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'''[[File:Kohrvirab.jpg|thumb|342px]]Mount Ararat''' ([[Turkish language|Turkish]]: ''Ağrı Dağı''; Armenian: ''Մասիս'', ''Արարատ'', Kurdish: Çîyaye Agirî ) is a snow-capped, dormant volcanic cone in Turkey. It has two peaks: '''Greater Ararat''' (the tallest peak in Turkey, and the entire Armenian plateau with an elevation of {{convert|5137|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}) and '''Lesser Ararat''' (with an elevation of {{convert|3896|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}).

Mount Ararat is located in the Iğdır Province,<ref name=IgdirGovernorship/> the easternmost province of Turkey's Eastern Anatolia Region. Its summit is located some {{convert|16|km|mi|0|abbr=on}} west of the Iranian and {{convert|32|km|mi|0|abbr=on}} south of the Armenian border. The Nakhchivan exclave of Azerbaijan is also in close proximity to the mountain. The Ararat plain runs along its northwest to western side.

The Ararat massif is about 40 km in diameter.<ref>http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/32131/Mount-Ararat</ref> The Iran-Turkey boundary skirts east of Lesser Ararat, the lower peak of the Ararat massif. It was in this area that by the Tehran Convention of 1932 a border change was made in Turkey's favor, permitting her to occupy the eastern flank of the massif; This flank had in the past been used by Kurdish tribes to organize uprisings against Turkey.<ref>http://www.law.fsu.edu/library/collection/LimitsinSeas/IBS028.pdf</ref>

Mount Ararat in Judeo-Christian tradition is associated with the "Mountains of Ararat" where according to the book of Genesis, Noah's ark came to rest. It also plays a significant role in Armenian nationalism and irredentism.

