Biblical Archaeology > Noah's Ark Revealed by Ground Penetrating Radar in Turkey

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Archaeologists Find Boat-Like Formation Matching 'Biblical'

 Description of Noah's Ark in Turkish Mountains

Milton Quintanilla | 

Contributor for ChristianHeadlines.com | 

Wednesday, September 29, 2021

Biblical archaeologists recently discovered a "boat-like formation" matching the biblical description of Noah's ark in Eastern Turkey using 3D scans.

According to The U.S. Sun, the discovery was made by archeologists associated with the project Noah's Ark Scans. The team used ground-penetrating radar (GPR) to probe the site where the Durupinar boat-shaped formation was found.

Andrew Jones, who led the project, believes that the formation matches the biblical description of Noah's ark.

"This is not what you would expect to see if this site is just a solid block of rock or an accumulation of random debris from a mudflow," Jones told the outlet.

"But these results are what you would expect to see if this is a man-made boat matching the Biblical requirements of Noah's Ark," he added.

The boat formation is also believed to be the "exact length" of the ark, which is around 150 meters, or 300 cubits in Biblical terms.

Despite the ground-breaking discovery, some geologists say that the site is an unusual rock formation and not Noah's ark.

But Ryan Mauro, president of the Doubting Thomas Research Foundation, which is part of the project, says that the new findings further support the historical authenticity of the biblical ark.

"It's a whole new ballgame now," Mauro told the Sun. "Those judgments dismissing the site were made decades ago and based on limited data compared to what we have now. As I learned more, I became convinced that the project was worth my support and that it is vital that we determine the truth about the Durupinar site."

Mount Tendürek is located near the mountains of Ararat, which is traditionally believed to be where Noah's ark came to rest after God flooded the Earth (Genesis 8:4).

According to Noah's Ark Scans website, the Durupinar site was first discovered in 1959 by Turkish Army Captain Ilhan Durupinar. Researchers would later become interested in the site from the 1970s through the mid-1990s because of the work by American explorer Ron Wyatt and others, The Christian Post reports.

In 2014 and 2019, independent private geophysical surveys were conducted on the ark formation "showing layers and interesting angular structures below the ground."

"The new GPR data shows parallel lines and angular structures 8 to 20 feet down," the project states. "These parallel lines and right angles below the surface are something you would not expect to see in a natural, geologic formation. Interestingly, the boat formation has also been confirmed to be the exact length of the ark given in the Bible (Genesis 6:15)."

The mention of 'right-angles' here is very significant. The Biblical Ark was built as a rectangle, not with a bow or traditional stern, such as shown in the image above. The Ark was not built to sail but merely to float. It had no means of locomotion or steering, and, I believe, there was very little in the way of winds or waves until the waters began to recede.

In 2021, a consortium of Turkish scientists, Americans and other supporters intend to do "the most complete geophysical survey and scientific study of this site to date using as many modern scientific methods as possible."

"The scientific study will also focus on how best to preserve the site for future generations," the website explained. "Friends, we have a huge scientific project in front of us! All the pieces are in place."

Mount Tendürek, Turkey

How Old is the Earth, Really? Why Judaism Rejects Creationism

By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz

“Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever Thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God.” Psalms 90:2 (The Israel Bible™)


(Shutterstock)

After successfully debating Bill Nye, a celebrity scientist, Ken Ham built a $92 million theme park in Kentucky with a full-size replica of Noah’s Ark as a centerpiece to promote his belief in Biblical Creationism. People are flocking to the park, and its Biblical message of creation seems to be gaining popularity. This belief has not caught on in Judaism, but the reasons may surprise you.

A Pew poll in February showed that 34 percent of Americans choose creationism over evolution, and another 25 percent believe in evolution guided by a supreme being (intelligent design). The poll went into detail, showing that 57 percent of Evangelical Christians believe in creationism, with another 25 percent believing in natural processes guided by a supreme being, leaving only 11 percent who believe in evolution.

On the other hand, the Pew poll showed that 58 percent of Jews believed the world came about through natural processes, another 18 percent believed these processes were guided by a supreme being, and only 16 percent believed the world has always existed in its present form.


Noah’s Ark replica built by Ken Ham. (Twitter @ArkEcounter)

It may seem paradoxical that the People of the Book, who received the Torah directly from God, would reject a belief based on a literal reading of the Bible. But although many see creationism as a choice of belief and Bible over science and data, Jews have worked hard to live successfully in both worlds.

In its purest form, creationism understands the world as coming into existence, fully formed, in six calendar days of 24 hours each, with man created separately as the pinnacle of God’s work. It precludes evolutionary theory and theories about the origin of the universe, leading to a conflict on estimates of when the earth and the universe were created.

Scientists generally agree the earth was formed 4.5 billion years ago. Most scientists claim the Big Bang that brought the universe into existence occurred approximately 14 billion years ago. Young Earth creationists believe both events occurred simultaneously between 6,000 and 10,000 years ago.

As director of the Biblical Museum of Natural History, Rabbi Natan Slifkin embodies the ideal of a Biblical scientist. He doesn’t see any contradictions between the worlds of Bible and science. Judaism, he explains, has always been able to accommodate science and theology. He quoted the Rambam, a preeminent medieval Sephardic Jewish philosopher.

“As Rambam said, accept the truth from wherever it comes,” he told Breaking Israel News.

