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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - An Italian researcher who had spent decades searching for Noah’s ark in Kurdish areas of eastern Turkey was buried Thursday at a cemetery on the slopes of Mount Ararat, reported Turkish state media on Friday.
Angelo Palego, 86, had been searching for the biblical ark for 35 years on Mount Ararat (Mount Agiri) on the Turkish-Iranian border. He fell ill in a Turkish hotel six months ago and passed away at a hospital in Erzurum province on August 15, according to Turkish state-owned Anadolu Agency (AA).
The researcher had said in his will that he wanted to be buried on the mountain. His family hired a company to bury him at a cemetery near the mountain on Thursday, reported AA on Friday.
Palego became famous in the eighties when he claimed to have located Noah’s ark. Despite clashes between Ankara and Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) fighters on the mountain in the nineties, he continued his search there. PKK kidnapped four foreigners in 1993 and he was one of them, but they were released later.
The Italian researcher had claimed that the arc was located at an altitude of 4,300 meters, adding that he had walked on the spot. "It will be the largest archaeological discovery in history," he said.
The ark is mentioned in the Bible and Quran. It is believed to be a vessel carrying Noah, his family and various animals, saving them from a flood.
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