Perilous Times
'99.9pc certainty' of Noah's Ark discovery on Mount Ararat
* From correspondents in Hong Kong
* From: AFP
* April 27, 2010 6:39AM
CHINESE and Turkish evangelical explorers believe they may have found
Noah's Ark - 4000m up a mountain in Turkey.
The team said it had recovered wooden specimens from a structure on
Mount Ararat in eastern Turkey that carbon dating proved was 4800 years
old, around the same time the ark is said to have been afloat.
"It's not 100 per cent that it is Noah's Ark but we think it is 99.9
per cent that this is it," said Yeung Wing-cheung, a Hong Kong
documentary filmmaker and member of the 15-strong team from Noah's Ark
Ministries International.
The structure had several compartments, some with wooden beams, which
were believed to house animals, he said.
The group of evangelical archaeologists ruled out an established human
settlement on the grounds that one had never been found above 3500m in
the vicinity, Mr Yeung said.
Local Turkish officials would ask the central government in Ankara to
apply for UNESCO World Heritage status so the site could be protected
while a major archaeological dig was conducted, he added.
The biblical story says God decided to flood the earth after seeing how
corrupt it had become, and told Noah to build an ark and fill it with
two of every animal species.
After the flood waters receded, the Bible says, the ark came to rest on
a mountain. Many believe that Mount Ararat, the highest point in the
region, is where the ark and her inhabitants came aground.