Mount Ararat Comparison
Illustration of Mount
Ararat Compared to Other Mountains
Genesis 8:4 - And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.
Ararat
in the Bible Encyclopedia - ISBE
ARARAT
ar'-a-rat ('araraT): A mountainous plateau in western Asia from
which flow in different directions the Euphrates, the Tigris, the
Aras and the Choruk rivers. Its general elevation is 6,000 feet
above the sea. Lake Van, which like the Dead Sea has no outlet, is
nearly in its center. The Babylonian name was Urartu, the consonants
being the same in both words. In 2 Ki 19:37 and Isa 37:38 the word
is translated in the King James Version Armenia, which correctly
represents the region designated. It was to Armenia that the sons of
Sennacherib fled. In Jer 51:27 Ararat is associated with Minni and
Ashkenaz, which according to the Assyrian monuments lay just to the
east of Armenia. In Gen 8:4 the ark is said to have rested "upon the
mountains of Ararat," i.e. in the mountainous region of Armenia, the
plural showing that the mountain peak known as Ararat was not
referred to. This peak is of volcanic origin and lies outside the
general region, rising from the lowlands of the Araxes (Aras) River
to a height of 17,000 feet, supported by another peak seven miles
distant, 13,000 feet high. It is only in comparatively modern times
that the present name has been given to it. The Armenians still call
it Massis, but believe, however, that Noah was buried at
Nachitchevan near its base.
The original name of the kingdom occupying Armenia was Bianias,
which Ptolemy transliterated Byana. Later the "B" was modified into
"V" and we have the modern Van, the present capital of the province.
The "mountains of Ararat" on which the ark rested were probably
those of the Kurdish range which separates Armenia from Mesopotamia
and Kurdistan. In the Babylonian account the place is called "the
mountain of Nizir" which is east of Assyria. Likewise Berosus
locates the place "in the mountain of the Kordyaeans" or Kurds
(Ant., I, iii, 6), while the Syriac version has Hardu in Gen. 8:4
instead of Ararat. The Kurds still regard Jebel Judi, a mountain on
the boundary between Armenia and Kurdistan, as the place where the
ark rested.
Full Article
Ararat in Smith's Bible Dictionary
Ararat
(high or holy ground), a mountainous district of Asia
mentioned in the Bible in connection with the following events:--
(1) As the resting-place of the ark after the deluge. Ge 8:4 (2) As
the asylum of the sons of Sennacherib. 2Ki 19:37; Isa 37:38
Authorized Version has "the land of Armenia." (3) As the ally, and
probably the neighbor, of Minni and Ashchenaz. Jer 51:27 [ARMENIA]
The name Ararat was unknown to the geographers of Greece and Rome,
as it still is to the Armenians of the present day; but it was an
ancient name for a portion of Armenia. In its biblical sense it is
descriptive generally of the Armenian highlands--the lofty plateau
which over looks the plain of the Araxes on the north and of
Mesopotomia on the south. Various opinions have been put forth as to
the spot where the ark rested, as described in
Ge 8:4 (but it is probable that it rested on some of the
lower portions of the range than on the lofty peak to which
exclusively) Europeans have given the name Ararat, the mountain
which is called Massis by the Armenians, Agri-Dagh, i.e. Steep
Mountain, by the Turks, and Kuh-i-Nuh, i.e. Noah's Mountain, by the
Persians. It rises immediately out of the plain of the Araxes, and
terminates in two conical peaks, named the Great and Less Ararat,
about seven miles distant from each other; the former of which
attain an elevation of 17,260 feet above the level of the sea and
about 14,000 above the plain of the Araxes, while the latter is
lower by 4000 feet. The summit of the higher is covered with eternal
snow for about 3000 feet. Arguri, the only village known to have
been built on its slopes, was the spot where, according to
tradition, Noah planted his vineyard. "The mountains of Ararat " are
co-extensive with the Armenian plateau from the base of Ararat in
the north to the range of Kurdistan in the south, we notice the
following characteristics of that region as illustrating the Bible
narrative; (1) its elevation. It rises to a height of from 6000 to
7000 feet above the level of the sea. (2) Its geographical position.
Viewed with reference to the dispersion of the nations, Armenia is
the true centre of the world; and at the present day Ararat is the
great boundary-stone between the empires of Russia, Turkey and
Persia. (3) Its physical character. The plains as well as the
mountains supply evidence of volcanic agency. (4) The climate.
