After the Great Flood, which took place about 7,000 years ago, the questions on where the Noah's Ark is and from where Prophet Noah and his companions spread throughout the earth continues to occupy the world agenda from time to time.

Although many researches have so far been done on this issue, it is not definitively proven where Noah's ship is.

Noah's Ark in the Holy Quran

The Qur'an contains verses about the people of the Prophet Noah and the Great Flood (the Deluge) that occurred, although there is no clear statement about the Noah's Ark whereabouts.

The Qur'an states: "And it was revealed to Noah that, 'No one will believe from your people except those who have already believed, so do not be distressed by what they have been doing.

And construct the ship under Our observation and Our inspiration and do not address Me concerning those who have wronged; indeed, they are [to be] drowned.'

And he constructed the ship, and whenever an assembly of the eminent of his people passed by him, they ridiculed him. He said, 'If you ridicule us, then we will ridicule you just as you ridicule.

And you are going to know who will get a punishment that will disgrace him [on earth] and upon whom will descend an enduring punishment [in the Hereafter]'.

 [So it was], until when Our command came and the oven overflowed, We said, 'Load upon the ship of each [creature] two mates and your family, except those about whom the word has preceded, and [include] whoever has believed'. But none had believed with him, except a few.'

And [Noah] said, 'Embark therein; in the name of Allah is its course and its anchorage. Indeed, my Lord is Forgiving and Merciful.'

And it sailed with them through waves like mountains, and Noah called to his son who was apart [from them], 'O my son, come aboard with us and be not with the disbelievers.'

[But] he said, "I will take refuge on a mountain to protect me from the water." [Noah] said, 'There is no protector today from the decree of Allah, except for whom He gives mercy.' And the waves came between them, and he was among the drowned. 

And it was said, 'O earth, swallow your water, and O sky, withhold [your rain]." And the water subsided, and the matter was accomplished, and the ship came to rest on the [mountain of] Judiyy. And it was said, 'Away with the wrongdoing people.'" (Hud Surah, 36-44)

As seen above, the Qur'an names Judi as the final resting place of the Noah's Ark

The opinions of the commentators of the Holy Quran

In the Qur'an, it is not clear whether the name Judi is the name of a mountain or the name given to a region.

Some the commentators of the Holy Quran state that this verse of the Qur'an refers to the mountain of Judi, which is located within the borders of the province of Şırnak, while others, state that the name of Judi is mentioned only in the Qur'an and that it may also mean a high mountain or fertile land.

The medieval scholar Abul al-Hasan Ali ibni al-Husayn Masudi (died 936) that Allah commanded the Earth to absorb the water, and certain portions which were slow in obeying received salt water in punishment and so became dry and arid. The water, which was not absorbed, formed the seas, so that the waters of the flood still exist.  Masudi says that the ark began its voyage at Kufa in central Iraq and sailed to Mecca, circling the Kaaba before finally traveling to Mount Judi, which surah 11:44 states was its final resting place. This mountain is identified by tradition with a hill near the town of Jazirat ibn Umar on the east bank of the Tigris in the province of Mosul in northern Iraq, and Masudi says that the spot could be seen in his time.

The Mountains of Ararat in the Torah and the Bible 

In the Book of Genesis, the mountains of Ararat  is the term used to designate the region in which Noah's Ark comes to rest after the Deluge (Great Flood). It corresponds to ancient Assyrian Urartu, an exonym for the Kingdom of Van.

Sir Walter Raleigh devotes several chapters of his Historie of The World (1614) to an argument that in ancient times the mountains of Ararat were understood to include not only those of Armenia, but also all of the taller mountain ranges extending into Asia.. He maintains that since Armenia is not actually located east of Shinar, the ark must have landed somewhere in the Orient.

The Durupınar Site

According to local reports, heavy rains combined with three earthquakes exposed the formation from the surrounding mud on May 19, 1948. A Kurdish shepherd named Reshit Sarihan discovered it. It was subsequently identified by Turkish Army Captain İlhan Durupınar — for whom it was subsequently named — in a Turkish Air Force aerial photo while on a mapping mission for NATO in October 1959. After Durupınar informed the Turkish government of his discovery, Turkish General Staff immediately assigned photographer Ara Güler to shoot the place in the shape of a ship and sent him to the Doğubayazıt district of Ağrı. When Ara Guler shares the photos that he took with the Turkish General Staff and Times Magazine, the Telceker region of Ağrı got attention from all over the World.

In the 1980s, American archaeologist Jhon Waiht came and did research. He used the Radar imaging system to indicate the shipwreck there is a ship there. Finally, New Zealander John Larsen and American archaeologist Andrew shot 3-D radar images of this area.

