ARZAP DROGUE STONES

INTRODUCTION

In the region of the Durupinar site to the East of Doğubeyazıt, Turkey, a number of curious stone slabs have been found by Ron Wyatt, David Fasold, Bill Fry, and others. Twelve of these stones have been found to date, most of which are adjacent to the village of Old Kazan (formerly "Arzap" on 1941 Turkish military maps and earlier[1]). These slabs, or so-called drogue stones were believed by Fasold, Wyatt, and other current researchers to have once been attached to the Ark of Noah as stabilizers in the rough seas alluded to in the Bible during the time of the Flood (Gen. 8:1). These very large stones have common morphology in that a hole has been cut on a radius at one end (as if not to chafe an attached rope)[2]. Such stones are suggested in Babylonian accounts of the ark [3].

Curved hole as if 
to not chafe rope  
passing through it.  

Although the Christian Bible neither confirms nor denies the existence of drogue stones (sea anchors) ancient accounts refer to the Ark as having drogue stones and anchor lines-- a necessity to survive high winds and seas (see Prof. Robert Michelson's video series, Planetary Catastrophe, Segment 4 at approximately 8 minutes for a video discussion of drogue stones in general, and the drogue stones carried by the Ark of Noah). Today boats use sea anchors that look more like underwater parachutes than stones, but many ancient drogue stones have been found in the Nile and elsewhere in the Mediterranean area. These drogue stones are heavy and flat with a hole for connecting line at one end.

The purpose of the sea anchors and drogue stones is to create drag in the water (or in some cases along shallow sandy bottoms). If these devices are attached to one end of a boat, the drag produced as a wind-driven boat pulls it along through the water will cause the boat's hydrodynamic pointed bow or stern to face into the wind and the oncoming wind-blown waves. Without such a device, a wave can hit the boat and turn it sideways to the wind and waves. The next wave impacting the side of the boat will then have a greater likelihood of rolling the boat over. Sea anchors and drogue stones effectively prevent this. A more detailed discussion of the construction and operation of a sea anchor with drogue stones can be found at [4].

Specific references are made to anchor lines and stones associated with the Ark in other holy books and secular literature. The Quran in Surah Hud states that "In the name of Allah it will cast anchor." [5] Further, in the Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh, Tablet X, column ii, Gilgamesh has the following exchange with Urshanabi the boatman who will take Gilgamesh across the waters to meet with Utnapishtim (Babylonian "Noah"):

• Line 37 Your own hand, Gilgamesh, have hindered the crossing.
• Line 40 the stone things are broken
• Line 41 and the stone things [he loaded] in the boat,
• Line 42 [the stone things] without which [there is no crossing death's waters].

From [2] - Mediterranean 
drogue stones of a much  
smaller size than the  
Arzap stones. 
 

MEANING OF TEH NAME "ARZAP" AND BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION

Meaning of the name "Arzap" and Biblical interpretation Of interest is the name of the location where the majority of these stones has been found: "Arzap" (former name for Kazan) which is very similar to "eretz tsab" in Hebrew and "arz zapt" (etmek) in Turkish, meaning in both languages to "seize the ground/earth".

Seizing the submarine earth is exactly what the drogue stones may have done in Genesis 8:4 and 5 if a rational interpretation is to be given based on the dates presented in the text: "And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains (plural) of Ararat. And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen."

Note that the Ark would have had to come to rest on the "submarine" mountains (topological high points) of the region of Urartu (Ararat) roughly two and one half months before any mountain tops were seen. So the drogue stones hanging below the Ark would have snagged these topological high points to "seize the earth" thereby bringing the ark to rest. Consistent with this interpretation is the fact that the majority of the drogue stones found in the region lie near a large butte immediately adjacent to Arzap. This butte is a portion of the mountain range that rises again beyond the Doğubeyazıt sediment plane near Işak Paşa, and extends southeastward to the Durupinar site.[6]

Besides the fact that the Christian Bible does not state that the Ark came to rest on Mt. Ararat (but rather in the mountains (plural) of the region of Urartu), Genesis 8 causes serious problems for those wishing to make the case that the Ark must be somewhere on Mt Ararat. This is because unless the Ark came to rest on the very summit of Ararat, the "tops of the mountains" would already have been visible when the Ark landed. Therefore it should be quite easy to narrow the search to just the summit, but nothing has been found there.

ALTERNATE THEORIES

Some have objected to the idea that the stones of Arzap have anything to do with the meaning of the place name or with the Ark of Noah and the Durupinar site. Countering views point to the fact that there are other stones with holes found around the world and that some were used for astronomical sighting[7], Carahunge[8] being one example. Carahunge is around 200km from Yerevan, the capital of the Republic of Armenia, where there is a prehistoric monument consisting of hundreds of standing stones in an area of approximately 7 hectares (2.5 acres). Eighty four of these stones have smooth holes of 4 to 5cm in diameter. The angles of the holes are directed at different points on the horizon and outer space. Clearly people have been drilling holes in stones from a very early time not only as drogue stones (many examples having been found on the bottom of the Nile River and Mediterranean Sea) but also for the aforementioned surveying purposes. The stones of Arzap that are still standing do not appear to direct the viewer to any astronomical points of interest, and in fact do not point skyward at all. There is no indication that they are aimed at cardinal points or objects. This argument cannot be resolved as there is no record of the original placement of the stones, many of which lie on their sides, perhaps never having been set in a vertical orientation.

REFERENCES

1. http://www.noahsark-naxuan.com/turkmap.htm
2. Drogue Stone Discussion
3. Penguin Books 1972, London, ISBN 0-14-044100-X; (e.g., "'The stone things have been smashed, their retaining ropes ... pulled out!"
4. Drogue Stone Discussion
5. N.J. Dawood translation, Penguin Books Ltd., 1974
6. see Google Earth: Doğubayazit area, Turkey
7. Megaliths as Astronomy (Interestingly, this site specializing in megaliths states, "Only seldom are they [megaliths] originally "astronomical observatories" ... contrary to the prevailing opinion of mainstream scholars").
8. Carahunge Armenological Center
9. Drogue Stone Discussion
10. Fasold, David, "The Ark of Noah", 1998, Wynwood Press, New York, pages=331
11. Dawes, June, "Noah's Ark: Adrift in Dark Water", 2000, Noahide, Belrose, NSW, Australia, pages=196
12. Nissen, Henri, "Noah's Ark Uncovered: An expedition into the ancient past" (subtitle), 2004, Scandinavian Publishing House, ISBN 87-7247-813-6, Copenhagen, pages=319
13. Unique Lamp holes theory posed
14. Dr. David Merling, Has Noah's Ark Been Found? (see Anchor Stone section)
15. The Village of Kazan & the Anchor Stones