Volume 4, Issue 1
September 11, 2014
The New Beginnings Foundation Newsletter 
   
New developments regarding
the Mount Ararat Discovery
and a sudden change of plan!  

To view the video of this Dutch archaeologist, visit our website:
 
Dear Friends,

It has been almost two years since I have updated some of you regarding the Mount Ararat Discovery, even longer since the larger world has heard much about this 2008 discovery made near the top of Mt Ararat in Eastern Turkey by Kurdish native Ahmet Ertugrul (our Parasut) and announced to the world in April, 2010 by Hong Kong-based Noah's Ark Ministries International (NAMI). You recall how the announcement was immediately engulfed in controversy stemming from charges (based on anonymous sources!) that the discovery was but a fabricated plant. Investigating those charges is how I became involved with this discovery and then became its leading US defender. Since I last updated you, I have taken leadership of the scientific phase of this discovery, recruiting scientists to study and Americans to help sponsor their work as part of a comprehensive cultural-heritage endeavor that I have called the Mount Ararat Peace (MAP) Project. (See article below left.)

As he explains in the above video, Dutch archaeologist Jeroen Rensen has completed a preliminary scientific survey. As I note in the Update on the Mt. Ararat Discovery (see article in right column), a thorough, multi-disciplinary, and most expensive investigation lies ahead. Sheila Bishop of The Foundation for Biblical Archaeology has joined with me to administer the site's archaeological investigation. Following her advice, my aim has been to withhold news about the site until a more complete scientific investigation involving archaeological and scientific teams from Turkey and the United States with extensive review from the archaeological community could be completed.

Humanitarian emergency changes our plan!

Our plan has been interrupted due to an emergency among the Kurdish peoples who have fled into Eastern Turkey from the advancing ISIS army. You have seen on the news how their homes have been taken and the lives of men, women, and children threatened with genocide. You may also know from these news reports that many of these refugees are stuck in the mountains unable to return to their homes, and most without a warm place by which to survive the winter.

Our particular concern are those refugees in Eastern Turkey who have not been covered in the Western media, but who are camped out in mountains even higher than those of northern Iraq:
Looking from Kurdistan Iraq into the snow-covered mountains of Eastern Turkey
Looking from Kurdistan Iraq into the snow-covered mountains of Eastern Turkey
Many roads in this area remain closed for as many as 6 months in the year. Those who become snow-bound face the prospects of either starvation or freezing. Just over twenty years ago when these same Kurds were fleeing gassing by Saddam Hussein whole families were found huddled and frozen. Our modern world has not been kind to the Kurds but we must not allow this to happen again!

For a clearer picture of the refugee crisis in Eastern Turkey not seen in our Western media, watch this Turkish language news report of refugees at the border crossing from Iraq. This report is about 12 minutes so you might want to manually advance through the video to obtain a clear picture of the refugees' situation. Though most of us do not understand their language, we do see the despair in their faces. Note near the end of this news video (access by clicking on the link just below the picture below) that even in the peak of summer, nightly fires are necessary to keep warm the refugees camping out on this mountain pass. But winter will soon be upon them:

Kurdish refugees at border between Iraq and Turkey

To understand the connection between the Ararat Discovery and this refugee crisis, know that the discoverer Parasut and his climbing team are not only Kurdish and deeply concerned about how the refugees in Turkey will face the coming winter, but he is also founder and leader of the DAKUT rescue organization. DAKUT was formed to rescue climbers on Mt Ararat, the first a well-known American Noah's Ark Searcher, but has been expanded to assist those trapped by the earthquakes, avalanches, and floods that beset the region including assistance with the relocation of families. DAKUT is well equipped to assist these families crossing the border, but funds are needed for food, medicine, blankets, fuel, supplies, transport, and especially for suitably heated shelter.

Those unable to assist with a contribution can spread the news by forwarding this newsletter to their friends. The 'Forward email' utility at the bottom of this email will assist in sending this to a list of your friends.

