In Eastern Turkey, on the Anatolian coast, not far from the borders with Iran and Armenia stands covered with eternal snows of the mountain. Its height above sea level is only 5165 meters, which does not allow her to be in the range of the highest mountains of the world, but it is one of the most famous peaks of the Earth. The name of this mountain - Ararat.

In the clear air of early morning, before the clouds will close the top, and at dusk, when the clouds go, opening up the mountain, emerging on the background of the evening pink or purple sky in front of a crowd of people, many are looking at high up on the mountain shape of the giant ship...

Mount Ararat, on top of which must be Noah's ark is mentioned in the religious traditions of the Babylonian Kingdom and the Sumerian state, in which instead of Noah were given the name Ut-Napishtim. In Islamic legends also immortalized Noah (Arabic Nuh) and its huge ark-ship, but again without at least a rough indication of its Parking lot in the mountains, which are called al-Jude (top), they are and Ararat, and two other mountains in the Middle East. The Bible presents us with an approximate information about the whereabouts of the ark: "...the ark rested upon the mountains of Ararat". Travelers for centuries who travels by caravan in Central Asia or the back, repeatedly passed near Ararat and then told that he saw the ark near the top of the mountain, or mysteriously hinted at his intention to find this ship is the ark. They even claimed that from the wreckage of the ark was made amulets for protection from diseases, disasters, poisons and unrequited love.

Beginning about 1800 group of gorovoskhozhdeniya with quadrants, altimeters, and later with a camera climbed on Ararat. Genuine remnants of the huge Noah's ark these expeditions were not found, but have found a huge marbledale traces in glaciers and near the top of the mountain noticed covered by a massive ice bar formation, similar to cut man-wooden beams. More affirmed an opinion that the ark gradually slid down the side of a mountain and has broken into numerous fragments, which are now probably frozen in one of glaciers covering Ararat.

If we consider the Ararat from the surrounding valleys and foothills, that is, have a good imagination, in the folds of the mountain relief is easy to see and the case of the giant ship, and notice some elongated oval object in the depth of the gorge or not entirely clear dark rectangular spot in the ice of glaciers. However, many researchers, who claimed, especially in the last two centuries that they saw in the Ararat ship, in some cases climbed high into the mountains and were, as they claimed, in the immediate vicinity of the ark, most of which is buried under the ice.

The legend of unusually large wooden ship that survived for millennia whole civilizations, many do not seem absolutely believable. After all, wood, iron, copper, bricks and other building materials, with the exception of a huge rocky boulders, over time, destroy, and how then can be saved wooden ship on the top? This question can be answered, apparently, is the only way, because this ship was frozen in the ice of the glacier. On the top of mount Ararat in the glacier between the two peaks of mountains cold enough to keep the ship, built of thick trees, which, as mentioned in the messages that came from the depths of millennia, "tarred were thoroughly inside and out". In the reports of gorovoskhozhdeniya and pilots of aircraft on their visual observations cablemodem object that they noticed in Ararat, are always discussed the parts of the ship is covered by a shell of ice, or the traces within glacier, resembling the outline of a ship that match the dimensions of the ark, given in the Bible: "three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits the height".

Thus, it can be argued that the preservation of the ark mainly depends on climatic conditions. About every twenty years in the Ararat mountain massif was exceptionally warm periods. In addition, every year in August and beginning of September is very hot, and it is during these periods receive messages about detected on the mountain trails large ship. Now, when the ship is covered with ice, they may not be subjected to weathering and decay, as from a number of famous scientists instances of extinct animals: Siberian mammoth or saber-toothed tigers and other mammals of the Pleistocene epoch found in Alaska and Northern Canada. When extracted from ice captivity they were perfectly safe, even in the stomachs were still undigested food.

Because certain parts surface mount Ararat in the whole year covered with snow and ice seekers remnants of a large ship was not able to notice them. If this ship on the mountain all the time covered in snow and ice, the necessary broad special studies. But to hold them very difficult, for mountain peak is fraught with, in the opinion of the inhabitants of the surrounding villages, the danger to gorovoskhozhdeniya, namely, that supernatural forces are guarding Ararat from attempts of people to find Noah's ark. This "protection" is manifested in various natural disasters: avalanches, sudden falls, the strongest hurricanes in the immediate vicinity of the summit. Unexpected fog deprive climbers opportunities to navigate, so among the snow and ice fields and deep gorges they often find their graves in the icy, snow-covered bottomless cracks. In the foothills there are many poisonous snakes, often wolf pack, very dangerous wild dogs, bears, obijaysya large and small caves, where the climbers often try to arrange a halt, and, in addition, from time to time re-appear Kurdish pillaging gangs. In addition, by decision of the Turkish authorities approaches to the mountain has long been guarded by troops of gendarmerie.