Winter lasts from October to May, and is succeeded by a brief spring
and a summer of intense heat. (5) The vegetation. Grass grows
luxuriantly on the plateau, and furnishes abundant pasture during
the summer months to the flocks of the nomad Kurds. Wheat, barley
and vines ripen at far higher altitudes than on the Alps and the
Pyrenees.
Full Article
Noah's Ark in Smith's Bible Dictionary
NOAH (1)
The ark. --The precise meaning of the Hebrew word (tebah) is
uncertain. The word occurs only in Genesis and in Ex 2:3 In all
probability it is to the old Egyptian that we are to look for its
original form. Bunsen, in his vocabulary gives tba, "a chest," tpt,
"a boat," and in the Coptic version of Ex 2:3,5 thebi is the
rendering of tebah. This "chest" or "boat" was to be made of gopher
(i.e. cypress) wood, a kind of timber which both for its lightness
and its durability was employed by the Phoenicians for building
their vessels. The planks of the ark, after being put together were
to be protected by a coating of pitch, or rather bitumen, both
inside and outside, to make it water-tight, and perhaps also as a
protection against the attacks of marine animals. The ark was to
consist of a number of "nests" or small compartments, with a view,
no doubt, to the convenient distribution of the different animals
and their food. These were to be arranged in three tiers, one above
another; "with lower, second and third (stories) shalt thou make
it." Means were also to be provided for letting light into the ark.
There was to be a door this was to be placed in the side of the ark.
Of the shape of the ark nothing is said, but its dimensions are
given. It was to be 300 cubits in length, 50 in breadth and 30 in
height. Taking 21 inches for the cubit, the ark would be 525 feet in
length, 87 feet 6 inches in breadth and 52 feet 6 inches in height.
This is very considerably larger than the largest British
man-of-war, but not as large as some modern ships. It should be
remembered that this huge structure was only intended to float on
the water, and was not in the proper sense of the word a ship. It
had neither mast, sail nor rudder it was in fact nothing but an
enormous floating house, or rather oblong box. The inmates of the
ark were Noah and his wife and his three sons with their wives. Noah
was directed to take also animals of all kinds into the ark with
him, that they might be preserved alive. (The method of speaking of
the animals that were taken into the ark "clean" and "unclean,"
implies that only those which were useful to man were preserved, and
that no wild animals were taken into the ark; so that there is no
difficulty from the great number of different species of animal life
existing in the word. --ED.) The flood. --The ark was finished, and
all its living freight was gathered into it as a place of safety.
Jehovah shut him in, says the chronicler, speaking of Noah; and then
there ensued a solemn pause of seven days before the threatened
destruction was let loose. At last the before the threatened
destruction was flood came; the waters were upon the earth. A very
simple but very powerful and impressive description is given of the
appalling catastrophe. The waters of the flood increased for a
period of 190 days (40+150, comparing) Ge 7:12 and Gene 7:24
and then "God remembered Noah" and made a wind to pass over
the earth, so that the waters were assuaged. The ark rested on the
seventeenth day of the seventh month on the mountains of Ararat.
After this the waters gradually decreased till the first day of the
tenth month, when the tops of the mountains were seen but Noah and
his family did not disembark till they had been in the ark a year
and a month and twenty days. Whether the flood was universal or
partial has given rise to much controversy; but there can be no
doubt that it was universal, so far as man was concerned: we mean
that it extended to all the then known world. The literal truth of
the narrative obliges us to believe that the whole human race,
except eight persons, perished by the flood. The language of the
book of Genesis does not compel us to suppose that the whole surface
of the globe was actually covered with water, if the evidence of
geology requires us to adopt the hypothesis of a partial deluge. It
is natural to suppose it that the writer, when he speaks of "all
flesh," "all in whose nostrils was the breath of life" refers only
to his own locality. This sort of language is common enough in the
Bible when only a small part of the globe is intended. Thus, for
instance, it is said that "all countries came into Egypt to Joseph
to buy corn and that" a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that
all the world should be taxed." The truth of the biblical narrative
is confirmed by the numerous traditions of other nations, which have
preserved the memory of a great and destructive flood, from which
but a small part of mankind escaped. Full Article
The Bible Mentions "Ararat"
Jeremiah 51:27 - Set ye
up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations,
prepare the nations against her, call together against her the
kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz; appoint a
captain against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough
caterpillers.
Genesis 8:4
- And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of
the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.