Mount Ararat

This article is about the highest mountain in the Armenian Highlands and Turkey. For the biblical toponym, see Mountains of Ararat. For the mountain located in Pennsylvania, see Mount Ararat (Pennsylvania). For the large country house at Richmond Hill in London, see Mount Ararat, Richmond.

Mount Ararat
Little Ararat (left) and Mt. Ararat (right)
Highest point
Elevation	See Elevation section
Prominence	Ranked 48th
Listing	Country high point Ultra
Coordinates
Geography
Mount Ararat Location in Turkey
Location	Iğdır Province (65%) and Ağrı Province, Turkey
Parent range	Armenian Highlands
Geology
Mountain type	Stratovolcano
Last eruption	1840
Climbing
First ascent	9 October [O.S. 27 September] 1829 Friedrich Parrot, Khachatur Abovian, two Russian soldiers, two Armenian villagers

Mount Ararat (/ˈɑːrəˌrɑːt/ ar-UH-rat; Turkish: Ağrı Dağı; traditional Armenian: Մասիս, Masis) is a snow-capped and dormant compound volcano in the eastern extremity of Turkey. It consists of two major volcanic cones: Greater Ararat, the highest peak in Turkey and the Armenian plateau with an elevation of 5,137 m (16,854 ft); and Lesser Ararat, with an elevation of 3,896 m (12,782 ft). The Ararat massif is about 40 km (25 mi) in diameter.

Mount Ararat is associated with the "mountains of Ararat" in the Bible. It is the traditional resting place of Noah's Ark according to the Book of Genesis. It is the main national symbol of Armenia and is considered a "holy mountain" by Armenians. One author described the Armenians as having "a sense of possession of Ararat in the sense of symbolic cultural property." It is featured prominently in Armenian literature and art. Along with Noah's Ark, it is depicted on the coat of arms of Armenia.

The first efforts to reach Ararat's summit were made in the Middle Ages. However, it was not until 1829 when Friedrich Parrot and Khachatur Abovian, accompanied with four others, made the first recorded ascent.

Political borders

Mount Ararat forms a near-quadripoint between Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Iran. Its summit is located some 16 km (10 mi) west of both the Iranian border and the border of the Nakhchivan exclave of Azerbaijan, and 32 km (20 mi) south of the Armenian border. The Turkish-Armenian-Azerbaijani and Turkish-Iranian-Azerbaijani tripoints are some 8 km apart, separated by a narrow strip of Turkish territory containing the E99 road which enters Nakhchivan at .

The international boundaries as described have been in effect since the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the independence of Armenia and Azerbaijan. However, they have a longer history, having been drawn in 1921, after the conflicts of World War I and the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire that affected the region. The mountain came under Turkish control during the 1920 Turkish–Armenian War. It formally became part of Turkey according to the 1921 Treaty of Kars. By the Tehran Convention of 1932, a border change was made in Turkey's favor, allowing it to occupy the eastern flank of Lesser Ararat. The Iran-Turkey boundary skirts east of Lesser Ararat, the lower peak of the Ararat massif.

Names and etymology

View of Ararat from Iğdır, Turkey.

The term Ararat (Hebrew: אֲרָרָט‎; Armenian: Արարատ) derives from the Hebrew name of the ancient kingdom of Urartu. The mountain is known as Ararat in European languages. However, none of the native peoples have traditionally referred to the mountain by that name. This was noted by James Bryce in 1876.

The traditional Armenian name is Masis (Մասիս [maˈsis]), which is sometimes transliterated as Massis. The plural Masikʿ(Մասիք [maˈsikʰ]) may refer to both peaks. The folk etymology expressed in Movses Khorenatsi's History of Armenia derives the name from a king Amasya, the great-grandson of the legendary Armenian patriarch Hayk, who is said to have called the mountain Masis after himself. According to Russian orientalist Anatoly Novoseltsev the word Masis derives from Persian (Farsi) and means "great" and "large". In Middle Persian masist meant "[the] largest". Nowadays, the terms Masis and Ararat are both widely, often interchangeably, used in Armenian.

