ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - An international team of 20 researchers has spent more than three months searching for possible traces of Noah's Ark in the Kurdish province of Agri in eastern Turkey, collecting hundreds of soil samples for laboratory analysis, with results expected next spring.
“We had five Turkish archaeologists, and we had over 10 foreign scientists,” Andrew Jones, founder of the Noah's Ark Scans organization, told Rudaw's Shawkat Harki on Thursday.
The research began on June 28 and involved scientists from Turkey, the United States, Slovakia, Australia and Brazil. The team completed its fieldwork on September 30, sending samples to laboratories in Ankara for analysis.
Researchers used ground-penetrating radar, 3D mapping and core drilling to examine the site, where a boat-shaped geological formation has long fueled speculation about a possible connection to the biblical account of Noah's Ark.
Jones said the team used a high-resolution radar system and created a detailed 3D model and map of the area.
The researchers drilled 16 core holes - 12 inside the formation and four outside - reaching depths of up to 20 meters in some locations. They collected more than 360 soil samples, with laboratory results expected in spring 2027.
Nuri Sarihan, a local researcher involved in the project, said the team conducted radar surveys and drilling operations before sending the samples for analysis.
The site has attracted international media attention and tourists for decades because of claims that the formation could be the remains of Noah's Ark, although no conclusive scientific evidence has established such a connection.
“The formation really closely resembles a ship,” said Ismail Konur, a tourist from Germany, adding that it “suggests that a ship might have run aground here at some point.”
The 157-meter-long boat-shaped formation, known as the Durupinar formation, was identified in aerial photographs in 1959 by Turkish Army Captain Ilhan Durupinar.
Located near Mount Ararat at an elevation of approximately 6,300 feet (1,920 meters), the formation has been studied for decades by researchers seeking evidence that could link it to the biblical story of Noah's Ark.
The Noah's Ark Scans project says it uses geophysical technologies, including ground-penetrating radar, electrical resistivity tomography and LiDAR, to map the site and investigate what lies beneath the surface.