==Names and etymology==
*'''Ararat''' - The Bible does not refer to any specific mountain or peak, but rather a mountain range, "the mountains of Ararat".<ref name="JVLib">{{cite web |title=Ararat |url=http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0002_0_01234.html |date=2008 |work=[[Jewish Virtual Library]] |publisher= |accessdate=27 July 2009}}</ref> Nonetheless, one particular tradition identifies the mountain as Mount Masis, the highest peak in the Armenian Highland, which is therefore called Mount Ararat.<ref name="JVLib"/> (As opposed to the Armenian and European tradition, Semitic tradition identifies the mountain as Judi Dagh located in Turkey near Cizre.)<ref>"Against the Armenian (and European) tradition that makes Masis the landing place of Noah, the Semitic tradition associated this landing with the mountain called Judi Dagh (earlier called Ararad or Sararad) located in Kurdistan northeast of Mosul.", Hewsen, p. 15{{ref|Hewsen 2001|Hewsen 2001}}</ref> According to the medieval Armenian historian Moses of Khoren in his ''History of Armenia'', the plain of '''Ayrarat''' (directly north of the mountain) got its name after King Ara the Handsome<ref name="Thomson-98">Thomson, p. 98.{{ref|Thomson 1978|Thomson 1978}}</ref> (the great grandson of Amasya). Here the Assyrian Queen Semiramis is said to have lingered for a few days after the death of Ara.<ref name="Thomson-98"/> According to Thomson, the mountain is now called Ararat ({{lang-hy|[[wikt:Արարատ|Արարատ]]}}) by confusion with Ayrarat, the name of the province.<ref>"''Masis:''' the Armenian name for the mountain south of the Araxes now called Ararat  (by confusion with Ayrarat, the name of the province). (The ''Primary History'', Sebeos, p. 10, offers a different etymology, from the personal name Marseak.)". Thomson, footnote on p. 91.{{ref|Thomson 1978|Thomson 1978}}</ref> Influenced by Biblical tradition, ''Ararat'' is also used in many other languages.<ref>L'Harmattan Publishers, Paris, 1999, p.36, ISBN 2738476228.</ref>. The association of the mountain with the story of Noah is however comparatively recent in Armenian culture, according to Murat (1900) not pre-dating the 11th century. The historical name of the peak in Armenian is ''Masis'' or (in the plural, referring to both peaks) ''Masik’'' (see below).<ref>Friedrich Murat, ''Ararat und Masis, Studien zur armenischen Altertumskunde und Litteratur'', Heidelberg, 1900. ([[Frederick Cornwallis Conybeare]] in a [http://www.jstor.org/stable/3152410?seq=2&Search=yes&term=Ararat&term=Eusebius&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3DEusebius%2BArarat%26wc%3Don%26dc%3DAll%2BDisciplines&item=1&ttl=35&returnArticleService=showArticle&resultsServiceName=doBasicResultsFromArticle 1901 review] states that "To anyone acquainted with Armenia, to speak of Ararat as a mountain is as if you spoke of Wales as such."</ref>
*'''Masis'''<ref name="Thomson-91">Thomson, p. 91.{{ref|Thomson 1978|Thomson 1978}}</ref> ({{lang-hy|[[wikt:Մասիս|Մասիս]]}}) - is the Armenian name for the peak of Ararat, the plural ''Masikʿ'' ({{lang-hy|Մասիք}}) may refer to both peaks.<ref name="JVLib"/> <ref name="Thomson-91"/> The ''History of Armenia'' derives the name from a king Amasya, the great-grandson of the Armenian patriarch Hayk, who is said to have called the mountain ''Masis'' after his own name.<ref>Thomson, pp. 90-91.{{ref|Thomson 1978|Thomson 1978}}</ref>
*'''Mountain of Ağrı''' - {{lang-tr|Ağrı Dağı}}<ref>http://www.wan-press.org/article3057.html "...Mount Ararat, or Ağrı Dağı as it is known in Turkish"</ref><ref>(see [[List of replaced loanwords in Turkish|meaning of Ağrı]])</ref> The Ottoman Turkish name was ''{{lang|ota-Latn|Aghur Dagh}}'' {{lang|ota-Arab|اغـر طﺎﻍ‎‎}}. Since ''Ağrı'' literally means "pain" in Turkic languages such as Azeri and Turkish, the toponym has been popularly rendered as "Painful Mountain"<ref name=Shockey>Shockey, Don, 1986. Agri-Dagh, Mount Ararat: The Painful Mountain, Fresno, CA: Pioneer Publishing, ISBN 1572584122.</ref><ref name=Arksearch>http://www.arksearch.com/nadanger.htm "...see why the Turkish word for Mount Ararat is Agri Dagh or the 'Mountain of Pain!'"</ref> -- due to the difficulty of its ascent.<ref name="Hewsen-15">Hewsen, p. 15{{ref|Hewsen 2001|Hewsen 2001}}</ref> {{lang-az|Ağrı Dagı}} (Mountain of Ağrı). Ağrı is also a city and province in the Eastern Anatolian Region of Turkey, near Mt. Ararat. During the Ottoman Empire era the Ağrı provincial area was originally called Şorbulak. Kurdish: ''Çîyaye Agirî'' (Fiery Mountain)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.livius.org/ap-ark/ararat/ararat.html |title=Ararat/Ağri Daği |publisher=Livius.org |date= |accessdate=2008-11-11}}</ref>
*'''Mountain of Noah''': {{lang-fa|کوه نوح من}} ({{IPA|Koh-i-Nuh}}) ''<ref>{{cite web|title=MSN Encarta: Ararat (mountain|url=http://uk.encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761557821/Ararat_(mountain).html|work=|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5kx8UHACl|archivedate=2009-11-01|deadurl=yes}}</ref><ref name=GreatAdventures>[http://www.great-adventures.com/know/deals/turkey-mtararat.html Great Adventures: Mount Ararat Expedition]</ref>, also influenced by the flood story, this time via the Islamic view of Noah.''

==Location==
Mount Ararat is divided between two Turkish provinces: Around 65% of the mountain is located in the Iğdır Province, while the remaining 35% is located in the Ağrı Province of Turkey.<ref name=IgdirGovernorship>{{cite web|url=http://www.igdir.gov.tr/meridty.asp?id=47|title=Ağrı Dağı - Jeolojik Yapısı|publisher=Governorship of Iğdır Province, Turkey|accessdate=2009-07-13}}</ref>

==Geology==
Ararat is a stratovolcano, formed of lava flows and pyroclastic ejecta, with no volcanic crater. Above the height of {{convert|4200|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}, the mountain mostly consists of igneous rocks covered by an ice cap.{{Citation needed|date=June 2009}}

