“Could the Ark of Noah really fit all those animals? How could eight people take care of that many
animals? What about the dinosaurs?”
Many people ask these questions and in turn, dismiss the
story of Noah without trying to answer the questions. How many animals were there? How big was the Ark? Are there ways to make animal care
easier? How big were the dinosaurs?
Once these questions are researched and answered, the
feasibility of the Ark of Noah becomes real.
How big was the Ark?
Genesis records that the Ark was 300 cubits x 50 cubits x 30
cubits. A cubit is the length from one’s
elbow to the tip of their finger.
Traditionally this is accepted to be 18” which is what this reconstruction
is based on. However, up to a 22” cubit
is accepted by Jewish Historians and being 600 years old, Noah’s could have
been even bigger!
Accepting the smallest size, the Ark would thus be 450’ x 75’ x 45’. This would give the Ark 1,518,750 cubic feet
of room. Equal to the capacity of 565
railroad stock cars. But was that
enough?
How many animals
were on the Ark?
Genesis records each
“kind” of animal was on the Ark.
Though we do not have a list of God’s classification of ‘kinds’, in the
creation account, we see that kinds can reproduce. Bearing this in mind, we can see not every
‘species’ was required, but a far smaller number would be required. For instance there would not be a Poodle, Labrador, Great Dane, Wolf and fox on board, but one dog
kind.
It is believed this number to be less than 35,000 animals.
However, even if we were to take the worst case, and look at species, is there
enough room?
Looking even at species,
there are only 21,100. Multiply this by
2 brings it to 42,200. There are well
less than 1000 ‘clean’ kinds but even adding 7 of each at that many, still
leaves the number at less than 50,000 even after adding in two of each dinosaur
kind. But will they fit?
If you take all animals, including dinosaurs, from the
smallest to the largest, the average size would be the sheep. As stated earlier, the Ark can hold the same as 565 railroad stock
cars. Shipping records show a stock car
will hold 240 sheep.
50,000 animals @ 240 per car = 208 stock cars. Only 36% of the Ark’s capacity to fit all the SPECIES! Room with plenty to spare!
“How could 8
people care for 50,000 animals?”
If eight people had to clean 25,000 individual cages by hand
every day, they couldn’t. But there was no need for this. Some very simple additions would make this
much easier.
One method would be cages with floors that angled into a
gutter which could be swept or washed away.
The method used in the model slants 2/3 of the entire floor
towards the outside wall. It uses a
double wall that is hollow in between allowing all muck to be swept in-between
and down to be disposed of.
Disposed of where?
Slanted decks allow waste to be easily swept to the outer
wall.
A double outer wall,
with an opening at the bottom at each deck of the inner wall, allows the waste to
be swept
down and away. A
double floor at the bottom allows the waste to collect, out of the way. Finally, vents fore and aft that could be
opened and shut, could flush out the waste.
“Even the
dinosaurs in the model wouldn’t fit on the Ark”
True. However, the large dinosaurs, as well as most
the other animals used in the model are flawed.
They represent fully mature animals are not what Noah would have taken.
Noah would have taken adolescent animals. Younger animals would eat less, take
up less room and have the most years left to reproduce after the flood. How big of a difference does this make? A
young T-Rex was small enough it could perch on your shoulder and the biggest
dinosaur egg known is roughly the size of a football.
Wouldn’t the Ark sink”
Not at all. The rations for the Ark (30x5x3) are near perfect according to
ship builders. Add this in with a few simple
technologies, and the Ark
would have been an unpleasant ride, but very seaworthy. Some of these enhancements could include:
A Fixed Sail: This would catch the wind and point the Ark into the waves to aid it in not
capsizing.
A Fixed Rudder:
Though the Ark needed no steering, a fixed
rudder would catch the current and also point the Ark into the waves.
Additional Items
to Stabilize the Ship
Anchor stones:
These were commonly used throughout history. These would
dangle from the rear of the ship and cause drag which would again point the
ship into the waves.
Stabilizer Fins: Even modern ships use fins beneath the water to help
limit how much the ship rolls from side to side.
“Could eight
people really build the Ark?”
Given enough time,
sure. Noah could have taken as much as
80 years to construct the Ark. Not only that, but God did not forbid outside
help. This would have especially helped in the milling of the wood and possibly
making of parts like cages, containers and furniture. Not only that, but this help did not have to
be human.
God commanded two of EVERY animal must be on the Ark. This would have included dinosaurs. So Noah
would have been able to use these dinosaurs as people today use cows, horses
and even elephants.
“Wouldn’t the
conditions be bad?”
The conditions on the Ark
would have been horrible. However, this
was not a luxury cruise and Noah didn’t have to pass any animal rights
inspections. The Ark
was purely for survival. A few things
might have helped a little, however.
