Editing Noah's Ark (section)

===Ark's geometry===
[[File:Allessandro Masnago - Cameo with Noah's Ark - Walters 421447.jpg|left|175px|thumb|This engraving features a line of animals on the gangway to Noah's ark. It is based on a woodcut by the French illustrator [[Bernard Salomon]].<ref>{{cite web |publisher = [[The Walters Art Museum]] |url = http://art.thewalters.org/detail/23266 |title = Cameo with Noah's Ark |access-date = 10 December 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131213133855/http://art.thewalters.org/detail/23266 |archive-date = 13 December 2013 |url-status = dead }}</ref> From the [[Walters Art Museum]].]]
In Europe, the [[Renaissance]] saw much speculation on the nature of the Ark that might have seemed familiar to early theologians such as [[Origen]] and [[Augustine]]. At the same time, however, a new class of scholarship arose, one which, while never questioning the literal truth of the ark story, began to speculate on the practical workings of Noah's vessel from within a purely naturalistic framework. In the 15th century, Alfonso Tostada gave a detailed account of the logistics of the Ark, down to arrangements for the disposal of dung and the circulation of fresh air. The 16th-century [[geometry|geometer]] [[Johannes Buteo]] calculated the Ark's internal dimensions, allowing room for Noah's grinding mills and smokeless ovens, a model widely adopted by other commentators.<ref name=Cohn>{{harvnb|Cohn|1996|p=}}</ref>{{rp|40-41}}

[[Irving Finkel]], a curator at the British Museum, came into the possession of a [[cuneiform]] tablet. He translated it and discovered an hitherto unknown Babylonian version of the story of the great flood. This version gave specific measurements for an unusually large [[coracle]] (a type of rounded boat). His discovery led to the production of a television documentary and a book summarizing the finding. A scale replica of the boat described by the tablet was built and floated in Kerala, India.{{sfn|Finkel|2014|}}{{Page needed|date=August 2024}}