In the Noah’s Ark story, on what mountains did the ark come to rest?

In the Noah’s Ark story, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. Genesis 8:4 uses this plural geographical expression; it does not explicitly say that the vessel landed on the single peak now called Mount Ararat.

Ararat is associated with the ancient kingdom and region of Urartu, located around parts of modern eastern Turkey, Armenia, and Iran. The biblical wording may refer to a broader mountain region rather than one precisely identified summit.

Mount Ararat, the prominent snow-capped volcano in eastern Turkey, became the best-known candidate in later popular tradition. Its association with the ark is widespread, but Genesis itself provides no archaeological confirmation and does not name that mountain as the landing site.

This distinction matters because ‘Mount Ararat’ is a convenient traditional shorthand, while ‘the mountains of Ararat’ is closer to the wording of Genesis. Many proposed expeditions and alleged discoveries have not produced evidence accepted by mainstream archaeology.