Gary A. Byers
After 20 years of research, a modern-day explorer recently made an adventurous solo incursion into remote southeastern Turkey searching for the facts and remains of Noah and his Ark. Reminiscent of a 19th century explorer, Dr. Charles Willis traversed a region kept in turmoil by renegade local terrorist groups. Here Willis believes he located and photographed for the first time the tomb of Noah.
A veteran explorer to the region and a neuropsy chiatrist by trade, Willis has led four expeditions up Mt. Ararat, the traditional site of the landing of Noah’s Ark. Yet, the results of his investigation on that mountain, as well as years of research into historical sources, suggested to him that Ararat is not the mountain of Noah or the Ark.
Willis with his team at Mt. Ararat, where his investigation with radar, ice drill and trenching operations produced no evidence.
Furthermore, Willis does not believe the Ark is even intact. Noting the great time period since the event, the harsh topography, geology and meteorology of the region, and the Ark being a natural source of building material for generations, Willis does not expect to find any major portions still intact. Furthermore, despite all the reports of sightings, none have been substantiated by later exploration/investigation. “Those who continue to look for the Ark on Ararat are looking in the wrong place for the wrong thing,” Willis said.
His research suggests the mountain known today as Mt. Cudi is the best candidate for the Ark landing and the subsequent settlement of Noah and his family. Here, too, he believes Noah died and was buried. Called by different names over the years, including Mt. Ararat, Mt. Judi, Mt. Nisir, Mt. Nipir and Mt. Lubar, it is neither as high as Ararat nor as snow covered and treacherous most of the year. It was on this mountain’s Ark plateau in 1953, a few miles from the
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site Willis believes is Noah’s tomb, that German professor Friedrich Bender discovered pieces of wood he believed came from Noah’s Ark. The samples carbon-dated to 4500 BC.
Facade of Noah’s tomb on Mt Cudi in southeast Turkey, according to Dr. Charles Willis.
The Ark is not the real focus of Willis’ exploration. Evidence of Noah and his family in their post-Flood community is where Willis is concentrating. The structure he is looking for is the tomb of Father Noah, as Willis likes to refer to the ancient mariner. “After all,” Willis said, “the whole human race comes from Noah by way of his three sons—so he is the Father of us all.”
Modern local tradition places the grave of Noah on the southern slope of Mt. Cudi. In 1911, British explorer Gertrude Bell recorded the location of Noah’s tomb on the mountain. She wrote “I ought to have completed the pilgrimage by visiting his (Noah’s) grave, but it lay far down upon the southern slopes of Judi Dagh.” In addition, the ancient Book of Jubilees states “Noah slept with his fathers and was buried on Mt. Lubar in the Land of Ararat” (10:13–17). One of the region’s major cities lies just north of the mountain, Sirnak. “Sirnak,” Willis noted, comes from Sehri-Nuh or “city of Noah.”
His recent trip up Mt. Cudi included traveling alone, staying in a local village and befriending its chief, sleeping under armed guards and carrying an AK-47, a gift from the village chief, for protection. From his accommodations in the village, Willis could see the ruins of Heshton (“Village of the Eight”?), site of the first Noahic village according to local tradition. The site identified as Noah’s tomb is in a solitary location on a gentle slope of the mountain’s south side. It is overgrown and undisturbed. Cut out of solid rock as a horizontal cave, it has a facade of built stone.
Inside the tomb, Willis believes he may find texts from the early post-Flood period. But his real hope is to find some antedeluvian written material. “I know that most scholars do not believe that man wrote that early, but there are ancient references to pre-Flood texts,” he said. “It seems reasonable Noah would have taken into the Ark any pre-Flood archives available to him. That would be the real find from Noah’s Ark.”
In conjunction with the Ancient World Foundation, Willis intends to mount a multidisciplinary campaign to the site of Noah’s tomb in the near future. He hopes his team of geologists, archaeologists, anthropologists and linguists will be able to study the area, excavate the tomb, examine remains and decipher ancient texts.
For further information: Dr. Charles D. Willis, Ancient World Foundation, P.O. Box 3118, Pinedale CA 93650.
Bibliography
Bell, G. L.
1911 Amurath to Amurath. New York.
Bender, F.
1956 Kosmos 52: 149–55.