Section 1 Chapter 2: In the Region of Urartu

The bible is one source that indicates that Noah’s Ark came to rest “…upon the mountains of Ararat” (Gen.8:4).  H780 in Strong’s Concordance has just 4 listings for the word ar-aw-rat.  Two of the references are translated as Armenia, where Sennacherib king of Assyria’s sons fled too after assassinating their father.

“And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Armenia/” (Is. 37:38 – 2Ki. 19:37)

The two texts that translate the word as Ararat (Gen.8:4 – Jer.51:27) are used in the plural tense.  This is a major consideration for any Christian who relies on the scriptures to validate their beliefs.

“And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the <u>mountains</u> of Ararat. H780”

“Set ye up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare the nations against her, call together against her the <u>kingdoms</u> of Ararat, H780 Minni, and Ashchenaz; appoint a captain against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough caterpillers.” (Jer. 51:27)

All four texts indicate the word means <strong>region.</strong>  So, the Bible never says that the ship landed on a specific mountain peak, as many Christians have been taught. It does indicate that it landed in a particular region, the region of, or kingdom of, Urartu. This ancient kingdom was quite an extensive area of land, so if you believed the Scriptures, and wanted to search for Noah’s boat in that area, there would be much terrain to cover.

However, since two of the texts are translated as Armenia, it could be a clue that the ship would likely be close to the Armenian boarder since it is a mountainous region.

The mountains would provide a safe harbor to ensure the ships survival.  Looking at the map we see that there are mountains in far eastern Turkey, including what we call Mount Ararat today.

This is the traditional location that explorers have examined for centuries, but the actual location was forgotten, due to people or culture displacement.

The lack of evidence for the actual landfall location provides two significant benefits.  The first is that within God’s marvelous rescue plan to offer salvation to humanity, He always has the bigger picture in mind.  If the remains of the boat were to play some significant role near the end of time, the boat would need to be secured and preserved. It seems apparent now that God would need to bury it out of sight for a period of time to accomplish that goal.

Number two: by indicating a rather large geographic area, overzealous treasure hunters would find the search too difficult and expensive.  Many that have undertaken the search have had questionable motives.

We cannot overlook the importance of the linguistic clue that the Scripture states mountains (plural), which most notably indicates an area or region not a specific peak.  ”Tradition”, however, has been playing the tune of a specific landfall for the last 3 centuries, with numerous expeditions on the strata volcano called Agri-dagi in eastern Turkey.  Modern day enthusiasts refer to the peak as Mount Ararat. What the “mountain people” (those who believe in this specific location are called), have not grasped is that Argi-dagi is a young mountain.   A geological survey of the lava flows in the area, especially at the base of Argi-dagi, suggest the volcano is relatively young in its development, less than 3,000 yrs. By using a mass spectrometer researchers can measure tiny amounts of helium-3 to determine the age of lava flows. For example, researchers found that the entire surface of Fernandina volcano in the Galapagos, outside of the summit caldera, is less than 4000 years old—younger than most geologists thought. Yet other Galápagos lava flows are as young as a few hundred years.

Also, the lava cliffs around the base of Agri-dagi are hundreds of feet in height, indicating that the expelled lava was cooled rapidly by the remaining flood waters that had created a sea in the valley.  Local Curdish families that have lived in the area for nearly a century testify that the water in the valley around the mountain has only dissipated in the last 100 years.  This valley could have originally been a sea, or one was created as a result of the flood.

The story of the flood event according to the Scriptures places a rescue vessel making landfall in that area approximately 4,500 years ago. So, the ship was there before the development of Agri-dagi.  Had the volcano developed under it, the ship would have been destroyed long ago. However, historical records indicate the boat was visible for any to see or visit for perhaps over 1,000 years, as at some point it was buried in a mudslide.  Being out of sight for centuries the Ark was lost in history.  However, before it was buried there were many historical records indicating its existence and approximate location.

Berossus was a Hellenistic-era Babylonian writer and historian, a priest of Bel Marduk and astronomer who wrote in the Koine Greek.  Berossus published the Babyloniaca (History of Babylonia) in three books some time around 290-278 BC. There he mentions the ark rested on a mountain in Armenia. It was equally confirmed by Abydenus (200 BC), Apollodorus (160 BC), Alexander Polyhistor (50 BC), Josephus (110 AD), Georgius Syncellus (800 AD) and Eusebius, (325 AD).

With the development of greater and lesser Ararat, the geology of the area reveals it to be very seismic with numerous eruptions in the past. The remains of a partial caldera located actually just across the Iranian border, could have provided the initial blast and lahar that dislodged the ship from its original landfall, sweeping it further down the ridge. The current geology of the area, with the resulting aspects of what we do see, lead the unbiased researcher to an area referred to as “the Durupinar site”, for the final resting place of the ship. Captain Ilhan Durupinar was responsible back in the late 1950’s of mapping the area of eastern Turkey.  Arial photos taken at that time highlighted a boat-shaped formation in the mountains. After a 3-day examination at the site in 1960, it was thought to be a natural formation anomaly. However, some present for the examination believed further research should be conducted.  The Turkish military actually used dynamite to blow a hole in the side looking for wood.  The Vandeman team at that time hadn’t realized that the wood had petrified, giving it the appearance of rock. Seventeen years would pass before others would begin to take a closer look at the site.

Had the remains of Noah’s Ark been found? It would take tremendous effort on the part of many individuals and over 30 years of research to come to a concrete conclusion.