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Where is Noah's Ark?


Genesis Says the Ark Rested on Mount Ararat

Genesis 11:
1 And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters asswaged;
2 The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained;
3 And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated.
4 And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.

Most people stop here and think of what is called Mount Ararat in Turkey. It a big beautiful mountain but that does not make it the place where the ark rested. The historian Josephus remarks in Antiquities 1.3.5, "After this, the ark rested on the top of a certain mountain in Armenia;…" The Bible says in Genesis 8:4, "And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat." It is easy to see why readers would believe Ararat is in Turkey close to Armenia but it should be clearly understood Josephus is not a valid historical source. He cannot be trusted. See Can the Historian Josephus be Trusted? and more specifically Josephus Disagrees With the Bible About Facts and Events. What does the Bible say about the location of the ark?


Ararat Is East of Iraq

Genesis 11:
1 And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.
2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.
3 And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar.
4 And 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.
5 And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.
6 And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.
7 Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.
8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.
9 Therefore 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.


Verse 2 says, "as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there." They built the tower of Babel and later founded Babylon which is about 100 miles southwest of Baghdad. They didn't come from the north, northeast or northwest. Some people think east really means "to the east". Whether they journeyed to, or from, the east, Turkey is the wrong place. Review the progression of events.

  1. Noah's ark landed.
  2. They journeyed from the east.
  3. They built the tower of Babel.
  4. After that, they were divided into the nations, not before.


Archeologists Are Looking in the Wrong Place

The result is that seminary professors, pastors and teachers are providing bad information. Expeditions to find archeological remains of the ark in Turkey are a waste of time and money. They just make Christians look bad. These days a large amount of satellite data is available. What used to require a serious expedition can now be seen in Google Maps. The Turkish name shown is Ağri Daği. Why would you expect to find the ark anyway? If it were not buried in an alluvial flow or mud slide why wouldn't people use it for buildings or firewood? If new trees were growing after the flood without a miracle not mentioned in the Bible they would not be big enough for timber. Why destroy new trees? Also, why chop down new growth when a huge source of firewood was available? Some have suggested the ark has not been found because it is buried under the ice at the summit. If that were the case why would God cause the ark to settle at the top. Encyclopaedia Britannica provides "an elevation of 16,945 feet" for the summit of Great Ararat. It would require Noah and his family to pack all their supplies and belongings on animals and carry them down the mountain. The Blue Letter Bible explanation based on Strong's Hebrew word 780 (אֵרָרָט) for Ararat reads, "the curse reversed: precipitation of curse". Leaving Noah on the top of a high mountain would be another curse not a curse reversed. Noah's Ark landed east of Iraq's plain of Shinar and not in Turkey.



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