The Turkish name is Ağrı Dağı [ɑːrɯ dɑ.ɯ], Ottoman Turkish: اغـر طﺎﻍ‎ Ağır Dağ), i.e. "Mountain of Ağrı". Ağrı literally translates to "pain" or "sorrow". This name has been known since the late Middle Ages. Ağrı is also a province in eastern Turkey, which was officially renamed for the mountain in 1949.

The Persian name is کوه نوح, [ˈkuːhe ˈnuːh], Kūh-e Nūḥ, literally the "mountain of Noah".

The Kurdish names are Çiyayê Agirî [t͡ʃɪjaːˈje aːgɪˈriː] ("Fiery Mountain") or Grîdax [griːˈdaːx].

The mountains ’Áβος, Abos and Νίβαρος, Nibaros mentioned in Strabo's Geographica are believed by some scholars, such as Nicholas Adontz and Vladimir Minorsky, to be the two peaks of Ararat.

Geography

Mount Ararat is located in the Eastern Anatolia Region of Turkey between Doğubeyazıt and Iğdır, near the border with Iran, Armenia and Nakhchivan exclave of Azerbaijan, between the Aras and Murat rivers. Its summit is located some 16 km (10 mi) west of the Turkey-Iran border and 32 km (20 mi) south of the Turco-Armenian border. The Ararat plain runs along its northwest to western side.

Elevation

An elevation of 5,165 m (16,946 ft) for Mount Ararat is still given by some authorities. However, a number of other sources, such as public domain and verifiable Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (STRM) data and a 2007 GPS measurement show that the alternatively widespread figure of 5,137 m (16,854 ft) is probably more accurate, and that the true elevation may be even lower due to the thick layer of snow-covered ice cap which permanently remains on the top of the mountain. 5,137 m is also supported by numerous topographic maps.

Mount Ararat 3D

Summit Ice Cap

Mount Ararat has an ice cap on its summit. Since at least about 1957, it has been shrinking. In the late 1950s, Blumenthal observed that there existed 11 outlet glaciers emerging from a summit snow mass that covered about 10 km² (3.9 sq mi). At that time, it was found that the present glaciers on the summit of Ararat to extend as low as an elevation of 3,900 meters (12,800 ft) on the north-facing slope, and an elevation of 4,200 meters (13,800 ft) on its south-facing slope. Using pre-existing aerial imagery and remote sensing data, Sarıkaya and others studied the extent of the ice cap on Mount Ararat between 1976 and 2011. They discovered that this ice cap had shrank to 8.0 km² (3.1 sq mi) by 1976 and to 5.7 km² (2.2 sq mi) by 2011. They calculated that between 1976 and 2011, the ice cap on top of Mount Ararat had lost 29% of its total area at an average rate of ice loss of 0.07 km² (0.027 sq mi) per year over 35 years. This rate is consistent with the general rates of retreat of other Turkish summit glaciers and ice caps that have been documented by other studies.

Blumenthal estimated that the snow line had been as low as 3,000 meters (9,800 ft) in elevation during the Late Pleistocene. Such a snow line would have created an ice cap of 100 km² (39 sq mi) in extent. However, he observed a lack of any clear evidence of prehistoric moraines other than those which were close to the 1958 glacier tongues. Blumenthal explained the absence of such moraines by the lack of confining ridges to control glaciers, insufficient debris load in the ice to form moraines, and their burial by later eruptions. Years later, Birman observed on the south-facing slopes a possible moraine that extends at least 300 meters (980 ft) in altitude below the base of the 1958 ice cap at an elevation of 4,200 meters (13,800 ft). He also found two morainal deposits that were created by a Mount Ararat valley glacier of Pleistocene, possibly Wisconsinan (Last Glacial Maximum) age downvalley from Lake Balik Golu. The higher moraine lies at an altitude of about 2,200 meters (7,200 ft) and the lower moraine lies at an altitude of about 1,800 meters (5,900 ft). The lower moraine occurs about 15 kilometers (9.3 mi) downstream from Lake Balik Golu. Both moraines are about 30 meters (98 ft) high. It is suspected that Lake Balik Golu occupies a glacial basin.

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Geology

Mount Ararat is a polygenic, compound stratovolcano. Covering an area of 1,100 km² (420 sq mi), it is the largest volcanic edifice within the region. Along its northwest–southeast trending long axis, Mount Ararat is about 45 kilometers (28 mi) long and is about 30 kilometers (19 mi) long along its short axis. It consists of about 1,150 km³ (280 cu mi) of dacitic and rhyolitic pyroclastic debris and dacitic, rhyolitic, and basaltic lavas.

