Even so, for “Ark in Time”, the historical accuracy of the flood myth and its origins are secondary. We here approach the principle of an Ark metaphysically: Time is the flood that perpetually endangers the Ancient Wisdom of mankind. To ensure that its legacy last, each culture expresses its wisdom artistically, and these expressions form an Ark, as it were, that withstands the passage of generations.
Our approach is by no means innovative: the modern world is speckled with such Arks in the form of temples, sculptures, paintings, customs and myths. Christianity, for example, adopted the Old Testament flood story and wove it intricately into the fabric of its philosophy. In the eyes of the early Fathers, the Christian church was seen as a symbolic Ark that gathered its congregation of believers on a weekly basis to survive a symbolic flood of sin. Many churches were, therefore, built in the form of ships, with ‘naves’ into which the congregation was gathered and wooden planks by which it was called to prayer. And, indeed, when one enters an old cathedral in present days, one is transported to another age of mythology and symbolism expressed through sculpture, painting and stained glass; Ancient Wisdom time-capsuled in an Ark.
Read on: Ark Myth Revisited