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Ron Wyatt

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Ronald Eldon Wyatt)
Ron Wyatt
Ron Wyatt in 1999
Born
Ronald Eldon Wyatt

(1933-06-02)June 2, 1933
Hamilton, Ohio, U.S.
DiedAugust 4, 1999(1999-08-04) (aged 66)
Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
OccupationNurse anesthetist
Known forClaims of discovery of Noah's Ark and other Biblical artifacts

Ronald Eldon Wyatt (June 2, 1933 – August 4, 1999)[1] was an American pseudo-archaeologist who claimed to have discovered several sites and artifacts related to the Bible and biblical archaeology, including the Red Sea crossing, Mount Sinai, the site of the crucifixion of Jesus, and the Ark of the Covenant.[2][3][1][4]

Life and career

[edit]

Wyatt was born on June 2 1933,[1] and was raised in Gatlinburg, Tennessee[4] as a Seventh-day Adventist.[3] The co-founder of denomination Ellen White believed that the Ark of the Covenant had been secreted away safely in a cave, and would reappear shortly before Jesus's second coming.[3] Wyatt retained a belief in Biblical literalism as an adult.[2]

Wyatt was trained as a nurse anesthetist.[3] He was working in a hospital in Madison, Tennessee, when, in 1960, he saw a picture in Life of the Durupınar site, a boat-like shape on a mountain near Mount Ararat. The resulting widespread speculation in evangelical Christian circles that this might be Noah's Ark started Wyatt on his career as an amateur archaeologist.[2][5][1] From 1977 onward, he made more than a hundred trips to the Middle East, developing his interests in the Old and New Testaments.[2]

Ark of the Covenant

[edit]
Garden Tomb in Jerusalem

Believing that the Ark of the Covenant was buried in a cave under the Garden Tomb in Jerusalem, in late 1981 and early 1982, Wyatt got permission to dig a shaft in its grounds.[3] Finding a cave system, he claimed to have found rotted timbers, ancient animal skins and a "gold-veneered table", which he recognized as the table of showbread, an artifact from Solomon's Temple.[3] Within the cave he noticed a black substance which appeared to have dribbled on a flat stone that had split in two. He had "the most overwhelming realization" that the black substance was the blood of Christ, and the Ark was under the large stone.[3] He had also noticed a rock hole in the garden above the cave, which he theorized was the site of Jesus' cross.[3][4][6] The earthquake mentioned in Matthew's gospel had led to the stone to crack, so that Jesus's blood could reach the Ark of the Covenant in the cave below.[3][6][7] He subsequently used a colonoscope to shine a light beneath the split rock; seeing flashes of gold and crown moulding he knew he had seen the Ark.[3] Wyatt also claimed to have seen multiple other religious objects, as well as to have seen the stone tablets with the ten commandments, and legible scrolls within the Ark.[3] Due to the small space, he said he could not remove any of these objects; however, he took samples of the black substance and took some fuzzy polaroid pictures before he sealed up the chamber.[3][7] He reported that he had found the Ark of the Covenant to Dan Bahat, an archeologist working for the Israel Department of Antiquities and Museums.[3] Bahat reported that Wyatt took him to a pit, and asked him if he saw the box.[3] Bahat saw nothing and instead observed that it was simply a hole where the gardeners dumped their garbage.[3] Wyatt, however, claimed that Bahat had been pressured to keep the discovery secret in order to preserve public order.[3] Wyatt returned later with professional archeologists, but by that time the chamber had collapsed. [6] Wyatt claimed that the black substance had proved to be human blood with twenty four chromosomes rather than the usual 46: 23 chromosomes from Mary and one chromosome from God.[3][7][8][6] Joe Zias, the former Curator of Archaeology and Anthropology for the Israel Antiquities Authority reported that he was asked to look into Wyatt's claims by three American pastors who were concerned that money was being siphoned away from local community projects into his organization.[8] Zias contacted Wyatt asking for a copy of the DNA lab report, and for a sample of the blood to replicate the test.[8] Wyatt did not respond except reportedly to refuse to speak to Zias because he was an "infidel".[8] After Wyatt's death, the Wyatt Archaeological Research and the Biblical Archaeology Foundation funded a trial excavation of the caves under Garden Tomb in 2005 led by archeologist Yehiel Zelinger.[9] The findings indicated that the site was originally a quarry and then later a building from the Roman period. Finds included glass, ceramics and a cylinder seal from the Iron Age and the Hellenistic–Byzantine periods.[9] Richard Rives, president of Wyatt Archaeological Research acknowledged issues with the Wyatt's claims given the lack evidence and of witnesses, and because the "recent exploration reveals unexplained discrepancies in that account".[10]: 140–1 

