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Bible Dictionaries
Ararat
American Tract Society Bible Dictionary
or The name of a province in the center of Armenia, between the river Araxes and the lakes Van and Ooroomiah. 2 Kings 19:37; Isaiah 37:38 , and sometimes used to denote the whole country, Jeremiah 51:27 . On the mountains of Ararat the ark rested, Genesis 8:4 . In 1831, Messrs. Smith and Dwight, American missionaries, visited Armenia, and traversed the province of Ararat. Mr. Smith describes the mountains as follows:
"We passed very near the base of that noble mountain, which is called by the Armenians Masis, and by Europeans generally Ararat; and for more than twenty days had it constantly in sight, except when obscured by clouds. It consists of two peaks, one considerably higher than the other, and is connected with a chain of mountains running off to the north-west and west, which, though high, are not of sufficient elevation to detract at all from the lonely dignity of this stupendous mass. From Nakchewan, at the distance of at least 100 miles to the southeast, it appeared like an immense isolated cone, of extreme regularity, rising out of the valley of the Araxes. Its height is said to be 16,000 feet. The eternal snows upon its summit occasionally from vast avalanches, which precipitate themselves down its sides with a sound not unlike that of an earthquake. When we saw it, it was white to its very base with snow. And certainly not among the mountains of Ararat or of Armenia generally, nor those of any part of the world where I have been, have I ever seen one whose majesty could plead half so powerfully its claims to the honor of having once been the stepping-stone between the old world and the new. I gave myself up to the feeling, that on its summit were once congregated all the inhabitants of the earth, and that, while in the valley of the Araxes, I was paying a visit to the second cradle of the human race."
Mount Ararat was visited in 1829 by Prof. Parrot, who after several attempts reached the summit, more than 17,200 feet above the level of the sea. It bears traces of volcanic action, and in 1840 was shaken by a disastrous earthquake.
These files are public domain and are a derivative of the topics are from American Tract Society Bible Dictionary published in 1859.
Rand, W. W. Entry for 'Ararat'. American Tract Society Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/ats/a/ararat.html. 1859.
