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Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary

IntroIndex©

ARARAT

Name of a craggy, rugged range of mountains in Armenia (2 Kgs 19:37; Is 37:38). Ararat lies just south of the Black Sea and between it and the Caspian Sea. The region overlaps extreme eastern Turkey, the southern Caucasus of Georgian Russia, and the northern tip of Iran. The mountains of Ararat are cited as the resting place of Noah’s ark when the floodwaters began to subside (Gn 8:4). Much speculation and several expeditions have stimulated considerable popular interest in that remote area.

Ararat Mountains

These mountains are located in present-day Turkey, near the Russian border.

No one can be dogmatic about making a precise location for a singular Mt Ararat, though a traditional site is pointed out between Lakes Van and Urmia in the heart of ancient Urartu (note the common consonants with Ararat), once a district of Assyria. Surrounding topography is a high plain of sparse vegetation, equally sparse habitation, and barren lava beds. Agri Dagh (Turkish for “Mountain of Trouble”) is one peak 17,000 feet (5,180 meters) high to which local tribesmen have given the name Kohl Nu, that is, Mt of Noah. Hence, most of the searching for the ark is concentrated there. See Noah #1; Flood, The.