mt. Ararat

Nakhichevan

The First vineyard Noah planted in Agori the city he founded (in Nakhichevan)

The Old Testament of Bible associates Armenia with the Mount Ararat (the Kingdom of Ararat)

Country Place Meaning Reference

Armenia Erevan I See It Capital of Armenia

Armenia Echmiadzin “Descent of the Only-Begotton Son”

Mother See of Echmiadzin where reputed pieces of Ark exist

Armenia Nakhichevan The Landing place

Mount Ararat

Armenia Massis Mother of the world

Mount Ararat

Armenia (Ahora) The Planting of the Vine

The grape vine Noah planted after leaving the Ark

Meaning of the words

Ararat & Noah’s Ark

Armenian HistoryThe oldest myths reflect the wars of ancient Armenians against the

neighboring Assyrians.

Haik, considered the patriarch of the Armenian people, led his army to defeat the Assyrian giant Baeleus.

By approximately 2100 BC, a prototype of the first Armenian state was founded.

Even now, Armenians call themselves Hai (pronounced high), and their country - Haik or Haiastan, in honor of Haik.

The Hittite scripts also mention a Haiasa country.

Meanwhile, the Assyrian cuneiform writings designate Armenia as Urartu (Arartu), which means Ararat.

The Old Testament of Bible also associates Armenia with the Mount Ararat (the Kingdom of Ararat).

Hayk & Noah

Hayk, Haig (Armenian: Հայկ, also transliterated as Haik) is the

legendary patriarch and founder of the Armenian nation.

Moses of Khoren or Movses Khorenatsi (Armenian: Մովսես

Խորենացի):

Hayk and his people, from the time of their forefathers Noah and Japheth, had migrated south toward the warmer lands near Babylon. In that land there ruled a wicked giant, Bel. Bel tried to impose his tyranny upon Hayk’s people. But proud Hayk refused to submit to Bel. As soon as his son Aramaneak was born, Hayk rose up, and led his people back to the land of his forefathers, the land of Ararat. At the foot of the mountains, he built his home, Haykashen.

Armenian OriginsHayk, Haig (Armenian: Հայկ)the legendary patriarch of the Armenians And a great-great-grandson of Noah

Bible / Genesis 10

 1The generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth: and unto them were sons born after the flood.

 2The sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras

 3And the sons of Gomer; Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah (Torgom)

Genealogy: Moses of Khoren gives Hayk's genealogy as: Japhet, Gomer, Tiras, Torgom, and

his descendants as Armaneak, Aramais, Amasya, Kegham, Harma, Aram, Ara Geghetsik.[6] Hayk was also the founder of the Haykazuni dynasty

Armenia Trip of NAMI July, 2010 (Khor Virap, Garni, Geghart & Hayk Nahapet)

Armenia Trip of NAMI July, 2010

Armenia trip - Echmiadzin Cathedral

Deacon Aghvan Gasparyan explaining about the Noah’s Ark relic

Armenia trip - Echmiadzin Cathedral

Chasuble; China end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries

Armenia trip - Echmiadzin Cathedral

Noah’s First Fire-Altar under the foundation of the Echmiadzin Cathedral unearthed and conserved

during the excavation works of 1958

Josephus: “Noah… 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.”The Etchmiadzin Chronicles

Prof. Ashot Melkonyan Director of Institute of History National Academy of Sciences of Armenia

www.noah.amBook of Ararat

Prof. Ashot Melkonyan Director of Institute of History National Academy of Sciences of Armenia

Prof. Melkonyan explaining about the location of the Ark

Ahora Gorge - The Ahora Gorge is a two mile deep and mile wide gorge formed by an earthquake in 1840. This area is composed of extremely rugged terrain. It is an important search area for Noah's Ark.

Ahora Gorge (Akory Kirj)

Dr. Pavel Avetisyan Director of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography

RA National Academy of Sciences

Director of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the Armenian National Academy of Sciences Pavel Avetisyan and Professor of the California University Grigor Arshyan presented a 5,500-year-old shoe recently found in Armenia during an excavation jointly conducted by Armenian, Irish and American archeologists

Professor Dr. Hayk Avetisyan Head of Department of Archeology,Yerevan State University

Bishop Anoushavan, Dr. Pavel Avetisyan & Professor Hayk Avetisyan (Archeologists) meeting

with the NAMI team at the Armenian Church

Viewing the NAMI’s Ararat Expedition Video and discussions with the experts

Russian Military Installation from 1800's?Animal Shelter?

Dr. Arcady Karakhanian; Institute of Geological Sciences, National Academy of Sciences of Armenia

Geological Age?

Dr. Arcady Karakhanian; Institute of Geological Sciences, National Academy of Sciences of Armenia

Samvel Karapetian; Prominent Armenian Historian Research on Armenian Architecture (RAA) Organization

Samvel Karapetian is an Armenian historian, researcher, author and architecture expert specializing in the study of the historical monuments of Karabakh and other regions in Armenia and elsewhere. He has surveyed thousands of Armenian sites during the course of more than two decades. He is currently head of the Yerevan branch of the NGO Research on Armenian Architecture.

Armenian Monastery?

Vernisaj in Yerevan

Geological Age?--------------- 5,000 - 6,000 yrs

Armenian Monastery?-------- Not possible (all wood)

Animal Shelter?---------------- No, too high in elevation

Russian military installation from 1800's?----- No (all wood, no fire)

Is the Wooden Structure the Biblical Ark of Noah?

Ararat Elevation

Noah’s Ark Search 2011

Davut CimrinExpert Climber

Sis + Masis Climb July 2011

View of Masis from the Summit of Sis

Climb of Masis 2011

Summit of Masis

Climb of Masis 2011

Summit of Masis

We invite you to join our international expedition team to contribute to the recovery of this extraordinary biblical and archaeological find

Thank you

www.noahsarksearch.net

www.Ararat717.org