According to the Bible, Noah's Ark was 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high. It was built of a type of wood called "gopher wood." This may have been laminated wood, but it was wood. However, skeptics claim that even today wooden boats cannot be made that large simply because wood is not strong enough to endure the huge stresses generated by such a large structure; they say only iron can endure these stresses.

Photo: Gold octadrachm issued by Ptolemy IV Philopator, British Museum. (PD)