Durupinar
Encyclopedia
The Durupınar site is a large aggregate
structure in the Mount Tendürek
of eastern Turkey
. The site is 3 kilometres (2 mi) north of the Iran
ian border, 16 km (10 mi) southeast of Doğubeyazıt
, in the Ağrı Province
, and eighteen miles (29 km) south of the Greater Mount Ararat summit, at an elevation of 6449 ft (1,966 m) ~ 6575 ft (2,004 m) above sea level.
The size and shape of the structure has led to its promotion by some believers as the original Noah's Ark
.
To mainstream scientists and most creationists, this is merely an interesting natural formation.
The site is near several officially unnamed peaks, though locals call one of the nearby peaks Mount Judi
(Turkish Cudi Dağı, Kurdish Çîyaye Cûdî), the mountain named in the Qur'an
as the final resting place of Noah's Ark. Most scholars believe that Qur'anic Mount Judi
is a different mountain near the Turkish/Iraqi border.
According to local reports, heavy rains combined with three earthquakes exposed the formation from the surrounding mud in May 1948. It was subsequently identified by Turkish Army
Captain İlhan Durupınar - for whom it was subsequently named - in a Turkish Air Force
aerial photo while on a mapping mission for NATO in October 1959. Durupınar informed the Turkish government of his discovery and a group from the Archeological Research Foundation which included George Vandeman
, İlhan Durupınar, and Arthur Brandenberger, professor of photogrammetry, surveyed the site in September 1960. After two days of digging and dynamiting inside the "boat-shaped" formation the expedition members found only soil and rocks. Their official news release concluded that "there were no visible archaeological remains" and that this formation "was a freak of nature and not man-made".
The site was then ignored until 1977, when it was rediscovered and promoted by self-styled archaeologist and amateur explorer Ron Wyatt
. Throughout the 1980s Wyatt repeatedly tried to interest other people in the site, including ark hunter and former astronaut James Irwin
and creationist
John D. Morris
, neither of whom were convinced the structure was the Ark.
In 1985, Wyatt was joined by David Fasold
and geophysicist John Baumgardner
for the expedition recounted in Fasold's The Ark of Noah. As soon as Fasold saw the site, he exclaimed that it was a ship wreck. Fasold brought along state-of-the-art ground-penetrating radar
equipment and a device called a frequency generator, set it on the wavelength for iron
, and searched the formation for internal iron loci (the latter technique was later compared to dowsing
by the site's detractors). The ground penetration radar yielded a regular internal structure as documented in a report to the Turkish government. Fasold and the team measured the length of the formation 538 ft (164 m), close to the 300 cubits (157 m, 515 ft) of the Noah's Ark in the Bible
if the Ancient Egypt
ian cubit of 20.6 inches (0.52 m) is used. Fasold believed the team found the fossilized remains of the upper deck and that the original reed substructure had disappeared. In the nearby village of Kazan (formerly Arzap), so-called drogue (anchor) stones that they believed were once attached to the ark were investigated.
After a few expeditions to the Durupınar site that included drillings and excavation in the 1990s, Fasold began to have doubts that the Durupınar formation was Noah's ark. He visited the site in September 1994 with Australian geologist Ian Plimer
and concluded that the structure was not a boat. He surmised that ancient peoples had erroneously believed the site was the ark. In 1996 Fasold co-authored a paper with geologist Lorence Collins
entitled "Bogus 'Noah's Ark' from Turkey Exposed as a Common Geologic Structure" which concluded that the boat-shaped formation was a curious upwelling of mud that merely resembled a boat. In April 1997, during sworn testimony during an Australian court case, Fasold repeated his doubts and noted that he regarded the claim that Noah's ark had been found as "absolute BS".
Others such as fellow ark researchers Don Patten and David Allen Deal, reported that before his death Fasold returned to a belief that the Durupınar site might be the location of the ark. His close Australian friend and biographer June Dawes wrote:
The Arzap Drogue Stones are a number of large standing stones found near the Durupınar site by amateur archaeologist Ron Wyatt
with the aid of David Fasold and others. Fasold interpreted the artifacts as drogue
s, stone weights used to stabilize the Ark in rough seas, on the grounds that they all have a chamfer
ed hole cut at one end as if to fasten a rope to them, and because the existence of such stones was suggested by his reading of the Epic of Gilgamesh
, the Babylonian mythical account of the flood.
Drogue
stones were a feature of ancient ships, and were the ancient equivalent of a storm anchor
. They have been found in the Nile
and elsewhere in the Mediterranean area, and like the stones found by Wyatt and Fasold, they are heavy and flat with a hole for connecting a line at one end. Their purpose was to create drag in the water or along shallow sandy bottoms: the stone was attached to one end of a boat, and the drag produced would cause the bow or stern to face into the wind and the oncoming wind-blown waves..
