Noah's Ark

Noah's Ark: The Mystery Boat Noah Built at God's Command.

In the Hebrew Bible's account (Gen. 6-9) of a Deluge (and the elaborations surrounding it in the various Abrahamic traditions), Noah's ark is a boat Noah built at God's command to keep Noah, his family, and a core breeding stock of the world's animals safe.

According to Genesis the Ark was built of gopher wood. The meaning of "gopher" is not clear, as this is the only occurrence of the word in the Bible. It has been suggested that it is related to the Hebrew word kopher (pitch), or was at one time kopher but miscopied. If so, it would mean that the Ark was made of wood treated with pitch, of an unspecified type of tree. Some modern translations of the bible replace the word gopher with cypress, but there is little evidence to support this identification.

It was covered with pitch, 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high. However, the actual size of the ark cannot be determined because the biblical account does not specify the type of cubit. If the Egyptian cubit was used, the Ark's dimensions could range from 129 metres long, 21.5 metres wide and 12.9 metres high to 165 metres long by 27 metres wide and 16.5 metres high. If the Sumerian cubit was used, the metric equivalents would approximate 155.2 metres in length, 25.9 metres in width and 15.5 metres in height. This proportion of length to width (6 to 1) is used by modern naval architects and is a very stable shape, unlike the cube-shaped ark of the Epic of Gilgamesh. Traditional pictures of the ark typically show an unresearched depiction (something shaped like a boat). The Hebrew text uses the word tebah or "box" to describe the Ark.

The directions recorded in Genesis describe an oblong three-storey structure, with a door in the side and a window in the roof. It is unclear just what the window was, as only one dimension is given for it. The Hebrew word for window, tsohar, merely indicates a "light aperture", giving no indication of its size or shape. Genesis states that Noah was commanded to "complete it to the extent of a cubit upward". The use of the words "extent" and "upward" suggest something akin to a raised vent or stack, which could have served as a ventilation shaft for the passengers. The account does not, however, mention a cover or door for the window.

In preparation for the flood, Noah, his wife, his sons, Shem,Ham, and Japheth and their wives entered the ark. They took seven pairs of each kind of clean animal, two pairs of each kind of unclean animal and seven pairs of each kind of bird into the ark. Then God sealed the door.

According to a Jewish tradition, the ark had an extra passenger: the giant Og, King of Bashan, who sat on the roof of the ark during the whole of the flood period and so survived the flood. Noah passed him food out a window. Verse 3:20 of the Christian book 1 Peter however, states to the contrary that only eight souls were on the ark and therefore saved from the deluge, accounting only for Noah, his three sons, and the men's four wives).

Resources about Noah's Ark

Noah's Ark: A Christian Perspective
Noah's Ark - A feasibility study of the biblical story. The boat. The animals. The Flood. Check out the arguments and systematic research.

Noah's Ark, Skeptic's Dictionary
Noah's ark is the boat built by the Biblical character Noah. At the command of God, according to the story, Noah was to build a boat that could accommodate his extended family, about 50,000 species of animals, and about one million species of insects.

Noah's Flood and the Gilgamesh Epic by Jonathan Sarfati
Hardly anything in the Bible has been attacked as much as God's cataclysmic judgment of Noah's Flood. This started with a Scottish physician called James Hutton (1726-97), who decreed in 1785, before examining the evidence...

Has Anyone Discovered Noah's Ark?
A look at the claims of the history of the Ark of Noah, and those who have claimed to have seen it.

Wyatt Archaeological Research: Noah's Ark
In 1959, stereo photos where taken by a Turkish airline pilot of a boat shaped object on the mountains of Ararat for The Geodetic Institute of Turkey.

Information on Noah's Ark
The Ark of Noah discovered in Ararat region of Turkey.

The Historical Evidence For Noah`s Ark
Now all the writers of barbarian histories make mention of this flood, and of this ark; among whom is Berossus the Chaldean. For when he was describing the circumstances of the flood, he goes on thus: "It is said, there is still some part of this ship in Armenia...

Noah's Ark, Truth or Myth? by Michael S. Cole, M.D.
An article by Michael S. Cole, M.D., defending the biblical story of a worldwide Flood during the days of Noah.

Archaeologists, Geologists and Geophysicists Discover Noah's Ark or Geological Formation?
Ccontains a buried, ship like object, resting at an altitude of 7546 ft. Some 558 ft. long and 148 ft. wide, the object conforms almost exactly to the 300 x 50-cubit boat that, according to the Bible, God told Noah to build.

NoahsArkSearch.com
The Explorers Of Ararat: And the Search for Noah's Ark book, and the ArcImaging (Archaeological Imaging Research Consortium) Research Team, are collaborative efforts involving many leading ark researchers.

Noah's Ark on the Web: Everything about Noah's Ark
Complete guide, directory and thumbnail picture gallery to Noah's Ark in art, history, religion and culture.

Could Noah's Ark really hold all the animals that were supposed to be preserved from Flood?
Discussion about how Noah's Ark as described in the Bible could could have held and supported so many animals.

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