This converter requires the use of Javascript enabled and capable browsers. This script creates two sets of returned vales. The first converts the selection of cubits of your choice to modern common length measurements. You may optionally enter a number of cubits to see the converted and calculated equivalent. The second value is one of our most frequently asked questions when it comes to cubits... "How big was the ark that Noah built?" The honest answer is that I wasn't there and I can only rely on math to calculate the values. The Bible tells us in Genesis 6:15 that the size of the ark was 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high, paraphrased. The real question is what is a cubit really; what is the equivalent in a modern measurement? Although mentioned frequently in the Bible (look up "cubits" for yourself if you like... in our Life's Future Calculator). The cubit is normally defined as the length from elbow to the index fingertip, but how tall was the person? Obviously, that varies from person to person so at best, the values are approximate for the very ancient measurements. We have an understanding that somewhere around 50AD, standards of a cubit rod were adopted in various civilizations. However, even now, TANS is applicable to the cubit as virtually every different source defines THE cubit as a different value. We decided to try to determine as many of the different values we could and associate them with a period or civilization. They are the most commonly accepted values for each. In our calculator and converter below, select the description of the cubit of your choice. If you leave the quantity at 1, the calculator will convert the values and calculate the size of the ark based on that equivalent. If any other value is in the quantity field, no ark calculation is made. No matter what the value, it is obvious that the ark was a huge vessel, even by today's standards for ocean going vessels! If you accept that Noah's value for a cubit is 20.3 inches, the ark was over 507 feet long, almost 85 feet wide and almost 51 feet tall.
The sizes in our references range from the 17.5 inches per cubit that according to the World Almanac, is THE accepted standard, to 25.6 inches. I measured my own arm from the elbow to my index fingertip and it was 20.5 inches; I am 6 feet tall. Consider the arm length differences with a range of humans from a basketball player to a jockey... There may be a dispute over the actual value of a cubit but there is no doubt that Noah was quite a craftsman. Since this is an obscure area of science, for each value I made available, I had at least two independent verifications of validity. There may be more values (and probably are) but I could not find them and verify them. If you are aware of others and I can verify them, I would be happy to include them. If you wish to define your own value for cubits for your own calculation, select Create Your Own and insert the appropriate value in the adjacent field. That field is the equivalent for ONE (1) cubit.
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