Blog - curiosities
'Noah's Ark' seen in 3D
The boat-shaped formation, which was discovered 60 years ago in Doğubeyazıt, was photographed in 3D by geophysicist Larsen and computer engineer and archaeologist Jones.
Noah's Ark was first discovered by Map Captain İlhan Durupınar on September 11, 1959, while working on the Doğubeyazıt map at the General Directorate of Cartography.
The 3D images of the boat-shaped formation, which was discovered in 1959 in the Doğubeyazıt district of Ağrı, analyzed by New Zealand geophysicist John Larsen and American computer engineer and archaeologist Andrew Jones for the first time, opened a new door in the scientific world about Noah's Ark, the reality of which has been a source of curiosity for centuries.
Noah's Ark, whose existence is also mentioned in the holy books, is a legend for some and a phenomenon waiting to be proven for others.
After this discovery was published in international newspapers and magazines, the world's foremost photogrammetry and earth scientist, Prof. Dr. Arthur Brandenberger of Ohio University and Dr. George Vandeman of the Washington Institute of Archaeological Research, a Swedish journalist and 3 European businessmen came to Doğubeyazıt to examine Noah's Ark with the financial support of the Union of Churches.
During their research, the delegation and Durupınar, who headed them, learned from villagers that this form arose as a result of a landslide in 1945 while cultivating a field.
At the end of the working days, the committee prepared an 8-page report, but Durupınar received a half-page "fabricated" report. The laboratory results of the pieces removed from the ship remained a mystery.
Ara Güler posted her first photo.
The honor of taking the first photograph of Noah's Ark and sharing it with world public opinion was bestowed on world-famous photojournalist Ara Güler. The 3rd District in Erzurum. Güler, who took Noah's Ark out of the sky with the military plane assigned to him by Army Command, described that moment years later by saying: "If this is the trace of Noah's Ark, it is like seeing God below."
The first scientific research was carried out 26 years after its discovery, by Dr. Salih Bayraktutan of Erzurum Atatürk University and scientists from the University of California's "Los Alamos National Laboratory," the largest earth and space science research center in the United States.
As a result of this study, which was carried out with the support of the Prime Minister's Office, the "ship's hull" was detected for the first time in underground radar images and an 80-page scientific report was produced.
In the report, "We have obtained findings that cannot be said of this underground hull as 'Not the hull of a ship.' There is a high probability that this underground mass is a ship. In-depth archaeological excavations should begin as soon as possible, before winter arrives."
Although no more detailed studies were carried out after the report, the area where the ship's trail was found, which exactly matched the measurements in the holy books, was declared a 1st grade protected area with Bayraktutan's initiative.
His documentary resonated
The formal existence of Noah's Ark has continued to arouse curiosity despite the years that have passed, although not much research has been done on it.
One of those who pursued this mystery was documentary filmmaker Cem Sertesen. Sertesen, who saw Noah's Ark for the first time on August 10, 1995 in Doğubeyazıt, where he went to shoot another documentary, lit the fuse of the documentary he would make that day.
Sertesen, who interviewed İlhan Durupınar, Ara Güler and Muazzez İlmiye Çiğ, took 22 years to bring this documentary to the public. In 2017, the documentary managed to be among the top ten films out of 750 films at the 9th edition of the TRT Documentary Awards.
Sertesen, who wrote the intriguing story of the documentary together with the deputy director of Culture and Tourism of Ağrı Province, Erkan Kösedağ, brought the reader the book "Noah's Ark: The Discovery of the Century".
After this book, the book "We Were All in the Same Boat," which also includes scientific reports and articles, took its place on the shelves. Sertesen's documentary and books have once again drawn attention to the region.
Underground images in AA for the first time.
Cem Sertesen shared with AA the images of the research, which constitutes the most important part of the documentary "Noah's Ark-2", which he continues to produce in the light of scientific studies.
American computer engineer and archaeologist Andrew Jones managed to record the 3D image of Noah's Ark, which he began tracing when he was a university student at the age of 17, with John Larsen, a geophysicist, geographer, academic and also an expert in underground images from New Zealand.
In 2014, after two weeks of measurements, the hull of the underground ship was detected in 3D and the investigation was completed in 3 years.
The scientists, who conducted this study independently, gave the data and images they obtained to Sertesen for use in his second documentary.
In an interview for the documentary, Jones said they arrived in the area in 2014 as a team from New Zealand and the United States, scanning the area with a device that uses electric current to show what lies beneath the trail of Noah's Ark.
Explaining that this 3D image came about after processing the images a few years later, Jones said:
"This image is the actual data of the image of Noah's Ark found underground. These images are neither fake nor a simulation. This image is the actual data showing the entire ship buried underground.
Any scientist who is an expert in the subject can do this study and come to this conclusion that we have reached. Yes, this structure is an ark, but it's too early to call it Noah's Ark. We have to do a very extensive job. This can only happen with the support of universities and the Turkish state."
"This study was done to mobilize the scientific community"
Speaking to the Anadolu Agency (AA) correspondent about the latest scientific study, Sertesen said that after three years of work, American and New Zealand scientists revealed the photo of that trail underground.
Stating that foreigners highly value Noah's Ark, Sertesen continued his words as follows:
The scientists collected tens of thousands of data by sending electrical signals underground with wires that they placed inch by inch on the 150-meter-long, 50-meter-wide track. The result is an underground 3D image. Scientists did this work to mobilize the scientific community."
"It must be protected from landslides"
Recalling that the age of Noah's Flood has not yet been found, Sertesen explained that geophysicists stated that "in the investigations carried out in that region (Noah's Ark), parts such as the biopsy must be taken and the age of the seeds and plants must be determined."
Sertesen continued his words as follows:
"I'm very curious about the inside of Noah's Ark. What's inside the image of the underground ship? That's because scientists said they had identified three floors of the craft.
Some of the scientists say, 'Don't touch it, the landslide continues in the region.' First, this shape must be protected from landslides. Because if the form is distorted, there is no humor in it. Every pickaxe, every shovel that is hit there is a dagger that will be stuck in the heart of this."
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