Fresh Water: Water could
have been stored in small containers or a large one as in the middle of the
model. This could be replenished by collecting rain water from the windows,
into a gutter flowing into the water
bin. The windows in the model open down to aid in catching water for this as
well as letting in light.
Fresh Air:
Another possibility is that the Ark
could have had a moon pool. As the ship went up and down in the water,
fresh air would be pumped in and out of the Ark.
This same action would
also alleviate pressure on the hull of the Ark.
Also, a moon pool could also have a simple valve on it to pour water
into a hose or irrigation system that could send water throughout the Ark for cleaning cages
and other uses. A very handy addition
indeed!
Wouldn’t the
animals eat each other?
No. Prior to the
flood, God only gave man and animals permission to eat plants (Gen 2:16). It was not until after the flood (Gen 9:3)
that they were allowed to eat animals. And we are told it will be this way
again when the lion and the lamb will lie down together. Therefore, the only reasons for needing the
cages would be for animal comfort and so small animals don’t get stepped on by
large ones. So multiple animal kinds
could be kept in the same pens.
As a side note, for space, the floors could have ranged from
14’ to 20’, so many small pens could be stacked up like in a pet store.
1:160th Scale Noah’s Ark Concept Model
Constructed by Arthur
Smith 10/2008
Model Information
and Inaccuracies
This model was constructed by Arthur Smith of Have You Not
Read Ministries. It is constructed at
1:160th scale which is “N Scale” for model railroads. It incorporates some concepts that are not in
the Scriptural account, but that are not prohibited by it either.
There are some
flaws with this model. First and
foremost is the construction techniques; support posts, connection points, etc
are not truly represented as this model is for scale and explanation, not for
genuine seaworthiness.
The scale of the model is also based on an 18” cubit. The
actual cubit size could have been anywhere from 18” to at least 24”. The smallest was chosen to show the ‘worst
case’ size.
Another area in question are the cages and pens. We do not
know how these were setup. In fact, the
only reasons for needing them would be for animal comfort and so small animals
don’t get stepped on by large ones. Small
cages could also be stacked like in a pet store. Habitats with trees, dirt, sand, grass, etc
could be built where multiple animals could have lived. Or there could have been simple rooms between
which the animals wandered freely.
Two final issues, the animals represented are all shown as
full-size adults when as explained earlier, they would have been adolescent at
the oldest. Also, any open floor space as seen in the middle of some decks of
the model, would be minimal. They are in
the model only to allow better views into the model.
Purpose
The purpose of building this model Ark was to show the scale
and feasibility of the Ark of Noah and to demonstrate some of the possible
technologies that could have been used that overcome the most common
objections. This paper will document
some of the features of this model.
Photo Tour of model
Three Decks – Note the lowest floor has a double floor
with a space in between.
The outside 1/3 of each deck is slanted. This allows waste to be easily swept down
An outside double wall with opening in the inside
wall, at the bottom of each floor. The
waste can then be swept down and stored beneath the floor of the lowest level
Vents that sit beneath the water line, can be opened and closed at the fore and aft,
could then flush the waste through and out the rear of the vessel.
There could be many forms of animal cages, large stalls,
stacked cages as well as habitats. Note
the large grain storage at the front.
Moon pool or fresh water container. As the ship went up and
down in the water, fresh air would be pumped in and out of the Ark. This same action
would also alleviate pressure on the hull of the Ark.
Also, a moon pool could also have a simple valve on it to pour water
into a hose or irrigation system that could send water throughout the Ark for cleaning cages
and other uses.
™
Ramps and ladders would be easy methods of getting from
floor to floor. Internal cranes and
‘dumbwaiters” would aid in getting supplies around. Living compartments could have been well furnished and cozy
with carpet, paintings, etc
A picture of the scaffolding and 2nd floor door.
The door would have been best on the 2nd or 3rd floor
simply to have it above the water when at sea.
A fixed sail at the front of the Ark
would help point the Ark
into waves helping it to avoid capsizing. Anchor stones at the rear of the Ark
would provide drag and also point the Ark
into waves.
Stabilizer fins on the side of the ark would
greatly reduce side-to-side
Windows opening downwards instead of the more traditional
ways, would allow both sun and rain in when opened. Rain could then flow into a gutter system and
then into storage for drinking.
Dinosaurs could have been used for heavy work, just as we
use cows, oxen and horses today. Tall sauropods could lift boards like a
crane while other dinosaurs like the triceratops could be used for hauling.
Once the animals were on the ark, a simple water cart would aid in both cleaning and getting water to the animals' stalls.
This model contains just a few ideas that would make the ark quite managable for Noah and his family. These ideas are ideas come up by myself and other men. However, with God as his chief designer and 600 years of experience under his own belt, countless more innovations would have also been at Noah's disposal. So yes, the ark would have been quite possible.
