Noah's Ark

By VESELIN TOSHKOV, Associated Press Writer

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) - Could it be that Noah's Ark lies well-preserved somewhere in the inky depths of the Black Sea?

A joint U.S.-Bulgarian scientific expedition is combing the Black Sea for traces of a lost civilization - a mission that could shed more light on the controversial timing and site of the biblical Great Flood.

Under the supervision of American underwater explorer and Titanic discoverer Robert Ballard, the team of 19 scientists left the port city of Varna, about 300 miles east of Sofia, in mid-August. Their ship, the ``Akademik,'' will use sonar technology to search the mouths of the Provadiyska and Kamchia rivers.

During their 30-day expedition, they will search for undersea evidence of human habitation in the Black Sea region before the flood described in the Old Testament book of Genesis. The Bible says Noah built an ark in which he, his family and living creatures of every kind survived the flood. Numerous towns are believed to have been situated along both rivers.

Some scientists theorize that a society predating those of Egypt and Mesopotamia was submerged by the Black Sea at the time of a massive flood 7,600 years ago. The flood transformed a stillwater lake into the saltwater sea.

Ballard, a National Geographic Society explorer-in-residence, is best known for finding the remains of the sunken Titanic in 1985. He also operates the Institute for Exploration in Mystic, Conn. Three years ago, he found indications of an ancient coastline miles offshore from the current Black Sea coast.

Although he didn't join the current expedition, Ballard is in constant satellite communication with the crew. Ballard has said that if the expedition is successful, he'll return in 2003, when he would to continue the search with Hercules, a robot being developed for underwater archaeological excavations.

The expedition is sponsored by the National Geographic Society, which is planning a book and television programs on Ballard's Black Sea research.

``We are looking for evidence of settlements where people had been living before the flood,'' Ballard told journalists during a brief stay in Bulgaria ahead of the expedition. Flooding occurred all over the world 7,600 years ago, he said, but ``this was the flood of floods.''

In 1999, Ballard's team discovered a wooden ship in ``absolutely astounding'' condition - despite being up to 1,500 years old - in the Black Sea off the coast of Turkey.

``When archaeologists saw the ship, they said that it could have sunk a week ago,'' Ballard said.

The unique oxygen-free deep water of the Black Sea allowed the ship to be preserved without the normal worm damage that affects wooden vessels. Unlike other oceans, its deep water does not circulate and the lack of oxygen prevents the development of microorganisms that destroy shipwrecks.

In addition to the preserved ship, three other wrecks were found in shallower water where there is some oxygen. Those suffered some worm damage.

According to a theory to which Ballard and his Bulgarian colleagues subscribe, when glaciers melted at the end of the Ice Age, water flowing from the Mediterranean surged over the Bosporus at a speed 200 times greater than that of Niagara Falls.

``Our mission now is to find the ancient shore line 510 feet down and find evidence of human habitation before the flood,'' Ballard said. ``We are undertaking the expedition thanks to maps prepared by Professor Petko Dimitrov and his colleagues, which show the ancient shoreline.''

Dimitrov, who heads Bulgaria's Oceanological Institute, also believes evidence of a lost civilization could be found in the deeps of the Black Sea.

``In 1972, a Neolithic necropolis containing the oldest tomb discovered in Europe to this day was discovered near Varna,'' Dimitrov said.

The necropolis on display at an archaeological museum in Varna dates back to 4600-4200 B.C. It contains 294 tombs and about 3,000 gold objects, 200 copper objects, various tools made of flint and stone, and numerous religious and funeral objects.

During a Bulgarian-Russian expedition in 1985, Dimitrov found an ancient stone plate 40 miles offshore. He later called it ``Noah's Plate.''

``My impression was that it had not fallen from a sunken ship, but had been used there by people,'' Dimitrov said.