In the days of Babylon, it was believed that the ark piloted by the Mesopotamian flood hero (variously called Ziusudra, Atrahasis, Utnapishtim, or Xisuthrus) during the Great Flood had come to rest “beyond Urartu” (Ararat) on a mountain at the edge of the world. Originally imagined as being somewhere near present-day Iran, by the time of the priest Berossus in the third century BCE, the mountain had become identified with the Cordyaeans, corrupted into the name Al-Judi, which remains preserved in Islamic belief as the resting place of the Ark of Noah (Qur'an 11:44). The tourism industry surrounding the remains of this ark transferred from pagans to Abrahamic believers wholesale and uninterrupted. The identification of the Ark mountain with Mt. Masis, now called Mt. Ararat, was not yet complete in the 1700s when George Sale recorded that a change in tradition was underway. The texts below represent some historical testimonies to the alleged existence of the Ark on various mountains, mostly Al-Judi, a remarkable set of documents that strangely parallel modern claims to see the same remains on Mt. Ararat!
Berossus, Babyloniaca (c. 290-278 BCE)
Preserved in Eusebius, Chronicle 37 and George Syncellus, Chronicle 32
The vessel being thus stranded in Armenia, some part of it yet remains in the Corcyræan mountains of Armenia; and the people scrape off the bitumen, with which it had been outwardly coated, and use it to make amulets to guard against poison.
Translated by I. P. Cory (revising the translation of Jacob Bryant)
The vessel being thus stranded in Armenia, some part of it yet remains in the Corcyræan mountains of Armenia; and the people scrape off the bitumen, with which it had been outwardly coated, and use it to make amulets to guard against poison.
Translated by I. P. Cory (revising the translation of Jacob Bryant)
Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 1.93-95 (c. 93-94 CE)
93 Now all the writers of barbarian histories make mention of this flood, and of this ark; among whom is Berossus the Chaldean. For when he is describing the circumstances of the flood, he goes on thus: “It is said there is still some part of this ship in Armenia, at the mountain of the Cordyaeans; and that some people carry off pieces of the bitumen, which they take away, and use chiefly as amulets for the averting of mischiefs.” 94 Hieronymus the Egyptian also, who wrote the Phoenician Antiquities, and Mnaseas, and a great many more, make mention of the same. Nay, Nicolaus of Damascus, in his ninety-sixth book, hath a particular relation about them; where he speaks thus: 95 “There is a great mountain in Armenia, over Minyas, called Baris, upon which it is reported that many who fled at the time of the Deluge were saved; and that one who was carried in an ark came on shore upon the top of it; and that the remains of the timber were a great while preserved. This might be the man about whom Moses the legislator of the Jews wrote.”
Translated by William Whiston
Translated by William Whiston
Julianus Africanus, Chronicle (c. 170 CE)
Preserved in George Syncellus, Chronicle, p. 21 (c. 800 CE)
And when the water abated, the ark settled on the mountains of Ararat, which we know to be in Parthia; but some say that they are at Celænæ of Phrygia, and I have seen both places.
Translated in the Ante-Nicene Christian Library
And when the water abated, the ark settled on the mountains of Ararat, which we know to be in Parthia; but some say that they are at Celænæ of Phrygia, and I have seen both places.
Translated in the Ante-Nicene Christian Library
Theophilus of Antioch, Apology to Autolycus 3.19 (c. 180 CE)
And of the ark, the remains are to this day to be seen in the Arabian mountains.
Translated by Marcus Dods
Translated by Marcus Dods
Abydenus, History of the Chaledeans (c. 200 CE)
Preserved in Eusebius, Praeparatio Evangelica 9.12
After him reigned among others Sisithrus, to whom Kronos foretold that there would be a great rain on the fifteenth day of Desius, and commanded him to hide everything connected with literature at Heliopolis in the country of the Sippari. And when Sisithrus had accomplished this, he straightway sailed up towards Armenia, and immediately what God had predicted overtook him. But on the third day, when the rain had abated, he proceeded to let loose some of the birds, to try whether they saw land anywhere that had emerged from the water. But as they were met by a vast unbroken ocean, and were at a loss where to find a haven, they came safe back to Sisithrus, and others after them did the same. But when he was successful with the third set, for they came back with their feet full of mud, the gods removed him from men's sight: but in Armenia the ship supplied the people of the country with wooden amulets as antidotes to poison.
