Mountains of Ararat

Depiction of Noah's ark landing on the "mountains of Ararat", from the North French Hebrew Miscellany (13th century) The Mountains of Ararat ( , Turkish Ağrı Dağı , Biblical Hebrew הרי אררט , Tiberian hārəy Ǎrārāṭ , Septuagint : τὰ ὄρη τὰ or τοῦ Ἀραρὰτ ) is the place named in the Book of Genesis where Noah's Ark came to rest after the great flood (Genesis 8:4). In Syrian tradition, as well as in Quranic tradition, the specific summit of the "Mountains of Ararat" where Noah's ark landed is identified as Mount Judi in what is today Nakhchivan or northwestern Iran . In the Armenian tradition and Western Christianity, based on Jerome 's reading of Josephus , the mountain became associated with Mount Masis (now known as Mount Ararat ) the highest peak of the Armenian Highland , located in present day Turkey . During the Middle Ages, this tradition has eclipsed the earlier association with Mount Judi even in Eastern Christianity, and the Mount Judi tradition is now mostly confined to the Islamic view of Noah . The "Mountains of Ararat" in Genesis clearly refer to a general region, not a specific mountain. Biblical Ararat corresponds to Assyrian Urartu (and Persian Arminya ) the name of the kingdom which at the time controlled the Lake Van region, which in later centuries, beginning with Herodotus , came to be known as Armenia . The Book of Jubilees (7:1) specifies that the Ark came to rest on one of the peaks of the "Mountains of Ararat" called "Lubar". The Latin Vulgate says " requievitque arca [...] super montes Armeniae ", which means literally "and the ark rested [...] on the mountains of Armenia ", which was corrected to "... mountains of Ararat" ( montes Ararat ) in the Nova Vulgata (New Vulgate). In the book, Antiquities of the Jews , Josephus wrote: the ark rested on the top of a certain mountain in Armenia ... However, the Armenians call this place, αποβατηριον 'The Place of Descent'; for the ark being saved in that place, its remains are shown there by the inhabitants to this day. Now all the writers of barbarian histories make mention of this flood, and of this ark; among whom is Berosus the Chaldean. Nay, Nicolaus of Damascus, in his ninety-sixth book, hath a particular relation about them; where he speaks thus: "There is a great mountain in Armenia, over Minyas, called Baris, upon which it is reported that many who fled at the time of the Deluge were saved; and that one who was carried in an ark came on shore upon the top of it; and that the remains of the timber were a great while preserved. This might be the man about whom Moses the legislator of the Jews wrote." (I.3.5-6, trans. William Whiston) Sir Walter Raleigh devoted several lengthy chapters of his History of the World (written c. 1616) to his argument that the "Mountains of Ararat" were anciently understood as including not only those of Armenia, but all the taller mountain ranges extending into Asia far to the east, and that Noah's Ark must have landed somewhere in the Orient, since Armenia is not actually east of Shinar.

Ararat mountains view Mt. Ararat as seen from Yerevan Depiction of Noah's ark landing on the "mountains of Ararat", from the North French Hebrew Miscellany (13th century) The Mountains of Ararat ( , Biblical Hebrew הָרֵי אֲרָרָט ‎, Tiberian hārēy Ǎrārāṭ , Septuagint : τὰ ὄρη τὰ Ἀραράτ ) is the place named in the Book of Genesis where Noah's Ark came to rest after the great flood (Genesis 8:4).

Location mentioned in Genesis as place where Noah's Ark came to rest after the great flood This article is about the Scriptural reference. Depiction of Noah's ark landing on the "mountains of Ararat", from the North French Hebrew Miscellany (13th century) In the Book of Genesis , the mountains of Ararat ( Biblical Hebrew הָרֵי אֲרָרָט ‎, Tiberian hārēy Ǎrārāṭ , Septuagint : τὰ ὄρη τὰ Ἀραράτ ) is the term used to designate the region in which Noah's Ark comes to rest after the Great Flood . It corresponds to ancient Assyrian Urartu , an exonym for the Kingdom of Van. Since the middle ages the "mountains of Ararat" began to be identified with a mountain in Armenia known as Masis or Ağrı Dağı; the mountain became known as Mount Ararat . It is worth noting that, contrary to Armenian Apostolic Church discourse and popular knowledge, it was probably as late as the beginning of the second millennium AD when the localization of the biblical Mount Ararat was permanently moved from the highlands hemming upper Mesopotamia to Mount Masis in the heart of historical Armenian territory. In Levon Abrahamian and Nancy Sweezy (ed.). Armenian Folk Arts, Culture, and Identity . When Armenians were first introduced to the biblical story of the flood, there was no special interest in the location of Mount Ararat. Most Armenian historians in the Early Middle Ages accepted the generally held Christian opinion of the time that Ararat was located near Mesopotamia in Korduk (Corduene), the southernmost province of Armenia. However, when European Crusaders on their way to free the Holy Land from Moslem rule appeared in the region in the 11th century, Armenian hopes for similar "salvation" helped to catalyze the final identification of Masis with Ararat. From the 12th century on, Catholic missionaries and other travelers to the region returned to Europe with the same story: that the mountain where the Ark landed was towering in the heart of Armenia.

