Biblical Geography

Mount Ararat

Mountain · Old Testament · Mount Ararat (Ağrı Dağı)

Scripture first

Genesis 8:4 · WEBU

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The ark comes to rest on the of Ararat in the seventh month.

Genesis speaks of the of Ararat, a region, not a single peak. The ark grounded there as the waters fell, and Noah's family walked out into a new world. The great volcanic cone now called Ararat is the region's highest summit and the traditional site.

The mountains of Ararat where the ark came to rest as the flood receded.

Biblical names
Ararat, Urartu (Assyrian records)
Modern identification
Mount Ararat (Ağrı Dağı) · Turkey, Armenia

Identification note. Scripture names the region; the attachment of the name to the single modern peak is later tradition.

Ararat is the ancient kingdom of Urartu in the highlands south of the Caucasus. The text's plural, , matches a highland region rather than one summit.

  • The ark comes to rest on the mountains of Ararat in the seventh month.
  • Sennacherib's sons flee to the land of Ararat
  • Ararat summoned against Babylon

What we know

Certain

  • Ararat as the ancient name of the Urartu highlands is established.

Disputed

  • The resting place of the ark on any particular summit is a matter of tradition and exploration, not of proof. Scripture says the mountains of Ararat and no more.