When looking for biblical things, where first would one look? The Bible. The Words of God must be examined with precision. Nowhere does the Bible say that Noah landed on Mount Ararat but in the “mountains of Ararat.” [i] The next question should be: A specific peak or an area? since “mountains.” plural means more than a mount, singular.
The search for Noah’s Ark remains an enigma just as the search
of the Holy Grail. Archeologists look for the Ark on Mount Ararat, the highest mountain
in that range. The area called “Armenia” today was once spanned a much larger
area (See figure #1).
Figure 1: Ancient Armenia: Pinterest; Tapatalk)
Mount Ararat is north of Lake Van and the city Themanon (“City
of Eight”) that Noah built is believed to be on Mount Judi in Corduene, south
of Lake Van. The mountain was called Kordu by early pseudepigrapha writers (The
Cave of Treasures). The point is that “Ararat” and “Armenia” share the same
origin. Armenia would essentially be any place near Mount Ararat wherein
Ararat would be known.
According to early Armenian historians, Ararat (Urartu)
includes the area of Corduene. (Petrosyan, Hamlet; 2001; “The Sacred Mountain”).
Perhaps the Muslims are correct. Perhaps Noah’s Ark may lie on Mount Judi in
Corduene. That contention must be checked by scripture.
Many centuries after Noah, Jeremiah the prophet said, “Call
together against her (Judah) the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz” [ii] As
can be seen therein, “Ararat” is a kingdom. That area has people called “Ashchenaz.”
That very word is used to describe European Jews who migrated from their to
central Europe. Hence, think of Ararat as an area and specifically an
ancient kingdom.
Next consider where Noah landed, to wit: “And the ark rested
in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains
of Ararat” (Gen 8:4). The Ark did not land on Mount Ararat or it would have
been written that way. It landed on a mountain in Urartu (Ararat) meaning
ancient Armenia. Mount Heli is in Corduene, or at that time, southern Urartu
below Lake Van.
But that is not enough. There exist two mountains now called
“Ararat” — Great and Little Ararat (See figure #2).
Noah sent out the first dove to find dry land. The dove
found no dry land and returned to the Ark. [iii] Later,
Noah sent out a second dove. That dove returned with an olive leaf in her mouth.
[iv]
The dove found dry land. Greater Mount Ararat is the highest peak in that area.
Undoubtedly, the dove found dry land on the highest peak, not on Little Ararat
or anywhere else.
Noah, however, was not on Mount Ararat. The Ark remained
where it was until the waters abated. [v]
The next event was that the waters where the Ark was at that time dried up. [vi]
If Noah had been on Greater Ararat, then he would not have needed to send out a
dove. He could not see that high mountain from where he was. That would mean,
that neither was he on Little Ararat, but some location some distance away from
that high mountain (16, 946 feet high; Wikipedia).
Mount Ararat can be seen from 33 miles away (World History
Encyclopedia). Thus, since Noah could not see Greater Ararat, he was at a
distance greater than 33 miles. If Noah was on Mount Heli, that is around 300
miles from Mount Ararat. It would be totally out of range to see Ararat’s
mountains!
Therefore, Mount Heli would be more likely than Mount
Ararat, and it would still be in the kingdom of Ararat.
The dove that Noah sent out returned in the evening. [vii]
Certainly, Noah sent the dove out sometimes in the morning because it was not
yet “evening.”
Doves can fly how far?
The average flying distance (for a rock dove) is over 600 miles. (Wikipedia; “Homing
Pigeon”). Divide that by 2. Three-hundred
miles there and 300 miles back in one day. The rock dove flies on average at 60
mph. It would have taken ten hours to fly from Mount Heli to Mount Ararat and
back — from morning to evening just as the Bible says!
My conclusion, therefore, is that Mount Heli in Corduene
better fits the location of Noah’s Ark. The reason that it has not been found
is that adventurers are looking in the wrong place.
Also, rather than looking for wood which perishes, they
should be looking for pitch that held the Ark together. Tar (pitch) has been
found in southern Turkey in the Taurus Mountain range. The Taurus mountain
range is in what was then Corduene below Lake Van where Mount Heli is today. Some
care must be taken, however. Time has changed the names of things many times
over the millennia, but the best guess is that Noah landed somewhere below Lake
Van in the Taurus Mountain range.
That is where the Bible places it and is the most likely place
to look. Perhaps the tar that has been found there is a great clue!
Also, the Ark is probably not on a mountain peak anywhere but somewhere on the shoulder of a mountain:
And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry. And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dried. (Gen 8:13-14)
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