Ararat

This map of the Ararat region lifts the viewer into the volcanic highlands where the ark “came to rest on the mountains of Ararat” (Genesis 8:4). Twin snow-clad cones-Greater (5,137 m) and Lesser Ararat-rise boldly from the Araxes plain, their contour lines fanning into fertile lava-soils that still feed vineyards and apricot groves. Blue ribbons trace the headwaters of the Euphrates and Tigris that spill south toward Mesopotamia, while Lake Van’s turquoise basin glints to the west, anchoring the ancient kingdom of Urartu whose name echoes Ararat in later Assyrian annals. The cartography marks royal roads that once funneled trade between Anatolia, Persia, and the Caucasus-routes along which the sons of Sennacherib fled “to the land of Ararat” (2 Kings 19:37; Isaiah 37:38) and which Jeremiah later summoned as allies against Babylon (Jeremiah 51:27). By shading basalt ridges, deep river gorges, and the snow line that lingers into summer, the map helps modern readers picture the rugged sanctuary where post-Flood humanity stepped onto solid ground, and appreciate how this gateway between east and west continued to shape empires and prophetic history long after Noah’s altar smoke curled into the brisk Armenian air.