Iran
(Dasht-e-Kavir Desert)
by Albert Groebli

Location of Noah's Ark

The Scripture says when men moved from the east they found a plain in Shinar, and then built Babylon.(Gen 11,2) That verse always troubled me because the traditional Ararat is north of Shinar. Secondly, the Ararat of Turkey is a volcano that has broken through fossilized sedimentary layers. Those layers had to be laid down during the flood and the Ararat of Turkey is a post-flood mountain. In searching for a region in the Middle East that was not of volcanic origin or did not contain fossil layers, I found the central plateau of Iran to fit my criteria primarily the Dasht-e-Kavir desert. The region was lifted straight up 2000 feet after the 150th day of the flood as the surrounding area was enclosed in higher mountain ranges as the Zagros Mts. On the 150th day of the flood the Biblical Mt. Ararat was about 900ft to 1500 ft high, the highest pre-flood mountain. The 150th day is when the ark landed on it and then the continents were split causing the fossilized layers and the mountain ranges we see today. As the surrounding mountain ranges of the Dasht-e Kavir were lifted up after the 210th day of the flood, the sediment flow from the runoff of those mountains filled in the lower regions of the Dasht-e Kavir almost covering the Bilblical Ararat. Therefore it is possible that Ararat may only be 50 to 100 ft above the basin level of the Dasht-e Kavir covered by sand dunes. My best guess to Mt. Ararat's location would be about 180 miles east of Qom, Iran.

Secondary evidence for this site.

• The oldest pottery is found in Iran west of the Dasht-e-Kavir desert.

• The oldest written language Proto-Elamite is found in Iran

• The most species of birds and lizards are found in Iran

• Grains and domestic animals originated in Iran not Turkey

• Shem's first born son Elam established Elam in Iran.

• The Cambridge History of Iran Vol.1 1968

The great central desert of Iran is the most inhospitable place in the world. Men had to move 100's of miles away from its location for lack of water. It was an inland sea after the flood but soon evaporated.

Today men look to the high mountains when searching for Ararat not realizing that on the 150th day of the flood the high mountains we see today did not exist. Presently there are no ground-penetrating satellite photos of the area I believe the Biblical Ararat is located.

To see a map and photos of the area of my interest, specifically the "Rig-e Jenn" area of the Dasht-e Kavir go to www.geocities.com/RainForest/8018/rig.html. It is Ali Parsa's web site from Iran.

Premise #2

The fountains of the deep are the pre-flood watering system of the earth. The destroyed remnant of that system can be found in geological formations called salt domes.

The ancient watering system had a natural sodium filter about 30,000+ feet below the surface of the earth. Because sea water weighs more than fresh water the pressure on the salty side of the sodium filter would push the fresh water higher than the salt water about 300+ feet. Present geology has no viable explanation for salt domes.

Secondly, what could act as a natural sodium filter? One of the minerals found in the cap of salt domes is kaolinite, a common clay. In its rare crystalline form in is like mica layered in sheets. The basal spacing between the sheets in kaolinite is large enough for water to pass but not sodium. Kaolinite crystals have hydrated forms and non-hydrated forms. The crystals found today are so small that no use has been found for them.

Iran has a great number of salt domes and its central plateau is the best example of a pre-flood geologic formation. When the flood began and the rain fell the air pressure decreased causing the fountains to act like soda bottles uncapped. After the 150th day of the flood the earths plates were cracked and shifted rapidly destroying the watering system. Slowly the concentrated salt at great depths flowed upwards creating the salt domes we see today.

Clays and Clay Technology, Bulletin 169, 1955 Pask, Joseph A. editor.

Albert Groebli - To the glory of God alone

NOTE: Bob Cornuke is another explorer interested in searching Iran for the remains of Noah's Ark, visit the Iran webpage at:
Noah's Ark Search in Iran

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