Place mentioned in the Book of Genesis This article is about the Scriptural reference. Depiction of Noah's ark landing on the "mountains of Ararat", from the North French Hebrew Miscellany (13th century) In the Book of Genesis , the mountains of Ararat ( Biblical Hebrew הָרֵי אֲרָרָט ‎, Tiberian hārê ’Ǎrārāṭ , Septuagint : τὰ ὄρη τὰ Ἀραράτ ) is the term used to designate the region in which Noah's Ark comes to rest after the Great Flood . It corresponds to the ancient Assyrian term Urartu, an exonym for the Armenian Kingdom of Van . Since the Middle Ages the "mountains of Ararat" began to be identified with a mountain in present Turkey (historical Armenia ) known as Masis or Ağrı Dağı; the mountain became known as Mount Ararat . It is worth noting that, contrary to Armenian Apostolic Church discourse and popular knowledge, it was probably as late as the beginning of the second millennium AD when the localization of the biblical Mount Ararat was permanently moved from the highlands hemming upper Mesopotamia to Mount Masis in the heart of historical Armenian territory. In Abrahamian, Levon ; Sweezy, Nancy (eds.). Armenian Folk Arts, Culture, and Identity . When Armenians were first introduced to the biblical story of the flood, there was no special interest in the location of Mount Ararat. Most Armenian historians in the Early Middle Ages accepted the generally held Christian opinion of the time that Ararat was located near Mesopotamia in Korduk (Corduene), the southernmost province of Armenia. However, when European Crusaders on their way to free the Holy Land from Moslem rule appeared in the region in the 11th century, Armenian hopes for similar "salvation" helped to catalyze the final identification of Masis with Ararat. From the 12th century on, Catholic missionaries and other travelers to the region returned to Europe with the same story: that the mountain where the Ark landed was towering in the heart of Armenia.

Place mentioned in the Book of Genesis This article is about the Scriptural reference. Depiction of Noah's ark landing on the "mountains of Ararat", from the North French Hebrew Miscellany (13th century) In the Book of Genesis , the mountains of Ararat ( Biblical Hebrew הָרֵי אֲרָרָט ‎, Tiberian hārê ’Ǎrārāṭ , Septuagint : τὰ ὄρη τὰ Ἀραράτ ) is the term used to designate the region in which Noah's Ark comes to rest after the Great Flood . It corresponds to the ancient Assyrian term Urartu, an exonym for the Armenian Kingdom of Van . Since the Middle Ages the "mountains of Ararat" began to be identified with a mountain in present Turkey known as Masis or Ağrı Dağı; the mountain became known as Mount Ararat . The Kurdish population is primarily concentrated on the Van plateau , from which numerous tribes radiate over a vast area, including territories extending toward Mount Ararat . Armenia: Cradle of Civilization . It is worth noting that, contrary to Armenian Apostolic Church discourse and popular knowledge, it was probably as late as the beginning of the second millennium AD when the localization of the biblical Mount Ararat was permanently moved from the highlands hemming upper Mesopotamia to Mount Masis in the heart of historical Armenian territory. In Abrahamian, Levon ; Sweezy, Nancy (eds.). Armenian Folk Arts, Culture, and Identity . When Armenians were first introduced to the biblical story of the flood, there was no special interest in the location of Mount Ararat. Most Armenian historians in the Early Middle Ages accepted the generally held Christian opinion of the time that Ararat was located near Mesopotamia in Korduk (Corduene), the southernmost province of Armenia. However, when European Crusaders on their way to free the Holy Land from Moslem rule appeared in the region in the 11th century, Armenian hopes for similar "salvation" helped to catalyze the final identification of Masis with Ararat. From the 12th century on, Catholic missionaries and other travelers to the region returned to Europe with the same story: that the mountain where the Ark landed was towering in the heart of Armenia.