A team of researchers from Sivas Cumhuriyet University in Turkey is investigating a long-standing claim: that a boat-shaped geological formation in the country’s east contains the remains of Noah’s Ark.

In the biblical Book of Genesis, God decides to destroy the world with a flood. Following God’s instructions, Noah builds an ark – a large wooden vessel – to save himself, his family and animals of every kind.

The formation in question, known as Durupınar, has been associated with Noah’s Ark for nearly 70 years. This new research team has attracted social media attention through a partnership with a separate U.S.-based Christian organization called Noah’s Ark Scans. This group has promoted the Durupınar site as the resting place of Noah’s Ark since at least 2021.

Durupınar is a natural geological formation composed of sedimentary material rich in iron oxides. It is located near the town of Doğubayazıt, just a few miles from the Iranian border.

Official statements from researchers involved in this project say that laboratory analysis is still underway. Researchers have nevertheless described some preliminary findings as potentially consistent with a shiplike structure, while claims circulating on social media have been more definitive, saying that scans have confirmed the formation is man-made and “100% not geological.”

Claims that the formation is man-made have also appeared in British and American media coverage.

As a scholar of early Christianity, I study biblical texts and their interpretation. Certain claims about the Durupınar formation have been circulating for decades, and they offer an opportunity to examine how people read and interpret the biblical flood story.

To understand the current claims, it helps to ask how this formation came to be associated with Noah’s Ark in the first place.

A boat-shaped formation in eastern Turkey

The Durupınar formation takes its name from the Turkish Army captain İlhan........

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