Noah’s Ark on Ararat?

I can still remember the song like it was yesterday, the voices of the old Gaither Trio singing, “Noah Found Grace in the Eyes of the Lord.” Part of the song goes like this:

Well the ark rose up on the foot of the deep,
And after 40 days Mr. Noah took a peek.
He said, “We ain’t movin’ Lord, where are we at?”
The Lord said, “You’re sittin’ on mount Ararat.”

Chorus:
Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord,
Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord,
Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord,
And he landed high and dry.

It’s definitely one of those tunes that sticks with you!

Of course, sometimes song lyrics can teach lessons that do not exactly match what the Bible actually says.

Does the Bible say that Noah’s ark landed on Mt. Ararat? In fact, the Bible does not identify Mt. Ararat as the place the ark came to rest. Instead, it identifies “the mountains of Ararat” in Genesis 8:4. The mountains of Ararat, which are located in eastern Turkey, include many mountain peaks.

The biblical text gives some clues to help determine where the ark came to rest. In our podcast this month, Jennifer and I discuss these clues, and show how science can be used to help pinpoint one particular mountain (it’s called Mount Cilo) as the most likely resting place for Noah, his family, and the animals inside the ark.

Our discussion flows out of an article Dr. Aardsma published in 1997, which narrowed down step by step which mountain is likely to be the place where the ark actually landed, and explained why this question is of importance to biblical chronology (and much of the Bible/science research that has happened since that time).

Want to listen to past episodes where we have covered topics like the age of the earth, Mt. Sinai, and water from the rock? Check out our new podcast website! You can easily search past content, communicate, and provide feedback.

You can subscribe to our podcast in two ways: by signing up on our email list, or by searching for “The BC Messenger” on your favorite platform(Apple, Spotify, etc.) We are also on YouTube.