Hark! The ark!

Mt. Ararat is where, according to biblical accounts, Noah's ark came to rest during the great flood. Sellers have peddled old planks reputedly from Noah's ark since medieval times, and ark-hunting expeditions have searched the mountain trying to prove the biblical version of history. A few fragments of ancient timber embedded in the ice have been brought back over the years—though radiocarbon-dating tests have been inconclusive.

Satellite photos showed something embedded in a glacier at 12,500 feet, but further examination proved it to be nothing more than a freak formation in the strata.

Nevertheless, expeditions by Christian groups constantly make new claims, and a second Noah's ark was "discovered" in the 1980s on a hillside 20 km (12 miles) southeast of Ararat—though to most eyes, this "ark" is nothing more than a pile of rocks. The local Kurds believe the ark ended up on a different mountain down by the Iraqi border, and will even show you Noah’s grave.