A geological investigation of samples from the stones, published by geologist Lorence Collins
in co-authorship with their original discoverer David Fasold, suggested that they are formed of local rock and thus unlikely to have been transported to the site from Mesopotamia
, the Ark's supposed place of origin. Similar stones are found throughout ancient Armenia, and are recognised to be pagan "holy stones" converted to Christian use (many are found in Christian cemeteries) by the addition of crosses and other Christian symbols.
Aggregate (composite)
Aggregate is the component of a composite material that resists compressive stress and provides bulk to the composite material. For efficient filling, aggregate should be much smaller than the finished item, but have a wide variety of sizes...
structure in the Mount Tendürek
Mount Tendürek
Tendürek is a shield volcano located in the Ağrı and Van provinces of eastern Turkey, close to the borders with Iran. The elongated volcano rises above the Doğubeyazıt plain, south of Mount Ararat. The last known eruption was a gas and ash eruption in 1855...
of eastern Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
. The site is 3 kilometres (2 mi) north of the Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
ian border, 16 km (10 mi) southeast of Doğubeyazıt
Dogubeyazit
Doğubeyazıt is a city and district of Ağrı Province of Turkey, and is Turkey's most eastern district, the border crossing to Iran. Elevation 1625 m. Area 2.383 km². Population 115.354 of which 69.447 live in the town of Doğubeyazıt, the remainder in the surrounding countryside...
, in the Ağrı Province
Agri Province
The Ağrı Province is a province in eastern Turkey, bordering Iran to the east, Kars to the North, Erzurum to the Northwest, Muş and Bitlis to the Southwest, Van to the south, and Iğdır to the northeast. Area 11,376 km². Population 542,022 ....
, and eighteen miles (29 km) south of the Greater Mount Ararat summit, at an elevation of 6449 ft (1,966 m) ~ 6575 ft (2,004 m) above sea level.
The size and shape of the structure has led to its promotion by some believers as the original Noah's Ark
Noah's Ark
Noah's Ark is a vessel appearing in the Book of Genesis and the Quran . These narratives describe the construction of the ark by Noah at God's command to save himself, his family, and the world's animals from the worldwide deluge of the Great Flood.In the narrative of the ark, God sees the...
.
To mainstream scientists and most creationists, this is merely an interesting natural formation.
The site is near several officially unnamed peaks, though locals call one of the nearby peaks Mount Judi
Mount Judi
Mount Judi , according to very Early Christian and Islamic tradition , is the Noah's apobaterion or "Place of Descent", the location where the Ark came to rest after the Great Flood....
(Turkish Cudi Dağı, Kurdish Çîyaye Cûdî), the mountain named in the Qur'an
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
as the final resting place of Noah's Ark. Most scholars believe that Qur'anic Mount Judi
Mount Judi
Mount Judi , according to very Early Christian and Islamic tradition , is the Noah's apobaterion or "Place of Descent", the location where the Ark came to rest after the Great Flood....
is a different mountain near the Turkish/Iraqi border.
Discovery and exploration
Turkish Army
The Turkish Army or Turkish Land Forces is the main branch of the Turkish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. The modern history of the army began with its formation after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire...
Captain İlhan Durupınar - for whom it was subsequently named - in a Turkish Air Force
Turkish Air Force
The Turkish Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the Turkish Armed Forces. It ranks 3rd in NATO in terms of fleet size behind the USAF and Royal Air Force with a current inventory of 798 aircraft .-Initial stages:...
aerial photo while on a mapping mission for NATO in October 1959. Durupınar informed the Turkish government of his discovery and a group from the Archeological Research Foundation which included George Vandeman
George Vandeman
George Edward Vandeman , was a Seventh-day Adventist evangelist who founded the It Is Written television ministry.#- Biography :...
, İlhan Durupınar, and Arthur Brandenberger, professor of photogrammetry, surveyed the site in September 1960. After two days of digging and dynamiting inside the "boat-shaped" formation the expedition members found only soil and rocks. Their official news release concluded that "there were no visible archaeological remains" and that this formation "was a freak of nature and not man-made".
The site was then ignored until 1977, when it was rediscovered and promoted by self-styled archaeologist and amateur explorer Ron Wyatt
Ron Wyatt
Ronald Eldon Wyatt was an adventurer and former nurse anaesthetist noted for advocating the Durupınar site as the site of Noah's Ark, among other Bible-related pseudoarchaeology...