A smaller {{convert|3896|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} cone, Little Ararat, rises from the same base, southeast of the main peak. The lava plateau stretches out between the two pinnacles. The bases of these two mountains is approximately {{convert|1000|km2|sqmi|0|abbr=on}}.{{Citation needed|date=June 2009}}

The formation of Ararat is hard to retrieve geologically, but the type of vulcanism and the position of the volcano raise the idea that subduction relation vulcanism occurred when the Tethys Ocean closed during the Neogene, as recently occurred along the borders of the Eurasian, African and Arabian plates from Cabo de Gata to the Caucasus.{{Citation needed|date=June 2009}}

===Elevation===
An elevation of {{convert|5165|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} for Mount Ararat is still given by some authorities.<ref name="NASA - Earth Observatory 2001">{{cite web|url=http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=4996 |title=Mount Ararat (Ağrı Dağı), Turkey|author=NASA - Earth Observatory|authorlink=NASA|publisher=NASA|accessdate=2006-12-27|year=2001}}</ref><ref name="britannica.com">[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9009204 Encyclopædia Britannica: Mount Ararat]</ref> However, a number of other sources, such as public domain and verifiable SRTM data<ref>[http://www.viewfinderpanoramas.org/srtm/ararat.txt SRTM data for Mount Ararat]</ref> and a 2007 GPS measurement<ref>[http://www.ii.uib.no/~petter/mountains/5000mtn/Ararat/ararat-trip.html 2007 GPS measurement for Mount Ararat]</ref> show that the alternatively widespread figure of {{convert|5137|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} is probably more accurate, and that the true elevation may be even lower due to the thick layer of snow-covered ice cap which permanently remains on the top of the mountain. 5,137 m is also supported by numerous topographic maps.<ref>[http://maps.turkeyodyssey.com/city/maps_of_ararat.php Detailed topographic maps of Mount Ararat]</ref>

===Activity===
It is not known when the last eruption of Ararat occurred; there are no historic or recent observations of large-scale activity recorded. It seems that Ararat was active in the 3rd millennium BC; under the pyroclastic flows, artifacts from the early Bronze Age and remains of human bodies have been found.<ref name="gvp">
  {{cite gvp
  | vnum = 0103-04-
  | name = Ararat
  | accessdate = 2009-01-01 }}</ref>

However, it is known that Ararat was shaken by a large earthquake in July 1840, the effects of which were largest in the neighborhood of the Ahora Gorge (a northeast trending chasm that drops {{convert|1825|m|ft|0}} from the top of the mountain). An unstable part of the northern slope collapsed and a chapel, a monastery, and a village were covered by rubble. According to some sources, Ararat erupted then as well, albeit under the ground water level.<ref name="gvp" />

==Climbing Mount Ararat==
{{Expand|date=July 2009}}
{{wikisourcepar|Century Magazine/Volume 48/Issue 2/Across Asia on a Bicycle. A Pause at the Mountain of the Ark|an early account of an ascent of Mount Ararat.}}

