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The mysterious descriptions of Noah’s Ark
The mysterious descriptions of Noah’s Ark
Having a very unusual design, Noah’s ark is usually depicted in ancient illustrations as an ancient ship with a round hull, with a detailed prow and stern, having a keel running though the entire length of the ship. The top part of the ship has an unusual cabin that covers the entire length of the ship. This is believed to be pure fantasy, based on “current” designs of the late Middle Ages in Europe, but the truth is we don’t seem to have any idea of exactly how Noah’s ark looked like. There are two descriptions of the ship appearing in ancient literature, strangely, neither of those descriptions seems to satisfy naval engineering standards since those designs illustrate a ship that is completely unseaworthy. In the Old Testament Noah’s ark is described as a rectangular “box” with straight sides, having no bows, no keel nor hull. In fact, according to historians the Hebrew word for “the ark” is a box or container. Historians point that word games mean little here since the Hebrews they were a people without oceans and had extremely little experience with boats or naval engineering.
In the description of the ark in the Sumerian accounts, Noah’s Ark is described as a cube if the translation were interpreted correctly. But this seems very strange since the Mesopotamians were a nation of the seas, and the Sumerians and later Peoples were well acquainted with the principles of shipbuilding and seaworthiness. Most of the Sumerian cities had access to the sea and great ships are often described at anchor at Sumerian ports so it seems very strange that the Sumerian accounts for Noah’s ark described it as a “box” or “cube”. The old testament provides good descriptions about the ark:
Noah Builds the Ark:
…14″Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; you shall make the ark with rooms, and shall cover it inside and out with pitch. 15″This is how you shall make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. 16″You shall make a window for the ark, and finish it to a cubit from the top; and set the door of the ark in the side of it; you shall make it with lower, second, and third decks…
A window shall you make to the ark, and in a cubit shall you finish it above; and the door of the ark shall you set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shall you make it. (Source: http://biblehub.com/genesis/6-16.htm)
The ark is referred to as “Teba” which in Hebrew would mean; “Box” (correct me if I’m wrong) It is described as a rectangular box with a flat bottom and straight sides, 300 cubits long, 50 wide and 30 high. Basically the size of Noah’s Ark would be the following: its dimensions were 450 feet (162 meters), 75 feet wide (27 meters) and 45 feet high (16.2 meters), and such measures were made for the “ship” to successfully transport around 43,300 tons.
The Hebrews had a word for ship, but for some reason they decided to call it a box instead. Having that said, the Noah’s “box” was not a seaworthy ship since its descriptions place the craft as being made without a keel, bow and other essential elements needed in the ship to remain at sea.
If the description of Noah’s ark was correct then this box would have been tossed and pitched uncontrollably in stormy seas potentially ending in a catastrophe for the “ship”. Some researchers believe that the Hebrew chroniclers may have felt that the word container would be more understandable to their people, indicating that the legend of the great flood was undoubtedly manipulated and modified by the early Hebrew priests to suit their purposes.
According to the descriptions, the ship was built of gopher wood, an expression that is completely unidentified according to some researchers. The point towards the fact that these words do not have a Sumerian nor Akkadian origin and have been a complete mystery since they do not appear in any other Scriptures. So the question is, could they have referred to a specific type of wood or other material? And not “real wood”? A material processed to become waterproof by an impregnation process like the one that modern-day wood is submitted through?
The story of the great flood was well-known throughout the world and can even be found in the Epic of Gilgamesh believed to have been written about 2000 BC in Sumerian accounts going back to the 28th or 29th century BC. According to historians, the oldest parts of Genesis were not written before 1000 BC, and those were apparently versions of the Sumerian account which were passed through in Mesopotamia and the Levant in Akkadian or Semitic forms.
This actually indicates that the history of the Old Testament went through a series of changes until it finally became part of the Book of Genesis.
There seem to be several mysteries convening Noah’s Ark and many of the historical accounts do not fit into the story in a logical way. The question here is, what was Noah’s ark actually? Was it a ship, described as being a box, that somehow managed to sail through storms and stay afloat? Or is there another story to it? The possibilities are endless.
The ark was quite seaworthy actually:
http://creation.com/safety-investigation-of-noahs-ark-in-a-seaway
Noah’s ark had a length to width ratio of 6 to 1, which happens to be the optimal ratio for sea worthiness. That information came from the Bible thousands of years ago, thousands of years before science figured it out.
This article has a crap to truth ratio of about 3 to 1, making it unable to float in the sea of truth.
People have done in depth studies on the ratio’s as are described in the Torah and found the vessel to be of optimum design for seaworthiness.