I also have hopeful news to share about these refugees. When this crisis has been attended, we have a solution to give at least some of them permanent homes, jobs, and a bright future. As part of the Mount Ararat Peace Project, our partner in Turkey acquired land in the Mt. Ararat region suitable for permanent homes for at least 200 Yazidi and Christian families and at a place that can be easily expanded to accommodate many more families. Those refugees fleeing the ISIS armies will feel at home in this settlement because they speak the same language and have the same pastoral lifestyle as the natives of the Mt. Ararat region. While many of these people can continue their traditional occupations at this new settlement, we expect new construction and service jobs from our forthcoming MAP Project in immediate proximity to their settlement. Our current plan is to to ship small portable housing and provide basic and occupational schooling for these refugees until they obtain permanent employment. Our aim is to establish not just a refugee camp, but also a sustainable settlement - a place in which these refugees can look forward to new beginnings. (See article below right.)

As my website's name suggests, our original plan was to use this portal to obtain your involvement, support, and promotion of the archaeological investigation of the Mount Ararat Discovery. The archaeological teams who are eager to study this discovery need that support, but more urgent at the moment is the plight of the Kurdish refugees fleeing the advancing ISIS armies. I trust that all or you interested in archaeological investigation will agree that our priority should be helping these refugees. I will keep you updated on our plans and actions for the resettlement of some of these refugees. As I update you on that, I will also be letting you know about the history of the discovery on Mount Ararat, our plans for the scientific investigation of the site, the history of the peoples in this region, how many of these refugees find work on this project, and just what they are doing.

Consider that this refugee crisis is linked to the discovery of a divine rescue that in ages past may have brought our own ancestors to this very mountain to obtain a new beginning. This is not just a crisis in far-away Iraq and Turkey but one involving our own family, and a crisis that can be met by our own family. Please let other members of our family know about this crisis. Someday we may ourselves be some of the members of our family needing help.

Regards to all,

Philip Williams

New and old recipients

The Christian Leaders & Scholars Newsletter has been renamed for its parent organization, the New Beginnings Foundation reflecting our current focus on the Mount Ararat Peace (MAP) Project. If this is your first newsletter, or even if it's not, you may find some interesting articles in the:
archive of earlier newsletters.

  
In this issue
A sudden change of plan!
Update on the Mt. Ararat Discovery
The Mount Ararat Peace (MAP) Project
Sustainable settlement for refugees fleeing Iraq

 

Update on the Mt Ararat Discovery
Progress on archaeological investigation

Photo taken November, 2012

Many of you are interested in the progress regarding the scientific investigation of the 2008 discovery on Mt Ararat. Scientific investigation of this discovery remains a high priority due to the fact that it anchors our Mount Ararat Peace (MAP) Project that includes the sustainable settlement for refugees fleeing ISIS.

Just what is this monumental wooden structure discovered beneath hundreds of tons of ice and volcanic rock slowly sliding down from near the southern peak of the almost 17,000 foot mountain? Everyone including some of the top archaeologists in the world who have viewed our preliminary results with considerable astonishment would like to know.

The above photograph shows the contrast between internal brown timbers held together by wooden pegs and the blackened bowed external walls of the structure was taken by workers preparing for our November 2013 scientific visit. Pottery and preliminary radiocarbon tests date the site from the Late Neolithic to the Middle Bronze, more than four thousand years ago. As in the case of the delicate  organic remains accompanying Otzi the Ice Man found a few decades ago in the Italian Alps, preserved under similar conditions and dating from the same era, these timbers have been well preserved due to having been constantly frozen.

One may note that the structure's construction appears more that of a ancient maritime vessel than a religious monument. But how and why would ancient peoples have constructed such a vessel upon a mountain top higher than the highest mountains of the US mainland? Will we find evidence of the work camp, roads, tools, and materials that the ancients used in constructing this vessel on the mountain? Or does the secondary worldwide dispersion of mankind documented in my book that begins in the vicinity of this mountain better explained its origins?

A problem is that excavating such a dangerous and difficult site is expensive. And, as Jeroen Rensen points out, there is much here to study by so many types of scientific specialists. What we learn from what has to be the greatest archaeological discovery of all times might well revolutionize all the historical sciences.

As we await the various scientific and religious foundations who may want to support our endeavor, I am counting on my friends and their connections who are receiving my newsletter to assist in this regard. Those who wish to contribute to this endeavor that will be administered by The Foundation for Biblical Archaeology, may do so by clicking on this link to the

Mount Ararat Discovery Public Support Site for Scientific Investigation, Site Protection, and News


I certainly do intend that this little report of the Ararat Discovery together with the video report of the Dutch archaeologist Jeroen Rensen, will obtain attention to the dire plight of the Kurdish refugees from Iraq that have fled from ISIS into Eastern Turkey: to obtain for them medicine, provisions, and adequate shelter before the rapidly approaching winter makes their mountain campsites inaccessible.

