A team of archaeologists think that they are closer to confirming the supposed final resting place of Noah’s Ark after excavating a geological formation in Turkey.
The Mount Ararat and Noah’s Ark Research Team is comprised of three Turkish and American universities, and their project began in 2021.
The team extracted aged rock and soil samples from a geological formation in Turkey, which they believe contained the ruins of the vessel. Their findings also determined that “clayey materials, marine materials, and seafood” were present in the area between 5500 and 3000 BC, according to the Turkish newspaper Hürriyet.
The Durupinar formation lies in the Dogubayazıt district of Agrı, located less than two miles from the Iran-Turkey border. It is a 538-foot geographic feature made of limonite, believed by some locals to be the remnants of Noah’s Ark.
Professor Faruk Kaya, a member of the team of archeologists, said that the samples could prove human activity 5,000 years ago.
“According to the first findings obtained from the studies, there have been human activities in the region since the Chalcolithic period between the years 5500 and 3000 BC.
“It is known that the flood of Prophet Noah went back 5,000 years ago.
“’In terms of dating, it is stated that there was life in this region as well. This was revealed in the laboratory results.”
Related: The Great Flood of Deucalion, the Greek Equivalent of Noah’s Story
Noah’s Ark story disputed by most scientists
However, he added that it is “not possible” to say that the ship was definitively there just with dating alone and they’d ‘need to work for a long time to reveal this’.
However, the alleged discovery has also been disputed by geologists, who say that it is just a rock – nothing more.
According to legend, Noah loaded two of every animal onto a 150-meter-long ark to save them from apocalyptic flooding that drowned the Earth. In the Book of Genesis, it was the mountains of Ararat in what is now eastern Turkey where Noah’s Ark came to rest after the flood.
The mountain stands at 16,500 feet and is carved out like an ark.
The story of Noah’s Ark and the Genesis flood narrative is one of the most famous stories in the Bible, but most scientists say that it never happened.
While dozens of researchers and individuals have claimed to have located the ark, no one has ever been able to produce definitive evidence. The holy texts of three religions, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, have all made references to Noah’s Ark.
Related: Noah’s Flood Fact or Fiction? Scientists Answer
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