US researcher looks for Noah’s Ark in eastern Turkey

AGRI, Turkey

An American researcher is in eastern Turkey’s Agri province looking for evidence of Noah’s Ark in the Mount Ararat region.

Professor Paul Esprante was in Agri to attend the recently-concluded, three-day international symposium on Mount Ararat and Noah’s Ark, which was attended by 108 scientists from Turkey and abroad.

Esprante, who is from the U.S. state of California, told Anadolu Agency he intends to find evidence for Noah’s Ark during his short stay in Turkey.

“My purpose is to visit the sites around the mountain to find clues about catastrophic events in the past."

He spoke about his desire to work with local scientists, geologists and archeologists.

“I think that rigorous, serious scientific work is needed in the area, and I would like to collaborate in that. We have technical resources and we can work together with local experts,” he said.

The result of my findings will be published in books, publications and journals, he said, adding: “but at this point it is too early to know what we are going to find”.

“Once the scientific community knows [about existence of Noah’s Ark in Mount Ararat], we can make it available to the general public.”

The story of the great floods and Noah’s Ark has been mentioned in all Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

In the Quran, it is mentioned that Allah informed Noah about an impending flood that would engulf the entire Earth, save he and all those who are with him in his ark.

Noah then proceeded to build his vessel in which he kept members of his family along with pairs of all animals and birds.

The search for Noah's Ark has been made for centuries, but so far no physical proof has ever be found.

Istanbul University’s Prof. Dr. Oktay Belli said: “Noah’s Ark, the Flood is not a myth but a real incident mentioned in all holy books.”

Belli said the recent symposium on Noah’s Ark had been very fruitful where dozens of scientists analyzed different aspects of the incident.

Reporting by Orhan Gungor; Writing by Sena Guler