Released in 2006 after his death, a documentary "Testimony of the Ark", directed by Rebecca Truraiaire was made about Wyatt and his work, and in particular his claims about the Ark of the Covenant.[6]

Noah's Ark

[edit]
The Durupınar site in 2007

From 1977 onwards, Wyatt went to Durupinar to study the site, including tracing the supposed walls of Noah's Ark.[11][1][10]: 30  He claimed that the unusual rock found at the site was the petrified Gopher wood of the Ark.[11] He reported that the petrified wood did not have any rings, as trees did not have them until after the flood.[12][7][13] Wyatt used what he termed a molecular frequency generator, similar to a dowsing rod, and with it detected striations of metal that he said corresponded with the crossbeams of the boat.[13][14] Wyatt reported he had found rusted iron brackets from the Ark using a metal detector,[11][15] a rectangular black "wood beam", as well as so-called anchor stones.[1][13] Wyatt had various samples, including the beam, analyzed at the Galbraith Laboratory in Knoxville, Tennessee. According to Wyatt the results indicated the beam was made of "plywood".[15] The reportedly metal components were found to be composed of iron, magnesium, manganese, aluminum and titanium.[15] Noah had reportedly been given the knowledge for forge alloys of these elements when he made the Ark.[15]

In 1991, Wyatt and three companions were taken hostage by a Kurdish separatist group.[16][10] They were released after three weeks and did not return to the site again.[10]

The Durupınar site, Na’hum Gemisi, in 2019

Geologist Lorence G. Collins investigated the claims and noted that the so-called Ark were all part of a natural rock formation.[11][15] He received samples from the site from David Fasold, an Ark researcher who had begun to entertain doubts.[15] Collins tested the samples and found that the "petrified wood" was all either basalt or andesite volcanic rock.[15] He noted that the Galbraith Laboratory which had tested some rock samples for Wyatt did not typically work with geologic samples, and that Wyatt had misunderstood their reports when he made claims about metal content and the making of alloys.[15] Fellow Seventh Day Adventists, biblical archeologist David Merling and Armenian scholar Abraham Terian, argued that the "anchor stones" were likely pagan stelae.[13] John D. Morris of the Institute for Creation Research who has a doctorate in geological engineering, made two surveys of the site and concluded that it was geologically explainable.[13] He disagreed with Wyatt's notion that trees did not have rings before the flood,[12] and pointed out that the area is rich in manganese nodules which have a high iron content and so could be misidentified as metal objects.[13] He also criticized Wyatt for his use of the molecular frequency generator,[14] arguing that it was akin to "divination—a practice thoroughly condemned by Scripture".[12][17] John Baumgardner, a creationist and geophysicist tried, and failed, to replicate the finding of metal striation patterns by the molecular frequency generator using a conventional metal detector.[13]

Red Sea Crossing

[edit]

In 1978, at the Gulf of Aqaba in the Red Sea, Wyatt stated that while scuba diving in the Red Sea, he discovered the remains of gold-veneered chariot wheels, a horse's hoof, and the remains of Pharaoh’s soldiers.[1][18][7] No independent testing of the chariots or human bones was ever completed.[1]

Mount Sinai

[edit]

In 1984, Wyatt claimed to have located Mount Sinai and the Golden Calf Altar, at Jabal al-Lawsz in Saudi Arabia.[7][18]

Sodom and Gomorrah

[edit]

