At the end of September, members of the Cosmopoisk research association conducted an expedition to the Gelendzhik area. The main task of the expedition is to survey the coastal waters and search for the remaining remains of the ship, which could be Noah's ark.
According to the coordinator of "Cosmopoisk" Vadim Chernobrov, it is necessary to look for the legendary Noah's Ark in the Gelendzhik region of the Krasnodar Territory, since there is a mountain called Ararat here, and the Black Sea itself may correspond to the Black Lake mentioned in the Bible.
View of Mount Ararat in Gelendzhik region
In addition, in the past, a large-scale flood really took place on the Black Sea, after which it acquired its present size. It is highly probable that the ship that approached Mount Ararat could hit the sharp reefs and collapse, after which its remains sank to the bottom.
This expedition became the third in a series of events dedicated to the search for the sunken ship in the Gelendzhik region. In 1999, preliminary reconnaissance of the area was carried out to determine further directions of the search. Seven years ago, with the participation of professional divers, some areas of the bottom were examined.
At the bottom of the sea near the Betta farm, which is located at the very foot of Mount Ararat, fossilized wooden logs and structures were actually found that were clearly once built by man.
This provided material for the emergence of new versions: the organizers of the expedition suggested that the functions of the ark could be performed by a house structure floating on water, shaped like a ship, or several such buildings. During a major flood, people and animals could be saved in them, after the flood they moored to Ararat. Subsequently, such events could become the basis for the emergence of the legend of the flood.
Promotional video:
A rectangular object found at the bottom at the foot of Mount Ararat. Figure: V. Chernobrova.
Studying the finds, it should be borne in mind that this place is difficult for navigation, and shipwrecks have occurred there quite often. Therefore, at the bottom you can find the remains of both ancient and modern ships. In particular, during the last expedition, several old anchors were raised from the bottom of the sea, which were transferred to the local museum.
The expedition, which took place at the end of September 2014, was also very fruitful: fragments of an unknown wooden ship were found at the bottom. According to researchers, it was about forty meters long and 10-15 meters wide.
So far, it has not been possible to examine in detail the section of the bottom where the remains of the ship are located due to worsening weather conditions. In order to establish which era the find belongs to, further study will be required.
