by Gordon Franz
An article by Dan Eden has been circulating on Facebook and the Internet entitled: “Noah’s Ark is (still) in Turkey” since the middle of December 2013. It advocates the Durupinar site discovered by Ron Wyatt on, or near, Agri Dagh, the (late) traditional Mount Ararat. This story has been passed it on as Gospel Truth! The simple answer to the question raised at the beginning of this article: “Why is this not a BIG story?” is because the story is BOGUS and there is NO TRUTH to the article.
Ron Wyatt’s side-kick on his Durupinar expedition was David Fasold. Toward the end of Fasold’s life he co-authored an article with Lorence Collins that was published in a peer-reviewed scientific publication called the “Journal of Geoscience Education” (1996, vol. 44, pages 439-444). The article was entitled: “Bogus ‘Noah’s Ark’ from Turkey Exposed as a Common Geologic Structure.” The article can be obtained from JSTOR and perhaps can be found elsewhere on the Internet. The article is excellent and the title summarizes the issue very well. The discovery is BOGUS, a geological formation, and NOT Noah’s Ark.
The geologist on Wyatt’s team, a Christian and a young earth creationist, also came to the same conclusion. His information was written up and passed on to the Turkish Department of Antiquities and is summarized in an article by Dr. Andrew Snelling of Answers in Genesis. The link to his excellent article is here: http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/cm/v14/n4/special-report-amazing-ark-expose
Ron Wyatt was a Seventh Day Adventist (SDA). When SDA people read something like this or see one of Wyatt’s videos on the subject, they ask the archaeologists at the Siegfried H. Horn Archaeological Museum at Andrews University, a SDA institution with a very reputable archaeology program, about Wyatt’s “discoveries.” The museum has a “Ron Wyatt packet” that includes various article debunking Wyatt’s so-called discoveries. The packet is sent to those who make inquiries about Wyatt and his “discoveries.” Their address is: Siegfried H. Horn Archaeological Museum, Institute of Archaeology, Andrews University, 9047 US 31, Berrien Springs, MI 49104-0990. The museum’s email is: hornmuseum@andrews.edu
Two SDA brothers, Russell and Colin Standish, wrote an excellent expose of Ron Wyatt from an SDA perspective entitled: Holy Relics or Revelation. Recent Astounding Archaeological Claims Evaluated. It can be obtained from Hartland Publications, Box 1, Rapidan, VA 22733. The publisher’s phone number is: 1-800-774-3566. I highly recommend this expose of Wyatt. They did their homework and spoke the truth in love.
Christians need to STOP passing along BOGUS reports concerning Noah’s Ark. This does not help the cause of Christ. This story, like a cracked pot, holds no water, especially the water from Noah’s Flood.
