Eastern Turkiye, September 5, 2026
Eastern Turkiye, September 5, 2026
Today’s focus was on the “mountains of Urartu / Ararat” and sites related to Noah’s ark. We had stunning views of Mount Ararat all day, but equally beautiful was the entire craggy, mountainous area north of Lake Van. “And in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.” Genesis 8:4
We stopped first at a long rocky outcrop at an elevation of about 7,000 feet near Mount Ararat. These rocks are loaded with sea fossils and this is a small part of what makes the area interesting as related to the great flood. The Marmara Sea and the Mediterranean Sea are hundreds of miles away and the elevation makes an ancient inland sea in this place unlikely.
Next we went to the Durupinar Formation which has been in the news quite a bit lately. The lead researcher was on site and gave a lecture on the state of the scientific studies going on at the Noah’s Ark Center - including ground penetrating radar / lidaar / types of “radar” that we didn’t understand LOL / soil sampling and core sampling - which will be happening next week now that their technique has been refined. We came away far less skeptical than when we arrived. The right shape, the front end “V” pointing up hill and a rounded back end down hill are not the shape you would expect if this was an area of earth that simply slide down the mountain. The radar shows definite patterns in the soil composition that are not natural, including long hallway like empty pockets. We were allowed to walk down onto the site and walk around the entire area - which happen to be exactly the dimensions of the ark from the Bible.
We visited small Kurdish and Turkish villages in the area that have interesting place names. One village name in Kurdish and Turkish basically means “the place where the raven will not land.” Another village is called the “village of eight” - there were 8 people on the ark. These names have been consistent for a very very long time. We visited an area known as “Noah’s House” and “Noah’s altar”. The remains of an ancient foundation are of an early Armenian church which is built over another stone foundation and floor etc etc like a lasagna and the locals believe it was Noah’s home. A hike up the hill behind this foundation (tons and tons of pottery sherds along the way) is a rocky place that locals believe was the altar Noah made for sacrifices after the flood.
Finally we made a rather stupid attempt at climbing up to the top of another ancient Urartian fortress next to Ishtok Pasha Palace in these mountains. We hoped to see life size relief carvings of a Urartian King, Queen and the false god they worshipped, ahuramazda. We saw these things, but risked life and limb and had to be practically carried back down by the guide. Anyway, it was a bad scene! Our friends Jim and Carol are mountain goats and did great but even they were feeling like the drone would have been a MUCH better option!!
Tomorrow we have a long drive to get down to the Syrian border area and the Syriac Monasteries of Midyat and Mardin. We will attend a service in the evening at Mor Gabriel Monastery held in an ancient Aramaic dialect - the language of Jesus in the New Testament.
One last thing - our drive today took us a stones throw from the Iran border - fences and border guards and a couple of highway check points. But the really interesting thing was to see a several miles long line of semis pulled to the side waiting to cross the border between Turkey and Iran. We hear they may have to wait weeks to get their goods over the border.
Thanking God for a great day, for living to see another day! And for safe travel. Good night and God Bless, PB and Margery
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Mount Ararat