Mount Ararat consists of two distinct volcanic cones, Greater Ararat and Lesser Ararat (Little Ararat). The western volcanic cone, Greater Ararat, is a steep-sided volcanic cone that is larger and higher than the eastern volcanic cone. Greater Ararat is about 25 kilometers (16 mi) wide at the base and rises about 3 kilometers (1.9 mi) above the adjacent floors of the Iğdir and Doğubeyazıt basins. The eastern volcanic cone, Lesser Ararat, is 3,896 meters (12,782 ft) high and 15 kilometers (9.3 mi) across. These volcanic cones, which lie 13 kilometers (8.1 mi) apart, are separated by a wide north–south-trending crack. This crack is the surface expression of an extensional fault. Numerous parasitic cones and lava domes have been built by flank eruptions along this fault and on the flanks of both of the main volcanic cones.

Mount Ararat lies within a complex, sinistral pull-apart basin that originally was a single, continuous depression. The growth of Mount Ararat partitioned this depression into two smaller basins, the Iğdir and Doğubeyazıt basins. This pull-apart basin is the result of strike-slip movement along two en-echelon fault segments, the Doğubeyazıt–Gürbulak and Iğdir faults, of a sinistral strike–slip fault system. Tension between these faults, not only formed the original pull-apart basin, but created a system of faults, exhibiting a horsetail splay pattern, that control the position of the principal volcanic eruption centers of Mount Ararat and associated linear belt of parasitic volcanic cones. The strike-slip fault system within which Mount Ararat located is the result of north–south convergence and tectonic compression between the Arabian Platform and Laurasia that continued after the Tethys Ocean closed during the Eocene epoch along the Bitlis–Zagros suture.

Geological history

During the early Eocene and early Miocene, the collision of Arabian platform with Laurasia closed and eliminated the Tethys Ocean from the area of what is now Anatolia. The closure of these masses of continental crust, collapsed this ocean basin by middle Eocene and resulted in a progressively shallowing of the remnant seas, until the end of early Miocene period. Post-collisional tectonic convergence within the collision zone resulted in the total elimination of the remaining seas from East Anatolia, at the end of early Miocene, crustal shortening and thickening across the collision zone, and uplift of the East Anatolian–Iranian plateau. Accompanying this uplift was extensive deformation by faulting and folding, which resulted in the creation of numerous local basins. The north–south compressional deformation continues today as evidenced by ongoing faulting, volcanism, and seismicity.

Within Anatolia, regional volcanism started middle-late Miocene. During the late Miocene–Pliocene period, widespread volcanism blanketed the entire East Anatolian–Iranian plateau under thick volcanic rocks. This volcanic activity has continued uninterrupted until historical times. Apparently, it reached a climax during the latest Miocene–Pliocene, 6 to 3 Ma. During the Quaternary, the volcanism became restricted to a few local volcanoes such as Mount Ararat. These volcanoes are typically associated with north–south tensional fractures formed by the continuing the north–south shortening deformation of Anatolia.

In their detailed study and summary of the Quaternary volcanism of Anatolia, Yilmaz and others recognized four phases to the construction of Mount Ararat from volcanic rocks exposed in glacial valleys deeply carved into it flanks. First, they recognized a fissure eruption phase of Plinian-subPlinian fissure eruptions that deposited more than 700 meters (2,300 ft) of pyroclastic rocks and a few basaltic lava flows. These volcanic rocks were erupted from approximately north northwest–south southeast-trending extensional faults and fissures prior to the development of Mount Ararat. Second, a cone-building phase began when the volcanic activity became localized at a point along a fissure. During this phase, the eruption of successive flows of lava up to 150 meters (490 ft) thick and pyroclastic flows of andesite and dacite composition and the following eruption of basaltic lava flows, formed the Greater Ararat cone with a low conical profile. Third, during a climatic phase, copious flows of andesitic and basaltic lavas were erupted. During this phase, the current cones of Greater and Lesser Ararat were formed as eruptions along subsidiary fissures and cracks and flank occurred. Finally, the volcanic eruptions at Mount Ararat transitioned into a flank eruption phase during which a major north–south-trending fault offset the two cones developed along with a number of number of subsidiary fissures and cracks on the volcano's flanks. Along this fault and the subsidiary fissures and cracks, a number of parasitic cones and domes were built by minor eruptions. One subsidiary cone erupted voluminous basalt and andesite lava flows. They flowed across the Doğubeyazıt plain and along the southerly flowing Sarısu River. These lava flows formed black ʻaʻā and pāhoehoe lava flows that contain well preserved lava tubes. The radiometric dating of these lava flows yielded radiometric ages of 0.4, 0.48 and 0.81 Ma. Overall, radiometric ages obtained from the volcanic rocks erupted by Mount Ararat range from 1.5 to 0.02 Ma.

