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This production will not only be what he filmed at the site and surrounding territory, but will include interviews with Ark experts from all over the world, the producer said.
Before Wiles got to Turkey, he conducted an extensive Internet search for Ross Patterson of New Zealand.
Patterson had previously studied the site, and Wiles wanted to accompany him and other scientists to the controversial location.
After an extensive search, the trip was set up. Wiles and his brother, Marshall, met Patterson’s group in Istanbul, Turkey, 1,000 miles west of the Ark site.
The controversy is about the location of the remains of the Ark. Wiles pointed out that one group of scholars contend the remains are frozen in the ice at 17,000-ft. elevation on Mount Ararat. The others contend this later discovery at 6,000-ft. elevation is the petrified relic.
Wiles said the basis for this argument is scripture interpretation. Some read Genesis 8:4 in the Bible that on the 17th day of the seventh month Noah’s Ark came to rest on Mount Ararat.
Others read the same scripture as coming to rest on the mountains of Ararat. The area has many mountains.
Wiles said what is now Mount Ararat is a volcanic mountain that has erupted many times since Noah’s time.
These eruptions would have possibly destroyed the Ark. In fact, he added, some contend today’s Mount Ararat is a post-flood mountain that was not there when Noah landed.
Other arguments, Wiles pointed out, are that if the Ark landed high on the mountain, it would have been almost impossible for the animals to walk down.
A Turkish military pilot doing aerial mapping of the area discovered the lower relic in 1959, Wiles said. His pictures of the boat-shaped rock drew an expedition that studied and decided it was just a natural formation.
Wiles said that since then most that see the formation believe it is a boat.
An earthquake later in the area split the formation. Wiles said through the crack in the rock scientists have extracted petrified wood and seen room-like openings in the interior.
“The second and third decks collapsed on the first deck through the many centuries. On some of the sides there are equally spaced impressions like the ribs of a boat,” Wiles pointed out.
“Experts agree that the shape fits the Biblical dimensions for the Ark, and it is a boat.”
Not only has the boat-shaped formation been found, but also 13 huge stones with holes in the top have been found miles apart in a line trailing the rock ship formation.
Wiles said some believe these hung deep in the water under the Ark to balance it in rough seas. They were cut loose as the water resided and the boat grounded.
“On the 13 stones someone has chiseled eight crosses on each stone," says Wiles, explaining that scholars believe the crosses were cut on the stones by early Christians who knew the relationship of the eight people on the Ark to Christians.
“A similar stone has been excavated and it does not have the crosses. Carved in this stone is a boat on top of a curl like a wave and the eight figures, four men and four women,” Wiles said.
Herdsmen live in the area villages. Wiles said, “They have ancient stories about the big boat.”
The site is close to the Iranian boarder, and Wiles said it has been dangerous at times.
Wiles hopes to go back in the spring for more research and filming and possibly take a tourist study group in the fall.
The young scientist grew up in Maryland, but is a graduate of Tarleton University.
More details on the find may be found on the Internet at www.TheQuestForBibleTreasures.com.
Burl McClellan may be reached at (817) 573-7066 or burl@hcnews.com
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