“Ararat” and Armenia in the Bible and Associated Traditions

The references in the Bible to Ararat and the interpretations and location of the Mountains of Ararat are carefully considered in light of evidence from the Greco-Roman world, the Bible versions, Josephus, Byzantine Chronicles, and the Armenian sources, particularly P‘awstos. Jubilees and Qumran evidence on Mount Lubar is discussed. Other biblical passages that have been taken to refer to Armenia and the Caucasus are analyzed, including Isaiah 37:38 and Jeremiah 51:27 as they are interpreted in the Greek and Aramaic translations. The tradition of the city built after the exit from the Ark in Jewish and Armenian sources is presented, the reference to “Land of Ararat” in 4 Ezra, and the competing tradition of the Ark in Apamea.