Noah’s Ark: Where Did it Go?

In the Mythographer’s quest to find the “real” Garden of Eden, she has encountered numerous corresponding theories about the earthly location of Noah’s Ark, the next major chronological event in the Bible after the downfall of Eden. For Bible believers, both myths are central to God’s relationship to the sinner. Eden is the “before”–showing God’s wrath–and Noah’s Ark is the “after”–showing God’s forgiveness. Both are origin stories of a sort. After the Flood, humanity started again, a second Creation. For those believers who need the Bible to be historically as well as morally true, it’s necessary to find the physical starting point for this Humanity 2.0.  Noah’s Ark-seekers start with Genesis 8:4. “4”: And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat. There is a Mount Ararat in what’s now eastern Turkey, near the border of both Armenia and Iran. (You can keep an eye on the mountain here.) Indeed, expedition after expedition has set off for its heights in search of remnants of the Ark. In 1883, according to an incredible article in the New York Times, “Cruel Blow to Skeptics,” the Supreme Court of Turkey set off to investigate avalanches on Ararat and ended up finding a massive fossilized wooden ship.  Since then, many Arks have been found–in 1949, 1952, 1970, and onwards. So many that, according to Biblical archaeology spokesman Eric Cline, whenever a new claim comes up, legitimate Biblical archaeologists (yes, there are some) just roll their eyes and go back to work.  But somebody must be paying attention: the Mythographer will investigate some of the more colorful Noah’s Ark theories, where they come from, and why they keep coming.