What were thought to be the remains of Noah’s Arc on Mount Ararat in modern-day Turkey were discovered to be natural formations by a group of Russian scientists.
Scientists from the Kosmopoisk Scientific Research Center announced Friday at a press conference that there were no remains of Noah’s Ark on the mountain, the Interfax news agency reported.
“Everything that we saw, all the samples that we gathered testify to the fact that there is no Noah’s Arc on Ararat’s western slope,” the news agency quoted Vadim Chernobrov, the center’s director, as saying.
“At least after the volcanic eruption of 1840 that destroyed everything, including petrified wood, there can be no talk of the remains of a ship being preserved.”
The expedition traveled to the western slope in the fall of 2004 and brought back video tapes and artifact samples. After a number of tests, the scientists discovered that the samples were the result of volcanic activity, and not the remains of Noah’s ship