The Story of Noah’s Ark and Mount Ararat

In the book of Genesis, the Noah’s Ark is the ship that saved Noah, his family, and a pair of all of the world’s animals from a great flood. In the Biblical flood story, God decided to wipe humankind off the world because of the rampant wickedness he witnessed. But at time, God saw how righteous Noah was, so he instructed Noah to build an ark for that would house his family and a male and a female pair of all living creatures in preparation for a flood that would destroy all living things. When Noah, family, and the animals were safe in the ark, the rain that lasted forty days and night flooded the earth for 150 days, washing away all living creatures.  

In 2017, the Central Bank of Armenia issued a 500 Armenian Dram Banknote to commemorate the Noahs Ark. Designed by the Head of Money Circulation Department Suren Simonyan, the banknote was acknowledged as the Regional Banknote of the Year at the Reconnaissance International’s High Security Printing EMEA.   

On the banknote’s obverse are a green-to-gold Rolling Star LEAD reliquary with Noahs Ark fragment, a Friedrich Parrot’s woodcut of Etchmiadzin Cathedral building, the Noahs Ark as the registration device, and a gold-to-green SPARK Live flying dove with an olive branch in its beak. In the background is the rear part of Mount Ararat.   

To see if the flood subsided, Noah sent out a raven. Then, he subsequently sent a dove that came back with an olive brach in its beak. Noah sent the dove out again 7 days later, and it didn’t return, meaning that it found a place to rest.  

In the aftermath of the flood, the ark came to rest on the top of Mount Ararat  in modern-day Armenia. Mount Ararat is situated near the borders of Armenia, Iran, and the Nakhchivan exclave of Azerbaijan. The mountain is also featured on the reverse on the note, as is it seen from the Chor Virap Monastery. Noah’s family from Jacob Carolsfelds Noah Leaving the Ark woodcut is also shown on the banknote along with animals and birds.  

Another Armenian banknotes that features the mountain is the 1,000 Dram Banknote from the 2011-2015 series, with Yeghishe Charents, a horse-driven carriage, and an old Yerevan building.