A Story Told By Many
The story of Noah and the ark has high significance in Jewish, Christian, Islam and Baha’i religions. There are many similarities between their versions of the tale, but interpretations have subtle differences among the different cultures.
For example, Christian scholars compare Noah’s salvation to baptism, and Muslims believe that the ark was more like a traditional ship “shaped like a bird’s belly.” Baha’is on the other hand, consider the story to be purely symbolic.
The Famous Biblical Story
Regardless of all of the question marks about the story’s accuracy, it's one of the most notorious tales.
According to the story God was fed up with the wickedness and corruption of the people that he decided to destroy the world, only sparing Noah, his family, and some animal species.
Old Meets New
Genesis states that Noah’s ark's final resting place to be the ‘mountains of Ararat.’
So, this leads many to believe that the ark should be found in the place that bears the same name today. Not a farfetched idea.
Still Doesn't Add Up
One Oxford University lecturer in ancient history, Nicholas Purcell, has expressed his skepticism in regard to the tale.
“If floodwaters covered Eurasia 12,000ft [3,700 meters] deep in 2,800BC, how did the complex societies of Egypt and Mesopotamia, already many centuries old, keep right on regardless?” he said. Good question.
Different Opinions
Dr. Snelling, who we've mentioned previously said that the biblical reference to the ‘mountains of Ararat’ suggests that the mountains formed well before the Flood ended.
The Flood would have been a global catastrophe that would have totally reshaped the earth’s geology and has continued to change over the course of time.