Mount Ararat, officially Mount Ağrı, also known as Masis, is a snow- capped and dormant compound volcano in easternmost Turkey. It consists of two major volcanic cones: Greater Ararat and Little Ararat. Greater Ararat is the highest peak in Turkey and the Armenian highlands with an elevation of ; Little Ararat's elevation is . The Ararat massif is about wide at ground base. The first recorded efforts to reach Ararat's summit were made in the Middle Ages, and Friedrich Parrot, Khachatur Abovian, and four others made the first recorded ascent in 1829.
In Europe, the mountain has been called by the name Ararat since the Middle Ages, as it began to be identified with "mountains of Ararat" described in the Bible as the resting place of Noah's Ark, despite contention that does not refer specifically to a Mount Ararat.
Although lying outside the borders of modern Armenia, the mountain is the principal national symbol of Armenia and has been considered a sacred mountain by Armenians. It has featured prominently in Armenian literature and art and is an icon for Armenian nationalism. It is depicted on the coat of arms of Armenia along with Noah's Ark.
Political borders
Mount Ararat forms a near-quadripoint between Turkey, Iran, Armenia, and the Nakhchivan exclave of Azerbaijan.
From the 16th century until 1828 the range was part of the Ottoman-Persian border; Great Ararat's summit and the northern slopes, along with the eastern slopes of Little Ararat were controlled by Persia. Following the 1826–28 Russo-Persian War and the Treaty of Turkmenchay, the Persian controlled territory was ceded to the Russian Empire. Little Ararat became the point where the Turkish, Persian, and Russian imperial frontiers converged. It formally became part of Turkey according to the 1921 Treaty of Moscow and Treaty of Kars. In the late 1920s, Turkey crossed the Iranian border and occupied the eastern flank of Lesser Ararat as part of its effort to quash the Kurdish Ararat rebellion, Iran eventually agreed to cede the area to Turkey in a territorial exchange.
Names and etymology
thumb|View from the Araratian plain near the city of [[Artashat, Armenia]]
thumb|Closeup of Greater Ararat
thumb|Closeup of Lesser Ararat
thumb|View from [[Turkey]]
Ararat
The mountain was not called by the name Ararat until the Middle Ages; early Armenian historians considered the biblical Ararat to be in Corduene. It is known as Ararat in European languages, Tiberian vocalization אֲרָרָט ʾărārāṭ; Pesher Genesis הוררט hōrārāṭ. Urartu, the Assyrian/Babylonian name of the kingdom, has been proposed by Archibald Sayce to mean "highlands". Ayrarat, the central province of ancient Armenia, is linked to the same name. Robert W. Thomson suggested that the mountain was called Ararat "by confusion with Ayrarat, the name of the province."
Ağrı and Agirî
The Turkish name Mount Ağrı (Ağrı Dağı, ; , ), has been known since the late Middle Ages. Ağrı means "pain" or "grief" in Turkish, and the name is translated to "mountain of pain" or "painful mountain", suggestive of the difficulty of its ascent. The Kurdish name of the mountain is (), which translates to "fiery mountain". For both Turkish and Kurdish, Sevan Nişanyan suggests an origin from the name of a village on its slopes called Ağori that was decimated after a landslide in 1840. Sargis Petrosyan derives the Turkish name from the Armenian form *Աղրի (Aghri), which itself evolved from an earlier Armenian *Աղուրի (Aghuri), which means "a branch used for propagating a vine".
Masis
The native Armenian name is Masis ( ).
Pre-Christian tradition
thumb|upright|Ararat on the reverse of a coin of the [[Kingdom of Armenia (antiquity)|co-rulers of Armenia Tigranes IV and Erato from 2 BC–AD 1.]]
In pre-Christian Armenian mythology, where Zoroastrianism dominated, mountains such as Ararat were sacred. Folk tradition said vishaps, dragon-like mythological creatures, residing in Ararat and Aragats engage in combat every two years, "perhaps inspired by the traditional rivalry thought to exist between the two volcanic peaks themselves."
In the Armenian mythological tradition recorded by Movses Khorenatsi, the Artaxiad King Artavazd II ( BC) was cursed by his father, Artaxias I, to be seized by the supernatural creatures k‘ajk‘ ("brave ones") to be confined in a cave on the heights of Mount Ararat. There, he remains bound with iron chains, guarded by two dogs who "eternally lick... his bonds" in an attempt to free him. To prevent his release, which folklore suggests would result in the "destruction" or "complete transformation of the world", Armenian blacksmiths traditionally struck their anvils on the first day of the week or during the festival of Navasard to symbolically strengthen the chains. In later Christian re-interpretations, Artavazd's role shifted from a potential "redeemer" to a demonic figure akin to the Iranian Aži Dahāka. Nina Garsoïan suggests that the legend "partly confused" the historical Artavazd with his treacherous brother Tigranes the Younger and may reflect the memory of the capture and imprisonment of Artavazd in Egypt by Mark Antony. The legend persisted "well into early modern times".
The mountain appears on copper coinage of the Artaxiad kings of Armenia. A coin of Artaxias I depicts an eagle perched on a mountain, likely Ararat overlooking Artaxata. A small coin attributed to Tigranes II (though possibly a jugate issue) shows two peaks without an eagle, the left peak being lower. Above them is a partial inscription that may reflect the Armenian word sar ("mountain"). The twin peaks are depicted on coins minted by the co-rulers Tigranes IV and Erato from 2 BC–AD 1, who reigned as clients of Rome. A "crudely drawn" twin-peaked Ararat appears on a coin attributed to King Tiridates II () of the later Arsacid dynasty.
Myth of origin
thumb|upright|[[Hayk, the legendary founding father (patriarch) of the Armenian people, as depicted by Mkrtum Hovnatanian (1779–1846). Ararat is pictured in the background.]]
The Ararat area is one of the two loci of legendary origin in Armenian tradition, along with that of Van, specifically the Hayots Dzor region. The Genesis flood narrative was linked to the Armenian myth of origin by the early medieval historian Movses Khorenatsi. In his History of Armenia, he wrote that Noah and his family first settled in Armenia and later moved to Babylon. Hayk, a descendant of Japheth, a son of Noah, revolted against Bel (the biblical Nimrod) and returned to the area around Mount Ararat, where he established the roots of the Armenian nation. He is thus considered the legendary founding father (patriarch) and the name giver of the Armenian people. According to Razmik Panossian, this legend "makes Armenia the cradle of all civilisation since Noah's Ark landed on the 'Armenian' mountain of Ararat. [...] it connects Armenians to the biblical narrative of human development. [...] it makes Mount Ararat the national symbol of all Armenians, and the territory around it the Armenian homeland from time immemorial."
Coat of arms of Armenia
Mount Ararat has been depicted on the coat of arms of Armenia consistently since 1918. The First Republic's coat of arms was designed by architect Alexander Tamanian and painter Hakob Kojoyan. This coat of arms was readopted by the legislature of the Republic of Armenia on April 19, 1992, after Armenia regained its independence. Mount Ararat is depicted along with the ark on its peak on the shield on an orange background. The emblem of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic (Soviet Armenia) was created by the painters Martiros Saryan and Hakob Kojoyan in 1921. Mount Ararat is depicted in the center and makes up a large portion of it.
According to an account (anecdote) widely reported since the 1920s, Turkey