{| class="wikitable"
!Date
!Person(s) climbed
!Comment
|-
|October 9, 1829
|'''Johann Jacob Friedrich Wilhelm Parrot''' and '''Khachatur Abovian'''
|First ascent of the summit of Mount Ararat<ref name="Ketchian"/>
|-
|August 5, 1834
|'''Kozma Spassky-Avtonomov Fedorovich'''
<br />(Козьма Спасский-Автономов Федорович)
|K. Spassky-Avtonomov was a member of the Russian Geographical Society<ref>{{ru icon}} [http://www.srcc.msu.su/uni-persona/site/research/zajonchk/tom2_2/V2P22661.htm Research Computing Center of Moscow State University]</ref>
|-
|August 8-9, 1835
|'''Karl Behrens'''
<ref name="NS.com">[http://noahsarksearch.com/Expeditions.htm Mount Ararat Search Expeditions & Early Ascents] in noahsarksearch.com</ref><ref>{{ru icon}} [http://forum.hayastan.com/index.php?s=9c4341cc5ed5dae336cc17ae44566d77&showtopic=39831&st=0&p=870717&#entry870717 ПУТЕШЕСТВИЕ НА АРАРАТ]</ref>
|Imperial Russian Georgraphical Society attested to the expedition
|-
|Hune 25, 1845
|'''Hermann Abich'''
|Armenian guide led him up the southeastern face from Sardar Bulak, a Cossack station with a well, located in the middle of the wide semicircular valley or sloping plain between Greater and Lesser Ararat<ref name="NS.com"/>
|-
|1846
|'''Henry Danby Seymour'''
|With 2 Armenians and a Cossack officer<ref name="NS.com"/>
|-
|August 1-9, 1850
|'''Iosif Khodko Ivanovich'''
<br />Иосиф Ходько Иванович, '''P.H. Moritz''' and many others<ref>{{ru icon}} [http://www.belarustime.ru/events/?month=12 Архив событий] in Беларусское время</ref>
|Ascended from Sardar Bulak. Six days were spent on top of Mt. Ararat<ref name="NS.com"/>
|-
|June 29, 1856
|English Major '''Robert Stuart'''
|With major Alick J. Fraser, Reverend Walter Thursby, James Theobald, John Evans of Darley Abbey
|-
|August 31, 1876
|'''James Bryce'''
|He was alone. And he founded a timber at 3965 m (13,500 ft)<ref name="NS.com"/>
|-
|August 13, 1888
|'''Yevgeniy Markov'''
<ref>[http://www.zagadki-istorii.ru/potop7.html Потоп - седьмая страница] in Великие Загадки Истории</ref>
|With Ivan Kovalewski and Mosokevich
|-
|October 1893
|'''H. F. B. Lynch'''
|With Rudolph Taugwalder<ref name="NS.com"/>
|-
|1897
|'''A. Oswald'''
<ref name="NS.com"/>
| 
|}

===First recorded ascent in modern times===
<!-- Excessdive detail about a single specific ascent of the mountain -->

Dr. Friedrich Parrot, with the help of Khachatur Abovian, was the first explorer in modern times to reach the summit of Mount Ararat, subsequent to the onset of Russian rule in 1829.<ref name="haydproc.am">http://www.haydproc.am/araratsar/index.php?page=history</ref> Abovian and Parrot crossed the Aras River and headed to the Armenian village of Agori situated on the northern slope of Ararat 4,000 feet above sea level. Following the advice of Harutiun Alamdarian of Tbilisi, they set up a base camp at the Monastery of Saint Jacob some 2,400 feet higher, at an elevation of 6,375 feet.<ref name="Ketchian">{{Citation
  | last = Ketchian
  | first = Philip K.
  | title = Climbing Ararat: Then and Now
  | journal = The Armenian Weekly
  | volume = 71
  | issue = 52
  | date = December 24, 2005
  | url = http://www.hairenik.com/armenianweekly/fea12240501.htm
  | accessdate = 2008-07-11
  }}</ref> Abovian was one of the last travelers to visit Agori and the monastery before a disastrous earthquake completely buried both in May 1840.<ref name="Ketchian"/> Their first attempt to climb the mountain, using the northeastern slope, failed as a result of lack of warm clothing.

Six days later, on the advice of Stepan Khojiants, the village chief of Agori, the ascent was attempted from the northwestern side. After reaching an elevation of 16,028 feet they turned back because they did not reach the summit before sundown. They reached the summit on their third attempt at 3:15 p.m. on October 9, 1829.<ref name="Ketchian"/> Abovian dug a hole in the ice and erected a wooden cross facing north.<ref name="Guest">Guest, 188</ref> Abovian also picked up a chunk of ice from the summit and carried it down with him in a bottle, considering the water holy.<ref name="Ketchian"/> On November 8, Parrot and Abovian climbed up Lesser Ararat.<ref name="Ketchian"/> Impressed with Abovian's thirst for knowledge, Parrot arranged for a Russian state scholarship for Abovian to study at the University of Dorpat in 1830.<ref>Bardakjian, 255</ref>

===Later ascents===
Years later, in 1845, the German mineralogist Otto Wilhelm Hermann von Abich climbed Ararat with Abovian. Abovian's third and last ascent to Ararat was with the Englishman Henry Danby Seymour in 1846.<ref name="Ketchian"/>

In 1856 a group of five explorers led by Major Robert Stuart climbed Mt. Ararat.{{Citation needed|date=June 2009}}

===Climbing routes===
The climb is long, but there is a fairly easy route from the south in late summer for climbers who are familiar with the use of axe and crampons. Snow covers the last 400 m (¼ mile) year-round.{{Citation needed|date=June 2009}} There are two possible campsites on the mountain, and the glacier begins around 4,800 m (15,750 ft).{{Citation needed|date=June 2009}}

===Climbing permits and guides===
The Turkish government requires a climbing permit and use of a certified Turkish guide. Arrangements can take two months to complete.{{Citation needed|date=June 2009}}.

