Free 02 The Secret on Ararat by Tim Lahaye

Constantinople. Mount Ararat is also known as Agri Daugh, which means
painful mountain
. Most scholars believe that the writers were all referring to the same general area, calling it by the only names they knew at the time.”
    Paul looked a little disappointed, as if the question had been designed purely to needle Murphy and it hadn’t worked.
    Another hand went up in the back. It was Clayton Anderson, the class clown.
    “Professor Murphy? What did Noah say to his sons while all the animals were entering the ark?”
    Murphy could tell he was being set up.
    “I give up, Clayton. What did he say?”
    “Now I herd everything.”
    Some of the class laughed, most groaned, and more hands shot in the air.
    “Terry!” said Murphy as he pointed to a tall thin student.
    “Professor Murphy? What did Noah say to his sons when they wanted to go fishing?”
    “What, Terry?”
    “Go easy with the bait, boys—there’s only two worms!”
    Murphy didn’t mind a little humor, but he didn’t want to lose control totally.
    “One more question. Pam, you’re the last one.”
    “Was Noah’s wife called Joan of Ark?”
    Murphy raised both of his hands to quiet everyone down.
    “The short answer, Pam, is no. But if you’re interested in who Noah’s wife really was, I think I can answer that. In the fourth chapter of Genesis there is the story of Cain and Abel. Cain had a son by the name of Enoch. Some Jewish scholars believe that Cain was the inventor of weights and measures and some types of surveying equipment. They believe that because of a great city he built and named after his son Enoch. Enoch had a number of sons and one of them was Lamech.”
    Murphy could see from the blank faces in front of him that he needed to get to his conclusion fast.
    “Okay, hang on! Lamech had three sons: Jabal, known as the father of those who live in tents and deal with animals; Jubal, the father of musicians, and Tubal-cain, the father of all metallurgy. Tubal-cain had a sister by the name of Naamah, which means
beautiful
. Many ancient Jewish scholars believe that Naamah became Noah’s wife.”
    It seemed like a good time to use the PowerPoint again. Murphy waited a moment or two and then turned on the projector.
    “We left off looking at historical documents concerning Noah and the ark. The next slide gives you a list of a few other authors who have talked about the ark and its location.”
    Other Historical Authors Writing About
Noah and the Ark

Hieronymus—30 B.C.
The Quran— A.D. 7th century
Eutyches— A.D. 9th century
William of Rubruck— A.D. 1254
Odoric of Pordenone— A.D. 12th century
Vincent of Beauvais— A.D. 13th century
Ibn Al Mid— A.D. 13th century
Jordanus— A.D. 13th century
Pegolotti— A.D. 1340
Marco Polo— A.D. 14th century
Gonzalez De Clavijo— A.D. 1412
John Heywood— A.D. 1520
Adam Olearius— A.D. 1647
Jans Janszoon Struys— A.D. 1694
    A hand was raised in the back of the room.
    “Professor Murphy, I was told by someone that they have found pieces of the ark. Is that true?”
    Murphy took a deep breath. For a moment hethought Shari had told someone about his adventures in the Cave of the Waters and his amazing find there. But he knew she was the soul of discretion. Even under torture she would have kept his secret.
    “Well, there have been some very interesting discoveries. Mount Ararat is about seventeen thousand feet high. Most ark sightings have been somewhere between the fourteen-thousand- and sixteen-thousand-foot elevation level. In 1876, British Viscount James Bryce climbed Mount Ararat in search of the ark. He didn’t find it, but he did find wood above the thirteen-thousand-foot level. Let me quote you what he said.”
    Murphy shuffled around on his desk and came up with a piece of paper. “Bryce stated the following:
    Mounting steadily along the same ridge, I saw at a height of over thirteen thousand feet, lying on the loose rocks, a piece of wood about four feet long and five inches