Recent volcanic and seismic activity

The chronology of Holocene volcanic activity associated with Mount Ararat is poorly documented. However, either archaeological excavations, oral history, historical records, or combination of these data provide solid evidence that volcanic eruptions of Mount Ararat occurred in 2500–2400 BC, 550 BC, possibly in 1450 AD and 1783 AD, and definitely in 1840 AD. Archaeological evidence demonstrates that explosive eruptions and pyroclastic flows from the northwest flank of Mount Ararat destroyed and buried at least one Koura–Arax culture settlement and caused numerous fatalities in 2500–2400 BC. Oral histories indicated that a significant eruption of uncertain magitude occurred in 550 BC and minor eruptions of uncertain nature might have occurred in 1450 AD and 1783 AD. According to the interpretation of historical and archaeological data, strong earthquakes not associated with volcanic eruptions also occurred the area of Mount Ararat in 139, 368, 851–893, and 1319 AD. During the 139 AD earthquake, a large landslide that caused many casualties and was similar to the 1840 AD landslide originated from the summit of Mount Ararat.

1840 eruption

Historical records and oral history document a phreatic eruption and pyroclastic flow from radial fissures on the upper north flank of Mount Ararat and a possibly associated earthquake of magnitude 7.4 that caused severe damage and numerous casualties in 1840 AD. Up to 10,000 people in the Mount Ararart region died in the earthquake, including 1900 villagers in the village of Akory who were killed by a gigantic landslide and subsequent debris flow. In addition, this combination of landslide and debris flow destroyed the town of Aralik, several villages, and Russian military barracks. It also temporarily dammed the Sevjour River.

Ascents

The 13th century missionary William of Rubruck wrote that "Many have tried to climb it, but none has been able."

First ascent

Friedrich Parrot

Khachatur Abovian

The first recorded ascent of the mountain in the modern times took place on 9 October [O.S. 27 September] 1829. The Baltic German naturalist Friedrich Parrot of the University of Dorpat arrived at Etchmiadzin in mid-September 1829, almost two years after Russian capture of Erivan, for the single purpose of exploring Ararat. The prominent Armenian writer Khachatur Abovian, then a deacon and translator at Etchmiadzin, was assigned by Catholicos Yeprem, the head of the Armenian Church, as interpreter and guide. Abovian and Parrot crossed the Aras River and headed to the Armenian village of Agori situated on the northern slope of Ararat 1,220 metres (4,000 ft) above sea level. They set up a base camp at the Monastery of Saint Jacob some 730 metres (2,400 ft) higher, at an elevation of 1,943 metres (6,375 ft). After two failed attempts, they reached the summit on their third attempt at 3:15 p.m. on October 9, 1829. The group included Parrot, Abovian, two Russian (Cossack) soldiers—Alexei Zdorovenko and Matvei Chalpanov, and two Armenian Agori villagers—Hovannes Aivazian, and Murat Poghossian. Parrot measured the elevation at 5,250 metres (17,220 ft) using a mercury barometer. This was not only the first ascent of Ararat, but also the second highest elevation climbed by man up to that date outside of Mount Licancabur in the Chilean Andes. Abovian dug a hole in the ice and erected a wooden cross facing north. Abovian also picked up a chunk of ice from the summit and carried it down with him in a bottle, considering the water holy. On 8 November [O.S. 27 October] 1829, Parrot and Abovian together with the Agori hunter Sahak’s brother Hago, acting as a guide climbed up Lesser Ararat.