Many historical evidence that in the Ararat noticed something similar on the ship belonged to those who visited the nearby villages and towns and from there admired Ararat. Other observations belong to those who are traveling with caravans to Persia, passed on the Anatolian plateau. Although many testimonies relate to ancient times and the middle Ages, some of them were present details that much later noticed and modern researchers. Beroes, Babylon the chronicler, 275 BC, wrote: "...the ship, which in Armenia fell to the ground", and, also, mentioned: "...the resin from the boat scraped and produced from it amulets". The same information is given to the Jewish chronicler Josephus, who wrote their papers in the first century after the conquest of Judea by the Romans. He presented a detailed story of Noah and the deluge and, in particular, wrote: "One part of the ship can be detected and today in Armenia there... there are people trying to enter the resin to make amulets".

In the late middle Ages one of the legends says that the resin grinded into powder, dissolved in liquid and drank this drug for protection from poisoning with poison.

Specify these and other ancient writers on this ship resin is interesting not only because obviously correspond to certain parts of the book of Genesis, but also because this huge ship was readily available after centuries after the flood, and because it gives a quite real explanation of what the wooden pillars and beams, which was built ship, well preserved under a layer of eternal ice up on the mountain.

Josephus, in his "History of Judean war" makes this interesting observation: "Armenians call this place "the pier", where the ark lay there forever, and show still preserved its parts".

Nicholas of Damascus, who wrote in the first century after Christ "Chronicles of the world", called mount baris: "...in Armenia there is a high mountain, called baris, which found the salvation of many fugitives from the flood. There on the mountain, stopped one person who has come into the ark, fragments of which have survived there for a long time." Baris was another name for mount Ararat, which in Armenia was the Masis.

One of the most famous travelers of the past Marco Polo in the last third of the XV century was passing near mount Ararat on the way to China. In his book "journey of the Venetian Marco Polo" there is overwhelming message of the ark: "...You should know that in this country Armenia on the top of a high mountain is Noah's ark, covered with eternal snow, and no one is there on top, climb, especially as the snow never melts, and new snowfalls complement the thickness of the snow cover. However, the lower layers of his podavat and formed small rivers and streams, flowing down into the valley, thoroughly moisten the surrounding countryside, which grows fat grass cover, in summer, attracts from all around the numerous herds of herbivorous animals of large and small animals."

This description of mount Ararat to this day remains relevant, except the claim that no one mountain to climb can't. The most interesting observation is that the snow and ice podavat the soil and the water flows out from under glacial ice. It is particularly important to note that the modern researchers have found in the ice cracks processed by human hands wooden beams and posts.

The German traveller Adam Olearius in the beginning of XVI century visited near Ararat and in his book "Journey to Muscovy and Persia" wrote: "the Armenians and pthe program believe that the mentioned on the mount are still fragments of the ark, which over time became hard and solid as a rock".

Note Olearius about the petrified wood is to beams that were found above the border of the forest zone and are now in the Echmiadzin monastery; they are similar to individual parts of the ark, which nowadays found French climber and Explorer Fernand Navarra and other travelers.

Franciscan monk Odera that on his travels reported to the Pope in Avignon in 1316 year saw mount Ararat and wrote about this: "the People living there, told us that nobody climbed the mountain, as it probably could not please God..." legend of the fact that God does not allow people to get on Ararat, still living. This taboo was broken only in 1829 Frenchman IF Parra, who made the first ascent to the top of the mountain. The glacier on the North-Western slopes of the mountain named in his honor. After half a century began, essentially, a competition for the right to be the first to find the remains of the ship of Noah. In 1856 "three unbeliever-foreigner" hired in Armenia two explorers and hit the road to "deny the existence of the biblical ark. Only after several years before his death, one of the conductors admitted that "to my surprise, they found the ark". At first they tried to destroy him, but they wasn't, because he was too big. Then they swore never to tell his finding, and the same was forced to make their accompanying...

In 1876 Lord Bryce at a height of 13 thousand feet (4.3 km) found and took the sample from the piece of processed logs with the length of 4 m (1.3 ft). In 1892 the archdeacon Nuri together with five accompanying watched "big wooden ship" near the top. However, his testimony remained unconfirmed.

