I stand corrected; the name Ararat occurs more often than I had thought and,
yes, the NIV of Gen. 8:4 does not read that Ararat was the tallest mountain.
Your connection between olive trees and altitude is something else I that
had escaped me; I don't know how high up in the mountains they grow, but
probably not very high up. Don't know about other mountains being visible,
though (minor point).
Thanks for setting me straight!
Chuck Vandergraaf
Geochemistry Research Branch
Whiteshell Laboratories
Pinawa, MB R0E 1L0
Canada
*vandergraaft@aecl.ca
*(204) 753-2311 xt. 2592
> I don't agree with you concerning how specific Genesis is as to the
> resting place of the ark. The word `Ararat' occurs four times in the Old
> Testament. In addition to Gen. 8:4 it occurs in II Kings 19:37 and Isa.
> 37:38, where it is called a land, and in Jer. 51:27, where it is called a
> kingdom. Ararat was the Hebrew name for a country better known to us by
> its Babylonian name Urartu. It was north of Assyria mostly in what is now
> eastern Turkey. It is my understanding that the nearly 17,000-foot volcano
> that we know as Mt. Ararat has only borne that name for approximately the
> last 1000 years.
>
> It seems to me that the Genesis account gives indications that the landing
> site was somewhere other than the summit of the highest peak in the
> region. For example, apparently olive trees grew at that altitude. Also at
> a time when a bird couldn't find any land near the ark that wasn't covered
> by water other mountains were visible.
>
> Gordon Brown
> Department of Mathematics
> University of Colorado
> Boulder, CO 80309-0395
>
>
> On Fri, 14 Aug 1998, Vandergraaf, Chuck wrote:
>
> > The Genesis account appears to be quite specific as to what happened:
> waters
> > kept coming for "40 days," the water covered the "highest mountain" to a
> > depth of "20 feet," "all creatures, birds, livestock, wild animals and
> > mankind" perished; the flooding lasted [another] "150 days," the ark
> came to
> > rest "on the 17th day of the seventh month" [i.e. 6 x 29 + 17 = 191
> days,
> > assuming a lunar, 29-day calendar]; this is close to "40 days of
> flooding" +
> > "150 days of water receding." The ark came to rest, not on any
> mountain,
> > but one that was identified by name and one that we can still find on a
> map
> > of the area. Similarly, the location of the Garden of Eden is
> identified in
> > Gen 2:10-14.
>