. Throughout the 1980s Wyatt repeatedly tried to interest other people in the site, including ark hunter and former astronaut James Irwin
James Irwin
James Benson Irwin was an American astronaut and engineer. He served as Lunar Module pilot for Apollo 15, the fourth human lunar landing; he was the eighth person to walk on the Moon.-Early life:...
and creationist
Creationism
Creationism is the religious beliefthat humanity, life, the Earth, and the universe are the creation of a supernatural being, most often referring to the Abrahamic god. As science developed from the 18th century onwards, various views developed which aimed to reconcile science with the Genesis...
John D. Morris
John D. Morris
John David Morris is an American young earth creationist. He is the son of "the father of creation science", Henry M. Morris, and after his father's death became the president of the Institute for Creation Research . Morris is a creationist author and speaks at a variety of churches. Many of his...
, neither of whom were convinced the structure was the Ark.
In 1985, Wyatt was joined by David Fasold
David Fasold
David Franklin Fasold was a former United States Merchant Marine officer and salvage expert who is best known for his book The Ark of Noah, chronicling his early expeditions to the Durupınar Noah's Ark site in eastern Turkey...
and geophysicist John Baumgardner
John Baumgardner
John R. Baumgardner is a geophysicist, young earth creationist, intelligent design supporter and Christian fundamentalist.-Biography:He became a Christian at 26 and has tried to prove the Deluge myth scientifically ever since, creating a computer program called Terra to model the flood...
for the expedition recounted in Fasold's The Ark of Noah. As soon as Fasold saw the site, he exclaimed that it was a ship wreck. Fasold brought along state-of-the-art ground-penetrating radar
Ground-penetrating radar
Ground-penetrating radar is a geophysical method that uses radar pulses to image the subsurface. This nondestructive method uses electromagnetic radiation in the microwave band of the radio spectrum, and detects the reflected signals from subsurface structures...
equipment and a device called a frequency generator, set it on the wavelength for iron
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
, and searched the formation for internal iron loci (the latter technique was later compared to dowsing
Dowsing
Dowsing is a type of divination employed in attempts to locate ground water, buried metals or ores, gemstones, oil, gravesites, and many other objects and materials, as well as so-called currents of earth radiation , without the use of scientific apparatus...
by the site's detractors). The ground penetration radar yielded a regular internal structure as documented in a report to the Turkish government. Fasold and the team measured the length of the formation 538 ft (164 m), close to the 300 cubits (157 m, 515 ft) of the Noah's Ark in the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
if the Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
ian cubit of 20.6 inches (0.52 m) is used. Fasold believed the team found the fossilized remains of the upper deck and that the original reed substructure had disappeared. In the nearby village of Kazan (formerly Arzap), so-called drogue (anchor) stones that they believed were once attached to the ark were investigated.
After a few expeditions to the Durupınar site that included drillings and excavation in the 1990s, Fasold began to have doubts that the Durupınar formation was Noah's ark. He visited the site in September 1994 with Australian geologist Ian Plimer
Ian Plimer
Ian Rutherford Plimer is an Australian geologist, academic, professor of mining geology at the University of Adelaide, and a director of four mining companies...
and concluded that the structure was not a boat. He surmised that ancient peoples had erroneously believed the site was the ark. In 1996 Fasold co-authored a paper with geologist Lorence Collins
Lorence G. Collins
Lorence Gene "Larry" Collins, born November 19, 1931, in Vernon, Kansas is an American petrologist, known for his extensive research on metasomatism.-Biography:...
entitled "Bogus 'Noah's Ark' from Turkey Exposed as a Common Geologic Structure" which concluded that the boat-shaped formation was a curious upwelling of mud that merely resembled a boat. In April 1997, during sworn testimony during an Australian court case, Fasold repeated his doubts and noted that he regarded the claim that Noah's ark had been found as "absolute BS".
Others such as fellow ark researchers Don Patten and David Allen Deal, reported that before his death Fasold returned to a belief that the Durupınar site might be the location of the ark. His close Australian friend and biographer June Dawes wrote:
He [Fasold] kept repeating that no matter what the experts said, there was too much going for the [Durupınar] site for it to be dismissed. He remained convinced it was the fossilized remains of Noah's Ark.
