How Big Was Noah’s Ark?
God gave Noah the dimensions for the Ark in cubits. “And this is how you shall make it: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits.” (Genesis 6:15)
How Long Is a Cubit?
How Long Was the Ark?
At approximately 510 feet long, it would take nearly one and a half football fields to equal the Ark’s length. That’s big enough that NASA could lay three space shuttles—nose to tail—on the Ark’s roof!
How Tall Was the Ark?
The roof of Noah’s Ark was more than 50 feet from the ground—higher than a modern four-story house. That’s plenty of space for three extra-tall inner decks as the Bible describes.
Truckloads of Cargo Space
The Ark had the same storage capacity as about 450 standard semi-trailers. A standard livestock trailer holds about 250 sheep, so the Ark had the capacity to hold at least 120,000 sheep.
Biggest Wooden Ship Ever?
Few wooden ships have ever come close to the size of Noah’s Ark. One possible challenger is the Chinese treasure ships of Zheng He in the 1400s. An older contender is the ancient Greek trireme Tessaronteres. The Ark is near the maximum size known to be possible for a wooden vessel.
A Life-Size Ark of Biblical Proportions
Ark Encounter is an all-wood, life-size Noah’s Ark in northern Kentucky built to the dimensions provided in the Bible.
Has the Real Noah’s Ark Been Found?
Massive Wooden Beams
In constructing the life-size Noah’s Ark, we used hundreds of huge beams and logs. Some of the center supporting logs are more than 3 feet in diameter and nearly 50 feet long!
3.1 Million Board Feet
Over 3.1 million board feet of timber will be used in the construction of the Ark. A board foot is 12 inches by 12 inches by 1 inch. In board feet (laid end to end) there is enough timber in the Ark construction to go from Williamstown, Kentucky to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Prepare to be blown away by the massive dimensions of the biblical Ark!
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