A renowned archaeologist who is credited with locating the remains of the Titanic states that he believes he has now discovered evidence of the Biblical flood.
Robert Ballard, professor of oceanography at the University of Rhode Island and former United States Navy officer, recently sat down with ABC‘s Christianne Amanpour to explain. He said that his underwater archaeology team has been scanning the deep of the Black Sea near Turkey to look for traces of ancient civilizations that date back to the times of Noah.
Ballard states that while probing approximately 400 feet below the surface of the water, the team discovered the existence of a shoreline that carbon dated back to approximately 5,000 BC. Many scientists believe this is precisely the time during which the worldwide flood occurred. Visible shorelines in rock beds are usually believed to be the result of a fast-moving catastrophe that swept through an area.
Ballard said that his archaeology team found a number of pieces of ancient pottery buried in depths as well. But, he stated that he has also discovered something that he believes to be even more intriguing.
“We started finding structures that looked like they were man-made structures,” Ballard explained. “That’s where we are focusing our attention right now.”
He outlined that he located a sea vessel, which also contained human remains.
“That is a perfectly preserved ancient shipwreck in all its wood — looks like a lumber yard,” Ballard told Amanpour. “But if you look closely, you will see the femur bone and actually a molar.”
The archaeologist states that he does not think he will ever locate Noah’s ark, but that his team is more focused on finding evidence of a civilization that existed during the time of Noah and concrete evidence that the people of that day were swept away by a catastrophic flood. Ballard says that he feels optimistic about obtaining the proof.
“It’s foolish to think you will ever find a ship,” he opined. “But can you find people who were living? Can you find their villages that are underwater now? And the answer is yes.”
According to the documentary Miraculous Messages: From Noah’s Ark to the End Times, a number of explorers who believe that Noah’s ark sits atop of Mount Ararat in Turkey have made the trek up the often snow-covered mountain in search of the ancient vessel. In 1955, Frenchman Raphael Navarra was reported to have chopped a 5-foot wooden beam from the ice at Mt. Ararat, and after having the beam analyzed, it was found that the type of wood, which was dated as being approximately 5,000 years old, does not grow near the mountain. George Hagopian, who went on an expedition with his uncle in 1908 to catch a glimpse of the ark, claimed that he was able to both see and feel the the vessel during a time when it was more visible on the mount due to a four-year drought.
“[H]is uncle took him up Ararat, past Ahora Gorge, passing the grave of St. Jacob on the way,” further outlines Charles Berlitz in The Lost Ship of Noah. “As the mountain grew more precipitous, his uncle carried him on his shoulders until they came to something that looked like a great ship located on a rock ledge over a cliff and partially covered by snow. It had flat openings like windows along the top and a hole in the roof.”
A number of ancient writings also reference the Biblical flood, including the Babylonian Gilgamesh epic from Ninevah. Nicholas of Damascus, the biographer of “Herod the Great,” wrote about the worldwide catastrophe as well, as did Marco Polo in his book The Travels, written in 1269 A.D., which states, “Noah’s ark rests in the snowy reaches of Mt. Ararat.”
As for Robert Ballard, he plans to take his archaeological team back to Turkey next summer to see what types of underwater evidence they will continue to discover regarding ancient civilizations that potentially date back to the time of Noah, the ninth human ancestor from the lineage of Adam.