Later notable ascents

Other early notable climbers of Ararat included Russian climatologist and meteorologist Kozma Spassky-Avtonomov (August 1834), Karl Behrens (1835), German mineralogist and geologist Otto Wilhelm Hermann von Abich (29 July 1845), British politician Henry Danby Seymour (1848). Later in the 19th century, two British scholars on Armenia—James Bryce (1879) and H. F. B. Lynch (1893)—climbed the mountain. The first winter climb was by Bozkurt Ergör, the former president of the Turkish Mountaineering Federation, who climbed on 21 February 1970.

Resting place of Noah's Ark

Origins of the tradition

Genesis 8:4 in different versions of the Bible

version Text of Genesis 8:4 Hebrew Bible Biblical Hebrew: ד וַתָּנַח הַתֵּבָה בַּחֹדֶשׁ הַשְּׁבִיעִי, בְּשִׁבְעָה-עָשָׂר יוֹם לַחֹדֶשׁ, עַל, הָרֵי אֲרָרָט transliteration: wat·tā·naḥ hat·tê·ḇāh ba·ḥō·ḏeš haš·šə·ḇî·‘î, bə·šiḇ·‘āh- ‘ā·śār yō·wm la·ḥō·ḏeš; ‘al hā·rê ’ă·rā·rāṭ literal translation: and the vessel rested in the seventh new moon in the seventeenth day to the new moon upon the hills of Ararat Septuagint Koine Greek: καὶ ἐκάθισεν ἡ κιβωτὸς ἐν μηνὶ τῷ ἑβδόμῳ, ἑβδόμῃ καὶ εἰκάδι τοῦ μηνός, ἐπὶ τὰ ὄρη τὰ ᾿Αραράτ. transliteration: kai ekathisen hē kibōtos en mēni tō hebdomō, hebdomē kai eikadi tou mēnos, epi ta orē ta Ararat. literal translation: And the water subsided, and went off the earth, and after an hundred and fifty days the water was diminished, and the ark rested in the seventh month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat. Vulgate Latin: requievitque arca mense septimo vicesima septima die mensis super montes Armeniae translation: And the ark rested in the seventh month, the seven and twentieth day of the month, upon the mountains of Armenia. King James Version archaic English: And the Arke rested in the seuenth moneth, on the seuenteenth day of the moneth, vpon the mountaines of Ararat modern English: And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.

Topography of Paradise by Jesuit scholar and polymath Athanasius Kircher as appeared in the book Arca Noë (1675). In the northeast, in the mountains above Armenia stands Mount Ararat, shown with a rectangular-shaped ark on the summit (seen on the left image).

According to the fourth verse of the eighth chapter of the Book of Genesis (Genesis 8:4) Noah's Ark landed on the "mountains of Ararat" following a flood. Most historians and Bible scholars agree that "Ararat" is the Hebrew name of Urartu, the geographic predecessor of Armenia, and did not, at the time, only refer to Mount Ararat. Nevertheless, Mount Ararat is considered the traditional site of the resting place of the Noah's Ark and most Christians prefer this view. It has therefore been called a biblical mountain.

According to Arnold, Mount Ararat has been associated with the Genesis flood story since the 11-12th centuries. Bailey suggested that the local Armenian population began to identify it as the ark's landing place in the 11-12th centuries. British orientalist F. C. Conybeare in his 1901 review of Friedrich Murad's book on Ararat wrote that the mountain was "a center and focus of pagan myths and cults [...] and it was only in the eleventh century, after these had vanished from the popular mind, that the Armenian theologians ventured to locate on its eternal snows the resting-place of Noah's ark." Fischer and Spencer & Lienard name the 13th century Franciscan missionary William of Rubruck as the earliest reference for the tradition of Mount Ararat as the landing place of the ark in European literature.

"...the Biblical passage only goes to this, that the Ark rested upon a mountain in the district which the Hebrews knew as Ararat, or Armenia. At the same time our mountain is so very much higher, more conspicuous, and more majestic than any other summit in Armenia, that one could hardly doubt that if the Biblical writer had any particular mountain present to his mind, it must have been our Mount Ararat."