Translated by E. H. Gifford
After him reigned among others Sisithrus, to whom Kronos foretold that there would be a great rain on the fifteenth day of Desius, and commanded him to hide everything connected with literature at Heliopolis in the country of the Sippari. And when Sisithrus had accomplished this, he straightway sailed up towards Armenia, and immediately what God had predicted overtook him. But on the third day, when the rain had abated, he proceeded to let loose some of the birds, to try whether they saw land anywhere that had emerged from the water. But as they were met by a vast unbroken ocean, and were at a loss where to find a haven, they came safe back to Sisithrus, and others after them did the same. But when he was successful with the third set, for they came back with their feet full of mud, the gods removed him from men's sight: but in Armenia the ship supplied the people of the country with wooden amulets as antidotes to poison.
Translated by E. H. Gifford
Hippolytus of Rome, Refutation of All Heresies 10.26 (early 3rd c. CE)
This Noah, inasmuch as he was a most religious and God-loving man, alone, with wife and children, and the three wives of these, escaped the flood that ensued. And he owed his preservation to an ark; and both the dimensions and relics of this ark are, as we have explained, shown to this day in the mountains called Ararat, which are situated in the direction of the country of the Adiabeni.
Translated by J. H. McMahon
Translated by J. H. McMahon
Epiphanius, Panarion 1.18.3 (c. 375 CE)
...even to this day the remnants of the Ark are still shown in the region of the Cardyaei.
Translated by Jason Colavito
Translated by Jason Colavito
Faustus of Byzantium, History of the Armenians 3.10 (5th c. CE)
By this time, the great bishop of Mitspin (Nisibis), this admirable old man, tireless in performing works of truth, chosen by God, Jacob by name and Persian in origin, left his city heading toward the mountains of Armenia, which is to say toward the mountain of Sararad, in the territory of the principality of Ayrarat, in the district of Korduk‘. He was a man filled with the graces of Christ and who had the power to do miracles and wonders. Arriving (at this place), he addressed God with the keenest desire to receive the opportunity to see the ark of deliverance built by Noah, which came to rest on this mountain during the flood. Jacob obtained from God all that he asked. As he climbed the stony sides of the inaccessible and arid mountain of Sararad, he and those with him felt thirsty as a result of fatigue. Then the great Jacob bent his knees and prayed before the Lord, and in the place where he laid his head, a spring burst forth in which he and those with him quenched their thirst. To this very day it is still called the “Spring of Jacob.” However it did not reduce his zeal to see the object of his desire, and he never ceased praying to the Lord God.
When he had neared the top of the mountain, exhausted and tired as he was, he fell asleep. Then the angel of God came and said to him: “Jacob! Jacob!” And he responded: “Here I am, Lord.” And the angel said: “The Lord grants your prayer and fulfills your request; that which you find beneath where you lie is the wood of the ark. I brought it for you from there. Now cease your desire to see the ark, for this is the will of the Lord.” Jacob awoke with great joy, worshiping the Lord and thanking him; he saw the board that appeared to have been split by an ax from a larger piece of wood. Having taken it, he turned back with that which had been granted, followed by his companions. […]
While the man of God brought the wood of deliverance, the symbol of the ark built by our father Noah, that eternal symbol of the great punishment inflicted by God on rational beings and those deprived of reason, the inhabitants of the city and the surrounding area came to meet him (Jacob) with joy and boundless elation. When they saw the holy man, they swarmed him as an Apostle of Christ and an angel from heaven; they regarded him as a brave shepherd and as a prophet who had seen God; they kissed the footprints of his tired feet. They eagerly accepted this wood, this graceful gift, which is preserved to this day among them as the visible sign of the ark of the patriarch Noah.
