The
Ark
as
history
GENESIS
Chapter 6 verse 14
Thus begins the
story of the most famous ship in history, the vessel that was to save the world
from the most terrible catastrophe in history. Noah's Ark has inspired writers,
artists, philosophers and theologians for centuries, a gigantic life-raft
containing the seed of the future world and the remnants of the passing one. The
story of how one man, Noah, had a vision of a future catastrophe, and set about
building the means of salvation for himself, his wife and their three sons and
their wives has captivated generations. The tale of Noah's epic voyage can be
found echoed in myths and legends throughout the world, from ancient
Mesopotamia, to the Americas and even Australasia where similar stories of a
terrible flood in the distant past became absorbed into their culture and
folklore.
7
And
the LORD said,
'I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the Earth; both man and
beast, abd the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me
that I have made them. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD
The central
figure of the story, Noah (Or Nõe) was a man who stood alone in a world gone
mad, a man of such great personal integrity that he is revered by writers of the
New Testament (cf. 2 PETER Ch II:
v 5), and even Jesus Himself refers to Noah (MATTHEW
Ch XXIV
v 38) and the flood, attaching apocalyptic
significance to the account. The writer to the Hebrews lists Noah along with
other great men of faith (cf. HEBREWS Ch XI : v 7),
and it is with Noah that God establishes a covenant (GENESIS
Ch VI v 18 ) sealed with the
appearance of a rainbow in the heavens when the waters have subsided and life
can once again return to normal. Although little is known of Noah's
circumstances, it is clear that he was a farmer with an (extant) knowledge of
viticulture (cf. GENESIS Ch IX: v 20) .
15
'And
this is of the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall
be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it
thirty cubits
As to his
boat building skills one can only speculate. Presumably the Ark was built in a
manner reminiscent of wood and reed structures common to that region of the
Fertile crescent where he dwelt. (Some commentators have seen a parallel between
the Hebrew asê-gõper
(gopher wood) with the Akkadian gubru (shepherd's
[reed ] hut).
6
'a
window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above;
and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof. With lower, second
and third stories shalt thou make it.
There is
some confusion over some of the Hebrew terms used in the scriptures, and Bible
scholars have spent centuries puzzling over them. For instance the word sõhár
is translated as 'window', although it is more accurately applicable to some
sort of opening for light running the length of the roof.
The
Hebrew word for ark, têba probably
derives from the Egyptian db’t,
meaning ‘coffin’ or ‘chest’: since Moses was educated in Egypt, it is a
fair bet that he would also use the Egyptian cubit as a unit of measure. Hence
the ark as described in Genesis 6 would have measured some 450 feet in length
assuming the cubit to be the same as the Egyptian cubit of 18 ½ inches. (Some
commentators have suggested that such colossal dimensions for a prehistoric
ocean going vessel are excessive, since nothing that size would be constructed
again until the early nineteenth century AD, suggesting that the word cubit (Amman)
should be better read as span ( zereth),
a Hebrew measure of some nine inches, giving an overall length of perhaps 240
feet.) It was constructed of a framework of gopher wood (Hebrew asê-goper
), presumably a resinous hardwood (Some have suggested cypress: Greek kyparissos
: kyparyssos
),
bound together with reeds (Hebrew qinnîm)
and sealed with bitumen ( Hebrew kôþer )
an oily slime derived from natural petroleum oozes. All these raw
materials would have been available to Noah, a native of Anatolia, during the
120 years it took to construct the ark (cf Genesis
6. v.3). The construction of the ark would have involved the use of a
skeletal wooden structure comprising struts and cross beams, probably utilising
a matrix of reeds and natural tar.
Although
the Ark has been a favourite of artists from Byzantium onwards, (illustrated
left, a carving from the Venetian Cathedral in Gozo
(photograph
© Fulton Picture Library)) the craft itself has usually been depicted with a high rounded hull with
projecting keel (below; a
traditional painting of the ark under construction (picture
from 'Noah's Ark Project' website)) implying the ark had some sort of
forward momentum and steering capability (Which is not mentioned in the Genesis
account: Many theologians have pointed out that one of the key features
missing from the blueprint for the ark was a rudder). Such a design is not
practicable and prone to capsizing: The ark in the Biblical account resembled a
traditional river going barge that typically plied the Euphrates and Tigris
during the third millennium BC, although on an altogether more gargantuan scale.
The three storey construction implies some sort of segregation of the inmates,
while the practical aspects included a door (Hebrew petah:
literally opening) in the side and a window (Hebrew çõhar
) for light and (very importantly!) ventilation, running the length of the
vessel. The ark was not designed for aesthetics: rather it was a functional,
practical craft, capable of withstanding the terrific buffeting, torrential
rains and mountainous waves that were to prevail over the earth for one hundred
and fifty days (cf Genesis VII:
v24)
Mount
Ararat in Turkey with appropriate rainbow. This is a view of the mountain
looking east toward the greater of the two peaks.
(picture
from 'Noah's Ark Project' Website)