They stated that there is an ancient shipwreck in the village of Telçeker but it is too early to say that this ship is the Noah' Ark, urging the state of the Republic of Turkey, especially the universities to get involved in this issue and to do more detailed research.

ILKHA's interviews with researchers and authors involved in various studies on this subject show that the most concrete data about the Prophet Noah's Ark is in the region of Ağrı province, but the region is in need of serious research.

How did the shipwreck get there?

Ağrı Ibrahim Çeçen University Vice-Chancellor Prof. Dr. Faruk Kaya said that 3-D radar measurements made in the region of Telçeker showed there was a shipwreck but it was too early to say it was the Noah's Ark.

"If this ship is not Noah's Ark, how did a ship of this size come to this place?" he asked.

The author Erkan Kösedağ stated that not only historians, but also researchers from all fields such as theology, geophysicists and geographers made extensive studies on this subject.

Erkan Kösedag, who serves as the Deputy Director of the Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism in Ağrı province, authored the book titled " The Discovery of the Century: the Noah's Ark", compiling the studies on the Durupınar site that is supposed to be the shipwreck of the Prophet Noah's Ark.

"Can we say this is the shipwreck of Noah's Ark? We cannot say. But no one has the right to say it's not," Kösedağ said.

The earthquake that revealed the shipwreck

Reminding that the earthquake took place in 1945 has emerged the shipwreck, Kösedağ noted that the discovery of the site sparked excitement in Ankara at that time and added: "The site is in the village of Telçeker in Doğubayazıt district. It is 13 kilometers from the Gürbulak border crossing. The village had an earthquake in 1945. Before the earthquake, the site was flat land. After the earthquake, the shipwreck emerged."

"There is a term called Ararat Mountains in the scriptures. Interestingly, the size of the Durupınar site is the same the measurements are given about Noah's Ark in the Torah as. The Ark of the Prophet Noah is mentioned in all Holy Scriptures.  The Great Flood is a reality," he stated.

Initial researches on the site

Underlining that the studies on the shipwreck is ongoing, Kösedağ said: "There have been requests for conducting researches on this site. One of these researches was the one carried out by the delegation that included Ilhan Durupinar at the time. Professor Salih Bayraktutan conducted first scientific research in Turkey in cooperation with Erzurum Atatürk University in 1984.

After that research, the site was declared as a protected area. Inspired by the name of the first discoverer, the name of the area became "Durupınar site."

The meaning of Judi

Kösedağ gave the following information about the term Judi mentioned in the Qur'an regarding the place where the Noah's Ark was placed: "It is wrote in the Qur'an that the place where the Noah's Ark stood is Judi. Judi means a high mountain and fertile land. Nobody knows what the geography here was like about 9 thousand years ago. The other slope of Mount Ağrı is Iğdır and Iğdır province is a region with micro-air conditioning features. It has also fertile lands."

The residents of the village of Telçeker

Zafer Önay, one of the residents of the village of Telçeker, where the shipwreck was found, said: "I am from Doğubayazıt, for nearly 30 years I have been helping guests who come to the site of the remains of the Prophet Noah's Ark. I know this area very well. I have known thousands of foreigners who have come here in 30 years. Many people want to do research on this site. Some people are coming here for religious reasons. We are trying to help as much as we can. I have seen people from America, Norway and different Europe, coming and crying here. Because they believe this is Noah's Ark. When I first saw this place, I was 13 years old, and the people who came here were asking me some questions about the site. I could not tell them anything about this place because I did not speak their language. Therefore, I started learning English. After that, I started doing local guide. I have seen a tourist come and visit here dozens of times.

The measurements of the shipwreck and the measurements given in the sources about the Prophet Noah's Ark coincide with each other

Emphasizing that the Qur'an, the Torah and the Bible do not contradict each other as to the whereabouts of Noah's Ark, Professor Faruk Kaya, Ağrı Ibrahim Çeçen University Vice-Chancellor, said that they held 5 international symposiums in the university in order to investigate and clarify this issue.

Reminding that 3-D images of the site were taken with the radar imaging system, and a shipwreck was found here,  Faruk Kaya stated that the measurements of the shipwreck in this area and the measurements of the Prophet Noah's Ark mentioned in the holy scriptures coincided with each other.

"While the term 'Harri Ararat' is used in the Bible, the term Judi is used in the Qur'an. It is stated that the Great Flood took place in the Mesopotamian region where people first established civilization, especially in an area between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. Turkey is also located within this region," Kaya said.

