NOVA: Secrets of Noah's Ark
In 1948, a British pilot serving in Iraq acquired a clay tablet with an intriguing, 3,700 year-old inscription. The ancient writing tells the story of how the god Enki warns a Sumerian king named Atram-Hasis of a future flood that will destroy mankind. Enki gives him instructions for building a boat to save his family and livestock. If that sounds like a familiar tale, it's because this was one of several ancient flood traditions that, centuries later, would inspire the biblical story of Noah. But the tablet's inscription describes a boat very different from the traditional image of the Ark - it's said to be circular and made of reeds. Is this nothing more than a fanciful myth? Or could such a reed boat have carried Atram-Hasis' family of more than one hundred and his many animals? Join NOVA as a team of historians and expert boat builders investigates this fascinating flood legend and sets out to rebuild a tantalizing, ancient forerunner of the Ark.
Producer: Laura Warner, Elizabeth Trojian, Crispin Green, Chris Schmidt, Melanie Wallace
Executive Producer: Dan Chambers, Elliott Halpern, Elizabeth Trojian, Kevin Young, Julia Cort
Production Company: TV3 Broadcasting Group Limited; Channel 4; ORF; Blink Films
Production Year: 2015
Copyright Year: 2014
Director: Nic Young
Narrator: Jay O. Sanders
Writers: Nic Young
Discs: 1
Subtitles: Y
Subtitle Language: English (SDH)
Audio Format: Stereo
Aspect Ratio: 16x9 Widescreen