Armenian Monoliths: 'Drogue Stones' of the Noah-Wackoes

               Source: Facebook (Saliya Aravinda) 

"Noah's Ark drogue stones found near Mt Ararat"

A typical US-Noah-wackoes account of these monuments found in the Ağrı Province of eastern Turkey may be found on the Michelson Family Blog:

"ARZAP DROGUE STONES
[...] 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). 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). Such stones are suggested in Babylonian accounts of the ark [ref to Gilgamesh*].[...]

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.

Hmmm. This blog usefully provides a map of these sites 

  The massive carved stone monoliths, some over ten feet tall and weighing several tons with a hole cut near the top, are scattered across private yards, village paths, and fields in and around the village of Kazan (which researchers say was originally called Arzap, but now it is officially named Sağlıksuyu) roughly 24 kilometres northwest of the famous Durupınar site near Doğubayazıt in eastern Turkey. Several of these stones feature Christian crosses carved into them, which clearly relate to ancient Armenian khachkars (cross-stones) or are pre-Christian standing stones/menhirs. Many of the largest, most famous stones (including those heavily carved with Christian crosses) stand prominently within or right alongside the cemetery boundaries in Kazan.

In his 1988 book The Ark of Noah and subsequent research papers, 'ark explorer' David Fasold mapped out and cataloged 11 specific anchor stones in a cemetery and surrounding fields near Kazan/Arzap. Ron Wyatt’s organization (Wyatt Archaeological Research) mapped the relative positions of the stones to support their theory that the stones were cut loose sequentially as the Ark drifted toward the Durupınar site. They documented roughly 13 to 26 stones in the wider region.

The pseudoarchaeological theory popularized by amateur explorers Ron Wyatt and David Fasold considering these giant monoliths to be Noah's Ark "drogue stones" falls apart under basic geological, maritime, and logical examination. The petrology iswrong. Geological testing proved the stones are made of local andesite, a volcanic rock native to the Kazan area. If the Ark had carried them from Mesopotamia (where the biblical narrative begins), they would consist of sedimentary rock native to that region, not Turkish mountain volcanic rock. The pseudoarchaeological argument claims the Ark had dozens of these multi-ton stones trailing behind it to keep its bow pointed into the waves. Under this theory, cutting any of them off would have seriously jeopardized the vessel. If a ship relied entirely on a massive array of heavy stones hanging from its stern or sides to remain upright and oriented in a global cataclysm, suddenly cutting them away simultaneously would drastically alter the vessel's centre of gravity and buoyancy distribution. The pseudos' narrative claims Noah cut the stones loose one by one to lighten the ship as it neared the landing site. If the floodwaters were actively dropping, and the sea was still turbulent during the rapid drop, discarding the vessel's only stabilization mechanism right before hitting land would be a reckless maneuvering choice.

These stones are simply unrelated to any kind of Early Bronze Age ships in Agri province. Stupid idea.

Kazan today looks rather deserted, a settlement in decline (Google Earth).

Notes

* translation in the Penguin books version, citing the Michelsons: "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].
and "The stone things have been smashed, their retaining ropes ... pulled out!"