Apr 29, 2010

Statement of Dr. Randall Price on the Alleged Discovery of Noah's Ark

Randall PriceBy Dr. Randall Price
World of the Bible Ministries

Dr. Price was the archaeologist with the Chinese team in 2008 when the alleged discovery of the structure in a cave on the southwest side of Mt. Ararat was first made. He worked with this team for a month and obtained the same photos of the inside of the wooden structure now being distributed to support the alleged discovery.

After the public announcement was made of this discovery in late April, Dr. Price issued a private communique giving his opinion concerning the discovery. This was sent exclusively to a select e-mail list of his ministry supporters and was not intended for the public. Unfortunately, this document was posted on the web without his authorization and has been widely quoted by various news sources to the effect that Dr. Price asserts the structure is a hoax perpetrated by the Kurdish guide and his partners to extort money from the Chinese evangelical Christians.

While Dr. Price does not retract his statements, he wants the public to understand that these only represent his opinion as informed by his experience with the Kurdish guide and the Chinese and other sources in eastern Turkey. However, Dr. Price is currently working with his sources in eastern Turkey to obtain such documentation. Nevertheless, his primary source cannot be exposed to media scrutiny because an untimely exposure would compromise the plans and preparations for an expedition to Mt. Ararat in which he is involved as archaeologist this summer.

Therefore, the only public statement he wishes to make at this time is that he believes that the greater the claim the greater the evidence needs to be to support it and urges the Chinese-Turkish team to make their collected samples from the structure available to scientists and scholars for comparative analysis. While he has reservations about the nature and procedure of the Chinese-Turkish expedition and the artifacts related to it, he believes that a decision concerning this matter must wait until independent examinations of the site and the structure can be made and published.


Related Links


Latest Noah's Ark 'just wood planted on Ararat' - WorldNetDaily
Is the latest Noah’s Ark discovery a fake? - Toronto Star
Would the discovery of Noah's Ark be important? - GotQuestions.org
Genesis Flood - John Clement Whitcomb (Book)
'Noah's Ark' discovery claim on Turkey's Mount Ararat sparks excitement; experts remain skeptical - New York Daily News
The Stones Cry Out: What Archaeology Reveals About the Truth of the Bible - Randall Price (Book)