Noah’s Ark on Mount Ararat?

By Mark Swarbrick

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Is Noah’s Ark on Mount Ararat? Many believe that Noah’s Ark is perserved in the ice on top of Mount Ararak in Turkey. There have been many expeditions by groups looking for it there. However, Noah’s Ark cannot be on top of Mount Ararat for several reasons:

Hazardous Area for Noah’s Ark

Mount Ararat, the mountain often associated with the biblical account of Noah’s Ark, can be easily explored using Google Earth. You can zoom in on every ridge and valley with your home computer.

If the Ark were still intact on this mountain, it would likely be visible in satellite images unless it was buried under the permanent ice and snow near the peak. This is precisely where many expeditions have focused their searches.

In Genesis 8:1, we read, “But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark…” This verse underscores God’s care for Noah and the animals in the ark. We can be confident that God, in His omniscience and foreknowledge, ensured the ark came to rest in a location suitable for Noah’s family and all the animals to safely disembark.

Take a close look at this image of Mount Ararat, focusing on the snow-covered peak. Ask yourself: would this rugged terrain be a safe and suitable place for a massive 450-foot vessel like Noah’s Ark to come to rest?” The terrain is marked by steep slopes, deep gorges, and precipices, making it extremely hazardous to traverse. Many people have lost their lives or been seriously injured climbing this mountain. In 2024 alone, three climbers died, including the experienced mountaineer Akber Helil, who fell to his death during his descent from the summit. Given the treacherous conditions of Mount Ararat’s snow-covered areas, it seems unlikely that God would have chosen such a place for the Ark to land. The risks involved in descending from this location would have been significant for Noah’s family and the animals. Here is a short three-minute video clip that shows how treacherous Mount Ararat is: https://youtu.be/c9tYN79nNpI

Hypoxia-Induced Hallucinations

The elevation at the peak of Mount Ararat is 16,854 feet. Breathing becomes significantly harder at high elevatoin due to the lower oxygen concentration and air pressure. At this altitude, the air is much thinner, and the number of oxygen molecules per breath is reduced, making it more difficult for your body to get the oxygen it needs. This can lead to hypoxia, with symptoms of severe headache, nausea, shortness of breath, and hallucinations. Many pilots have reported experiencing symptoms of hypoxia at or below 10,000 feet. This is why pilots of unpressurized aircraft are required be on oxygen above 10,000 feet.

Medical researchers have documented that hypoxia can lead to a range of neurological symptoms, including hallucinations, delusions, and altered states of consciousness. Studies have shown that hypoxia can disrupt electrophysiological activity in the visual cortex, causing individuals to perceive objects that are not present. Medical literature documents cases where individuals experiencing hypoxia have reported hallucinations that they later believed to be real. Medical studies report hese hallucinations can be quite vivid and are often perceived as real by those experiencing them. Often, those experiencing hypoxia are completely unaware of their impaired state. This phenomenon offers a plausible explanation for why some individuals have reported seeing the Ark on Mount Ararat. Believing the Ark to be there and deeply desiring to find it, they might observe a distant rock outcropping that vaguely resembles what they are looking for. Under the influence of hypoxia, their minds can fill in the details they wish to see, leading them to sincerely believe they have actually spotted the Ark.

The Mountains of Ararat

Mount Ararat received its current name during the Middle Ages, which means there is no basis for assuming it was known by this name when Moses wrote Genesis. It was previously named Mount Masis by the Armenians. The Turkish name for the mountain was Ağrı Dağı, meaning “Mountain of Pain.” In the 13th century William of Rubruck, a Franciscan missionary heard rumors that some believed the Ark was on Mount Masis. As he and other repeated this in writing, in course of time these rumors led to the mountain being renamed as Mount Ararat. It must be pointed out that the Bible never mentions a “Mount Ararat.” It does not say the Ark came to rest on a mountain, but rather “in the mountains of Arrarat,” meaning it came to rest somewhere within a mountain range. This point is crucial and bears repeating: the Bible does not specify that the Ark landed on Mount Ararat; instead, it states that it came to rest in the “mountains of Ararat.” The use of the plural form “mountains” indicates a mountainous region within the territory of Ararat, rather than a single mountain. This distinction highlights that the biblical reference is to a broader geographical area, not a specific peak.

