The Fences -- Evidence of Noah's "Husbandry"
The ancient house -- was it Noah's? They only had one morning to
examine everything pertaining to the house, but the thick walls and the
vast pattern of stone fences was pretty compelling evidence. The Bible
gives reference to Noah being a "husbandman":
Genesis 9:20-23 "And NOAH BEGAN TO BE AN HUSBANDMAN, and
he planted a vineyard: And he drank of the wine, and was drunken;
and he was uncovered within his tent. And Ham, the father of
Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren
without. And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon
both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the
nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they
saw not their father's nakedness."
This passage tells that Noah was in a tent, not a house such as Ron had
found. But Ron learned that the inhabitants of this region, as in other
pastoral societies, still live in tents in the summer and in thick stoned
houses in the winter. This seems perfectly consistent with the mention of
a vineyard, which would have yielded its fruits in the warmer season
"Husbandry" is defined as "farming, as of livestock" (Random House
Dictionary). After the flood, it makes perfect sense that Noah bred the
animals and cared for them until the point in time that their numbers were
sufficient enough to eliminate the likelihood of their becoming extinct.
With only two of each unclean animal, if even one should not survive, that
animal would become extinct. And the extremely large pattern of stone
fences radiating out from the house, and extending on for a good
distance seemed consistent with this type of activity. The depth below the
present ground level of the house and fences shows their great antiquity.
Over the years, windblown dust and dirt raised the ground level, thus
burying or partially burying ancient surface structures.
What Noah Wore
In the above Scripture, we also included the entire passage which tells
about Noah's getting drunk and having his "nakedness" seen by Ham-
we included this because of one tiny point: The pictographs on the
"tomb-stones" in front of the house show the men wearing a type of tunic.
This is entirely consistent with Noah's nakedness being seen when he
got drunk- if he had had on pants or slacks like men wear today, he would
have remained covered, no matter how he "sprawled out" in his
drunkenness. But with a tunic (like a dress), this would not be the case.
The Giant Altar and Its Complex
The house is located in an incredibly beautiful plain which runs east/west.
To the north and south are mountains. Unlike our country, everything is
rock in this region. And especially in this isolated area, except for the
village where the anchor stones were located, all that could be seen were
rocks, rocks and more rocks. But when Ron and the boys looked behind
the house to the north, they saw a very beautiful mountain ridge -- directly
behind the house.
This ridge had two small hills which met and formed a valley in between
them on the side of this ridge. And right in the middle of this mountainside
valley, Ron saw a VERY large squarish rock which looked as if it had been
purposely set in its location. Behind this large rock, the valley formed a
natural amphitheater. On the side of this very large rock was a complex of
small fenced in areas.
If this was really Noah's house, this certainly looked like a very large altar
with room for a large number of people to sit behind it as the sacrifices
were made.
Genesis 8:20 "And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took
of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt
offerings on the altar."
The altar itself measures 12' x 12' x 12' and it has one step- when we
stood upon it, it was obvious that whoever stood upon this altar was quite
a bit taller than we are, for the step is about three feet high. The complex
of pens adjacent to the altar also indicates that whoever arranged the
rocks in this pattern was very, very strong, because today many of the
large rocks could not possibly be moved by humans without mechanical
assistance. At one point, a very large boulder is balanced upon several
upright stones, forming a covered area that a six foot tall man can walk
under without stooping.
Also in this complex are two very large stones which display features
which indicate that they were used for the slaughter and bleeding of
animals. (Genesis. 9:4) One is consistent with the size of smaller animals
like sheep and goats; the other, much larger, is consistent with the size of
larger animals, such as bullocks. They both have a series of chiselled-out
indentions leading from the ground to the flattened, slightly angled top.
These "indentions" are the size that is consistent with animal hooves-
perhaps the animals were led up the side of these rocks to the tops,
which also contain chiselled out basins with drains, that are consistent
with areas for bleeding the animals prior to offering them on the large altar
stone. According to the Biblical account, specific parts of the animal were
offered as sacrifice, then other parts were cooked and eaten "before the
Lord". (See Leviticus, chapters 1-9.)
DAY 3- the "Boat-Shaped Object"
Ron filmed and photographed everything. There is actually much more
than we have listed here, but these are the most important items. At the
end of Day Two, they had seen more than enough to make the trip
worthwhile. The next day would be their last.
