Bahtera Nabi Nuh yang dicipta Johan Huibers, tukang kayu dari Belanda

Gambaran Bahtera Nabi Nuh dalam kitab agama


Ini pula bahtera Nabi Nuh yang dicipta dan dibuat oleh Johan Huibers dari Belanda



Johan Huibers, seorang tukang kayu dari Belanda membelanjakan 1 juta paun sterling bersamaan kira kir RM5 juta ringgit dan 3 tahun untuk membina bahtera Nabi Nuh sepanjang 450 kaki ini.

Menurut Johan, dia terpanggil membina bahtera ini selepas mendapat ilham dan gambaran psikik untuk membina bahtera dalam kitab Genesis yang diperintahkan Tuhan ribuan tahun lalu ketika banjir besar ekoran hujan tanpa henti 40 hari dan 40 malam melanda dunia.

Kini, penah lelah dan perbelanjannya berbaloi. Purata 3 ribu orang pelawat berkunjung ke Bahteranya ini, dengan bayaran tertentu.

Johan Huibers, anda memang Johan lah. Terima kasih kerana membaca.

Modern Day Noah's Ark in Holland

Images of Noah Ark as featured in the Bible


The modern day Noah Ark in Netherlands



Call him crazy or insane, but he did it.

A carpenter in Holland, Johan Huibers, spent three years and more than £1million building a full-scale replica of Noah's Ark.

Now the gigantic wooden Biblical legend is opened to the public.

As many as 3,000 tourists a day can step aboard Johan Huibers' gigantic wooden boat in Dordrecht, in the Netherlands, which now boasts two cinemas and a restaurant alongside its menagerie of life-sized plastic animals.

Mr Huibers was inspired to embark on the ambitious project after having a dream in which he saw part of his native Netherlands submerged in a flood like the one featured in the Book of Genesis.

He became obsessed with bringing the story of the Ark to life, and in 2004 he built a half-scale version and floated it along the country's canals.

HOW LONG WAS A CUBIT? OR WAS IT HOBBIT?

Long before the metric or imperial systems came along, craftsmen in various parts of the world dealt in less precise units known as cubits.

As this was based on the length of a forearm, the exact value varies from one ancient civilisation to the next. It is most commonly defined as the distance from the elbow to the middle fingertip.

The Biblical cubit is generally thought to be about 18in, but Ancient Egyptian cubit rods measure closer to 20in.

Tourists flocked to see the smaller prototype when Mr Huibers opened it to the public, but the proceeds from admissions went straight back into funding his ambition to build a full-size ship.

The narrative of the ark, in which God commands Noah to prepare for a great flood sent to purge the world of evil, specifies that the boat was 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide and 30 cubits high.

Mr Huibers converted this ancient unit of measurement, which is based on the length of the forearm, to determine that his recreation had to be about 450ft long.

This puts the boat, nicknamed 'Johan's Ark', at more than half the length of the Titanic.

And though it may not be able to shelter two of every animal, as the original story dictates, it can hold 1,500 people - not to mention a menagerie of plastic creatures including giraffes, elephants and donkeys, as well as a few live chickens.

As it weighs in at almost 3,000 tons and is made from Swedish pine reinforced with steel, it may be hard to believe that the ark is, in fact, seaworthy.

It is docked in the western city of Dordrecht, where Mr Huibers, the owner of a construction company, pieced it together with the help of some friends and two of his children.

In the 15th century, the city was the site of one of the deadliest floods in history, named St Elizabeth's flood, which is thought to have claimed as many as 10,000 lives.

All the best Mr Huibers.

2010 World Cup Semi final - Netherlands 3-2 Uruguay

Pictures gallery (above) of the unstoppable Dutch team of 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

The Dutch stormed into their 3rd World Cup final match, in grand style, dismantling a stubborn Uruguayan side 3-2.

The achievements of the Holland team last night on 6th July 2010, now equals the great Dutch side of the 1974 World Cup, spear-headed by the legendary Johan Cruyff's total football who dominated the world football in the 70s.

The Dutch is now in their 3rd World Cup final after a long wait of 32 years.

The Dutch lost 1-2 to Gerd Muller's Der Bomber and The Kaiser's Franz Beckenbauer inspired team of West Germany in the 1974 final and 1-3 to the Mario Kempes and Daniel Pasarellaa's great Argentinian side in the 1978 final. How heartbreaking for the whole of Holland then. They missed 2 chances for glory as World Champion in a span of 4 years!!!

2 weeks ago, as the 2010 World Cup quarterfinal stage was underway, South American teams had emerged as the tournament's dominant player, with four of its five squads among the last eight.

But Tuesday, 6th July 2010 at Cape Town Stadium, South Africa, the Netherlands did its part in restoring Europe as the leading primadona in the World Cup, defeating an undermanned but resilient squad from Uruguay, 3-2, in the first of the tournament's two semifinals to guarantee an all-European final.

The Netherlands who earlier sent home the highly fancied, 5 times World Champion, Brazil 2-1 in the quarterfinal, will face either Spain, the 2008 European champion, or three-time World Cup champion Germany, for the sport's most coveted trophy on Sunday, 11 July 2010, at Johannesburg's Soccer City Stadium.

The loser of Wednesday's semifinal between Germany and Spain in Durban will face Uruguay in the third-place match Saturday in Port Elizabeth.

The Netherlands drew first blood with their captain's Giovanni Van Bronckhorst 30 metres piledriver that shoot past Uruguay's goalkeeper Fernando Muslera at almost 300 km per hour as the game was barely 18th minutes underway.

Diego Forlan however restored Uruguay's fightback with a screamer outside the Dutch penalty box that completely confused Holland's goal keeping in charge - Maarten Stekelenburg.

In the 2nd half, Dutch soccer fans erupted in cheers again after Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben scored the Dutch 2nd and 3rd goals in a space of 3 minutes, in the 70th and 73 minutes respectively.

With the match almost ending 3-1, the south American side managed to put another last minute goal in the final minutes of the goal, courtesy of Maximiliano Pereria, after a neat free kick build up.

No one knows what will be the outcome of the match had Uruguay's top striker, Luis Suarez made it to the Uruguayian's frist eleven. Suarez was suspended for his handball against Ghana, a sacrifice that enabled Uruguay to progress into the World Cup semifinal for the 1st time in 40 years..

In Amsterdam, once the victory was official, a throng estimated at 40,000 to 50,000 erupted anew in Amsterdam's Museum Square, where Dutch supporters watched the proceedings on massive outdoor screens.

Tuesday's victory sends the Netherlands to the World Cup final for the first time since 1978. And that history, and the defeats that resulted in 1974 and 1978, came immediately to mind for Coach Bert van Marwijk as his players celebrated their feat.

"It's quite something we achieved after 32 years," van Marwijk said afterward. "The thing is: We're not there yet. There is going to be one more match."

Tuesday's outcome surprised few. The Netherlands is the only team in the World Cup that has yet to lose a match, its record is now 6-0-0.

And it disappointed fewer still in Africa, where hostility toward Uruguay still lingered four days after Luis Suarez's controversial handball blocked a shot that would have sent Ghana, the continent's last standing team, to the semifinals.