– (Orlandeli/Strange World)
Making a calculation with the right to approximations and, of course, some assumptions, we came to the conclusion that the ark should be 40 meters longer than the one built by Noah. How did we arrive at the result? First, we researched how many critters would enter the ark. Removing fish (which would survive the flood) and insects, we are left with 23,600 species (including birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians), that is, 47,200 animals, since the divine order was to save a couple of each species. So far so good, but how to calculate the space occupied by species? As it would be impossible to measure the thousands of species, we chose a medium animal as a standard: the cat. If you think of the elephant or the giraffe, the feline seems too small, but knowing that the mouse is the mammal that has the most species (of the 5,000 species of mammals, 2,050 are rodents) and that birds add up to 9,600 species, certainly will accept our standard pet, which occupies an area of about 0.25 m2. Multiplying this area by the total number of animals, the chest should have 11 800 m2. Then we run to the Bible to see how to distribute these m2 and we find the following description of the original ark: three floors, 135 m long and 22.5 m wide. We kept the width, distributed the area over three floors and arrived at the measurement of 174.8 m in length – 39.8 m more than the one in the Bible.
RAIN RAIN
Furious with sinners, God would have caused a flood to fall upon the Earth to clear the area and build a new world. The rain should have lasted only 40 days, but it lasted and only after a few months was Noah and his group able to return to dry land.
THE BIG FAMILY
In addition to Noah, there were seven other humans on the ark: his wife, his three sons (Shem, Ham, and Japheth), and his three daughters-in-law. Noah was chosen by God to survive because he was the only righteous and upright man. According to the biblical account, he was about 500 years old.
SUNROOF
God’s instructions to Noah would have specified the construction of a 45 cm side window on the upper floor and a side door, for the animals to enter. The window was used by Noah, at the end of the flood, to release a dove to look for signs (an olive branch) of land
PURE BLOOD
Some versions of the Bible claim that the ark would have received up to seven couples of “clean” animals and a couple of “unclean” ones. According to the Old Testament, only ruminants with a split hull (broken in half) were pure, like the cow. All the others were unclean and not even fit for food.
HARDWOOD
According to the Bible, God would have guided Noah even on the material for the construction of the ark: the wood should be cypress (a tree up to 45 meters high, native to southern Europe and southwest Asia), with a tar lining inside. and outside, to waterproof the hull
DO YOU HAVE WHAT HUNGER?
Although God stated that Noah was to take food for himself and his family, there are no details in the Bible about the amount of food and where it was stored. Nor is there any mention of animal feed, much less of sanitary facilities – better not to know how they got by…
– (Orlandeli/Strange World)
NAVAL BATTLE
The ideal ark would be nearly 15 buses in a row
• Freedom of the Seas (largest passenger ship in the world): 338 m
•Our ark: 174.8m
Ark of Noah: 135 m
Bus: 12 m (each one)