Arising the next morning, the boys were tired and stayed in the room.
They had traversed across a great number of miles in the previous two
days and Ron knew they needed a break. So he got a taxi and returned to
the first pile of rocks. They had worked their way backwards from the
third pile to the first. And this one was quite a distance from the others.
Arising the next morning, the boys were tired and stayed in the room.
They had traversed across a great number of miles in the previous two
days and Ron knew they needed a break. So he got a taxi and returned to
the first pile of rocks. They had worked their way backwards from the
third pile to the first. And this one was quite a distance from the others.
This time, Ron had the taxi drive as far as he could go in the direction that
was perpendicular to this rock-pile. They travelled up into the mountain
range to the south, as far as there was a dirt road. When it ended, Ron
began to walk. With mountains everywhere, he wondered if he would ever
be able to spot the boat-shaped object if he looked right at it- but soon, he
saw it. And what he saw convinced him more than ever that this object
was the remains of a ship. But, what he saw also convinced him that there
was only one way to explore its true nature, and that was by an
excavation to remove the soil which covered it.
He returned to the room and they packed. He checked out that night so
they could leave early in the morning -- but that proved to be a big
mistake. In 1977, there weren't any tourists to speak of in this region. It is
desolate and very foreboding. The Kurdish villagers had been watching
Ron and the boys, waiting to make their move. As long as they were
staying in the hotel, they were spending money -- paying taxis and
guides. But these bandits wanted it all, and as soon as they realized they
were about to leave, they attacked.
It's a long story, but to summarize it, Ron and the boys heard them
coming up the steps banging pipes and making a lot of noise. Shoving
the furniture in front of the door, they tied the bed sheets together and
climbed out their third story window onto a roof below. There, they
climbed back into the second floor window which led into the kitchen,
and they ran through the hotel and out the door.
In the commotion, they lost almost all of their film. Ron did manage to
hang on to some of the movie film. Once they were safely out of town,
they realized how truly dangerous the region was. The boys would never
go there again -- and after all they went through, they would never see the
"boat shaped object" in person.
Back at Home -- Now What?
Ron had gone to Turkey for one reason -- his own personal curiosity.
What he saw, fueled his resolve to investigate the site more thoroughly,
but as a private individual, he had no idea where to start. He knew the site
needed to be excavated, but how could someone like himself get
permission to do so? And how could he interest important scholars and
archaeologists in the site when most people believed that if the ark
existed at all, it had to be on Mt. Ararat?
Dr. William Shea
In 1978, someone told Ron about another man who was interested in the
boat shaped object -- a man who is an MD and an archaeologist. This man
is Dr. Bill Shea of the Biblical Research Institute in Silver Spring, MD.
In November. of 1978, Ron finally made contact with Dr. Shea, who had
written an article about the site in September. 1976. He believed that the
site should be thoroughly investigated, and when comparing the
boat-shaped object to the current thought that the ark HAD to have
landed on Mt. Ararat, wrote:
"To conclude, one might put these two sites in perspective by
reflecting upon what would have happened had this formation been
found on Agri Dagh [Mt. Ararat]. I may be wrong, but I suspect that
news of it [the boat shaped formation] probably would have been
heralded far and wide as the discovery of the site where the Ark had
rested. What a difference a mountain makes." CREATION
RESEARCH SOCIETY QUARTERLY, Volume. 13, September. 1976,
"The Ark-Shaped Formation in the Tendurek Mountains of Eastern
Turkey," by Dr. William H. Shea.
Dr. Shea also mentioned that he too believed that the Royal Egyptian
Cubit was used in giving the measurements of the ark:
"Assuming a Mosaic authorship for these measurements probably
would indicate that they were given in terms of the Egyptian cubit of
20.6 inches rather than the shorter Mesopotamian cubit."
After Ron and Dr. Shea communicated and Ron shared his information
from the August. 1977 trip with him, Dr. Shea began to apply for
permission to excavate. The reply was negative. As far as Ron was
concerned, there was nothing else he could do. So he waited, for what, he
didn't know.
Astounding News!
In 1978, Ron decided not to return to Turkey- instead, he and the boys
went to Egypt to research the Red Sea crossing site. Perhaps Dr. Shea
could one day get the permission they so desperately wanted. But then,
in late Dec., 1978, Ron heard a news report of an earthquake in eastern
Turkey.