Translated by Jason Colavito
When he had neared the top of the mountain, exhausted and tired as he was, he fell asleep. Then the angel of God came and said to him: “Jacob! Jacob!” And he responded: “Here I am, Lord.” And the angel said: “The Lord grants your prayer and fulfills your request; that which you find beneath where you lie is the wood of the ark. I brought it for you from there. Now cease your desire to see the ark, for this is the will of the Lord.” Jacob awoke with great joy, worshiping the Lord and thanking him; he saw the board that appeared to have been split by an ax from a larger piece of wood. Having taken it, he turned back with that which had been granted, followed by his companions. […]
While the man of God brought the wood of deliverance, the symbol of the ark built by our father Noah, that eternal symbol of the great punishment inflicted by God on rational beings and those deprived of reason, the inhabitants of the city and the surrounding area came to meet him (Jacob) with joy and boundless elation. When they saw the holy man, they swarmed him as an Apostle of Christ and an angel from heaven; they regarded him as a brave shepherd and as a prophet who had seen God; they kissed the footprints of his tired feet. They eagerly accepted this wood, this graceful gift, which is preserved to this day among them as the visible sign of the ark of the patriarch Noah.
Translated by Jason Colavito
Isidore of Seville, Etymologies 14.8.5 (c. 600 CE)
It is held by historians that Mount Ararat in Armenia is where the Ark came to rest after the Flood. Hence, even today traces of its timber may still be seen there.
Translated by Jason Colavito
Translated by Jason Colavito
Theophilus of Edessa, World Chronicle (8th c. CE)
Preserved in Agapius of Hierapolis, Kitab al-’Unwan (10th c. CE)
Then (Byzantine Emperor) Heraclius turned back and encamped at a village which was called Thamanin. This is the village where the ark stopped during the flood, in the time of Noah. He climbed the mountain which is called Al-Judi, examined the location of the ark, surveyed the world to the four cardinal points, and then headed for Amida where he remained throughout the winter.
Translated by Jason Colavito
Then (Byzantine Emperor) Heraclius turned back and encamped at a village which was called Thamanin. This is the village where the ark stopped during the flood, in the time of Noah. He climbed the mountain which is called Al-Judi, examined the location of the ark, surveyed the world to the four cardinal points, and then headed for Amida where he remained throughout the winter.
Translated by Jason Colavito
Al-Masudi, Meadows of Gold, ch. 3 (c. 947-960 CE)
They went into the ship on Tuesday, the ninth of Adar. Whilst Nuh and his family were in the ship, God kept the earth five months under water. Then he ordered the earth to swallow up its waters, and the heaven to withhold its rains, and the ark stood on the mount el-Judi. El-Judi is a mountain in the country of Masur and extends to Jezirah Ibn 'Omar, which belongs to the territory of el-Mausil. This mountain is eight farsangs from the Tigris. The place where the ship stopped, which is on the top of this mountain, is still to be seen.
Translated by Aloys Sprenger
Translated by Aloys Sprenger
Al-Istakhri, Routes and Provinces (before 957 CE)
Judi is a mountain near Nisibin. It is said that the ark of Noah (to whom be peace) rested on the summit of this mountain. At the foot of it, there is a village called Themabin; and they say that the companions of Noah descended here from the ark, and built this village.
Translated by William Ouseley (adapted)
Translated by William Ouseley (adapted)
Benjamin of Tudela, Travels (after 1173 CE)
To Nisibin two days; it is a large city, richly water'd and contains about one thousand Jews. Two days to Jezireh Ben 'omar, an island in the Tigris, on the foot of mount Ararat and four miles distant from the place, on which the ark of Noah rested; 'Omar Ben Al Khatab removed the ark from the summit of the two mountains and made a mosque of it. There still exists in the vicinity of the ark a synagogue of 'Esra the scribe, which is visited by the Jews of the city on the 9th. of Ab.
Trans. A. Asher
Trans. A. Asher
William of Rubuck, Itinerary (after 1255 CE)
Near this city are mountains in which they say that Noah's ark rests; and there are two mountains, the one greater than the other; and the Araxes flows at their base; and there is a town there called Cemanum, which interpreted means "eight," and they say that it was thus called from the eight persons who came out of the ark, and who built it on the greater mountain. Many have tried to climb it, but none has been able. This bishop told me that there had been a monk who was most desirous (of climbing it), but that an angel appeared to him bearing a piece of the wood of the ark, and told him to try no more. They had this piece of wood in his church, they told me. This mountain did not seem to me so very high, that men could not ascend it. An old man gave me quite a good reason why one ought not to try to climb it They call the mountain Massis, and it is of the feminine gender in their language. "No one," he said, "ought to climb up Massis; it is the mother of the world."