 —James Bryce, 1878

Prevalence

American Christian missionary Harrison Gray Otis Dwight wrote in 1856 that "the general opinion of the learned in Europe" is that Noah's Ark rested on Mount Ararat. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia (1907), both Jewish and Armenian tradition say Noah's Ark rested on Mount Ararat. Spencer and Lienard wrote in 2005 that Mount Ararat is where the European tradition and most of Western Christianity place the landing of Noah's Ark and add that the tradition "seems to be well entrenched in the Christian world." During his visit to Armenia in 2001 Pope John Paul II declared in his homily: "We are close to Mount Ararat, where tradition says that the Ark of Noah came to rest." Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, also mentioned Mount Ararat as the resting place of Noah's Ark in his speech at the Etchmiadzin Cathedral during his visit to Armenia in 2010.

Searches

Traditionally, Mount Ararat has been one of the major locations for searches for Noah's Ark. Despite numerous reports of ark sightings (e.g. Ararat anomaly) and rumors, "no scientific evidence of the ark has emerged." Searches for Noah's Ark are considered by scholars an example of pseudoarchaeology. Kenneth Feder writes, "As the flood story itself is unsupported by any archaeological evidence, it is not surprising that there is no archaeological evidence for the existence of an impossibly large boat dating to 5,000 years ago."

Significance among Armenians

This 1889 painting by Ivan Aivazovsky shows Noah "leading his family and a procession of animals across the plain, still watery from the subsiding Flood, to re-people the earth."

Mount Ararat is widely considered a national symbol of Armenia. Due to its association with the Biblical flood story, it known as the "holy mountain" of the Armenian people. Mount Ararat, a critical piece of the Armenian homeland, was the geographical center of the ancient Armenian kingdoms. According to Shirinian, in the 19th century when an Armenian state did not exist, Mt. Ararat symbolized the historical Armenian nation-state. The 1918–20 Republic of Armenia, the first modern Armenian state, was sometimes called the "Araratian Republic" or the "Republic of Ararat".

Myth of origin

The Genesis flood narrative was linked to the Armenian myth of origin by the early medieval historian Movses Khorenatsi. In his History of Armenia, Khorenatsi wrote that Hayk, the legendary founding father and the name giver of the Armenian people is the son of Torgom, the great-grandson of Japheth, one of Noah's sons. Hayk established the roots of the Armenian nation around Mount Ararat. This myth has several powerful symbolic components. Razmik Panossian suggested that the story "makes Armenia the cradle of all civilisation since Noah’s Ark landed on the ‘Armenian’ mountain of Ararat. [...] it connects Armenians to the biblical narrative of human development. [...] it makes Mount Ararat the national symbol of all Armenians, and the territory around it the Armenian homeland from time immemorial."

Yerevan, the capital of Armenia. The city's skyline is dominated by Mount Ararat.

Symbol of genocide and "lost lands"

In the aftermath of the Armenian Genocide of 1915, a large portion of the Armenian homeland, particularly what is now eastern Turkey, was left with little to no Armenian population. Although Ararat was part of the Russian Empire's Erivan Governorate and was ceded to Turkey by the 1921 Treaty of Kars, in the later decades it came to represent the loss of Western Armenia (eastern Turkey) in the national consciousness of the Armenians. "[I]t looms as a reminder of the tragedy that has dominated Armenian life: Mount Ararat is visible from Armenia, but it belongs to Turkey." Ararat has become a symbol of Armenian efforts to reclaim its "lost lands", i.e. the areas west of Ararat that are now part of Turkey that had significant Armenian population before the genocide.

Modern symbolism

Armenian scholar Hamlet Petrosyan wrote: "The mountain has become, for all intents and purposes, the calling card of Armenia." Russian online newspaper Lenta.ru described Ararat as the main brand of Armenia. Turkish newspaper Radikal described Ararat "more than a mountain" for Armenians. US President Herbert Hoover, who was the head of the Food Administration during World War I, wrote in his memoirs that the association of Mount Ararat and Noah, among other things, "cumulated to impress the name of Armenia on the American mind."

Coat of arms of Armenia

Mount Ararat has been depicted on the coat of arms of Armenia consistently since 1918. The First Republic's coat of arms was designed by architect Alexander Tamanian and painter Hakob Kojoyan. This coat of arms was adopted by the legislature of the Republic of Armenia on April 19, 1992, after Armenia regained independence. Ararat is depicted along with the ark on its peak on the shield on an orange background.

