ILLUSTRATES Tom Womb
EDITION Felipe van Deursen
– (Tom Belly/Strange World)
READ THE REPORT “THE STORIES THAT THE BIBLE DIDN’T TELL”
– Ark of Noah
– Exodus
– Samson
– David
– Fall of Jerusalem
– Crucifixion
ZOO-FERRY
God chose Noah to build a huge boat and escape the destruction of the world
evil in the heart
According to the Bible, mankind took the story of multiplying seriously. But God saw a problem in this: most people were not good at heart. He then decided to nip the evil in the bud and send a flood to wipe out the human race. First, however, he identified Noah as a good man and decided to spare him.
detailed manual
God gave specific directions for building the ark: 300 cubits long, 30 cubits high, and 50 cubits wide. In current measurements, 1 cubit ranges from 45.5 cm to 52.3 cm. Thus, taking an average, the ark would have the dimensions of a small cargo ship
extra protection
The ark was to be of “gopher,” the Hebrew term for cypress, pine, or cedar. If it were made of cypress, it would weigh 1,200 t, according to physicists from the University of Leicester (UK). Afterwards, Noah smeared the ship with bitumen, an oil that comes out of the earth, which was abundant in the region and served as a protective resin.
Starting over
God told Noah to take his family and a couple of every kind in the world into the ark. The rain lasted for 40 days and the flood covered even high mountains. But the adventure took much longer. The land only dried up to the point that the whole gang was able to get off the boat after 370 days.
The Quest for the Ark
A Bible cites the mountains of Ararat as the place where the ark stopped after the rain. That’s why Mount Ararat, in Türkiye, is always receiving explorers. But most experts think the ark, if it existed, will not be found – its remains would have rotted away long ago.
Safe?
Researchers at the University of Leicester calculated that the boat would carry up to 70,000 animals. Sounds like a lot, but not for the purpose of the ark, which was to transport all of Earth’s species. See how many they are:
- 1.2 million species cataloged
- 5.5 thousand mammals
- 1 species of mammal for each 312 species of arthropods
But the total number of species could be much higher. It is estimated that they have not yet been catalogued:
- 91% of aquatic species
- 86% of terrestrial species
bugs
The part about the animals is controversial. At one point, Noah was supposed to take a couple of each. In another, there should be seven couples of each pure animal and one of each impure animal. With few exceptions, pure were those that chewed the cud, had a cloven hoove, fin or scales.
- Pure: beef, deer, goat, sheep, cod, chicken, duck, grasshopper
- Unclean: camel, rabbit, pig, dog, mouse, lobster, vulture, lizard
what science says
many parts of Bible come from older texts, adapted for the belief in the one God. The saga of the ark derives from Mesopotamian texts, such as the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Epic of Atrahasis (1750 BC), – in which the problem of the gods with men was not their bad character, but the noise they made. To put an end to the racket, the solution was the deluge. One of the gods, Enki, instructed Atrahasis to build an ark for the animals. she would be round (see illustration above), according to Irving Finkel, the scientist at the British Museum who deciphered the story. He explains that it is possible that a disaster inspired the saga: a flood in the Tigris and Euphrates rivers or a flood more than 5,000 years ago, in which Mediterranean water would have invaded the Black Sea with fury.
SOURCES Bible Archeology, Biblical Archeology, British Museum, Jewish Virtual Library, Journal of Archaeological Science, Slinging; books A Bible: A Biographyby Karen Armstrong BibleGod, A Biographyby Jack Miles, Excavating Jesusby John Dominic Crossan and Jonathan L. Reed, The Mystic Pastby Thomas L. Thompson, and Jesus, Collection To Know Moreby Rodrigo Cavalcante and André Chevitarese