Noah had a little Ark

It's wood was like a gopher...

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cover topics like 300 royal egyptian cubits noah’s ark

6300[sic] ft alt 70s discovery… scripture is accurate

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Noah’s Relevance to this time of Year

One might argue this article seems out of place timewise, we read parshat Noach a couple months ago already, however, wintertime is quite the appropriate time. According to Rashi¹, the 40 days of rain ended on 27 Kislev.²

When Hashem first comes to Noah and instructs him to build the ark, he instructs³ him to build according to the dimensions of 300 cubits in length, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high. As is well known each letter in the Hebrew alphabet has a numerical value, in this instance since only round numbers are used each dimension is represented by a single letter:

• Length: 300 - ש (shin)

• Width: 50 - נ (nun)

• Height: 30 - ל (lamed)

One can rearrange⁴ these letters to spell the word לשן (lashon), literally meaning tongue and is also used in the classical sense to refer to language, as in lashon hakodesh – the holy tongue. This interesting parallel does not stop here, as we note the word for ark, תיבה (teivah), can also mean word. As we have seen many times before⁵, words and speech are very powerful and should not be taken lightly!

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Whats a Cubit? ...I used to know what a cubit was

The exact measure of a cubit is one that is certainly of debate. The word used in the Torah is אמה (amah) and is understood in the strictest sense to refer to the distance between the elbow and the tip of the middle finger, and hence the middle finger is often referred to as the amah. When trying to build something using this type of measure, it obviously was important that the same individual did all the measuring, otherwise this could lead to disastrous results! An approximate average measure for this distance is 1/2 a meter, but as with all good things in Judaism, 2 Jews 3 opinions! If we look at a few of the most prominent opinions⁶ on the measure we have the following:

Amah (cm)

Rav Moshe Feinstein 53.98-55.10

Rav Chaim Noeh 48-49

Chazon Ish 57.72-58.92

where the latter number is a stringent value and 1/48 larger than the smaller value. What we see is that in any event the measure is roughly 1/2 meter as I have already indicated.

According to Wikipedia⁷ the measure of the Cubit was not only in use by the ancient Hebrews, but also the Egyptians and Sumerians with a range between 44.4-52.92 cm for the cubit, and even the impressive 120 cm roman cubit. In addition⁸ to the aforementioned common cubit—which is the length from the elbow to the middle finger tip, where the English word cubit gets its origin from the Latin cubitum meaning “elbow”—exists the royal cubit, which is the common cubit plus the width of the palm of the ruling Pharaoh of the time. Talk about a confusing standard of measurement. Yet even amongst this, the early Egyptians seem to be the forerunners of calibration having made a standardized royal cubit stick carved of black granite; architects and foremen were required to check on a monthly basis all of the cubit sticks they and their employees used against the granite one. Archaeological digs have turned up cubit rods from this era measuring in at 52.2-52.9 cm. The use of these cubit rods, calibrating them against a standardized cubit rod is one of the earliest known uses of such standardization and calibration techniques.

If we apply the smallest and largest values we’ve presented above to gives us a range of what size Noah’s ark could have been. For convenience of the readers less familiar with meters and centimeters we’ve also presented in terms of feet.

Amah meter feet

Length 300 132.6—176.8 435.0—580.0

Width 50 22.1—29.5 72.5—96.7

Height 30 13.3—17.7 43.5—58.0

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Have we found Mount Ararat?

According to the Torah⁹ , the ark came to rest on Mount Ararat. This occurred on the 17th of Sivan, but it wasn’t until almost another half-year¹⁰ later, on 27 Cheshvan, that Noach and his children were able to leave the ark. According to some sources, this location is identified with the mountains on the Turkey-Armenian border.¹¹ In 1948, a Kurdish farmer discovered a formation that resembled the shape of a boat (see the image above)¹², which emerged following several earthquakes and heavy rains. This formation, referred to as the Durupinar formation, has been the subject of periodic archaeological consideration over the years. In 2021, it began undergoing a more thorough series of scientific analyses. Soil samples have yielded initial dating of 3500–5000 years, which aligns with the time frame when the great flood is believed to have occurred according to Jewish tradition.

