Excitement has been growing in recent months due to the prospect of finding what may be Noah’s ark. A wooden structure with vertical and horizontal beams has been spotted and photographed by satellite imaging in the glacial snows of Mt. Ararat in Turkey. If this wooden structure is indeed Noah’s ark, theological interpretation of Noah’s flood and ark may change significantly.

Although first sighted in 1957 by Turkish Air Force pilots, the structure has been only occasionally seen since due to the fact that the structure is usually covered by snow. Moreover, because of Mt. Ararat’s proximity to the border of the former Soviet Union, no expeditions were allowed because of Soviet objections of spying during much of the Cold War. Since the lifting of the ban in 1982, some expeditions were allowed but all came up empty handed.

However, because of the record warm European summer in 2003, much of the snow on Mt. Ararat has melted, revealing a wooden structure half-buried and well-preserved. Satellite photographs taken last summer have been profiled on both CNN and National Geographic, arousing much interest among scientific and archaeological communities. The location of the wooden structure pinpointed by GPS and triangulation, a 10-member expedition is planned from July 15 to August 15 2004.

Sceptics who did not believe the Biblical account of Noah’s flood have already had to rethink their disbelief given archaeological evidence found by Robert Ballard in 2000. Documented by National Geographic, Ballard (who is famous for finding the Titanic) found foundations of wooden houses along with worked stone tools 311 feet below the surface of the present day Black Sea.

Many geologists and anthropologists theorise that a sudden infilling of the formerly freshwater Black Sea, by rising seawater from the Mediterranean Sea after the last Ice Age, may have given rise to the flood story. Although this theory doesn’t readily explain Noah’s ark being atop Mt. Ararat, it has lent credence to the Biblical account as having some historical basis.