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WAS THERE EVER
SUCH A FLOOD?

Tuesday, November 22, 2022

In today’s newsletter, we discover a poisonous Arctic exploration devolved into murder; learn that scientists cast doubt that Noah’s Ark will ever be discovered; seek out healthy Thanksgiving menus … and find America’s first big cities.

An illustration of the Biblical story of Noah's Ark with animals disembarking two-by-two.

PAINTING BY SIMON DE MYLE VIA FINE ART IMAGES/HERITAGE IMAGES/GETTY

In the Biblical story of the Flood, Noah’s Ark eventually rested upon the mountains of Ararat (illustrated above) and the Lord promised to never again doom the Earth because of humankind.

But where exactly did the Ark hit dry ground? Was there ever such an apocalyptic flood? Or an ark?

Scientists are contemptuous about the long, tantalizing, romantic search for traces of Noah’s life-saving vessel. They list a string of surprising reasons.

Here’s the full story.

Please, consider getting our full digital report and magazine by subscribing here.

A picture of a shepherd with a snow-capped mountain in the background

PHOTOGRAPH BY JOHN STANMEYER, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLLECTION

Flood or fiction? Enthusiasts regularly claim to find artifacts from the Ark on Mount Ararat, pictured above in eastern Turkey by Nat Geo Explorer John Stanmeyer. Those claims will never be conclusive, say archaeologists. Read more.

STORIES WE'RE FOLLOWING

A photo of three people wearing masks in a mountain valley

PHOTOGRAPH BY MATTHIEU PALEY

Our top photographs of the year (Nat Geo Explorer Matthieu Paley’s image of reenactors wearing masks in Pakistan made our list.)

1,700-year-old monkey sacrifice sheds light on ancient diplomacy

Preparing Thanksgiving with nutrition in mind

The still-relevant insights of Jane Austen

What happens to your brain when you see a bird in nature?

Ancient Rome craved a condiment made from funky fish guts

The truth about immune-boosting supplements and winter colds

Seeking to survive, ethnic Uyghurs in exile defy China’s attempts to erase them

WHO WAS THIS TRAILBLAZING SCIENTIST?

A vintage map of the Atlantic ocean floor

MAP BY NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

Underrated in her lifetime: She was a pioneering geologist and created this pathbreaking map of the ocean floor for Nat Geo in 1968. The National Geographic Explorer was honored on Monday with a Google Doodle for her accomplishments. "I had a blank canvas," she once said, "to fill with extraordinary possibilities." Who was she? Click here to find out.

YOU OUGHTA KNOW

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

A painting of a ship in the Arctic

TAUBMAN MUSEUM OF ART, ROANOKE, VIRIGINIA

Murder in the Arctic: The commander of the North Pole mission was a deeply eccentric man, an Ohio engraver with little knowledge of how to command an expedition. Nevertheless, the U.S.S. Polaris (illustrated above) made it farther north than any known vessel, but that’s before someone slipped Charles Francis Hall two doses of arsenic. After that, the mission suffered one disaster after another.

A POLAR MYSTERY

LAST GLIMPSE

A photograph of hot air balloons rising over pyramids

PHOTOGRAPH BY MAX SHEN, GETTY IMAGES

America’s first megalopolises: Long before Europeans arrived, Indigenous cities across North America were brimming with tens of thousands of people and grand palaces, temples, tombs, and pyramids. Archaeologists are diving into these ancient metropolises to discover who lived there—and what happened to them. Nat Geo looks at five epicenters and what we know so far. (Pictured above, two pyramids in Teotihuacan, north of Mexico City.)

THE FIRST CITIES

We hope you liked today’s newsletter. This was edited and curated by Sydney Combs, Jen Tse, and David Beard. Have an idea or a link for us? Write [email protected]. Happy trails!

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