In a relatively recent excursion, Dr. Friedrich Parrot ascended mount Ararat in 1829, over 500 years after Marco Polo recorded his sighting of the mountain. While Dr. Parrot did not attempt to dig up the ark, he did, however, document how the locals felt about the legend of Noah’s ark.
“All the Armenians are firmly persuaded that Noah’s Ark remains to this very day on the top of Ararat, and that, in order to preserve it, no human being is allowed to approach it,” he said.
Ziusudra
Out of all the Mesopotamian flood stories, yes, there are a few, the one that stands out the most is the oldest one coined the Sumerian Flood Story that dates back to 1600 BCE.
The hero of this version is King Ziusudra, who builds a boat and tries to save the innocent after the gods decide to destroy the world, as you see, there's a strong resemblance to the story of Noah.
Fiding Out 'The Why'?
Many wonder not only how, but why did these miraculous stories in the Bible take place?
Philosophical questions of these biblical events have been hypothesized over the centuries, like why was the universe created? What is its purpose? And the same goes for the story of Noah.
Could It Be True?
As we mentioned before, NAMI (Noah’s Ark Ministries International), believes that they found concrete evidence of the famous ark on Mount Ararat.
In 2010, a group of Chinses and Turkish evangelicals claimed to have found wooden artifacts that are likely to be ruins from the ark which would confirm, once and for all, the location of the historic ship. Had they found the breakthrough the world was looking for?
Sky View
Not long after the French explorer, Fernand Navarra, admitted to fabricating his findings, a helicopter pilot, George Greene took a shot at unveiling the whereabouts of the ark.
Greene claimed that he could see the ark from his helicopter ride above Ararat, and said it's fossilized in the side of a rock cliff about 13,000-14,000 ft above sea level. Apparently his sky view photos weren't convincing enough as he failed to gain investment for a proper expedition.