Noah's Ark set out from Hadramout?
More speculation reguarding the famous story by a Yemini journalist
An article in the Yemen Times proposes that Noah's Ark began in the Hadramout mountains and ended at Mount Ararat using evidence from the Qu'ran and personal observation
There was an extraordinary article in the Yemen Times by Aref Saleh Al-Tawi which proposed that Noah's Ark (which is retold in the Qu'ran surah 11) ended it's voyage at Mount Ararat, in Turkey, while it began it's journey in the Hadramout mountains in Yemen.
The article begins by saying "Noah's Ark was discovered...on Mt. Ararat" in 1948, but says immediately afterwards that "archaeological teams are still searching for the Ark," and after mentioning Google Earth, Al-Tawi concludes that the Ark has not been found yet. The first claim is most likely referring to what's called the Durupinar site on Mt. Ararat. This site has been dismissed by the scientific community as a natural formation, but the site remains of interest to those who take the Bible literally, since the Bible says the Ark came to rest on Mt. Ararat.
The article goes on to quote two passages from the Qu'ran, one from the 29th sura ("The Spider") and the other from the 54th ("The Moon"). After a number of incredible non-sequitors and off-topic elaborations draws the conclusion that the Ark set off from the mountains of Hadramount.
Al-Tawi justifies this by quoting yet another Qu'ran verse, this time from the 71st sura ("Noah", or "Nuh"), which says "Allah has made Earth flat for your sake." Using Google Earth, Al-Tawi says that Hadramount has "large and smooth mountains, making it possible for the ship to anchor." And he rounds out this astonishingly confusing article by saying "Other verses from the Qu'ran provide us with clear-cut evidence that Noah lived in Hadramout valley."
The fault of this article, which for some reason was published in a widely-read newspaper, is not that it attempts to factualize mythology. That is done all the time. The fact that the article is written so badly that , and it's train of logic so mangled that you wonder whether the editors were awake on Monday is not what's wrong with this article.
No, the real fault of this article is that it presents an extraordinary claim while providing no extraordinary evidence. No matter how many times anyone claims to have a "clear-cut" case for anything, the evidence presented must be sufficient for the claims made.
People have made claims about Noah's Ark being found for centuries. It's still being looked for by the likes of Bob Cornuke, who claimed two years ago to finding the remains of Noah's Ark near Takht-i-Suleiman in Iran (in the Alborz mountain range). Again, his findings have been disputed.
Of course, most searches for the Ark focus on where it landed, not where it began. And Al-Tawi's central argument is that the Ark started in Hadramout because the valley has smooth and flat mountains, "making it possible for the ship to anchor." There is also lots of smooth and flat land elsewhere, even in the near east.
So, Mr. Al-Tawi, if you're reading this: Here's a phrase that you and others could take the heart the next time you try this: Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.
