The first thing we are going to do to understand the meaning of the term ark is to determine its etymological origin. In this case we can say that it is a word that comes from Latin. Specifically, it derives from “ark” and both this and the verb “arcere”, which can be translated as “save”, have an Indo-European root that is “arek-“. This is equivalent to “contain” or “save”.
According to DigoPaul, the term ark has several uses. The first meaning mentioned by the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) refers to a box that has a lid and that has locks to secure it. By extension, the ark is the place where money and other securities are kept.
For example: “The criminals were looking for the ark where the businesswoman keeps her jewelry”, “The municipality’s coffers are empty: the authorities do not know how they will pay the salaries of state employees in the coming months”, “Sustained economic growth means that the state coffers are in good health ”.
Ark is also the name given to a type of boat. This use of the notion is usually associated with Noah’s Ark, a ship that, according to sacred books of different religions, was built by Noah at God’s request with the aim of saving Humanity from the universal flood.
The Bible, the Torah and the Koran include mentions to this ark. Tradition indicates that God ordered Noah to build a boat so that people and animals are safe from the intense and prolonged precipitation that flooded the planet. Those saved by Noah in his ark allowed, in this way, to repopulate the Earth from his descendants.
It is important to mention that there is no geological evidence of the existence of the universal flood. The account is part of religious stories that have little factual support, but are sustained through the faith of believers.
Of course, it should not be forgotten that during the 20th and 21st centuries there have been figures who have carried out expeditions that, according to what they have stated, have served to discover findings that would prove the existence of Noah’s Ark. Thus, for example, in 1916 a Russian explorer named Vladimir Rosskowizky explained that he had found on Mount Ararat a boat half buried under the ice that would become that one. The discovery caused such a stir that even Tsar Nicholas II himself sent researchers who came to endorse his hypothesis.
However, what is certain is that today there is no real certification that can affirm in an emphatic way what is stated by the aforementioned Rosskowizky.
It is interesting to note that the aforementioned biblical ark and its history have always aroused great interest. Hence, the cinema has not hesitated to bring them to the big screen on more than one occasion. A good example of this are feature films such as the Argentine-Italian “El Arca” (2007) or “Noé” (2014), a film starring the famous actor Russell Crowe.
