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Finders of the Lost Ark?

Why some amateurs are stirring up dust and little else.

The late Ron Wyatt, a self-styled amateur archaeologist, claimed to have found Noah's Ark, the Ark of the Covenant, and the original stones of the Ten Commandments. Indiana Jones should have been so lucky. However, none of Wyatt's discoveries were ever independently verified.

A number of explorers have laid claim to discovering Noah's Ark, usually on or near Mount Ararat in Turkey. But each always finds something different. Obviously, logic dictates that they can't all be right—and most must be wrong. Churches and Christian conferences have hosted speakers who tell fantastic tales—in fact, too fantastic. Time after time we have realized that their discoveries have as much historical value as The Da Vinci Code. As much as we would like to believe them, their claims remain speculative and unproven.

Meanwhile, trained archaeologists who haven't harnessed themselves to a publicity machine get ignored because real archaeology can be tedious. Like real life. Yet more importantly, the work these archaeologists do helps us better understand the Bible and the biblical world.

Archaeology in search of a headline, or even archaeology that's too eager to "prove the Bible," is prone to sensationalism and error. It's too much like the treasure hunting that characterized 19th-century explorers who lacked the tools of modern science and relied on observation and supposition.

Since then we've benefited from over a century's worth of scientific innovation in archaeology. The most important development was a chronology keyed to the changing styles of pottery production. Later came tools such as stratigraphic analysis, radiocarbon dating, and ground-penetrating radar.

Better tools have led to more accurate archaeology, but also to the realization ...

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From Issue:
May 2008, Vol. 52, No. 5
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Comments

Displaying 1–3 of 15 comments

Maria Flanagan

October 31, 2012  9:58am

I can believe that Noah's ark is still on the earth and that the timber would probably be petrified. But it's no use looking for the ark of the covenant. It's not on this earth: Revelation 11:19 "Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant." (NIV).

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George

May 12, 2008  11:40am

Great story. Wow, is there anything ground penetrating radar cant do? http://www.southernradarimaging.com/ground-penetrating-radar/

M P Cady

May 06, 2008  7:09pm

What about Ron Wyatt's findings in the Red Sea? This sounds like a smear campaign.

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