Translated by William Woodville Rockhill
Translated by William Woodville Rockhill
George Elmacin (Girgis Al-Makin), al-Majmu’ al-Mubarak 2.1.1 (1268 CE)
Heraclius then came to the village of Thamanin (where Noah, of pious memory, built his Ark and afterward came out from it), and in order for him to see the place of the Ark, he ascended the mountain of Al-Judi, which rises above all these lands, for it is very high.
Translated by Jason Colavito
Translated by Jason Colavito
Marco Polo with Rustichello da Pisa, Travels 1.4 (c. 1300 CE)
In the central part of Armenia stands an exceedingly large and high mountain, upon which, it is said, the Ark of Noah rested, and for this reason it is termed the mountain of the Ark.
Translated by William Marsden.
Translated by William Marsden.
Sir John Mandeville, Travels, ch. 16 (c. 1357-1371)
From that city of Erzurum go men to a mountain called Sabissa. And there beside it is another mountain that men call Ararat, but the Jews call it Taneez [or Thano], where Noah’s ship rested, and yet remains upon that mountain. And men may see it from afar in clear weather. And that mountain is fully seven mile high. And some men say that they have seen and touched the ship, and put their fingers in the parts where the Devil went out when Noah said “Benedicite.” But they that say such words say them ignorantly, for a man may not go up the mountain due to the great deal of snow that is always on that mountain both in summer and winter. Thus no man may go up there, and indeed no man ever did, since the time of Noah, save a monk that, by the grace of God, brought one of the planks down, that yet is in the monastery at the foot of the mountain. […] But to go up upon that mountain, this monk had a great desire. And so one day, he went up. And when he was a third of the way up the mountain he was so weary that he could go no further, and so he rested and fell asleep. And when he awoke he found himself lying at the foot of the mountain. And then he prayed devoutly to God that he would allow him to go up. And an angel came to him, and said that he should go up. And so he did. And since that time no other ever has, which is why men should not believe such words.
Adapted from the 1905 edition of the Cotton Manuscript
Adapted from the 1905 edition of the Cotton Manuscript
Sir Jean Chardin, Travels in Persia (1686)
Twelve Leagues from Erivan to the East, is to be seen the Famous Mountain, where almost all Men agree that the Ark of Noah rested; though no Body can bring any Solid Proof to make out what they affirm. When the Air is Serene, this Mountain is not to be seen at more then the distance of two Leagues, as High and as Great as it is; and therefore I am apt to believe I have seen far higher; and if I am not deceiv'd, that part of Caucasus which I cross'd over, as I Travell'd from the Black-Sea to Akalzikè, is higher then this Mountain. The Turks call it Agridag, the High or Massie Mountain; but the Armenians and Persians call it both by the same Name Masis. VVhich word the Armenians derive from Mas or Mesech the Son of Aram, who, as they say, gave to their Nation both its Original and Denomination. The Persians derive it from Azis, a VVord which in their Language signifies Dear, or Dearly-Beloved; and they will have this Mountain to be so call'd, by reason of the choice that GOD made of it to bear the happy Ark that inclos'd all Mankind. These are forc'd Etymologies as much as any can be, and such as we may well compare to the meer Tinkling of Bells. This Mountain is call'd by two other Names in the Persian Books: that is to say, Cou-nough, or the Mountain of Noah, and Sahat-toppous, or the Happy Hillock. But the Holy Scripture gives it no particular Name, only it says, That the Ark rested upon the Mountain of Ararat, which is Armenia. These are those Moun∣tains so famous in the Greek and Latin Authors, which they assert to be part of Mount Taurus, and call by the Names of Gordian, Cordean, Corduenian, Cardian, Curdi, and Carduchi, every Author altering the word according to the Pronunciation of his own Language.
