Claim CH505.2:
In 1883, a Turkish commission surveying Ararat for possible avalanche
conditions found part of the ark protruding twenty or thirty feet from the
foot of a glacier, according to the British newspaper Prophetic
Messenger.
Source:
LaHaye, Tim and John Morris, 1976. The Ark on Ararat, Nashville: Thomas
Nelson Inc. and Creation Life Publishers, pp. 56-58.
Response:
- The story has several inconsistencies (Bailey 1989, 85):
- The report mentions the expedition going through a dense forest and
wading waist-deep through a stream, contrary to many other detailed
descriptions of the mountain.
- The visitors recognized the wood as gopherwood, despite the fact
that the wood was ancient and apparently painted, and despite the
fact that nobody knows what gopherwood is.
- The original news release cited by the Prophetic Messenger has
never been found.
The story is probably fictional.
References:
- Bailey, Lloyd, 1989. Noah: The Person and the Story in History and
Tradition. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press.
created 2003-5-7
