Mount Ararat

A mountain range in the north where Noah's Ark came to rest after the Flood.

Location Details

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categoryCategory

Mountain

flagModern Location

Eastern Turkey

historyBiblical Period

Genesis

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Noah Shem Ham Japheth

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lightbulbBiblical Significance

The landing place of the Ark and the site of God's rainbow covenant with humanity.

Resting Place of the Ark

menu_bookBIBLICAL REFERENCE

³And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated.

Genesis 8:3-4arrow_forward

As the floodwaters of Genesis receded, Noah's Ark came to rest on the "mountains of Ararat" (Genesis 8:3-4). The Hebrew phrase "mountains of Ararat" refers to a region rather than a single peak—the volcanic highlands of Armenia. Mount Ararat (Ağrı Dağı in Turkish) rises 5,137 meters, the highest peak in Turkey, its twin summits still capped with glacial ice. It marked a new beginning for the human race—a post-flood Eden.

The Raven and the Dove

menu_bookBIBLICAL REFERENCE

⁶And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made:

Genesis 8:6-12arrow_forward

Noah sent out a raven, which "kept going to and fro" (Genesis 8:7)—the restless, unclean bird finding no home. Then he sent a dove, which returned with an oliveleaf in her beak (Genesis 8:11). This image—a dove bearing an olive branch—has become an enduring symbol of peace and new life. The dove, a clean animal acceptable for sacrifice, became a picture of the Holy Spirit descending on Jesus at His baptism.

Noah's Altar and Sacrifice

menu_bookBIBLICAL REFERENCE

²⁰And Noah builded an altar unto the Lord; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

Genesis 8:20-21arrow_forward

Upon leaving the Ark, Noah's first act was worship. He built an altar and offered burnt offerings of every clean animal and bird (Genesis 8:20). The LORD smelled the "pleasing aroma" and made a promise in His heart never again to curse the ground because of man. This voluntary sacrifice—before any command was given—demonstrated Noah's faith and established a pattern of atoning worship that would culminate at Calvary.

The Rainbow Covenant

menu_bookBIBLICAL REFERENCE

¹²And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:

Genesis 9:12-16arrow_forward

God established His covenant with Noah and every living creature, symbolized by the rainbow (Genesis 9: 12 - 16). This is the first explicit covenant in Scripture with a visible "sign"—a pattern repeated with circumcision (Abraham), the Sabbath (Moses), and the Lord's Supper (Christ). The rainbow arcs across the sky after storms as a divine reminder: "Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life." God binds Himself by His own faithfulness.