The Ishak Pasha palace is an Ottoman-period palace whose construction was started in 1685 by Colak Abdi Pasha of the Cildirogullari,[1]the bey of Beyazit province. Construction was continued by İshak Pasha, who was to give his name to the palace and became the Pasha of Çıldır from 1790 to 1791.[2] According to the inscription on its door, the Harem Section of the palace was completed by Ishak (Isaac) Pasha in 1784.[3]

The Ishak Pasha Palace is one of the few examples of surviving historical Turkish palaces.[1]

The palace was depicted on the reverse of the Turkish 100 new lira banknote of 2005–2009.[4]

Building of the palace commenced in 1685 and continued for decades. The work was finished in 1784 or 1785 CE. The palace was damaged by an earthquake in 1840 and for some time abandoned, but partly restored over the next 20 years. It was again damaged during the Russo-Turkish War (1877-1878). The structure was later used by Russians and during World War I when it was damaged by gunfire.[2]

Noah’s Ark is the vessel in the Genesis flood narrative (Genesis chapters 6–9) by which God saves Noah, his family, and a remnant of all the world’s animals from the flood. God gives Noah detailed instructions for building the ark: it is to be of gopher wood, smeared inside and out with pitch, with three decks and internal compartments; it will be 300 cubits long (137.16 m, 450 ft), 50 wide (22.86 m, 75 ft), and 30 high (13.716 m, 45 ft); it will have a roof “finished to a cubit upward”; and an entrance on the side. The story goes on to describe the ark being afloat throughout the flood and subsequent receding of the waters before it came to rest on Mount Ararat. The story is repeated, with variations, in the Quran, where the ark appears as Safina Nuh. The Genesis flood narrative is similar to numerous other flood myths from a variety of cultures. The earliest known written flood myth is the Sumerian flood myth found in the Epic of Ziusudra. There is no scientific evidence supporting a global flood. Searches for Noah’s Ark, sometimes mockingly referred to as “arkeology” have been made from at least the time of Eusebius (c.275–339 AD) to the present day. Despite many expeditions, no scientific evidence of the ark has been found.