Arzap Drogue Stones
Ron Wyatt
Ronald Eldon Wyatt was an adventurer and former nurse anaesthetist noted for advocating the Durupınar site as the site of Noah's Ark, among other Bible-related pseudoarchaeology...
with the aid of David Fasold and others. Fasold interpreted the artifacts as drogue
Drogue
A drogue is a device external to the boat, attached to the stern used to slow a boat down in a storm and to keep the hull perpendicular to the waves. The boat will not speed excessively down the slope of a wave and crash into the next one nor will it broach. By slowing the vessel in heavy...
s, stone weights used to stabilize the Ark in rough seas, on the grounds that they all have a chamfer
Chamfer
A chamfer is a beveled edge connecting two surfaces. If the surfaces are at right angles, the chamfer will typically be symmetrical at 45 degrees. A fillet is the rounding off of an interior corner. A rounding of an exterior corner is called a "round" or a "radius"."Chamfer" is a term commonly...
ed hole cut at one end as if to fasten a rope to them, and because the existence of such stones was suggested by his reading of the Epic of Gilgamesh
Gilgamesh
Gilgamesh was the fifth king of Uruk, modern day Iraq , placing his reign ca. 2500 BC. According to the Sumerian king list he reigned for 126 years. In the Tummal Inscription, Gilgamesh, and his son Urlugal, rebuilt the sanctuary of the goddess Ninlil, in Tummal, a sacred quarter in her city of...
, the Babylonian mythical account of the flood.
Drogue
A drogue is a device external to the boat, attached to the stern used to slow a boat down in a storm and to keep the hull perpendicular to the waves. The boat will not speed excessively down the slope of a wave and crash into the next one nor will it broach. By slowing the vessel in heavy...
stones were a feature of ancient ships, and were the ancient equivalent of a storm anchor
Anchor
An anchor is a device, normally made of metal, that is used to connect a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the vessel from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ancora, which itself comes from the Greek ἄγκυρα .Anchors can either be temporary or permanent...
. They have been found in the Nile
Nile
The Nile is a major north-flowing river in North Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world. It is long. It runs through the ten countries of Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Egypt.The Nile has two major...
and elsewhere in the Mediterranean area, and like the stones found by Wyatt and Fasold, they are heavy and flat with a hole for connecting a line at one end. Their purpose was to create drag in the water or along shallow sandy bottoms: the stone was attached to one end of a boat, and the drag produced would cause the bow or stern to face into the wind and the oncoming wind-blown waves..
A geological investigation of samples from the stones, published by geologist Lorence Collins
Lorence G. Collins
Lorence Gene "Larry" Collins, born November 19, 1931, in Vernon, Kansas is an American petrologist, known for his extensive research on metasomatism.-Biography:...
in co-authorship with their original discoverer David Fasold, suggested that they are formed of local rock and thus unlikely to have been transported to the site from Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran.Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the...
, the Ark's supposed place of origin. Similar stones are found throughout ancient Armenia, and are recognised to be pagan "holy stones" converted to Christian use (many are found in Christian cemeteries) by the addition of crosses and other Christian symbols.
See also
- Searches for Noah's ArkSearches for Noah's ArkFrom at least the time of Eusebius to the present day, the search for the physical remains of Noah's Ark has held a fascination for many people...
- Mount AraratMount AraratMount Ararat is a snow-capped, dormant volcanic cone in Turkey. It has two peaks: Greater Ararat and Lesser Ararat .The Ararat massif is about in diameter...
- Ararat anomalyArarat anomalyThe Ararat anomaly is an object appearing on photographs of the snowfields near the summit of Mount Ararat, Turkey and advanced by some Christian believers as the remains of Noah's Ark.-Overview:...
- Deluge (mythology)
- Flood geologyFlood geologyFlood geology is the interpretation of the geological history of the Earth in terms of the global flood described in Genesis 6–9. Similar views played a part in the early development of the science of geology, even after the Biblical chronology had been rejected by geologists in favour of an...
- Gilgamesh flood mythGilgamesh flood mythThe Gilgamesh flood myth is a deluge story in the Epic of Gilgamesh. Many scholars believe that the flood myth was added to Tablet XI in the "standard version" of the Gilgamesh Epic by an editor who utilized the flood story from the Epic of Atrahasis...
- PareidoliaPareidoliaPareidolia is a psychological phenomenon involving a vague and random stimulus being perceived as significant. Common examples include seeing images of animals or faces in clouds, the man in the moon or the Moon rabbit, and hearing hidden messages on records played in reverse...
Photographs
- Aerial photograph
- A page containing ground level photographs - listed under "Durupınar"
- Satellite image of the formation from Google MapsGoogle MapsGoogle Maps is a web mapping service application and technology provided by Google, free , that powers many map-based services, including the Google Maps website, Google Ride Finder, Google Transit, and maps embedded on third-party websites via the Google Maps API...
Pro-Durupınar as the location of Noah's Ark
- 6000years.org/Noah Ark
- The ca. 4400 year old remains of Noah's Ark
- Excerpts from The Ark of Noah
- "A Debate the Site of Noah's Ark: At Uzengili (Nisir)" by Donald W. Patten
- NoahsArk-Naxuan.com
- Nu'hun Gemisi
- David Fasold - in memoriam (early 1998)