The emblem of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic (Soviet Armenia) was created by the prominent painter Martiros Saryan and Kojoyan in 1921. Mount Ararat is depicted in the middle and makes up a large portion of it.

First Republic (1918-20)

Soviet Republic (1921–91)

Current Republic (1992-)

Territorial claims

"In most Armenian homes in the modern diaspora, there are pictures of Mount Ararat, a bittersweet reminder of the homeland and national aspirations. Although the mountain is in Turkey, it remains for Armenians a symbol of hope because it is the place where the Bible says Noah's ark came to rest."

 —Ari L. Goldman, New York Times, 1988

Lebanese Armenians protesting Turkish Prime Minister Erdoğan's visit to Beirut in November 2010. The poster reads "Ararat is and remains Armenian".

The nationalist Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) party claims eastern Turkey (Western Armenia) as part of United Armenia. The government of the Republic of Armenia has never made claims to any Turkish territory, however the Armenian government has avoided "an explicit and formal recognition of the existing Turkish-Armenian border." According to Turkish scholar Bayram Balci regular references to the Armenian Genocide and Mount Ararat "clearly indicates that the border with their eastern neighbour in contested."

In a 2010 interview with Der Spiegel, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan was asked: "You can see Mount Ararat, Armenia's national symbol, from the windows of your residence. Today, the mountain is inaccessible, on the other side of the Turkish border. Turkey fears demands for land and compensation. Do you want Mount Ararat back?" Sargsyan, in response, said:

No one can take Mount Ararat from us; we keep it in our hearts. Wherever Armenians live in the world today, you will find a picture of Mount Ararat in their homes. And I feel certain that a time will come when Mount Ararat is no longer a symbol of the separation between our peoples, but an emblem of understanding. But let me make this clear: Never has a representative of Armenia made territorial demands. Turkey alleges this—perhaps out of its own bad conscience?

In various settings, several notable individuals have spoken in support of Armenian claims over Mt. Ararat. German historian Tessa Hofmann, for example, suggested that "the return of the ruins of Ani and of Mount Ararat [by Turkey to Armenia], both in the immediate border area could be considered as a convincing gesture of Turkey’s apologies and will for reconciliation." Slovak conservative politician František Mikloško stated at a conference on Turkey's foreign policy in Poland in 2010: "Mount Ararat [represents the] Christian heritage of Armenians. Does modern Turkey consider the possibility of giving the mount back to Armenians? The return of Ararat would be an unprecedented step to signify Turkey’s willingness to build a peaceful future and promote its image at the international scene." Lithuanian political scientist and Soviet dissident Aleksandras Štromas wrote: "The Armenians would also be right to claim from Turkey the Ararat Valley, which is an indivisible part of the Armenian homeland containing the main spiritual center and supreme symbol of Armenia's nationhood, the holy Mountain of Ararat itself."

In popular culture

In music

The 8th track of the album Hypnotize (2005) by System of a Down, an American rock band composed of four Armenian Americans, "references Mount Ararat [...] and details that the souls lost to the Armenian Genocide have returned to rest here."

The first stamps issued by independent Armenia in 1992

Stamps

After independence from the Soviet Union, Armenia issued first of its three stamps in 1992. All three depicted Mt. Ararat.

Sports

Mount Ararat is depicted on the logo of the Football Federation of Armenia. There are football (soccer) teams based in Yerevan, Armenia (FC Ararat Yerevan) and Tehran, Iran (F.C. Ararat Tehran)

In film

The 2002 film Ararat by Armenian-Canadian filmmaker Atom Egoyan features Mt. Ararat prominently in its symbolism.

Press

The official newspaper of the Social Democrat Hunchakian Party in Lebanon (Ararad daily) and California (Massis weekly) are both named for Ararat.

On banknotes

Mount Ararat was depicted on various Armenian dram banknotes issued in 1993-2001; on the reverse of the 10 dram banknotes issued in 1993, on the reverse of the 50 dram banknotes issued in 1998, on the obverse of the 100 and 500 dram banknotes issued in 1993, and on the reverse of the 50,000 dram banknotes issued in 2001.

