Ararat

Ararat (ăr'urăt) [key], Turkish Ağri Daği, name of two mountains, Little Ararat (12,877 ft/3,925 m) and Great Ararat (16,945 ft/5,165 m), E Turkey, near the Iranian and Armenian borders. The tradition that Mt. Ararat is the resting place of Noah's ark is based on a misreading of Gen. 8.4, which properly reads “upon the mountains of Ararat,” indicating a country or region. The land or the kingdom of Ararat,. called in Assyrian Urartu, was situated between the river Araks and the lakes Van and Urmia. It included all the land later called Armenia. See Urartu.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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