Noah's Ark: time taken between each phase of the flood

The Great Flood, or Noah's Ark, is one of the most famous Bible stories. It is told in Genesis 6-8, and involves the patriarch Noah building a giant ship that saves Noah's family and (at least) two of every animal, while God sends a flood to kill all humans and animals living on land.

Two of each animal

In Genesis Chapter six, God tasks Noah, who was 600 years old at the time, with building the ark. It is unclear how long the building process lasted. When the ark was completed, God gave Noah seven days to collect seven pairs of each clean animal, one pair of each unclean animal, and seven pairs of each bird, with each pair made up of one male and one female. Prior to this point in the Bible, there is no explaination of which animals are "clean" and "unclean", however Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14 give some specifications - clean animals are those with a split hoof that chew cud, such as cattle, deer, goats, or sheep, while unclean animals are those that do not chew cud or do not have a split hoof (or both), such as cats, dogs, horses, pigs, and most other mammals. There are separate specifications for flying animals, insects, and seafood. In addition to the animals brought on board the ark, Noah, his wife, their three sons and their wives gives a total of eight people.

The Flood

After Noah and his family embarked, God sealed the ark and sent rain that lasted for forty days and forty nights, that killed all land-dwelling animals and all people that were not aboard the ark. Eventually, the entire world was covered in floodwater that measured 15 cubits (roughly 23 feet or 7 meters) above the tallest mountains. After 150 days, the water level then then began to drop, and Noah sent out birds to learn if the water had receded. Later, one of the birds did not return - after an unknown period, Noah removed the covering of the ark, and God invited him and his family to disembark. Upon disembarking, Noah made an offering of some of the clean animals and birds, and in appreciation of this sacrifice God promised never to kill all living creatures in this manner again, and to maintain the regular changing of days and seasons.