And on the reverse of the Turkish 100 lira banknotes of 1972-1986.

In art

European

Ararat was depicted in the books of European, including many British, and American travelers in the 19th century who visited Armenia.

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  Joseph Pitton de Tournefort, 1718

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  Robert Ker Porter, 1821

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  "View of Ararat and the Monastery of Echmiadzin", from the 1846 English translation of Friedrich Parrot's Journey to Ararat

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  Justin Perkins, 1861

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  James Bryce, 1877

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  H. F. B. Lynch, 1901

Armenian

The first Armenian artist to depict the mountain was Ivan Aivazovsky, who created a painting of Ararat during his visit to Armenia in 1868. Other major Armenians artists who painted Ararat include Yeghishe Tadevosyan, Gevorg Bashinjaghian, Martiros Saryan, and Panos Terlemezian.

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  Mkrtum Hovnatanian, 1836

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  Ivan Aivazovsky, Valley of Mount Ararat, 1882

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  Yeghishe Tadevosyan, Ararat from Ejmiatsin, 1895

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  Gevorg Bashinjaghian, 1912

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  Panos Terlemezian, 1929

In literature

William Wordsworth imagines seeing the ark in the poem "Sky-Prospect":

Lo! in the burning west, the craggy nape

Of a proud Ararat! and thereupon,

The Ark, her melancholy voyage done!

Meliné Karakashian described the significance of Mt. Ararat in Armenian literature: "Numerous poets have written about the majestic Mt. Ararat, which is presently located in Turkey, yet clearly visible from Armenia. The symbolic significance of Mt. Ararat cannot be underestimated. Poets identify with the permanence of the mountain and garner strength from it. They attribute to it symbolic meanings of unity, freedom, and independence."

The last two lines of Yeghishe Charents's 1920 poem "I Love My Armenia" (Ես իմ անուշ Հայաստանի) read:

And in the entire world you will not find a mountaintop like Ararat's.

Like an unreachable peak of glory I love my Mount Masis.

Mount Ararat is the most frequently cited symbol in the poetry of Hovhannes Shiraz (1914–84). According to Bardakjian, Ararat "epitomizes Armenia and Armenian suffering and aspirations, especially the consequences of the 1915 genocide: almost total annihilation, loss of a unique culture and land (including cities such as Ani and Van), and an implicit determination never to recognize the new political borders." In collection of poems, Knar Hayastani (Lyre of Armenia) published in 1958, there are many poems "with very strong nationalist overtones, especially with respect to Mount Ararat (in Turkey) and the irredentism it entailed." One such poem, "Ktak" (Bequest), reads:

My son, what should I bequeath you? what should I bequeath, my boy?

…

I want to will you such a treasure as a father,

That no other father can will you in another country,

…

I will bequeath you our mountain, that you take it out of black clouds,

So you bring it home [based on] pure justice,

…

I am willing you Masis, that you keep it forever,

As the language of us Armenians, as the pillar of your father’s home.

The first three lines of Paruyr Sevak's 1961 poem "We Are Few..." (Քիչ ենք, բայց հայ ենք) read:

We are few, but they say of us we are Armenians.

We do not think ourselves superior to anyone.

Clearly we shall have to accept

That we, and only we, have an Ararat

In one short poem Silva Kaputikyan compares Armenia to an "ancient rock-carved fortress", the towers of which are Mount Aragats and Moun Ararat.

Places named for Ararat

In Armenia, there is a province, two cities (Ararat, Masis), and two villages (Ararat, Masis) named Ararat.

In the United States, an unincorporated community in North Carolina, a township and mountain in Pennsylvania, and a river in Virginia and North Carolina are named Ararat.

In the Australian state of Victoria, there is a city and a rural city named Ararat.

Gallery

• 

  taken from the International Space Station on 8 July 2011

• 

  taken from the Space Shuttle on 18 March 2001

• 
• 

  View from Yerevan

• 
• 

  View of Ararat from Khor Virap, Armenia

• 

  from Turkey

• 

  from Doğubeyazıt

• 

  from Iğdır

• 

  from Nakhchivan

See also

• 96205 Ararat is an asteroid named in the mountain's honor
• Volcanic Seven Summits

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

general works

specific works on Ararat

External links

• NASA Earth Observatory page