6.5 KiB
| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arca Noë | 2/2 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arca_Noë | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T09:33:47.505668+00:00 | kb-cron |
Kircher sought to account for how different kinds of animal were accommodated in the Ark, and to do this, he classified them, focusing mainly on Old World species. Echoing Pliny, he ignored the taxonomies of his contemporary scholars and simply classified them by size, from the elephant downwards. He went on to explain how they would have been accommodated, with plant-eaters separated from meat-eaters, land-dwellers from amphibians and water creatures, and 'clean' from 'unclean'. The chart showing the floor plan for the Ark shows how the animals were housed. On the lower deck one side berthed beavers, otters, crocodiles, hippopotami, goat-stags, gazelles, elks, bison, goats, sheep, cattle, deer, reindeer, wild goats, chamois, fallow deer, dogs, aquatic hare-hounds, Molossian hounds, Maltese dogs, Indian dogs, seals, turtles, hedgehogs, porcupines, badgers, dormice, martens and weasels. The other side housed small Indian pigs, rabbits, hares, squirrels, monkeys, apes, cats, asses, donkeys, horses, dromedaries, camels, elephants, rhinoceroses, lions, bears, tigers, panthers, leopards, unicorns, other horned animals from Africa, lynxes, gluttons, wolves, foxes, wild boars and domestic pigs. The middle deck carried food and supplies both for the voyage and for life after it. On one side were stored agricultural tools, clothes and household linens, metal goods, wool, mills, bread, ovens and a furnace, oil, salt, assorted materials for use after the flood, dried fish and fish preserved in salt water, candles, honey, a dovecote, a chicken coop, acorns, nuts, dried fruit, rice and pulses, casks of water, straw and hay. On the other side were rope and household goods, wood, spices, grains and berries, fruit, bread, smoked meat, a sheep-fold and a goat-fold for feeding the carnivorous animals, butter, cheese, wheat, barley and oats, water, tree-leaves and hay for winter feed, as well as cattle, horses and asses for use after the flood. The top deck housed the cabins for Noah and his family, and apart from this was given over to birds. On one side were river swallows, kingbirds, tits, corncrakes, creepers, shrikes, gryphon-falcons, harpies, doves, pigeons, chickens and fowl, with an aviary for small songbirds, crows, jackdaws and woodpeckers, sparrows, hoopoes, peacocks, cuckoos, robins, swallows, quail and birds of paradise. On the other side were pelicans, spoonbills, pheasants, grouse, partridge, kingfishers, magpies, parrots, peacocks, turkeys, hawks, vultures, eagles, falcons, ostriches, cranes, storks, herons, geese, ducks, kites, coots, fig-peckers, oyster-catchers, starlings, wagtails, owls and bustards.
== Animals not carried in the ark ==
Kircher believed - as did many others at his time - that certain animals did not reproduce sexually, but through spontaneous generation. Such creatures did not need a place in the Ark since they could simply produce themselves from dung or mud. In Kircher's account this included small mammals such as mice and voles, as well as reptiles and insects. Kircher did say that snakes were taken on the Ark, partly because of their unique medicinal value, and partly as food for some of the birds on board. Kircher also excluded all animals which he regarded as 'hybrid', including the giraffe. These creatures he argued were descended from offspring of different animals carried on the ark which later interbred. He considered the armadillo to be a hybrid of the hedgehog and the turtle, and the alpine marmot to be a mixture of the badger and the squirrel. Kircher also explained that many of the creatures of the New World did not need to have a place in the Ark. The original creatures of God's creation came from the Garden of Eden and were adapted to its climate; as they spread out over the world after the flood, they adapted to different climates and conditions, evolving over time into the new forms seen today. Through these arguments, Kircher claimed that the Biblical dimensions of the Ark (198 metres long, 33 metres wide and 19.8 metres high) afforded sufficient space to allow the ancestors of all modern creatures in the world to be carried.
== Illustrations ==
Arca Noë was dedicated to the twelve year-old king Charles II of Spain. Its attractiveness to children has been remarked on, with its lavish illustrations and half-playful tone. The dedication compared Noah's Ark to Charles' empire, pointing out that "what Noah had in a small space, you, High King, possess scattered throughout your realm." Arca Noë included many illustrations, detailing the design and construction of the ark and the animals preserved in it. The frontispiece depicted God directing putti bearing a flaming sword, alpha and omega, above the dove the Holy Spirit. Beneath them, surrounded by lost souls struggling in the waves to reach it, the Ark is afloat on the Flood, representing the Church with Christ keeping watch in the crow's nest and the words "Extra quam non est salus" ("outside of which there is no salvation") on its sail. The foreground shows Noah and his family giving thanks for their salvation. The interior of the book contained over 100 woodcut illustrations, including maps, charts and folding diagrams. Three of the finest illustrations were by Coenraet Decker - the portrait of Charles II, Noah and His Progeny, and the Submerged Mountains. Arca Noë also contains the largest illustration contained in any of Kircher's books. This was the cutaway diagram of the interior of the Ark, showing where the animals were housed. Measuring 39 x 17 ½ inches, it was made from three separate plates and folded out of the book. An entire section of the work was devoted to animals Kircher considered to be hybrid. As well as allowing Kircher to minimise the number of animals requiring space on the Ark, these hybrids also provided a good opportunity for including many exotic and fanciful illustrations to attract the interest of the book's young patron.
== External links == Digital copy of Arca Noë (Bibliothèque nationale de France) Digital copy of Arca Noë (Bamberg State Library) Digital copy of Arca Noë (Austrian National Library) Digital copy of Arca Noë (Austrian National Library)
== Bibliography == Don Cameron Allen, The Arca Noe of Athanasius Kircher in The Legend of Noah: Renaissance Rationalism in Art, Science and Letters, Urbana 1949 Davis A. Young, The Biblical Flood: A Case Study of the Church's Response to Extrabiblical Evidence, Eerdmans 1995
== References ==