The first climb to Mount Ararat

Drawing attention to the climbs made to Mount Ağrı, Kaya said: "For the first time, the naturalist, physicist Friedrich Parrot and his team climbed Mount Ağrı in 1829. Since then, various climbs have taken place to Mount Ağrı. These climbs are made for religious purposes as well as scientific purposes. In other words, the scientists who come here have religious identities as well as scientific identities. Because of these statements about Mount Ağrı in the Bible, the efforts to find Noah's Ark have been continued."

"The site is seriously on the agenda of the world"

Quoting the scientists as saying there are six places where the ship is likely to be found, professor Kaya added: " The scientific studies about Noah's Ark continues today. Six places where Noah Ark is likely to be found are; Mount Ararat, Mount Cudi, Mount Nemrut, the village of Telçeker, where the Durupınar site is located in Doğubayazıt district and two other places in the Black Sea region. Of course, two of them are currently located in the province of Ağrı."

"As Ağrı Ibrahim Çeçen University, we held 5 international symposiums."

"As Ağrı Ibrahim Çeçen University, we have held five international symposiums on this subject 'Mount Ararat and Noah's Ark Symposium'. In each of our symposium, this topic was examined in detail. Scientists from different international countries such as the United States, Denmark, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands presented their scientific data on this topic. The focus of all this data is Mount Ararat. Mount Ararat is the most likely place to find Noah's Ark.

"There's definitely a shipwreck here"

Stating that as part of the researches, 3-D image of the bottom of the wreckage area was taken and there is certainly evidence that there was a ship, Kaya continued: "The first research on the region in the Durupınar Site, discovered in 1960, was conducted in 1985 by a group of researchers from the United States, headed by an academic at Atatürk University, and the result of the research was explained that it could be a ship's hull.

In the 1980s, American archaeologist Jhon Waiht came and did research. He used the Radar imaging system to indicate that there is a ship there. Finally, New Zealander John Larsen and American archaeologist Andrev are taking 3-D radar images of this area.

In their articles and research results, it is stated that there is an ancient shipwreck in the village of Telçeker but it is too early to say that this ship is the Noah' Ark, urging the state of the Republic of Turkey, especially the universities to get involved in this issue and to do more detailed research."

"The site should be protected"

 "Although this place has been protected by the Ministry of Culture and tourism, we have doubts that it is now seriously protected. Precautions must be taken to prevent this area from being affected by landslides," Kaya warned.

"The site could be a popular tourist destination on the World"

When the American Walt Disney heard about this discovery, he wrote a letter to Ilhan Durupinar, who made the discovery, and saying, 'I am the one who built Disney Land Parks. I want to invest $ 50 million the site'. Nevertheless, he cannot make the investment because it coincides with the period of the military coup in Turkey in 1960. Today, Turkey's social economic situation is much better than 1960. If we promote the site all over the World, many companies like Walt Disney will come and invest here. As a result, Ağrı province could become the center of attraction of the World.

Provincial Mufti Tandogan Topçu's views on the subject

Provincial Mufti Tandogan Topçu, who gave his views on the subject to ILKHA, also talked about the facts mentioned in the Qur'an on the Great Flood.

Underlining that where Noah's Ark stood was important, however it is more important to focus on the cause of the Great Flood and to take lessons from the incident, Topçu said: "According to some narrations, the Great Flood took place 4 thousand 115 years ago and according to other narrations 7-8 thousand years ago. The Qur'an gives a wide scope to this issue. In Hud surah, the Great Flood is widely described in various verses. Also in Noah surah, Allah explains the causes of this calamity. Noah's mission was to warn his people, who were plunged in depravity and sin. God charged Noah with the duty of preaching to his people, advising them to abandon idolatry, to worship only God, and to live good and pure lives. Although he preached the Message of God with zeal, his people refused to mend their ways. God commanded Noah to build a ship, the Ark, and as he was building it, the chieftains passed him and mocked him. Upon its completion, the ship is said to be loaded with pairs of every animal, and Noah's household, and a group of believers who did submit to God. The people who denied the message of Noah, including one of his own sons, drowned."

Where did the ship land?

Referring to what the Qur'an says about where Noah Ark landed, Topçu stated: "In the Holy Qur'an Allah says, 'And it was said, 'O earth, swallow your water, and O sky, withhold [your rain]. And the water subsided, and the matter was accomplished, and the ship came to rest on the [mountain of] Judiyy. And it was said, 'Away with the wrongdoing people'.

As can be seen, according to the Qur'an, the final resting place of the vessel was called Judi, without the word mountain. However, the use of Arabic definite letter Al in front of word Judi in the Quran signifies that it is pointing to a definite place (or mountain, in this case). Had it been referring to a general height, it would have been just Judi, not Al-Judi. (ILKHA)