The Armenians have a Tradition, That the Ark is still upon the Point, or highest Top of this Mount Macis. They add moreover, That never any Body could ascend to the Place where it rested; and this they firmly believe upon the Faith of a Miracle, which they say, happen'd to a certain Monk of Echs-Miazin, whose Name was James, afterwards Bishop of Nisibis. They report, That this Monk, possess'd with the common Opinion that this was the Mountain where the Ark rested after the Deluge, resolv'd to ascend to the Top, or die in the Attempt; that he got up half way, but could never go any farther; for that after he had clamber'd all the Day long, he was in his Sleep miraculously carry'd back to the place from whence he set forward in the Morning. This continu'd a long time; but that at length GOD giving Ear to the Monk's Prayers, was willing to satisfie his Desires in some measure: to which purpose he sent an Angel to him with a piece of the Ark, with Orders to bid him not toyl himself any more in vain, for that he had debarr'd from Mortals access to the Top of that Mountain. And this is the Tale which they tell; up∣on which I shall observe two things. First, That it has no Coherence with the Relations of Ancient Authors, as Josephus, Berosus, or Nicholas of Damascus, who assure us that the Remainders of the Ark were to be seen, and that the People took the Pitch with which it was besmear'd as an Antidote against several Distempers. The second, That whereas it is tak'n for a Miracle, That no Body can get up to the Top, I should rather take it for a greater Miracle, that any Man should climb up so high. For the Mountain is altogether uninhabited, and from the Half-way to the Top of all, perpetually cover'd with Snow that never melts, so that all the Seasons of the Year it appears like a Prodigious Heap of nothing but Snow. What I have reported concerning this Mountain, will doubtless cause no small wonder in those who have read the Travels of Father Philip, a Barefoot Carmelite, that he should undertake to say that the Terrestrial Paradise lies there in some Plain which GOD preserves from Heat and Cold; for those are the words of his Translator. The thought it self seems to me to be very pleasant; and I should have thought he had spoke it jocularly, did he not relate with an extraordinary seriousness several things in the same Book which are altogether as improbable.
From the English edition of 1686
The Armenians have a Tradition, That the Ark is still upon the Point, or highest Top of this Mount Macis. They add moreover, That never any Body could ascend to the Place where it rested; and this they firmly believe upon the Faith of a Miracle, which they say, happen'd to a certain Monk of Echs-Miazin, whose Name was James, afterwards Bishop of Nisibis. They report, That this Monk, possess'd with the common Opinion that this was the Mountain where the Ark rested after the Deluge, resolv'd to ascend to the Top, or die in the Attempt; that he got up half way, but could never go any farther; for that after he had clamber'd all the Day long, he was in his Sleep miraculously carry'd back to the place from whence he set forward in the Morning. This continu'd a long time; but that at length GOD giving Ear to the Monk's Prayers, was willing to satisfie his Desires in some measure: to which purpose he sent an Angel to him with a piece of the Ark, with Orders to bid him not toyl himself any more in vain, for that he had debarr'd from Mortals access to the Top of that Mountain. And this is the Tale which they tell; up∣on which I shall observe two things. First, That it has no Coherence with the Relations of Ancient Authors, as Josephus, Berosus, or Nicholas of Damascus, who assure us that the Remainders of the Ark were to be seen, and that the People took the Pitch with which it was besmear'd as an Antidote against several Distempers. The second, That whereas it is tak'n for a Miracle, That no Body can get up to the Top, I should rather take it for a greater Miracle, that any Man should climb up so high. For the Mountain is altogether uninhabited, and from the Half-way to the Top of all, perpetually cover'd with Snow that never melts, so that all the Seasons of the Year it appears like a Prodigious Heap of nothing but Snow. What I have reported concerning this Mountain, will doubtless cause no small wonder in those who have read the Travels of Father Philip, a Barefoot Carmelite, that he should undertake to say that the Terrestrial Paradise lies there in some Plain which GOD preserves from Heat and Cold; for those are the words of his Translator. The thought it self seems to me to be very pleasant; and I should have thought he had spoke it jocularly, did he not relate with an extraordinary seriousness several things in the same Book which are altogether as improbable.
From the English edition of 1686