He still remembers how his heart began to pound- HE couldn't excavate,
but perhaps "nature's" God had done what he couldn't!
1979 -- Return to Turkey
He had to patiently bide his time until his next two-week vacation came in
August. And on August. 11, 1979, he arrived the second time in Istanbul
and headed for the site. This time, the boys didn't go. Ron wasn't going to
take any more chances with his young sons' safety, but he did take an
Armenian preacher from California who spoke Turkish.
When they arrived at the site, Ron just wasn't prepared for the spectacular
sight his eyes beheld -- the earthquake (which injured no one) had
dropped the earth around the object and there on the mountainside Ron
saw what looked like a giant shipwreck!
Evenly spaced indentations could be seen all the way around the object,
which looked like decaying rib timbers. The earthquake had also cracked
the object from "stem to stern" and Ron was able to take samples from
deep within. He also took samples of material outside of the object for
comparison.
He measured the object and got a 512 foot length -- but, he saw what
looked like a section about 1 yard long that was broken off from the lower
end. This was positive evidence in Ron's eyes: 300 Royal Egyptian cubits
were 515 feet- this object was 512 feet with a 3 foot section broken off of
the lower end- a total of 515 FEET!
He again visited the anchor stones and the graveyard which had the
strange monuments which Ron believed were representative of the Ark
and its eight passengers. It was a short trip, but Ron had gotten
accomplished more than he had hoped for. The next step was to have the
samples analyzed.
The First Laboratory Analyses
He had to get back home and return to work immediately, so it was
October before he managed to get the samples to Galbraith Labs in
Knoxville, Tennessee. This sort of testing was and still is expensive, so he
only had each sample tested for a basic mineral analysis. But that was
enough for a start -- the sample outside the formation showed a 1.88%
carbon content; but the one from inside the crack yielded a 4.95% carbon
content, an amount that was consistent with the presence of prior living
matter, such as decayed or petrified wood. It also showed a surprisingly
high iron content.
It was another positive evidence -- but again, Ron found himself at a
standstill.
What next? Applications to excavate were still made, but each time with
negative results. Ron was in for an even longer wait this time. But in the
meantime, Ron decided to make all the information available to others.
"Noah's Ark Found"
Looking back, the evidence might not have seemed as convincing to
others as Ron thought it surely would have been. After all, he had been
there twice, he had seen the wonderful evidences which spoke of eight
survivors of the ark from that very region. But when he wrote it all up in a
booklet called "Noah's Ark Found", not everyone accepted the evidences
as overwhelming.
Ron told the story of his two trips to Turkey, what he saw, filmed and
photographed, and he gave the lab analyses and told about the
tombstones he believed marked the sites of Noah and his wife's graves.
He explained about the Royal Egyptian Cubit, which, considering the
length of the boat shaped object, he felt was overwhelming evidence.
He gave these to anyone who was interested, hoping to gain interest and
support from others who might want to help. But the fact of the matter
was that this wasn't enough. In fact, this little booklet would one day be
responsible for the theft and destruction of one of the most incredible
evidences -- but it was a lesson Ron would have to learn the hard way.
Meanwhile, he had no real idea what he could do to further his research.
White's Electronics
Since all his investigation would have to be non-destructive, Ron decided
to check into the possibility of getting a metal detector to check for the
possibility of evenly spaced metal readings. He called White's Electronics
in Sweet Home, Oregon and shared with them his project. They listened to
his proposal and found it to be a worthy and legitimate research project,
and shipped him their top two model metal detectors, which Ron hoped to
be able to use on the site.
Jim Irwin
In 1983, he read an article about Colonel. James Irwin, the Apollo 15
astronaut, and how he was actively involved in searching for the ark on
Mt. Ararat. Ron called him and shared with him the information he had on
the boat shaped object. Colonel. Irwin was extremely gracious, and said
he was interested. So, Ron drove out to Colorado and met with Jim at his
office. Jim was interested in seeing the site, and offered Ron any help he
could give him.
Jim was taking an expedition to climb Mt. Ararat in August of 1984, so he
and Ron decided to travel together so that Ron could show him the site.
They arrived in Istanbul on August 19, 1984 and proceeded to Ankara.
END OF PART TWO.