The Most Powerful Biblical Motif

What is the most powerful Biblical motif of all? 

It's not Abraham at the Akeidah. It's not Moses atop Mount Sinai. It's not the splitting of the Red Sea or the Tabernacle.

It's Noah's Ark. 

While there were many ancient flood stories, there's only one that captivated billions of people around the world. The story of Noah's Ark spread through Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, all of which taught about it, and presented it in various art forms. It has spread beyond religion, to become the symbol of the urgency of saving life from destruction. The ark is in the title of numerous works about conservation, and conservation organizations worldwide have the ark as their symbol. Amazon has over twenty thousand books with "Ark" in the title, and at any given time, EBay has around thirty thousand items related to Noah's Ark. It's incredible!

We're developing a Noah's Ark exhibit at the Biblical Museum of Natural History. We already have reproductions of mosaics depicting Noah's Ark from ancient synagogues on display, soon to be accompanied by reproductions of various historic illustrations and paintings, and a scale model of the Biblical ark. And we've been collecting amazing models of Noah's Ark from different cultures around the world, each of which reveals fascinating insights about those cultures and how they grasp the story. I already wrote about one of our Peruvian arks, but we also have arks from the Cameroons, Kenya, the Philippines, Mexico, Colombia, England, various fascinating Americana models, and facsimiles of 19th century German arks. 

If you have any interesting models to donate to our exhibit, or if you're interested in dedication opportunities, please be in touch!

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