The biblical term “Ararat” is derived from the Hebrew equivalent of Urartu, an ancient kingdom. The “Mountains of Ararat” mentioned in the Bible refer to a broad region rather than a specific mountain. This region corresponds to the historical territory of Urartu, which spanned across modern-day Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Armenia. Consequently, the Ark’s resting place could potentially be located in a mountain range within any of these countries.

Another significant point is that Mount Ararat is not part of a mountain range; it is a solitary volcanic massif. In contrast, the Bible describes the Ark as coming to rest within a mountain range, specifically “the mountains of Ararat.” Observing the landscape, you can see that Mount Ararat is situated in the midst of a vast plain, with no surrounding mountains. This starkly contrasts with the biblical description, highlighting that Mount Ararat does not fit the geographical context provided in the Bible. In the biblical account, Noah is eagerly looking for dry land to appear. Genesis 8:5 says, “And the water decreased steadily until the tenth month. And on the first day of the month the tops of the mountains became visible.“(Genesis 8:5) So Noah was finally able to see the tops of all the other mountains on the tenth month of the flood. But if Mount Ararat in Turkey is the where the Ark came to rest, where are the other mountain tops that Noah saw? Mount Ararat stands alone. 

East of Babylon

After the Ark landed, the descendents of those in the Ark multiplied and then later travelled westerward. Genesis 11:2 tells us, “And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another… ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves.‘” This tells us that Babylon and the Tower of Babel lie to the west of where the Ark landed. Today, we know the location of the tower of Babel. Archeologists agree that it was somwhere in southern Iraq. The most likely location being at ancient Eridu in southern Iraq. You can search Eridu in Google Earth and see where the tower was.

As you can see on the map, Iraq is located south of Turkey. Given this geography, it’s challenging to understand how Noah’s descendants could have traveled west to reach southern Iraq. The biblical account states that the Ark landed east of the Tower of Babel. This implies that the Ark could not have been in the north, in Turkey. Instead, it must have been to the east, in the mountains of Iran, which were part of the ancient land of Urartu, also known as the land of Ararat.

Mount Ararat is Post-Flood

The final decisive factor eliminating Mount Ararat as the resting place of Noah’s Ark is its geological history. Mount Ararat did not exist at the end of the flood. Dr. Andrew A. Snelling, a geologist from Answers in Genesis, has extensively documented this in an article. He notes that all flood sediments containing marine fossils are located far beneath the mountain, indicating that Mount Ararat was formed after the floodwaters had receded. This geological evidence aligns with the understanding that Mount Ararat is a post-flood volcanic formation, built on a dry plateau after the flood had ended.

To quote Dr. Snelling:

“The volcano now called Mount Ararat did not grow until well after the ocean (Flood) waters had retreated. Furthermore, the lavas and ash layers of Mount Ararat date to the time of the post-Flood Ice Age. This is consistent with Mount Ararat being built after the Flood on top of a dry plateau. Mount Ararat is thus a post-Flood volcano, which continued to erupt, most recently less than 200 years ago…After Noah’s ark had landed and the floodwaters had retreated, volcanic eruptions spread lava across the region and then built Mount Ararat on top.”

Dr. Snelling’s article can be read in its entirety here:
https://answersingenesis.org/noahs-ark/noahs-ark-found/noahs-ark-mount-ararat/

Noah’s Ark Summary

The idea that Noah’s Ark is located on Mount Ararat, or anywhere near there, is unlikely for several reasons. Firstly, the hazardous terrain of Mount Ararat, with its steep slopes and deep gorges, makes it an improbable safe landing site for the Ark, especially considering God’s care for Noah and the animals. Additionally, the biblical reference to the “mountains of Ararat” suggests a region rather than a specific mountain, pointing to the ancient kingdom of Urartu. Furthermore, Mount Ararat is a standalone volcanic massif, not part of a mountain range as the Bible describes. Lastly, geological evidence indicates that Mount Ararat formed after the flood, making it impossible for the Ark to have landed there.



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