Noah's Ark

Noah's Ark

Noah's Ark is the famous boat from an ancient story in the book of Genesis flood narrative. In this story, God told a man named Noah to build a huge boat. The boat would save his family and pairs of every animal from a giant flood that would cover the whole Earth.

The idea of a big flood that wiped out all life first appeared in stories from Mesopotamian cultures long before the Bible. One of the closest stories is about a character named Utnapishtim in the Epic of Gilgamesh. Though the stories share many ideas, they have different reasons for why the flood happened.

Many religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, find meanings and lessons in the story of Noah's Ark. People have searched for the real Ark for centuries, but no proof that it actually existed has ever been found. Some experts think the story might have come from a real but smaller flood that happened in West Asia long ago.

Description

The Bible tells the story of Noah's Ark, a special boat built to save Noah, his family, and pairs of animals from a big flood. God told Noah to build the Ark exactly 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high.

The Ark had three levels. It was made from a special kind of wood called gopher wood and coated with pitch or bitumen to make it waterproof. It had a door on its side and something called a tsohar, which might have been a roof or a window.

Origins

Mesopotamian precursors

Main article: Flood myth

The Bible's story of Noah's Ark comes from older stories from Mesopotamia. These stories talk about a big flood that happened long ago. The idea of a flood that destroys all life first appears in the Old Babylonian period, between the 20th and 16th centuries BCE.

There are nine known versions of the Mesopotamian flood story. The oldest version, written in the Sumerian city of Nippur around 1600 BCE, is about a king named Ziusudra. He builds a boat to save lives when the gods decide to destroy everything. This idea appears in many later stories, including the one about Noah.

The story most like Noah's is about a man named Utnapishtim in the Epic of Gilgamesh. The last known version was written in Greek in the third century BCE by a priest named Berossus.

The arks in these stories look different. Noah's Ark was rectangular with three levels.

Main article: Genesis flood narrative § Composition

Most scholars think the Torah — the first five books of the Bible — came together over a long time and was finished after the Babylonian exile.

Religious views

Rabbinic Judaism

Main article: Noah in rabbinic literature

The Talmudic writings tell us that Noah tried to warn his neighbors about the flood, but they ignored him or laughed. God sent animals to protect Noah and his family. Some stories say God or angels brought the animals and food to the Ark.

Noah took care of all the animals on the Ark for a whole year. The animals were quiet and didn’t have babies. The raven that Noah sent out stayed away, but God still wanted to save it.

Christianity

The First Epistle of Peter compared Noah’s saving through water to how Christians believe baptism saves people. Early Christian thinkers saw the Ark as a symbol of Jesus Christ. They said the Ark’s door faced east, the direction from which Jesus would return.

Augustine of Hippo said the Ark’s size matched the human body, which Christians believe is the body of Christ and the church. The dove that returned with an olive branch became a symbol of hope, peace, and the Holy Spirit.

Gnosticism

According to an ancient Gnostic writing, Noah was chosen to be saved when evil beings tried to destroy everyone with a flood. He was told to build the ark but tried not to let a woman named Norea join him. She used her powers to set the ark on fire, so Noah had to rebuild it.

Mandaeism

In Mandaean writings, Noah and his family were saved from the Great Flood because they built an ark.

Islam

Main article: Noah in Islam

The Quran describes the Ark as an ordinary ship made of wood. An early Muslim writer said Noah wasn’t sure what shape to make the Ark until God told him.

A medieval writer said God made the Earth absorb most of the flood water. He said the Ark started its journey in Kufa in Iraq, sailed to Mecca, and finally rested on Mount Judi near a town in northern Iraq.

Baháʼí Faith

The Baháʼí Faith sees the Ark and the Flood as symbols. Baháʼí beliefs say only Noah’s followers were saved in the “ark” of his teachings. Baháʼí writings say Noah had many companions on the Ark and taught for many years before the flood.

Ancient accounts

Many ancient writers told stories about Noah’s Ark. A Jewish historian said people in Armenia believed the remains of the Ark were still there, on a mountain they called the Place of Descent. Other writers from ancient times also mentioned the flood and the Ark in Armenia. In the fourth century, a Christian writer said people could still see parts of the Ark there to teach lessons.

Historicity

The first edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica from 1771 described the Ark as a real boat. It tried to explain how the Ark could hold all the animals by saying there were fewer types of animals than people thought.

Later editions suggested the flood might have been local rather than covering the whole world. This change happened as scientists learned more about how animals and plants developed.

Ark's geometry

During the Renaissance in Europe, people thought a lot about what the Ark might have looked like. Some writers tried to figure out how the boat could work in a practical way. One person from the 1400s described how the Ark might have handled things like waste and air. A mathematician in the 1500s calculated the size of the Ark and said there was enough space for Noah’s tools.

A curator at the British Museum found a very old tablet that told a version of the flood story. He translated it and helped make a TV show and a book about it. A small copy of the boat described on the tablet was built and tested in India.

Searches for Noah's Ark

Main article: Searches for Noah's Ark

People have looked for Noah’s Ark for a long time. A Jewish historian from the 1st century said pieces of the Ark were found in Armenia. Today, looking for the Ark is seen as a kind of guesswork rather than real science. Different places have been suggested, but nothing has been proven. Places like the Durupınar site on Mount Tendürek and Mount Ararat in eastern Anatolia have been checked, but what was found looks like natural rock formations.

Cultural legacy

Many people have tried to rebuild Noah's ark using details from the Bible. One example is Johan's Ark, finished in 2012. Another is the Ark Encounter, completed in 2016.