For millennia, people have scoured the slopes of Mount Ararat in pursuit of this ancient, sea-faring vessel with mixed success. Many have claimed to have found it, only to have their discoveries disproved. Even to this day many Christians continue to search these remote, Turkish mountains for the remains of the vessel that could prove the validity of the Genesis account. But still the question remains: where is Noah's Ark?
Now while I would be ecstatic if the Ark were found, It is my belief that the vessel has been all but destroyed.
Think about it for a moment. Noah's flood was an apocalyptic event the likes of which the world has not seen since. The entire world was covered by water, mud, and volcanic debris. The ecosystem was all but destroyed--save for the specimens carried within the Ark--and the very earth itself had been shattered by intense, seismic activity when the fountains of the deep burst open. Not only that, all traces of human civilization had been washed away as well, just as God had intended. (Genesis 6:1-8) In that sense, the world Noah and his family would have encountered upon exiting the Ark would have been post-apocalyptic in every sense of the word.
Because of this, it is my hypothesis that the Ark itself would have served as shelter for Noah's family and their descendants for quite some time after the flood, as they waited for the ecosystem to recover. Grasses and fast growing plants like wheat and barley would have been the first crops they would have been able to produce--and indeed the first plants to grow in the post-flood world. It would have taken decades for the earth's forests to repopulate, resulting in a marked lack of timber resources for building and fuel.
Because of this, I feel that Noah's descendants would have reacted in much the same way we ourselves would if we were faced with the prospect of surviving in a post-apocalyptic environment, meaning that they would have made use of all available resources--most notably, the Ark itself.
After the flood, Noah's Ark would have been the largest timber resource in the Ararat region. As such, I present to you the hypothesis that early human settlements were in fact built from the salvaged remains of the great vessel itself. The Ark's timbers would have been ideal not only for constructing settlements, but also as a fuel source, seeing as how the Ark had been coated with pitch both inside and out. (Genesis 6:14)
Additionally, it is important to note that Mount Ararat itself is in fact a dormant volcano in an incredibly unstable seismic zone. Meaning that there is a high possibility that the remains of the Ark were lost to volcanic eruptions and earthquakes thousands of years ago. Assuming the Ark remained on Ararat, and was not disassembled by early settlers.
Of course this is all speculation, and not at all relevant to the message of Jesus Christ. While the discovery of Noah's Ark would give unprecedented credence to both the Bible and the Creation Account, it is not necessary for salvation, nor is it the foundation of the Christian faith. All that matters is knowing who Jesus is, and what he has done for you. Everything else, while fascinating, is peripheral. In the end Jesus is all that matters. (Acts 4:12)
