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Loading... View from the Ark: David Fasold and Noah’s Arkby Diana Prince
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About the Book View from the Ark is a groundbreaking book documenting the work of American researcher, David Fasold, and what is today believed to be the authentic site of Noah's Ark. Fasold's extensive scientific work was the basis for the Turkish government's official and only declaration that Noah's Ark has been found. The site lies in the mountains of Ararat, near the Turkish village of Dogubayazit. This area is now designated as a national park, and the ark site designated in the Turkish as "Nuhun Gemisi" is now a national treasure. Fasold was formerly with the United States Merchant Marines and had traveled the world. He later spent years operating a successful salvaging business in Florida exploring sunken ships and aircraft and was a close friend of the legendary Mel Fisher. Fasold brought his comprehensive nautical skills and understanding of fluid dynamics together with his knowledge of ancient cultures. He then used new technology to answer old questions. He used a molecular frequency generator, and later, ground-penetrating radar, a technology formerly used in projects by NASA. But it was his keen ability to put the pieces together into a coherent whole that brought his work to the attention of the world. Recognized by Turkey's High Commission for Noah's Ark, and under the direction of Dr. Salye Baraktutan of Ataturk University in Erzerum, Turkey, Fasold was the only non-Turkish person ever allowed to sit as a member of the commission. No library descriptions found. |
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Wikipedia in English
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First, this book is basically just a poor, pitiful rehash of David Fasold's own The Ark of Noah from 1988. I would recommend that you buy that book, which you can still get real cheap on Amazon. The author here, Diana Prince, seems to have known Fasold, been to Turkey with Fasold, and taken some good photographs (which is why the book gets one star), but the text is a sloppy mess. And I don't get the feeling she was an intimate friend or colleague of Fasold's, like, say, June Dawes was (see Noah’s Ark: Adrift in Dark Waters). For instance, I don't believe that Fasold ever "led a dig in Cave 11 at the Qumran site in Israel" (p. 2). Besides such a dubious fact, the text offers nothing new to Fasold's story or the Durupınar site.
Second, the lack of editing and, it seems, common historical knowledge of the ancient period or biblical archaeology. Take these gems:
Page 9: "But Ninevah in ancient times was part of the great kingdom of Urartu which covered what later came to be known as Armenia."
Well, I think she meant Nineveh. And Nineveh was the capital of Assyria, and never was in the kingdom of Urartu. (Urartu=Ararat=Armenia area.)
Then, pages 90-91: "Fasold was fascinated with the ancient kingdom of Urartu, which the Biblical scholars spoke of as the Land of Ur. Urartu was the origin of the Chaldeans and today's Kurdish descendants. Urartu... is mentioned in many parts of the Bible in accounts of the Assyrians and the Hitites."
Well, Urartu is equated to Ur by nobody. And I think she meant Hittites. Now, Fasold does go on an extended discussion in his own book where he thinks the "Ur of the Chaldees" where Abraham (Abram) was born was not the Ur of Sumer in the south, but an Ur in the north: Uṙha or Şanlıurfa in present-day Turkey, the Edessa of the classical era and middle ages. This must be what she is muddling.
Finally, this final great gem from page 91: "In the late 1920's, British Archaeologist, Sir Leonard Woolley made a curious, but amazing find while excavating in the ancient city of Ur (also called Ninevah), part of the ancient kingdom of Urartu. [...] Woolley is best known for excavating the massive library of cuneiform tablets collected at Ur by the Assyrian King Assurbanipal."
So much going on here. Ur has never been called or confused with "Ninevah" (or Nineveh). By anybody. Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian Empire in the far north of present-day Iraq on the Tigris. Ur was a Sumerian city then on the coast near the mouth of the Euphrates, in the far south of present-day Iraq. Neither Ur or "Ninevah" or Nineveh were ever part of Urartu. As far as I know, C. Leonard Woolley never excavated at "Ninevah" or Nineveh. The Royal Library of Ashurbanipal was excavated by Austen Henry Layard in 1851 (Woolley was born in 1880) in Nineveh. Not "Ninevah," much less Ur.
Such egregious errors make you doubt any other statement Prince makes. The book is then suspect. Some of the pictures are nifty, and in color (which is why the book gets one star), but you can find similar images online. No bibliography. No footnotes or other citations. No index.
Steer clear. Buy Fasold's The Ark of Noah instead. (