Durupınar Site ('Noah's Ark' boat-shaped formation)
A ship-shaped mound in eastern Turkey promoted by Ron Wyatt and recent scan teams
Found 1959 — Captain İlhan Durupınar (Turkish Army), from aerial survey photographs; investigated 1960 by an American–Turkish team; promoted by Ron Wyatt (from 1977), David Fasold and later 'Noah's Ark Scans' (Andrew Jones, 2019+)
Where Near Üzengili village, Doğubayazıt district, Ağrı Province, about 30 km south of Mount Ararat (Turkey)
Dates from Geological; claim c. 3rd millennium BCE or earlier · Natural geological formation (mudflow around a bedrock core) · The Flood and the ark's resting place (claimed)
Now at Site (Turkish national park with a visitor centre)
How Durupınar Site ('Noah's Ark' boat-shaped formation) was found
Durupınar noticed the boat outline while reviewing NATO mapping photos. A 1960 expedition dug into it and found only soil and rock. Wyatt's visits from 1977 produced claims of metal 'rivets', 'drogue stones' and ribs. In 1987 Turkey declared it a national park. Cores drilled in 1988 by Salih Bayraktutan and John Baumgardner found no ship. Ground-penetrating radar (2019), ERT surveys (2021) and soil tests (2024) by Noah's Ark Scans with Turkish universities have been claimed to show rectangular sub-surface shapes and higher organic content inside the formation.
What it is
A raised, pointed oval of earth about 157 m (515 ft) long, ringed by a rim, lying on a slope at about 2,000 m. Inside the outline are ordinary mudflow deposits over a core of limestone and basalt. Its length is close to the 300-cubit ark of Genesis, which is the heart of the claim.
Why it matters for the Bible
This is the most visited 'Noah's Ark' site and appears constantly in social media. Geologists, including Lorence Collins writing with former supporter David Fasold in 1996, showed the shape is a natural mudflow streamlined around a rock outcrop, and the 'rivets' and 'ribs' are natural rock. Creationist geologist John Morris and Answers in Genesis also reject it. The 2019–2025 scans have not been published in peer-reviewed journals; radar reflections and organic-rich soil are consistent with the geology already known. The claim is included so readers can weigh both the appeal and the evidence.
The Hebrew word: teh-VAH
תֵּבָה
תֵּבָה is pronounced teh-VAH and means ark, chest; used only for Noach's ark and Moshe's basket (Strong's H8392).
People this discovery connects to
- Noah — נֹחַ (NOH-ach) — rest, comfort
Places
- Mountains of Ararat — הָרֵי אֲרָרָט (hah-RAY ah-rah-RAHT) — the highlands of Urartu (eastern Anatolia)
Events
The ark comes to rest on the mountains of Ararat (claimed location)
Durupınar Site ('Noah's Ark' boat-shaped formation) in Scripture
Genesis 6:14 First mention of ark (Noah) in Scripture.
Genesis 6:15 The ark's length of 300 cubits; the formation's 157 m length is the main argument for the site.
Genesis 8:4 The ark rests 'on the mountains of Ararat'; the plural fits a region, which is why sites other than the summit are proposed.
Questions people ask
What is Durupınar Site ('Noah's Ark' boat-shaped formation)?
A raised, pointed oval of earth about 157 m (515 ft) long, ringed by a rim, lying on a slope at about 2,000 m. Inside the outline are ordinary mudflow deposits over a core of limestone and basalt. Its length is close to the 300-cubit ark of Genesis, which is the heart of the claim.
When was Durupınar Site ('Noah's Ark' boat-shaped formation) discovered?
It was found in 1959 by Captain İlhan Durupınar (Turkish Army), from aerial survey photographs; investigated 1960 by an American–Turkish team; promoted by Ron Wyatt (from 1977), David Fasold and later 'Noah's Ark Scans' (Andrew Jones, 2019+), at Near Üzengili village, Doğubayazıt district, Ağrı Province, about 30 km south of Mount Ararat.
Where is Durupınar Site ('Noah's Ark' boat-shaped formation) today?
Site (Turkish national park with a visitor centre).
Which Bible verses does Durupınar Site ('Noah's Ark' boat-shaped formation) relate to?
Genesis 6:14, Genesis 6:15, Genesis 8:4.
Is Durupınar Site ('Noah's Ark' boat-shaped formation) authentic?
Geologists identify a natural mudflow formation; 1960 and 1988 investigations found no ship. Recent scan claims are unpublished and contested even among creationist researchers.
Related discoveries
- אֲרָרָטMount Ararat Ark Expeditions: Navarra's Wood, the 'Anomaly' and the 2010 NAMI ClaimA century of searches on the summit ice, none confirmed
- תֵּבָהGilgamesh Flood Tablet (Tablet XI)The Babylonian flood story that shook Victorian London
- גִּבֹּרKish and Its 'Flood' DepositThe city where the King List says kingship resumed after the flood
- אֲדָמָהAtrahasis EpicCreation of humans and a flood in one Old Babylonian poem
- כֹּפֶרThe 'Ark Tablet' (Old Babylonian round-ark instructions)A palm-sized cuneiform text giving the flood hero a coracle to build
- מַבּוּלSumerian King List (Weld-Blundell Prism)Long-lived kings before the flood, and kingship after it
Sources
- Collins & Fasold, 'Bogus "Noah's Ark" from Turkey Exposed as a Common Geologic Structure', Journal of Geoscience Education 44 (1996)
- Noah's Ark Scans, 'History of the Durupınar Site'
- Jerusalem Post, 'What the GPR scans revealed about the Ararat Noah's Ark formation'
- Wikipedia: Durupınar site
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