The formation has a length¹³ of 164 meters, which places it in the middle of our range of acceptable measurements for 300 amah. Ground-penetrating radar has found shapes underneath this formation that suggest parallel lines and structures matching the dimensions described in the Torah. However, the site is still under study, and some believe it could simply be a geological formation. Some fossilized remains found in a nearby village are believed to be from the deck of the ark, but this remains speculative.

An interesting detail is that some locals refer to the site as Al Cudi, which is similar to Mount Judi, the location the Qur'an¹⁴ identifies as the resting place of Noach's ark.

At this point, nothing is certain, but several universities are continuing to study the site.¹⁵ For the average person, however, the implications are not immediately practical. If it is proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is indeed the ark, it could provide reassurance for those seeking tangible evidence of the Torah’s truth. That said, Hashem enjoins us not to require proof for the Torah, as the experience at Har Sinai (Mount Sinai) should be sufficient in itself.

It’s important to approach such discoveries with balance. While they may serve as support for those who seek evidence, we must be careful not to turn the site into a place of worship or ascribe excessive holiness to it due to its religious significance. Rather, we should focus on how any discovery enhances our relationship and service of Hashem¹⁶, a principle that applies to all of our experiences.

May we merit to see the ultimate redemption and true world peace speedily and in our days!

What is Rabbi Yitzchok Dovid Smith’s Vision
80 Billion men and women serving G-d Al-mighty with the spiritual leadership of the Jewish People and a fully built and functioning Beis HaMikdash in Yerushalayim.

1. On Genesis 7:11, 8:5 following the opinion of Talmudic Sage Rabbi Eliezer as to how to count the months. For more on the timeline see here: https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/246609/jewish/The-Story-of-Noah-and-the-Ark-in-the-Bible.htm
According to Rabbi Yehoshua’s opinion, the mountain peaks emerged on Rosh Chodesh Shevat, which is close to the time of the posting of this article. (See also the following footnote.)

2. Originally this article was written with intention of being published early in Tevet (about a month ago), however due to a number of unforeseen circumstances its publication was delayed by several weeks.

3. Genesis 6:15

4. See the YouTube video by Sara Esther Crispe for additional treatment of this topic:

5. 2 prominent such examples are:

• Prayer is Warfare:

• Words of Warfare:

6. https://halachipedia.com/index.php?title=Reference_of_Measurements_in_Halacha#Amah.2C_Tefach.2C_Etzbah

7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cubit

8. https://www.hbkworld.com/en/knowledge/resource-center/articles/egyptian-cubit#:~:text=A%20cubit%20is%20an%20ancient,Pharaoh%20ruling%20at%20the%20time.

Here is an example of one of these such cubit rods found in the Louvre’s collection:

The divisions on the cubit rod have significance, however, we will not expound here, but encourage the curious reader to check the references for further discussion on the topic.

9. Genesis 8:4

10. The total time elapsed inside amounted to 365 days, 1 solar year.

11. See Aryeh Kaplan’s the Living Torah

12. “Discovery reignites search for Noah’s Ark in Turkey’s mountains” - Jerusalem Post Staff, 23 October 2024. https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/article-825786

13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durup%C4%B1nar_site

14. Surah Hud, 11:44

15. “Noah's Ark' has been unearthed by archaeologists” Catherine Shuttleworth, 4 Dec 2024. https://www.indy100.com/science-tech/noahs-ark-discovery-archaeologists-2670305434

16. Alluding to the Ba’al Shem Tov’s teaching, that everything a person sees, hears, or experiences is meant to be a part of their avodat Hashem. This topic was addressed a few months ago: