And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat. - Genesis 8:4

Sofia, Bulgaria - As scientists comb the Black Sea for the remains of Noah’s Ark, a Bulgarian historian has launched an ambitious project to reconstruct the biblical vessel - complete with pairs of animals - as a tourist attraction.

The new ark will be built on the Black Sea coast near the Sunny Beach resort, some 400 kilometres east of Sofia, said Nikolai Kanchev, the historian heading the project.

“The wooden vessel will be 112 metres long, 26 metres wide and over 9 metres high, and a part of it will be under water,” Kanchev said. “Of course, there will be pairs of the different animal species chosen once by Noah.”

The site also will include an exposition of historical artifacts found in the region.
Visitors will be given a presentation of an expedition headed by National Geographic Society explorer Robert Ballard, who has been searching the inky depths of the Black Sea for the remains of the ark.

Under the supervision of Ballard, an American explorer who discovered the remains of the Titanic, a team of 19 scientists is searching for undersea evidence of human habitation in the Black Sea region before the biblical flood described in Genesis.

Some scientists theorise that a massive flood submerged an antediluvian society around the Black Sea, predating those of Egypt and Mesopotamia, 7600 years ago. The flood, they theorise, transformed a stillwater lake into the saltwater sea.

Explorers have found ancient vessels in remarkable condition in the Black Sea, whose unique oxygen-free deep water preserves wrecks without the worm damage and deterioration that normally affects wooden vessels.

The museum exposition is scheduled to open its doors in March 2003. “Troy has its Trojan Horse, Romania has Dracula - we will have our Noah’s Ark,” Kanchev said.

The original story published by: The Sunday Mail, with the title “Noah’s Ark replica to be built”

Tag: Reconstruction Of Noah’s Ark