Back to the Ark

THIS BEGINS in 5500 BC, or so they would have us believe. Remember Noah, his Ark and the Flood? Want to hear scientific theories about the grand ol' man and why he did what he did?

Then tune in to National Geographic Channel on August 19 at 9 p.m. and catch the premier of `The Quest for Noah's Flood'. This time, again you will be guided by Dr.Robert Ballard, of Titanic and Pearl Harbour fame.

For more than 25 years, Dr.Ballard had dreamed of probing the Black Sea's mysterious Depths.

Even as plans were made to mount an expedition to the Sea, two scientists from Columbia University published a book, ``Noah's Flood: The New Scientific Discoveries About the Event that Changed History''.

The book proposed that the Black Sea was transformed from a fresh water lake to a brackish sea by a cataclysmic flood in 5500 BC, about the same time as Noah's famous flood. Dr.Ballard, intrigued, decided to explore this theory to the hilt and began to look for signs of human habitation along the shoreline of the former lake, nearly 500 feet below the surface.

The explorers found four ancient shipwrecks, including one, beautifully preserved, dated from between 410 and 520 CE.

The expedition also uncovered what seems to be man-made stone structural foundation in an area that could have been flooded 7,500 years ago. An exciting journey into time, to pass on the legend of the Great Flood!

By Ramya Kannan

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