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Where did Noah’s Ark end up?
The Ark that Noah built in which he and his family survived the biblical flood has never been found. Most Chritians believe that the Ark ended up somewhere on mount Ararat in modern day Turkey. There are a few claims that have been made by people who say that they have found the remains. I’m sure you have all seen the websites and news reports that claim the Ark has been discovered in this area, but none of these claims are definitive in any way.
How likely are the claims to be true?
The first thing that needs to be pointed out is that the Bible DOES say that the Ark came to rest upon the mountains of Ararat.
Genesi 8- 4And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.
So there we go pretty simple. The Ark came to rest at the mountains of Ararat. We know that Mount Ararat is in modern day Turkey so this is where the Ark would be found, if it has not already completely eroded away.
However there are a few problems with this assertion.
Firstly, after the flood the WHOLE earth was of one language
Genesis 11- 1And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.
This was BEFORE the tower of Babel where the languages were confused.
We are told THEY , journeyed from the east to the land of Shinar and they dwelt there.
Genesis 11- 2And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.
After the flood but before the tower of Babel all the people spoke the same language and journeyed together.
It was in the land of Shinar that the people built the tower of Babel.
Genesis 11- 3And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.4And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.
God confused the languages, named the place Babel and scattered the people over the face of the earth.
Genesis 11- 9Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.
The land of Shinar was located in the Biblical area of Babylon which is modern day Iraq.
Iraq is located south and south east of Turkey…….and this is a very very important fact. Turkey is located north and northwest of Iraq. Mount Ararat is located in the east of Turkey near the border with Iran, Armenia and Azerbaijan . This means that mount Ararat in Turkey is located NORTH of modern day Iraq and therefore NORTH of Shinar.
As we saw the Bible states that after Noah and his family left the Ark and began to reproduce they journeyed from the EAST before they came to Shinar where they dwelt
Genesis 11- 2And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.
This means that either the Ark CANNOT have come to rest on the mountain known today as Mount Ararat in Turkey OR the Bible is incorrect in its recording of the direction in which the people travelled after they left the Ark.
Secondly the Bible states that the Ark rested on the MOUNTAINS plural of Ararat not upon one specific mountain known as Ararat. This simply means that the Ark came to rest in a range of mountains collectively called Ararat. It does not state a specific mountain in that range.
The Hebrew is אֲרָרַט Ararat Strongs gives the definition as a location in east Armenia which obviously could not be mount Ararat which is in Turkey.
The word appears 4 times in the Bible. It is translated twice as Ararat
Once in Genesis and again in Jeremiah
Jeremiah 57- 27Set 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.
It is also translated as Armenia twice
2 Kings 19-37 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. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.
Isaiah 37 – 38And 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: and Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.
Modern day Armenia however is still north of Iraq but it is at least north east.
The stories that mount Ararat in Turkey was the resting place of the Ark almost certainly originate in the 11th or 12th century.
While Mount Ararat is the name of the mountain in today’s English language this is not the name by which it has always been known. It was (and still is known by the Armenians) as Mount Masis although today both names are used.
While the Bible does not give the exact location of the mountains of Ararat what is almost certain is that the modern day Mount Ararat is NOT where the Ark came to rest. It would be much more likely that the range of mountains that the Ark came to rest on are located somewhere to the East of Iraq.