Istanbul, Turkey -- (ReleaseWire) -- 01/25/2021 --Harvard University educated archaeologist, former maritime executive, Chairperson and Senior Lecturer of the Archaeology and Cultural Heritage Department at the National University of Samoa, and current president of the applied archaeology firm, PRC, Inc., Joel Klenck, reports how Armenian involvement with Noah's Ark, at the turn of the twentieth century, provides understanding to modern Anatolian history and reported origins of the Kardashian fortune.

Klenck is certain: "The rediscovery of Noah's Ark is a fact and the greatest archaeological site in history. The vessel, in the southern gorge of greater Mount Ararat, has many characteristics similar to modern maritime barges and exhibits bulkheads, ballasting features, mortise-and-tenon joinery, and thousands of animal pens and cages. The Ark is preserved under 4 to 11 meters of glacial ice and lithic material. Also, much of the organic artifacts such as seeds of cereals and legumes, baskets, spider webs, wood tools, wood vessels, animal droppings, and cords have been cryodesiccated or freeze-dried enabling the specimens to preserve for millennia. The structure matches all traits described in the Bible, Quran, and by Berossus, Josephus, and in Alexandrian traditions."

The archaeologist met with the heirs of Armenian guides that led foreigners to Noah's Ark in the late nineteenth century and the descendants of Armenian interrogators that worked for the Soviet state during the 1930s. Also, the archaeologist researched the artifacts and features from the Ark for ten years sending reports to historic preservation authorities.

Armenians hid Noah's Ark for two thousand years employing the twin tactics of misdirection and concealment. At the turn of the twentieth century, the Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church and Armenian guides at the base of Mount Ararat refined tactics to conceal Noah's Ark while raising funds from visits to the vessel, by trustworthy foreigners from Tsarist Russia and the United States, to support independence initiatives against Ottoman Turkey. As this effort failed, Catholicos Mkrtich Khrimian (1820-1907) issued four orders regarding Noah's Ark to conceal the vessel in the southern gorge of greater Mount Ararat.

The archaeologist remarks: "The acquisition of capital and influence, from Noah's Ark visits by Americans and Tsarist Russians, during the 1890s to the early 1900s, provides insight to Anatolian history in the modern era. Ottoman and Turkish governments wondered why Americans were so involved in the advocacy of Armenians during World War I and the Turkish-Armenian War. The answer is that Armenians led prominent Americans to Noah's Ark and these influential American Christians wanted the Ark to remain within Christian Armenia. Moreover, these Americans helped Armenian Ark guides emigrate to the U.S. and become citizens.

Turkish historians have questioned why Armenians were so focused on retaining Mount Ararat when the region had no economic value. The answer: Noah's Ark had tremendous economic and symbolic value to Armenians. If Armenia had retained greater Mount Ararat, and left their pricing the same as in 1895, they would charge $150,000 per person for tours to the interior of Noah's Ark. At 10,000 visitors per year, the income from Ark visitation fees alone would be $1.5 billion dollars for the Armenian nation.

Further, historians in the Republic of Georgia and Azerbaijan have questioned how some Armenians from eastern Turkey had monies to purchase farms, vineyards, businesses, afford large dowries for their daughters, or move to distant countries such as the United States. The answer is that these Armenians were former guides to Noah's Ark that accumulated significant wealth.

The descendants of Armenian guides mentioned several prominent Americans and Armenians that were closely involved with Noah's Ark. One descendant noted that American Alice Stone Blackwell entered Noah's Ark, did not reveal its secrets, but became angry at God for Armenian losses because she believed Armenians were destined to protect and conceal the Ark. Blackwell was prominent in the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, suffrage associations, Armenian causes, and literature.

The heirs also mentioned Tatos Saghatel Kardashian, who was born in the Kars Oblast, but whose extended family had property at the base of Mount Ararat. Tatos was reportedly very strong and as a young boy led mules up greater Mount Ararat, which transported Americans and Russians to Noah's Ark in the southern gorge. From 1907 to 1910, Tatos helped other Armenian guides remove artifacts from the Ark and transport these specimens from Ararat, through the Kars Oblast, to southern Georgia. Yet, once in Georgia, Tatos was given only a few artifacts from the Ark due to his youth and because his family belonged to a Christian group having conflicts with the Armenian Apostolic Church. The group's leaders prophesied that the Turks would conquer much of Armenia until the return of Jesus Christ and that Armenians should flee eastern Anatolia. Tatos used his money from being an Ark guide to emigrate to the U.S., purchase a business, and pay the dowry for his wife, Hamas Shakarian, from Ardahan Province north of Kars. Tatos became the grandfather of Robert Kardashian and great grandfather of Kim Kardashian. The Kardashian family is reportedly worth over $2 billion.

The heirs uniformly state that their families were blessed because of their ancestors' involvement with Noah's Ark as they have prosperous farms, vineyards, and businesses. Still, they lament the younger generations' indifference to the Ark and its artifacts."

Klenck concludes, "The rediscovery of Noah's Ark has the potential to provide the populations of eastern Anatolia with billions of dollars. This sacred site is lauded by Jesus Christ, the Muslim Prophet Muhammed, and Jewish Patriarch Moses. Noah's Ark represents a stunning Rosetta Stone between the faiths of three world religions: Islam, Christianity, and Judaism and positivist science. Still, this magnificent ancient vessel is subject to looting and horrific decomposition. The Republic of Turkey and world community must maximize the protection and conservation of this religious and cultural masterpiece."

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Founded in 2007, PRC, Inc., provides comprehensive worldwide archaeological services including surveys, excavations, and research.