How Long Was Noah on the Ark, and Was Noah’s Ark Location Ever Found?

Although many believe the Noah’s Ark story is simply an ancient myth and a foreboding warning about God’s wrath, a team of scientists embarked on a journey to see if the story may actually be rooted in truth and if the Ark ever existed.

The Earth’s creation story, as told in the Bible, has largely been denied as a factual explanation for how the Earth came to be. Even though this belief was floating around, a few dubious scientists have come to believe that Noah’s Ark may have actually been real and that it’s not just a fictional story.

Translating these measurements to modern units, this would be approximately 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. The Ark was thus a large, rectangular, boxlike vessel, with these dimensions suggesting it had substantial space to accommodate Noah’s family, as well as various animal species and provisions for the duration of the flood.

So, how long did Noah stay on the ark? He and his family eventually left the Ark on the 27th day of the second month of the following year, marking a total duration of about one year and 10 days from the start of the flood to their disembarkation. This account, found in the Book of Genesis, is a key narrative in the Judeo-Christian tradition.

After he was confident that the water had receded, Noah unlatched the doors of his Ark and set the animals free to thrive again in the new world. In 2009, with the location of Ararat in mind, an expedition team of scientists went to see if they could uncover any traces of archaeological evidence.

At a peak of 16,584 feet, the top of the mountain is engulfed with snow year-round. 1829 was the earliest recorded exploration.

Dr. Friedrich Parrot is the 1829 explorer who scaled the mountain. He explained that its sacredness is why “no human being is allowed to approach it.” Fifty years later, however, explorer James Bryce made an incredible discovery that changed everything.

Although Bryce didn’t reach the mountain’s peak, he did make it just above the tree line where he saw the snow slopes. That was where he made the accidental discovery that lent some proof to the Bible’s original story.

He came across an ancient beam on the snowy slopes of Mount Ararat. It, quite possibly, could have been remnants of the Ark, but, much to his disappointment, the beam was much too big to have been transported all the way down the mountain. When he went back to England, the news of this discovery transformed into research madness.

Another expedition was on the horizon in 1960. A man, Ron Wyatt, took a photo of an 18-mile area of the peak. In the image, there was something that slightly resembled a boat, so yet another expedition was in line.

In eastern Turkey’s Durupinar site, a big structure can be found 18 miles south of the modern Ararat. Even more intriguing is that it seems that it could be an ark. Ron Wyatt wanted to prove that it indeed was.

The scan from the device detected that formation in the earth was about 538 feet, which was close to the estimated measurements of the biblical Ark (an estimated 515 feet using ancient Egyptian cubits).

Despite this exciting discovery, the boulders were found miles away from any bodies of water. Fasold still felt confident they found the Ark. However, many remained skeptical that the story was a mere myth and nothing more.

As many suspected, the generator was nothing more than a “sounding rod” with some additional equipment. They also stated that the drogue stones were merely local gravestones in the surrounding area. As a result, the theory about the Durupinar site was rejected and forgotten.

There are similar stories in the Sumerian Epic of Ziusurda, Plato’s works, and Chinese and North American Hopi cultures. Even though the reason behind the flood varied depending on the culture, it was agreed upon that, at one point, the earth was covered in water.

On his journey, he faced men, monsters, gods, and, most profoundly, Utnapishtim, an elderly man, who claimed he had found the secret to everlasting life. Desiring to learn the same secret, Gilgamesh enveloped himself in listening to Utnapishtim’s tale.

On the boat, he brought his family, and helpers, as well as “all the animals on the field.” Apparently, not too long after Utnapishtim finished the project, the sky opened up and produced a storm that cleared away everything in its path. Despite this, Utnapishtim stayed alive.

This tale was inscribed on stone tablets, and even though the physical ones had been missing for millennia, it remains popular across Babylon and other parts of the world.

In the biblical passage, for example, Noah is apparently instructed to bring a pair of each animal onto the Ark. In another passage, it claims that Noah was supposed to take “seven pairs of every kind of clean animal” and “one pair of every kind of unclean animal,” and “seven pairs of every kind of bird.”

Obviously, this was a treacherous adventure given that Ararat’s snowy hillsides and exposed landscape made the climb much more difficult. Plus, the conditions and weather weren’t the only two issues that the climbers faced. Mount Ararat is also located at the heart of a military zone.

Many foreigners have an “Ararat Visa” to enter the mountain. Even if you receive a special badge, you’re still only allowed to travel certain paths, which—if you wander away from them—can be deadly.

Despite the harsh weather, some adversity didn’t stop them. They were determined and convinced to find evidence of the Ark, so they kept going until they did.

At that height, they discovered something remarkable—a cave. The cave wasn’t even the best part of the discovery; it’s what resided in it. The team had maybe thought that they had finally come across what they’d been looking for! Did they find Noah’s Ark?

Man Fai-Yuen, one of the NAMI experts, said at a Hong Kong news conference, “We believe that the wooden structure we encountered is the same structure recorded in the historical accounts and the same ancient boat indicated by the locals” (via WND). After processing the structure, they estimated it was around 4,800 years old.

The documented footage of what the explorers witnessed on the mountain caused significant conversations. International experts examined the video, and it wasn’t long before people had serious doubts about what they had seen. Many people called the whole thing a giant hoax.

Bulut responded that it would be impossible to carry the timber to that location. “People believed that it is Noah’s Ark,” Bulut said (via CNA). “I believe the team has finally located this ancient boat, and I believe it is Noah’s Ark.” Regardless of this statement, it would take a lot of hard evidence to convince a large part of the scientific community.

Since biologists heavily rely on DNA codes and sequences to track changes and compare them to fossils, the discovery of a global wipeout, along with the re-emergence of plants and wildlife, would mean that every single aspect of biology that we know to this day would be erroneous.

The Ark came to rest “upon the mountains of Ararat” in the ancient kingdom of Urartu. However, Magness asserts: “There’s no way we can determine where exactly in the ancient Near East it occurred.”

Magness said, “We have no way of placing Noah, if he really existed, and the flood, if there really was one, in time and space.” The only actual way to determine these factors is if there was “an authentic ancient inscription.” This inscription would have to point to another Noah or a different flood.

Snelling’s viewpoints about why the Ark’s remains will never be found is not the same of archaeologists. Offering his own opinion, Snelling said, “With no mature trees available for Noah and his family to build shelters after they got off the Ark, there is every reason to expect they dismantled the Ark (which they didn’t need anymore) to salvage timber from it.”

Magness has another intriguing perspective on the search for Noah’s Ark. She believes that it not only confuses the masses but lessens the excitement over true archaeological discoveries. This includes findings that support certain parts of the Bible (like the House of David’s existence).

“We’re not like Indiana Jones,” he told National Geographic. “It’s a scientific procedure. It’s painstaking. But what excites us does not necessarily excite other people.” Cline has placed his attention and efforts elsewhere, concluding: “People are gonna believe what they want to believe.”