In 1989 and 1990, Wyatt claimed to have discovered Sodom and Gomorrah near the site of Masada in Israel.[10]: 50  He stated that he had seen "formations" that looked like burned buildings and city walls, as well as "round balls of encapsulated sulfur (brimstone).[10]: 50 [7][19] In 1992, Wyatt released a video of his work entitled "Discovered: Sodom and Gomorrah! A Video".[19]

Ohio University geology professor Elizabeth Gierlowski-Kordesch reviewed the video and characterized it as junk science.[19] She stated that Wyatt's reported cities are in fact lake sediments accumulated when the Dead Sea was deeper and bigger and the results of seismic activity and erosion. [10]: 50 [19] The round balls of sulfur are a common feature of ancient lakes, and consist of the organic remains of animals and portions of surrounding sediment.[10]: 51 [19] According to Creation Ministries International, one of Wyatt's colleagues from the alleged Sodom and Gomorrah site sent samples of “ash from buildings” to them. When they were tested at an Australian lab, the report suggested that the sample was not consistent with an ancient fire, but was in fact gypsum-type minerals.[1]

Reception

[edit]

Wyatt's discoveries frequently made the international news.[7] Wyatt became well-known among fundamentalist Christians in North America, New Zealand and Australia, and was a sought-after speaker.[3]

Wyatt opened a museum in Gatlinburg, Tennessee in 1994.[7][3] The Museum of God's Treasures contained "the discoveries of Noah's Ark, Sodom and Gomorrah, Red Sea crossing, Mt. Sinai, etc.," and a model of the Garden Tomb and the fissure to the cave below.[3]

Wyatt Archaeological Museum, in Cornersville, Tennessee

As his fame grew, Israeli officials became increasingly annoyed at Wyatt's claims that his Garden tomb excavations had been done with their approval, and that they were forcing him to keep silent about his finds.[3] Wyatt's work has been broadly discredited by historians, archeologists[20] and geologists.[11][15][19] Archeologists, biblical scholars and fellow creationists and Seventh Day Adventists criticized his claims[13][1] and his reticence to having the samples scientifically tested, "believing that he was naïve at best and a fraud at worst."[1] Geologist Elizabeth Gierlowski-Kordesh concluded that his claims were baseless and accused him of practicing "junk science."[10]: 50  However his lack of credentials and his ostracism from academic recognition was seen by some Christian communities as adding to his stature and credibility.[20]

By 1996, the Gatlinburg museum had closed, and in 1997 Wyatt opened the Wyatt Archeological Museum in Cornersville, Tennessee.[7][3]

Death

[edit]

Wyatt died of bone cancer, on August 4, 1999, aged 66, at the Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.[21][1] He was buried in Polk Memorial Park Cemetery, in Columbia, Tennessee.[2]

Personal life

[edit]

Wyatt was married to Mary Nell Wyatt.[3]

Media attention

[edit]

Ark researcher David Fasold told Deseret News in 1992, "[Wyatt] has a lot of charisma but he also has a great imagination. I backed away from Wyatt years ago." Fasold distanced himself from Wyatt's theories, saying "Ron Wyatt is there [at the Durupınar site] seeing stairs inside it and saying there are trainloads of petrified wood. But there is considerable evidence that this whole Noah's Ark story could be based on a natural formation."[5]

Jack Romano wrote in the Fortean Times that Wyatt "invariably managed to ensure that things fitted tidily with Biblical accounts, to the extent that one wonders whether this evidence was fabricated; or was the self-delusion of someone who badly wanted things to neatly slot together and fit his own religious convictions." Romano also said "Ron’s evidence is usually anecdotal" and full of "misspellings, vaguely relevant biblical quotes, whimsical interpretations of scientific facts, and muzzy photos of various digs."[2]