Quoting the article:
“Having that said, the Noah’s “box” was not a seaworthy ship since its descriptions place the craft as being made without a keel, bow and other essential elements needed in the ship to remain at sea.”
Yes the language regarding the ark’s construction in the bible is vague. Do you really expect to find detailed fold out blueprints and naval engineering plans within the text?
Lets assume this is Noah’s first time building a cruise ship/floating zoo.
So your belief is thus; a man was told by god to built a mighty ship that could survive the flood (which he was sending to destroy all life, because he loves us) and was given some sort of vague instructions on what the ship should be like. Yet he managed to construct the almighty structure (which in current times would take a very long time, even with many many experienced ship builders) in a relatively short amount of time, and fill said structure with 2 members of every species on earth? (or at the very least, 2 of every species that are currently on earth – if you believe that’s where they came from)
Is that not more fictional/logically unsound than “we evolved (traceably) over huge periods of time, into the current species that we are and see around us”
in response to am123, this article regards god and his doings – it therefore has a crap to truth ratio of 100/1
I have posted this before but it’s worth repeating. As a professional animal handler both wild and domestic I can assure everyone the problems with this story are legion. The sheer logistics required in collecting (from around the world, even if you reduce the all types of animals to “kinds”. Ever try to handle a polar bear when you have never seen or handled one before? How about a rhino or komodo dragon?), movement of (all the specialized gear you need – anyone here know how to properly move horned animal? How about the knowlege of the type of cages you would need, this is not a one size fit all issue. How about specialized harnesses to lift giraffes and such?) storage, feeding, care, having them get along, specialized animal needs, etc…Don’t even get me started on the issue of waste disposal in a confined area, this was no open range farm (which still needs care too, different dynamic, and not any easier, been there done that too). Short of invoking “Magic” this is one of the most astoundingly dumb stories ever when logic and actual experience is applied. It’s one thing to sit back and look at some numbers and say..yeah thats doable. It’s another when you’ve actually had to deal with large numbers of animals both big and small, in open and confined areas, and actually understand the logistics involved in this from doing it.
Now the story of Noah, post flood, getting inebriated on his own stash, and his aborrhent behaviour afterwards I find much more interesting.
Hey Haystack,
Regarding the logistics involved in collecting the animals, HereAmI addressed that. The animals were led and brought unto the ark by God. Angels can shut the mouth of lions and so forth and lead them obediently.
But even if you don’t want to consider the supernatural aspects involved, as a professional animal handler, what’s more difficult, moving and caring for full grown animals, or moving and caring for baby or juvenile animals (i.e. baby giraffes, baby lions, etc.)? See what I’m getting at with that?
Calculations have been done regarding the size of the ark and number of animals required and there was more than enough room. John Woodmorappe wrote a book on this very subject:
“Noah’s Ark: A Feasibility Study” by John Woodmorappe
Noah’s Ark: A Feasibility Study is the most compete analysis ever published regarding the gathering of animals to the Ark of Noah, provisions for their care and feeding, and the subsequent dispersion. The author has devoted seven years to this scholarly, systematic answer to virtually all the anti-Ark arguments, alleged difficulties with the biblical account, and other relevant questions. Nothing else like this has ever written before – an unanswerable vindication of Genesis.
Here is an article John Woodmorappe wrote:
http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v2/n2/caring-for-the-animals
Here is an article with an overview:
http://www.christiananswers.net/q-eden/edn-c013.html
Given that the letters “K” and “G” are very similar-looking in the Hebrew, we should therefore understand that the wood used to build the ark was not “gopher wood” but “kopher wood”. Kopher is the Hebrew word for pitch, so the ark was not built out of a specified type of wood ( this probably varied according to its function in the completed vessel ) but whatever this wood might have been, it was to be covered, inside and out, as the Word of the Lord commanded, with pitch.
As to the seaworthiness of the ark, this would have been enormously improved by the utilization of three plies in its construction, a fact which has been confirmed at the Ararat site by Ron Wyatt. Scientific analysis of the rivets recovered from the vessel indicate that they were made out of a strong and corrosion-resistant iron-aluminium-titanium alloy; which gives the lie to the belief that the ancients were ignorant of the complexities of metallurgy.
Most humbling of all, however, is the recognition that when YHVH said to Noah “Come thou and all thy house into the ark”, He was giving us to understand that He Himself was already therein; thus His light and His love and His comfort would sustain all, throughout all the time when the waters covered the earth.
Thus also, “Two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive”; these animals knew Who was within the ark, and thus they came willingly, and in full obedience, to their Creator’s voice.
Finally, those who imagine that the ark would have been tossed and turned by the raging waters should consider a story which is told in the New Testament, when the Lord Jesus Christ was sleeping on a storm tossed boat on Galilee…