Basic HTML Version
Duri ng World Wa r
l.
a Russia n
ai rman, W. Roskovitsky, fl ew over
Ara ra! a nd cla imed lo have sighted
so rne sort of vesse l. The Czar orga–
nized a search a nd a llegedly found
the Ark, even entered the sh ip and
found hundreds of rooms. Yet a n–
other oddi ty of fa te befe ll th is new
ev idence. On ly days a fte r the d is–
cove ry, th e Russia n gove rnment was
overthrown d uri ng th e Bolshevik
Revolut ion , a nd all records we re
presumably destroyed in the zeal to
d iscredit a ll religion.
Cumm in gs has gone to g rea t
length to esta bli sh the story's ve rac–
ity.
"l
know t he re were
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Russian
cxpediti ons," he ays. " l 've talked lo
people who had reJa ti ves in the cx–
pedi tions. Right now l'm lrying to
reach a man in Mex ico whose
mo the r was a ma id in the Czar·s
pa lace when news o f the
1916
dis–
covery was made. I've checked this
th ing ou t backwa rds a nd forwards
from many di ffe ren t vicwpo ints, but
critics say it's just ano ther big lie."
The Ararat Jinx
This "A ra ra t jinx" has appa ren tly
fo llowed anyone who acq uired evi–
dence of the Ark. In
1952
a min ing
engineer, Georgc Jcfferson G rcenc,
was fl yi ng his helicopte r over Arara t
on assig nme nt a n d reported ly
sigh ted the prow o f a shi p ju tting
from a g lacie r. He hovered a bove
the object and took pho togra phs
from as close as
90
feet. Strange ly
he never published h is pictures ,
showi ng them only to fr iends. In
1962,
he was murde red in British
Gui ana. and none of h is possess ions
were ever recovcred. a lt hough 30
witnesses adaman tly claim to have
seen t he pictures.
Then therc wa s th e
1920
deathbed confession of an 82-year–
old Armcn ian who admittcd tha t in
1856
he lcd a sma ll g roup of English
at heists lo the si te of the Ark. En–
raged , the a theists tri ed futil e ly to
destroy the ship and forced their Ar–
menian guide to swea r never lo re–
vea! the Ark's location unde r the
threat of dea lh . Yet this story too
has neve r been comple tely va li–
da ted.
Morris' favo r ite story is a bout a
man named Georgie who d ied re–
cently bu t claimed to have inadve r–
tently discovered the Ark in
1904
as
The
PLAIN TRUTH October 1976
a child. lnd ividua lly, such accounts
furn ish Ark hunters with nothing
conclusive; yet there is a cohesive
simila rity linki ng the stories
10
give
them a collective significance. "The
los t evid ence is kind of odd," Morris
admits. " ll's been so elusive . None
o f the stories a re as good as l'd like
th em
10
be. lf the re was just one, no
one would pay any a ttenlion to it.
Ye l the facl lha t the re a re so many
thal are substantia lly the same, ta lk–
in g about substa ntially the same
structure and a rea. makes it inte r–
es ting. But it's circumsta ntial evi–
dence a t bes
t.
J
t's no t firm stuff."
Cummings a lso feel s the stories'
simila rities are encouragi ng. " The
sto ries have come a l different times,
from people of different wa lks of
life, from diffe rent countri es; yet the
sto ries pre tty well coord ina te when
describing the positioning a nd con–
dition of the sh ip."
O f course, this is o f li tt le solace to
Ark hunters when tbey a re unabl e
to pursue their hypotheses on Ara–
ra t's slopes. SEARCH pla nned an
ex l e ns i ve expl o ration i n
1970,
prompting Harry Crawford, a Sev–
enth-Day Adventist and enginee r
who has climbed Ara rat more lhan
any other ma n, to describe the pro–
posed sea rch as " the most signifi–
ca n! ex pedition since lh e moo n
la nd ing."
But even a ft e r one and a hal f tons
o f equipment had been shi pped lo
Turk ey, lhe sea rc h h a d t o be
aborted because Turkish offi c ials
denied permiss ion to exp lore the
mo unta in. "One and one half tons
o f equi pment," sighs Cummings,
who has often inves ted nearly his
net wort h in expedi tions, "and it's
a ll been ruined by ra in, ra ts, a nd
mi ce. We're buy ing a ll new equip–
ment lhis year. lf we could use a
he licopte r, it would be greal, but
again we're ta lking about a re–
slric ted mi li tary zone, a nd none a re
a ll owed up there."
"The re a re so rne pos itive things,"
Morris hastens to add. "Turkey
built a road whi ch goes up Ara rat's
slopes a little way, whi ch cuts ou t a
day-and-a-ha lf of wa lk ing. The use
of a helicopte r is not lota lly ruled
out, but it would have to be a major
government decision."
It is, in fact, the T urkish govern–
ment wh ich Morris fee ls may even-
tua lly uncover Ara ra t's mystc rious
treasure.
"l
tend to think the rea lis–
tic cha nce fo r work in the near fu–
ture is fo r the Turks to do it
themselves . l f it's no t found by ou t–
side rs with in three o r four yea rs,
l
thin k they' ll go find it themselves.
" l've spent a lot of time with va ri–
ous officials in Turkey giving them
al l my resea rch. l know some aw–
fu lly good people over the re who
are involved with a rchaeologica l
work who would rea lly !ove to do it.
Cummings a nd
I
bot h have a lo t of
fri ends ove r there. Tha t doesn' t
mean th e government favors us. bu t
the re a re people lhe re who will he lp
us if they can .
" R ea li stically,
I
lhink lh e ideal
sea rch will be Turkish organized
and ma nned with pe rhaps experi–
enced Ark hunters ser ving as advi–
sors.
It
would o ffer a majo r cha nce
of success, and
I
think within four
years it's asure thing."
Discovery Inevitable?
No matte r wha t me thodology is
used or who uses it, Ark hunters
rema in convinced tha t the discovery
of the Ar k - or wha tever - is inevi–
ta ble. " I f it is lhe re," Morris specu–
la tes, "God has protected il fo r
5.000
yea rs. All logic would indica te
tha t it has been destroyed on the
hill. So much has occurred the re: an
erupting vo lcano. ea rthq uakes. ex–
pl os io ns. wea th er in g , hor ri b le
storms.
J
don' t think God would
pro lect it wilhout a reason, a nd it
seems lo me the reason is to uncover
it."
Cumrnings hopes tha t the Ark's
poss ible discovery would cata lyze a
spiritua l renaissance. " l t woul d be
just like God to help people who a re
struggling with fa ith like doubti.ng
Thomas." says Cummings. " H e
wouldn' t be lieve tha t Christ was
with him until he had p ut his hand
into C hrist's side, and sorne people
are like tha t with the Bible. T hey
read the first
11
cha pters of the book
o f Genes is a nd say: 'Well, I'm no t
going to be lieve it unless t here's
sorn e proof.'" Cummings pa uses
a nd smiles, lhinki ng perhaps o f this
year's expediti on - his tenth in 30
yea rs - which he hopes will be his
las
t.
" lt would be j ust l ike God to
give people sorne proof, wouldn' t
it?"
o
27