In 1916, during the First world war, the Russian pilot Century Roskovitsky said in his report that observed on the slopes of mount Ararat with an airplane "lying big ship". Curb Russian government, despite the war, the expedition began the search. Subsequently, the direct participants argued that the goal was achieved, photographed in detail and examined. Apparently, it was the first and last official expedition to the ark. But, unfortunately, the results have been lost in Petrograd in 1917, and the territory of the Big Ararat was seized by Turkish troops...

In the summer of 1949 to the ark went at once two groups of researchers. The first, consisting of four persons, headed by retired from North Carolina, Dr. Smith, was observed on the top is just one strange vision. But the second, consisting of the French, said that "saw Noah's ark... but not on mount Ararat, and adjacent to the top Ju-Bel-Judy. There are two Turkish journalist subsequently allegedly saw a vessel of 500 x 80 x 50 ft (165 x 25 x 15 meters) with the bones of marine animals. But after three years the expedition Ricker not found anything similar.

In 1955 Fernand Navarra found among ice ancient ship, from under the ice he took an l-shaped beam and a few boards of a covering. After 14 years, he repeated his attempt with the help of the American organization "Search" and brought several boards. In the USA the radiocarbon method showed the age of the tree in 1400 years, Bordeaux and Madrid a different result - 5000 years!

After Navarro Ararat went John Libi from San Francisco, shortly before seeing the exact location of the ark in a dream, and... nothing found. Seventy years "Poor Libi," as he was called by the journalists, has made three years, seven unsuccessful climbing, during one of which he barely managed to escape from a bear hurl stones!

One of the last performed five climbs That Crotser. Returning with his trophy-Board, he cried out to the press: "Yes there is this tree 70 thousand tons, upon my head!" And again radiocarbon analysis showed the age of boards in 4000-5000 years...

The history of all expeditions (officially at least) dropped in 1974. It was then that the Turkish government, placing on the Ararat posts monitor the border, closed the area to any visits.

In parallel with "land" expeditions, the evidence of the ark come from pilots. In 1943, two American pilots during the flight above the Ararat tried from a height of several thousand meters to see something like the silhouette of a large ship. Later they, flying on the same route, took a photographer who took the picture, then got in the newspaper of the American air force "Stars & stripes".

In the summer of 1953 th American oilman George Jefferson green, flying by helicopter in the same area from a height of 30 meters made six very clear photos of a large ship, half pushed in rocks and slipping down from the mountain ledge of ice. Green subsequently failed to equip the expedition to this place, and when nine years later he died, disappeared, all originals his pictures...

In the late spring or even summer of 1960 American pilots 428 squadron tactical aviation, stationed near Adana in Turkey and which was under the auspices of NATO, noticed something marbledale construction on the Western spur of mount Ararat. On this flight, the American captain Singhammer wrote in 1981: "the Enormous cargo cart or rectangular boat in the water filled the cleft high up on the mountain, was clearly visible". Moreover, he argued that the object slowly slid down the hill and had to be stuck among the mountain cliffs and boulders.

In 1974, the American organization "Earth Research Technikal Satellite" (ERTS) was done shooting with altitude 4600 meters of mountain spurs of mount Ararat. The photographs obtained with a multiple increase was clearly presented, this unusual object lying in one of the clefts of the mountains, "very similar in shape and size on the ark. In addition, the same area was photographed from a height of 7500 8000 meters, and the images of glacial formations corresponded previously seen by pilots, who spoke about the noticed by them the ark, or other unusual object. However, neither the object, recorded from this height, even with a strong increase cannot quite confidently identified with the ark, because it is more than half hidden under the snow or in the shade of the cliff ledges.

In 1985 So Mcnellis, American entrepreneur living in Germany, visited the North-Western and North-Eastern foothills of Ararat and talked with local residents, mostly old Turkish officers educated in the military education in Germany, and the young Turks, worked in Germany in recent years. Many of them are firmly convinced that the ark is easy to find: "Go left along the edge of Aarskog abyss up the hill, then turn left again and after some time, this route will reach the ark". He explained that with the lower benches the ark is not visible because the ship, thousands of years spasovski the top of the mountain, quiet now lies beneath a thick ice cover huge glacier.

So, evidence of the existence of the ark much. But in order to become valid, it is necessary to find the ark. Maybe now, in connection with the General warming of the international climate expedition to mount Ararat will be resumed? Yet we can only hope that preserved in the ice of an ancient ship will not fall apart in anticipation of researchers...