Was Noah’s Ark Round?

The Ark Encounter features a full-size replica of Noah’s Ark.

When I attended university in Australia (many years ago!), I remember one of my professors stating that there were Babylonian stories about a flood similar to the account in the Bible. Therefore he concluded, the Jews borrowed their “story” from the Babylonians! But I say it’s really the other way round! There are flood legends in cultures all over the world because there really was an actual global Flood—Noah’s Flood. As the account of the Flood was handed down (and particularly as people spread out around the world after the Tower of Babel), it was changed by many cultures. Yet many of these legends (including the Babylonian ones) have similar elements to the Bible’s account. Because the Bible is God’s inspired Word, it gives us the true account. The other flood legends are man’s changed versions of the event called Noah’s Flood, which occurred close to 4,400 years ago!

Noah’s Ark and legends surrounding it was in the news again over the weekend. AiG writer and researcher for our Ark Encounter project (the design and construction of a full-size Ark south of Cincinnati), Tim Chaffey, has written an excellent article on this news report about this new tablet and a supposed round Ark! The article begins with these paragraphs:

But forget all those images of a long vessel with a pointy bow—the original Noah’s Ark, new research suggests, was round.” Those words highlight the AP article discussing the tablet that just went on display at the British Museum on January 24.

Over the weekend, media outlets from around the world ran a story about a “recently deciphered” tablet that bears strong resemblance to the biblical account of Noah, the Ark, and the Flood. We have been asked by many people (especially those who visit the Fox News website) to respond to yet another Ark report attempting to undermine the historicity of the Genesis account.

This recent assault on God’s Word comes from Irving Finkel, the assistant keeper of Ancient Mesopotamian script, languages, and cultures at the British Museum. According to reports, Finkel received the tablet a few years ago from the son of an amateur historian named Leonard Simmons, who had acquired it in the Middle East following World War II. The cell-phone-sized tablet is also the subject of Finkel’s new book, The Ark Before Noah.

I encourage you to read the entire article and then share it with others who have heard about the news item.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,
Ken