Geologist Andrew Snelling of Answers in Genesis criticized Wyatt for using tools "advertised in treasure-hunting magazines, not scientific journals".[22]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Sarkar, Donna (February 8, 2024). "The True Story Of Amateur Christian Archaeologist Ron Wyatt And His Biblical 'Discoveries'". All That's Interesting. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Romano, Jack (October 2001). "Ron Wyatt: God's Archaeologist". Fortean Times. Archived from the original on 18 March 2013. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Lawler, Andrew (2021). "Someone of Great Imagination". Under Jerusalem: the buried history of the world's most contested city (First ed.). New York: Doubleday. pp. 181–186. ISBN 978-0-385-54685-0.
  4. 1 2 3 Fox, Edward (2001). Sacred geography: a tale of murder and archeology in the Holy Land. New York: Metropolitan Books. pp. 47–48. ISBN 978-0-8050-5493-4.
  5. 1 2 Boren, Karen (1992-10-23). "RESEARCHER SAYS A FARMER FOUND ARK FORMATION IN '48". Deseret News. Retrieved 2026-04-29.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Seesengood, Robert Paul (2016), "Mysteries of the Bible (Documentary) Revealed: The Bible in Popular Non-Fiction and Documentary Film", in Burnette-Bletsch, Rhonda (ed.), The Bible in Motion, De Gruyter, pp. 209–222, doi:10.1515/9781614513261-017, ISBN 978-1-61451-326-1, retrieved 2026-06-01
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Moore, Randy (Winter 2021). "PLACE & TIME: Wyatt Archaeological Museum". Reports of the National Center for Science Education. 41 (1): 11.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Burleigh, Nina (2008). Unholy business: a true tale of faith, greed, and forgery in the Holy Land (1st ed.). New York: Smithsonian Books/Collins. pp. 80–81. ISBN 978-0-06-145845-3.
  9. 1 2 Zelinger, Yehiel (2006). "Jerusalem, the Garden Tomb". Hadashot Arkheologiyot: Excavations and Surveys in Israel / חדשות ארכיאולוגיות: חפירות וסקרים בישראל. 118. ISSN 1565-043X.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Cline, Eric H. (2007). From Eden to exile: unraveling mysteries of the Bible. Washington, D.C: National Geographic. ISBN 978-1-4262-0084-7.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 Collins, L. G.; Fasold, D. F. (1996). "Bogus "Noah's Ark" from Turkey Exposed as a Common Geologic Structure". Journal of Geoscience Education. 44 (4): 439–444. Bibcode:1996JGeEd..44..439C. doi:10.5408/1089-9995-44.4.439.
  12. 1 2 3 Sheaffer, Robert (1993). "Levitated Linda, Ear Coning, and Arkeology". Skeptical Inquirer. Vol. 17, no. 3. pp. 268–9.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Merling, David (May 1993). ""Has Noah's Ark Been Found?" Part 1-2". Adventist Review. Archived from the original on 1999-11-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  14. 1 2 Livingstone, David N.; Hart, Darryl G.; Noll, Mark A. (1999). Evangelicals and Science in Historical Perspective. Oxford University Press. p. 261. ISBN 978-0-19-511557-4.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Collins, Lorence G. (Dec 2016). "Noah's Ark near Dogubayazit, Turkey?". Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith. 74 (4). doi:10.56315/pscf12-22complete. ISSN 0892-2675.
  16. ↑ Ulman, Seva (31 August 1991). "Three Americans abducted in Turkey". UPI. Retrieved 2026-05-30.
  17. ↑ Morris, John D (1 September 1992). "The Search for Noah's Ark: Status 1992". Institute of Creation Research. Retrieved 2026-06-17.
  18. 1 2 Nereim, Vivian; Al-Dabbagh, Iman (2023-06-24). "Saudi Arabia Wants Tourists. It Didn't Expect Christians". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-06-01.
  19. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Gierlowski-Kordesch, Elizabeth H (Sep 1998). "Discovered:Sodom and Gomorrah! A video- review". Biblical Archaeology Review. 24 (5): 60–2 – via Proquest.
  20. 1 2 Stacy, Jared (2026). Reality in Ruins: How Conspiracy Theory Became an American Evangelical Crisis. HarperOne. p. 28. ISBN 9780063453753.
  21. ↑ "Obituary for Ronald Eldon Wyatt". The Tennessean. 1999-08-05. p. 21. Retrieved 2026-06-11.
  22. ↑ Mikkelson 2013.

Sources

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[edit]

Official website

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ron_Wyatt&oldid=1364644749"