“According to the rationalist approach, it is preferable to explain creation in scientific terms, because it is always preferable to see God working within nature and a system of law. “

Conflicts do arise between Torah and science. The Hebrew calendar, presently standing at 5776, is, in theory, based on the creation of the world. Rabbi Slifkin again quoted the Rambam’s Guide to the Perplexed, in which the rabbinical scholar wrote, “The account of creation is not all to be taken literally.”

The Rambam went on to explain that the Six Days represent a conceptual rather than historical account of creation. Rabbi Slifkin cited Rabbi Dovid Tzvi Hoffman (1843-1921), a member of Agudath Israel’s Council of Torah Sages, who suggested that the Six Days of Creation were lengthy eras rather than 24-hour periods.

Evolution, the impetus for Ken Ham’s massive Biblical theme park, simply does not seem to be such a big deal for Jewish Biblical scholars.


Rabbi Natan Slifkin, General Director of the Biblical Museum of Natural History, in Beit Shemesh, on March 4, 2015. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)

“God can work through meteorology, through medicine, through history, and through developmental biology. This is why it makes no difference if the neo-Darwinian explanation of the mechanism for evolution is true or not,” Rabbi Slifkin explained. “All these descriptions were interpreted literally by the Sages of old, and yet almost all recent Torah scholars interpret them non-literally.”

Torah Judaism also differs from Bible-based Christian creationism on the point of the nature of man. Creationism holds that man is distinct from animals, owing to the separate description of his being “formed”. It is partly for this reason that creationists reject evolutionary theory.

Then Hashem God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. Genesis 2:7

Genesis describes man’s creation twice, and Rabbi Slifkin emphasized the version in the first chapter of Genesis.

And God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them. Genesis 1:27

Professor Natan Aviezer
Bar Ilan University

“Classical Judaism has long maintained that man is not qualitatively different from animals in his physical aspects,” the rabbi noted. “Man’s unique identity is in his spiritual soul, not in his physical body and most certainly not in his physical origin.”

Professor Natan Aviezer of Bar Ilan University, a physicist and religious Jew, deals with this issue in his book Modern Science and Ancient Faith. He quotes Charles Darwin’s parting words in his manifesto on evolution, On the Origin of Species.

“There is a grandeur in this view of life, having been originally breathed by the Creator into a few forms or into one, and from so simple a beginning, endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been and are being evolved.” Charles Darwin

Aviezer also cites Samson Raphael Hirsch, an influential German rabbi and contemporary of Darwin, bringing a Rabbinic concept of Olam Ke’Minhago Noheg (the universe goes its accustomed way). God did not simply create the world and step back. Aviezer explains that God works within nature.

“This important principle explains how God interacts with His world,” wrote Professor Aviezer in his book. “It follows from this principle that no scientific discovery can cast doubt on the existence of God.”

Alberta Creationist Discovers Rare Fish Fossils in Basement

Are they 60 million years old as a paleontologist estimates, 

or are they more like 4,500 years as their discoverer estimates?

Fossilized fish found during excavation in Calgary suburb

An Alberta, Canada man who discovered a school of rare fossilized fish while digging up a Calgary basement believes the world was created by God a few thousand years ago.

It's for that reason Edgar Nernberg doesn't think the fossils could possibly be as old as paleontologists are estimating.

"I subscribe to the creationist position, and I believe they were laid down in Noah's flood, about 4,500 years ago. But we agree to disagree."

He's referring to Darla Zelenitsky, the University of Calgary paleontologist who was brought in to examine the five ancient fish.

She says they likely swam in waters about 60 million years ago, which is the age of the Paskapoo Formation, a sheet of rock that lies under the city.

"I would give it a 10 out of 10 for significance," said Zelenitsky.

Creationist Edgar Nernberg

"There's not very many complete fossils known in rocks of this age in Alberta," she said about the fish, which are each about the size of a wallet.

Nernberg helped build the Big Valley Creation Science Museum and said he's good friends with the owner.

According to the museum website, Nurnberg donated "one of the more favourite displays" for visitors — the Evidence from Genealogy exhibit — which features scrolls that trace the genealogy of England's King Henry VI back to Adam and Eve.

While Nernberg hasn't lobbied the Alberta government directly to include creationism in the province's school curriculum, he said he has written opinion letters about the topic and sent them to several newspapers.

Alberta homeschool convention offers creationist textbooks

Nernberg found the near-perfect fossils concealed in a block of sandstone while working at his day job, excavating the basement of a new home in northwest Calgary.

Zelenitsky said that because the fish lived in a time shortly after the extinction of the dinosaurs, they could answer some questions about evolution.

The five fish fossils were encased in a block of sandstone in the Paskapoo Formation,
a 60-million-year-old rock formation that lies under Calgary. (Meghann Dionne/CBC)

"Plants and animals were actually recovering from the extinction at that time, so any fossils, particularly if they're complete, are going to help us reconstruct what was going in the environment after a major mass extinction."

Nernberg said he has come to "accept the fact that we all have different opinions."

The fossils are en route to the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller, Alta., to be studied by paleontologists.

"It's quite likely that these could be a new species," said Zelenitsky.

We have the five fishes, now if we just had three loaves we would really
have something to sink our teeth into

If that's the case, Nernberg said, he won't be offended if they're not named after him.

That will be the day, when paleontologists honor a creationist, or even acknowledge his existence. We've come a long way since the Scopes Monkey trial; whether it's all good or bad I will leave up to you.

Personally, I try not to take a firm position on this issue because I could quite adequately debate either side. I don't dismiss the science that makes a recent global flood unlikely; nor do I dismiss the Bible as a source of truth; and I certainly would never put God in a box and say, "this is impossible"! I believe He has some astounding surprises waiting to be revealed to us.