{{wide image|Ararat PIA03399 modest.jpg|1000px|A three dimensional model that shows both peaks.}}

==Political boundaries==
Mount Ararat forms a near-quadripoint between Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Iran. 
Its summit located some {{convert|16|km|mi|0|abbr=on}} west of both the Iranian border and the border of the Nakhchivan exclave of Azerbaijan, and {{convert|32|km|mi|0|abbr=on}} south of the Armenian border

The Turkish-Armenian-Azerbaijani and Turkish-Iranian-Azerbaijani tripoints are actually some 8&nbsp;km apart, separated by a narrow strip of Turkish territory containing the E99 road which enters Nakhchivan at {{coord|39.6553|N|44.8034|E |format=dms}}.

The international boundaries as described have been in effect since the 1991 independence of both Azerbaijan and Armenia, but they have a longer history, having been drawn in 1923 after the conflicts of World War I and the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire that affected the region, in particular the Armenian–Azerbaijani War of 1918 to 1920, and the creation of the Republic of Turkey in the Treaty of Lausanne of 1923 regulating the Partitioning of the Ottoman Empire. 
From 1923 to 1991, the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan was an internal border within the Soviet Union, between the Armenian SSR and the Nakhichevan SSR, the tripoint between Turkey, Iran and the Soviet Union from 1923 to 1991 corresponding to the current Turkish-Iranian-Azerbaijani tripoint. Prior to World War I, the area had been part of the Ottoman Empire, deriving from the conquests of Suleiman the Magnificent from Safavid Persia in the 1540s to 1550s.

Because of the political instability in Southeast Turkey, Ararat has been a militarized zone for much of the 20th century and was opened for tourism only in 2001. Since 2004, Ararat has been part of a natural reserve.

==Significance in Armenian nationalism==
{{Main|Armenian nationalism}}
[[File:Yerevan-sunset.jpg|thumb|300x400|Mt. Ararat view from Yerevan.]]
Ararat dominates the skyline of Armenia's capital, Yerevan.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic-art/32131/15319/Yerevan-Armenia-with-Mount-Ararat-in-the-background |title=Ararat, Mount :: Mount Ararat — Britannica Online Encyclopedia |publisher=Britannica.com |date= |accessdate=2008-11-11}}</ref> Mount Ararat has been revered by the Armenians as symbolizing their national identity and their irredentism. 
Ararat is the national symbol of the 1991 Republic of Armenia, being featured in the center of its coat of arms.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/Flags/am).html |title=Armenia: Coat of arms |publisher=Crwflags.com |date= |accessdate=2008-11-11}}</ref> In 1937, a coat of arms was adopted. 
This coat of arms descends from that of the Armenian SSR, which featured Mount Ararat along with the Soviet hammer and sickle and red star behind it.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://flagspot.net/flags/su-am.html |title=Armenia in the Soviet Union |publisher=Flagspot.net |date= |accessdate=2008-11-11}}</ref>   
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, a slightly modified version of the Democratic Republic of Armenia's coat of arms was adopted and has remained in place ever since.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://soviethistory.org/index.php?action=L2&SubjectID=1991end&Year=1991 |title=End of the Soviet Union |publisher=Soviethistory.org |date= |accessdate=2008-11-11}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gov.am/enversion/armenia/emblem.htm |title=Government of Republic of Armenia - THE NATIONAL COAT OF ARMS OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA |publisher=Gov.am |date= |accessdate=2008-11-11}}</ref> The 2002 film ''Ararat'' by Armenian-Canadian filmmaker Atom Egoyan features Mt. Ararat prominently in its symbolism.

In Armenian mythology Mt. Ararat is the home of the Gods, much like Mt. Olympus is in Greek Mythology.

==Notes==
{{reflist}}
[[Category:places]]