The name given to the search for the ark upon which the biblical Noah reportedly rode out the universal flood. Many conservative Christians believe the story of Noah and the Flood in the Book of Genesis (Chapters 6-8) to be a literal report of historical events. In the story, Noah and his family and a number of mating pairs of animals survived the Flood in the ark, which came to rest on one of the mountains of Ararat. Most liberal Christians consider the story mythical. If the ark had survived to the present and was located, it would serve to verify a more literal interpretation of the Genesis text.
The initial problem for arkeology is the location of Ararat. In biblical times, Ararat was the whole of what today is Armenia. Thus Genesis literally says that the ark came to rest on one of the mountains of Armenia. The Caucasus mountains run through the country, offering numerous possible locations. One tradition, however, identifies the mountain as present-day Ararat. It is located in Turkey very near the borders of Armenia and Iran. The mountain has a two peaks, the higher one reaching more than 5,000 meters (16,000 feet) with the top 900 meters (3,000 feet) always covered with snow. During the centuries, there have been stories of the existence of the ark near its peak. A new era of searching began in 1876 after James Bryce discovered a piece of wood near the summit and declared his belief that it was from the ark. Then, in 1892, Chaldean clergyman John Joseph Nouri claimed that he had not only found the ark but had entered it and measured it. The Bible was correct, he said: It was 300 cubits (450 feet) long.