Ararat

Biblical Texts

• Genesis 8:4: As the floodwaters receded, "the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat." The waters continued to decrease until the tops of the mountains were seen (Genesis 8:5), and Noah came out of the ark and built an altar. God then established the Noahic covenant, with the rainbow as its sign (Genesis 9).
• 2 Kings 19:37; Isaiah 37:38: These passages record that Sennacherib, king of Assyria, was killed by his sons, who then fled to the land of Ararat.
• Jeremiah 51:27: Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz are summoned as kingdoms to attack Babylon.

Background

The Hebrew of Genesis 8:4 literally reads "the mountains of Ararat," referring not to a single peak but to the mountainous terrain of a region called Ararat. In the other passages, Ararat likewise appears as the name of a nation or land. Scholars identify the name with Urartu, which appears in Assyrian records; Urartu was a kingdom in the Armenian Highlands around Lake Van that rose to prominence from about the ninth century BC. Some English Bibles render Ararat in 2 Kings 19:37 as "Armenia."

Significance in the Broader Biblical Narrative

Ararat is the place where humanity once again set foot on the earth after the waters of judgment ceased, and in Genesis it marks a new beginning. The New Testament does not mention Ararat by name, but it repeatedly takes up the events of the flood and the ark. Jesus compared the time of his Second Coming to the days of Noah (Matthew 24:37–39), and 1 Peter 3:20–21 connects the salvation of those in the ark with baptism. Hebrews 11:7 commends Noah as a man of faith.

Interpretations and Debates

• The question of location: A mountain in present-day eastern Turkey (Mount Ararat) bears the name, but this reflects later tradition; the biblical text does not specify which peak is meant. The Syriac version and some Jewish traditions are known to have understood the ark's resting place as a different mountain range, in the region of Kardu.
• Searches for the ark: Claims to have found traces of the ark on Mount Ararat have been made on several occasions, but no such discovery has been accepted by the scholarly community. Accounts of these expeditions should be distinguished from the content of the biblical text.
• Interpretations of the flood: Some understand the flood as a historical event that covered the entire globe (a view held, for example, by advocates of creation science); others see it as a regional event limited to the world known to people at the time; still others take a literary approach that emphasizes its theological message. The importance attached to the location of Ararat also varies among these views. For further detail, see the article Noah's Flood.