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Smith's Bible Dictionary
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Aarat
(high or holy ground), a mountainous district of Asia mentioned in the Bible in connection with
the following events:— (1) As the resting-place of the ark after the deluge. (Genesis 8:4) (2) As
the asylum of the sons of Sennacherib. (2 Kings 19:37; Isaiah 37:38) Authorized Version has “the
land of Armenia.” (3) As the ally, and probably the neighbor, of Minni and Ashchenaz. (Jeremiah
51:27) [Armenia] The name Ararat was unknown to the geographers of Greece and Rome, as it
still is to the Armenians of the present day; but it was an ancient name for a portion of Armenia.
In its biblical sense it is descriptive generally of the Armenian highlands—the lofty plateau which
over looks the plain of the Araxes on the north and of Mesopotomia on the south. Various opinions
have been put forth as to the spot where the ark rested, as described in (Genesis 8:4) (but it is
probable that it rested on some of the lower portions of the range than on the lofty peak to which
exclusively) Europeans have given the name Ararat, the mountain which is called Massis by the
Armenians, Agri-Dagh, i.e. Steep Mountain, by the Turks, and Kuh-i-Nuh, i.e. Noah’s Mountain,
by the Persians. It rises immediately out of the plain of the Araxes, and terminates in two conical
peaks, named the Great and Less Ararat, about seven miles distant from each other; the former of
which attain an elevation of 17,260 feet above the level of the sea and about 14,000 above the plain
of the Araxes, while the latter is lower by 4000 feet. The summit of the higher is covered with
eternal snow for about 3000 feet. Arguri, the only village known to have been built on its slopes,
was the spot where, according to tradition, Noah planted his vineyard. “The mountains of Ararat
” are co-extensive with the Armenian plateau from the base of Ararat in the north to the range of
Kurdistan in the south, we notice the following characteristics of that region as illustrating the Bible
narrative; (1) its elevation. It rises to a height of from 6000 to 7000 feet above the level of the sea.
(2) Its geographical position . Viewed with reference to the dispersion of the nations, Armenia is
the true centre of the world; and at the present day Ararat is the great boundary-stone between the
empires of Russia, Turkey and Persia. (3) Its physical character . The plains as well as the mountains
supply evidence of volcanic agency. (4) The climate . Winter lasts from October to May, and is
succeeded by a brief spring and a summer of intense heat. (5) The vegetation . Grass grows
luxuriantly on the plateau, and furnishes abundant pasture during the summer months to the flocks
of the nomad Kurds. Wheat, barley and vines ripen at far higher altitudes than on the Alps and the
Pyrenees.
Aaron
(a teacher, or lofty), the son of Amram and Jochebed, and the older brother of Moses and
Miriam. (Numbers 26:59; 33:39) (B.C. 1573.) He was a Levite, and is first mentioned in (Exodus
4:14) He was appointed by Jehovah to be the interpreter, (Exodus 4:16) of his brother Moses, who
was “slow of speech;” and accordingly he was not only the organ of communication with the
Israelites and with Pharaoh, (Exodus 4:30; 7:2) but also the actual instrument of working most of
the miracles of the Exodus. (Exodus 7:19) etc. On the way to Mount Sinai, during the battle with
Amalek, Aaron with Hur stayed up the weary hands of Moses when they were lifted up for the
victory of Israel. (Exodus 17:9) He is mentioned as dependent upon his brother and deriving all his
authority from him. Left, on Moses’ departure into Sinai, to guide the people, Aaron is tried for a
moment on his own responsibility, and he fails from a weak inability to withstand the demand of
the people for visible “gods to go before them,” by making an image of Jehovah, in the well-known
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William Smith