So, this is
the obvious one. The ark measures 300 cubits by 50 cubits, by 30 cubits
(Genesis 6:15). A cubit is not the most precise measurement. Many ancient
cultures used them, each with their own version of how long it was. Most used a
human measurement, somewhere between the length of the forearm measure from the
elbow to the tips of the fingers, or from the elbow to the wrist. The Biblical
cubit is generally thought to be roughly 18 inches. The Egyptian cubit is
longer, but not by much, and since this is a biblical story, we’ll stick with
18 inches (mostly because it makes the math easier. This puts the ark at around
450 feet by 75 feet, by 45 feet.
Now, this
is an amazingly small size for a boat by modern standards. The RMS Titanic
clocks in at 882 feet by 92 feet by 113 feet (the height to the top of the
smoke stacks is 175 feet, but we want usable area). This makes the Titanic
easily twice as large as Noah’s ark, but the Titanic could only carry 2200
passengers. While some of the room is lost to suites and dining areas, people
take up far less room than most animals.
So how can
Noah’s ark have carried two of every animal on the planet? Simple. It couldn’t.
The math simply does not add up. It can’t be done. Moreover, the decks would
have a maximum height of 12 feet (to accommodate overhead timbers), which does
not accommodate larger animals such as elephants, to say nothing of the poor
giraffes. Moreover, there are thousands of species of animals that must be
accounted for. Even if we exclude animals from Australia and other exotic
regions, there are thousands. Not one thousand or even two thousand, but
several thousand. There simply isn’t room on the ark.
We also have
to complicate the issue. Animals require food. Lots of it. The Titanic’s voyage
was only to last a week to get from Ireland to New York City. It would have
certainly had extra food and storage space, but not a lot of it. Noah,
meanwhile, had to survive the 40 days of the initial flood. After 150 days, the
flood waters receded, and on the 17th day of the 7th
month (approximately 237 days), the flood had receded enough for Noah to find
dry land. In all that time, Noah would have had to feed the animals. He was
commanded, specifically, to take all the necessary food for them, too.
The amount
of food required for the animals would exceed even the largest cruise ships, such
as the Oasis of the Seas. A US aircraft carrier typically carries enough
supplies and equipment for 5000 sailors to last 70 days, to say nothing of the
227 days Noah’s family would need, nor is there enough time for them to feed
all of the animals. There are only 8 people on the ark, not enough to tend to
the thousands of animals.
On the more
disgusting side of things, he would also have to dispose of the waste from all
of those animals, which would be patently impossible. Again, the issue of
manpower and the volume of produced waste would become an issue. Modern waste
disposal is not a feature of Noah’s ark.
With all of
these logistics throwing off the story, many people would immediately conclude
the story can’t be true, but there is something else to be discussed, the
animals themselves.