2026 permitted expedition begins core drilling at Mount Ararat’s Durupinar formation

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Key facts

• Turkish authorities approved the first authorised scientific investigation of Durupinar in May 2026; earlier surface expeditions and geophysical work had occurred. Deep core drilling began on 23 September 2026, and the 2026 field season was subsequently reported complete.
• Noah’s Ark Scans estimates the formation at about 515 ft (157 m) long and 50 ft (15 m) wide. Its length has been compared with Genesis’ 300 cubits, but 50 ft does not match Genesis’ 50-cubit width of roughly 75–86 ft, and no height match is demonstrated.
• Noah’s Ark Scans says a 1949 earthquake-triggered landslide exposed the formation; that is an interpretation of its origin.
• The so-called Map of the World is a Babylonian cuneiform tablet from around 600 BCE, not a Sumerian map. Noah’s Ark Scans argues that a mark near Urartu may indicate the Ark’s resting place. Irving Finkel, a former British Museum curator, interpreted the cuneiform evidence and helped build a full-size replica ark in 2014.
• Local shepherds drew attention to the formation, and Turkish Air Force Capt. David Durupınar photographed it from the air in 1959; 2026 is 67 years later.
• Noah’s Ark Scans calls the formation Noah’s Ark’s resting place, but that is the group’s claim, not a scientific conclusion. The Gilgamesh and Atrahasis traditions and the figure of Utnapishtim are older Mesopotamian literary parallels, not evidence establishing a flood date.

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