When that emergency is met, I will tell you much about what is on this mountain and the ancient and modern history associated with this astonishing archaeological site.

iMAPMount Ararat Peace ( MAP) Project
For peaceful economic development of Mount Ararat's cultural heritage and natural resources


The Mount Ararat region has much to offer the rest of the world in terms of mankind's cultural heritage. The natives of the region believe that this is not just their ancient homeland, but is also the homeland of all mankind. Due to conflicts that have long beset the region and to political developments of the past few centuries that have overlooked this area, the archaeological and cultural heritage of this land have been little explored. There is now an opportunity to remedy this situation: the Mount Ararat Peace (MAP) Project, a partnership between the people of this region and those who are interested in the area's cultural heritage and natural resources.

The MAP Project includes a number of integrated projects anchored by the extensive archaeological project connected with the Mount Ararat Discovery. These include.
  1. Scientific investigation of the Ararat Discovery.
  2. An Archaeological Museum and Research Facility for storing, studying, and displaying artifacts and materials associated with the Mount Ararat Discovery.
  3. A High-Altitude Site Protection and Work Camp at the 14,000 feet site of the archaeological discovery.
  4. Noah's Village Accommodations and Visitor Center to accommodate workers, tourists, and those interested in the culture-heritage and nature of the area.
  5. Wildlife center and mountain climbing school for acquainting scientists and tourists with the terrain, the flora, and the fauna of the surrounding area.
  6. Center for Studying the Religious Heritage, Culture, and Languages of the peoples surrounding Mt. Ararat.
  7. Center for Documentary Filming Associated with the Mount Ararat Area, its Ancient and Current Peoples and Cultures.
  8. Latest addition to the MAP: a Sustainable Settlement for refugees fleeing ISIS (see article at right).

More information on the Mount Ararat Peace Plan can be found on the Mount Ararat Discovery Website.

 

Click to read more about the Mount Ararat Peace Plan 

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Sustainable
  Where Yazidi's and other refugees are welcomed, understood, and needed


Though aid agencies including DAKUT serve the immediate needs of those fleeing ISIS, those staying in refugee camps have no permanent homes, no prospects for jobs, especially good jobs, perhaps no schooling, and no future. They also face the prospect of another crisis when funds for their refugee camps are exhausted or when the owners need the camp land for other purposes. But our MAP Project offers these refugees something exceptional: not just a temporary and uncertain refuge, but a secure settlement with numerous opportunities to participate in the area's exciting future in connection with the Mount Ararat Peace Project.

Our aim is to seed a development with 200 families living in temporary housing suitable for withstanding the mountainous winter, providing them jobs and income through the various construction and service jobs in connection with the MAP Project. Our project currently has two sites: one with 6 hectares (15acres) of land and another with 3 hectares, each site improved with water, electricity, and road. We also have an option to acquire an adjacent 15 hectares. Once our sustainable settlement is underway, it can be expanded to receive refugees still in temporary camps.

This Sustainable Settlement planned for Eastern Turkey is not the first for the New Beginnings Foundation which pioneered cooperation for a village in Haiti, now sponsored by a Charlotte, North Carolina-based consortium, Joseph's Exchange. Our aim is that these settlements inspire projects of trans-national cooperation, not just in Haiti and Eastern Turkey but wherever sustainable new communities are needed.
ArchaeologicalEvidenceThe Archaeological Evidence
ThumbnailNFCover
Click to purchase
 
Many believe that no evidence of a worldwide Flood or a new dispersion of mankind exists in the archaeological evidence of ancient man. But has anyone ever looked carefully at the evidence?

Click for this interview with the author of

The Archaeological Evidence
of Noah's Flood

The book, whose Epilogue covers author's connection to the Ararat Discovery, is available from online booksellers. For an author signed hard copy of this textbook style publication, choose from our website which can be accessed by clicking the book icon above right.

Price: $34.95
 S & H:    4.00  (US addresses)  
Tax:       2.70  (NC residents only)
About
The New Beginnings Foundation is a North Carolina-based 501(c)3 non-profit focused on recovering our common heritage to foster cooperation between secular and faith-based institutions, nations, and cultures to build community with a bright future.