Mount Judi

Mount Judi
Mount Judi
ٱلْجُودِيّ(Arabic); Çiyayê Cûdîyê(Kurdish); Cudi Dağı(Turkish)
	The mountain range, as seen fromŞırnakineastern Turkey
Highest point
Elevation	2,089 m (6,854 ft)
Coordinates	37°22′10″N42°20′39″E/ 37.36944°N 42.34417°E
Geography
	Mount Judi Location inTurkey Mount Judi Location in the Near East Mount Judi Location in Asia
Location	Şırnak,Turkey
Parent range	Armenian/Taurus/Zagros Mountains

Mount Judi(Turkish:Cudi Dağı;Arabic:ٱلْجُودِيّ,romanized:Al-Jūdiyy;^[1]Armenian:Արարադ;Kurdish:Çiyayê Cûdîyê) is a mountain in Turkey. It was considered in antiquity to beNoah'sapobaterionor "Place of Descent", the location where theArkcame to rest after theGreat Flood,according to very early Christian andIslamictraditions (the latter based on theQuran,11:44).^[1]The Quranic tradition is part of theJudeo-Christian-Islamiclegend. The identification of biblical Ararat with Mount Judi as the landing site of the ark persisted inSyriacandArmeniantradition throughoutLate Antiquity.Only during the Middle Ages was this identification abandoned in favour of another mountain, which had not until then been referred to by any of the native peoples asMount Ararat(a double-peaked massif, today the highest mountain inTurkeyand now generally known by that name).

Location

Mount Judi is situated in Turkey'sŞırnak Province,near the villages of Derebaşı and Boyunyaka, at latitude: 37°22'28.21 "and longitude: 42°28'16.03".^[2]

It is a peak northeast of the town ofCizrein south-east Turkey, at the headwaters of theTigrisRiver, near themodern borderwithSyriaandthatofIraq.A 10th-century historian placed it c. 32 miles (51 km)) from the Tigris.^[3]

Etymology and historical discussion

The mountainous area that Mount Judi is part of, was known asQardū(Syriac:ܩܪܕܘ) in Syriac texts,Gordyeneby Greek and Roman writers, andKordukhin Armenian.^[4]

Syriac, Islamic, and early Christian traditions identify Mount Judi orQarduas a peak near or northeast of the town of Jazirat ibn 'Umar in (modernCizre)Upper Mesopotamia,at the headwaters of theTigrisRiver.Arab historian Al-Masudi(d. 956), reported that the spot where the ark came to rest could be seen in his time, and that it was located at 80parasangs(approximately 32 miles (51 km)) from the Tigris. The mountain was historically located in the province ofCorduene,south ofLake Van.^[3]

The Arabic wordal-Jūdiyy(ٱلْجُودِيّ), originates from the Syriac wordGudo(ܓܘܕܐ) meaning "Mounds" or "Elevations".^[5]The relation of some of the spellings is clear. The origin ofJudiis less clear. It is usually interpreted as a corrupted version of the same name, viaAl-Gurdi(Reynolds 2004). Since at least 697BC,it was often held that after the ark came to rest on the mountain, Noah and the survivors of the flood (who were thought to have numbered 80) came down from it, and built this town to the south of the mountain, hence the name ofThamānīn(Arabic:ثَمَانِيْن,lit. 'Eighty').^[6]The proposal that the two names are ultimately the same was first advanced by theEnglish Orientalist George Sale.In his commentary about theQuran(11:4; the verse that mentions the landing of Noah's ark uponAl-Judiy), theEnglish Orientalist George Salesaid:^[6]

This mountain [al-Judi] is one of those that divideArmeniaon the south, fromMesopotamia,and that part ofAssyriawhich is inhabited by theKurds,from whom the mountains took the nameCardu, or Gardu,by theGreeksturned intoGordyae,and other names.... Mount Al-Judi (which seems to be a corruption, though it be constantly so written by theArabs,for Jordi, or Giordi) is also called Thamanin (Geogr. Nub. p. 202), probably from a town at the foot of it (D'Herbel. Bibl. Orient. p. 404 and 676, and Agathiam, 1. 14, p. 135), so named from the number of persons saved in the ark, the wordthamaninsignifying eighty, and overlooks the country of Diyar Rab ah, near the cities ofMawsel,Forda, andJazirat Ebn Omar,which last place one affirms to be but four miles from the place of the ark, and says that a Mohammedan temple was built there with the remains of the vessel by theKhalif Omar Ebn Abd'alaziz,whom he by mistake callsOmarEbnKhattab(Benjamin. Itiner. p. 61).... The relics of the ark were also to be seen here in the time of Epiphanius, if we may believe him (Epiph. Haeres. 18); and we are told theemperor Heracliuswent from the town of Thamanin up to the mountainAl-Judi,and saw the place of the ark (Elmacin.1. 1. c. 1 ).
— George Sale,1734; p. 214-215

Thamanin[tr](37°19′47.36″N42°28′6.91″E/ 37.3298222°N 42.4685861°E/37.3298222; 42.4685861) was known to theAssyriansasTumurriorTumurru,^[7]^[8]to theRomansas (Latin:TamonitisorTamoritis), and to theArmeniansas (Armenian:Թմորիկ‘,romanized:Tmorik‘).^[9]Sale goes on to say that there was once a famous Christianmonasteryon the mountain, but that this was destroyed by lightning in the year 776 AD, following which:^[6]

the credit of this tradition hath declined, and given place to another, which obtains at present, and according to which the ark rested onMount Masis,in Armenia, called by the TurksAgri Dagi.
— Sale, 1734; p. 214-215

The Arabic name of the mountain,Judi,has also been proposed to be a corruption of theClassical Syriac:ܩܪܕܘ,romanized:Qardōwritten in Arabic with the Arabic letterswaw(و) andraa(ر) being confused in early Islamic manuscripts due to their early resemblance, and then making its way into the Qur’an and Islamic tradition. This is supported by the fact that only in theSyriac Bibleis the mountain which Noah's ark rested on calledQardō,as opposed toAraratin other Bibles.^[10]

Religious traditions

Cast of a rock relief ofSennacheribfrom the foot of the mountain, nearCizre

Christianity

Depiction of Noah's ark landing on the mountain top, from theNorth French Hebrew Miscellany(13th century)

In 1909,Gertrude Bellphotographed the ruins of a monastery on the summit of Cudi Dagh

TheAssyrianseast of the River Tigris had a legend of the ark resting on mountDjûdiin the land of Kard. This legend may in origin have been independent of theGenesisaccount ofNoah's flood,rooted in the more generalNear Eastern flood legends,but following the Christianization of the Syrians from about the second century AD, it became associated with theMountains of Ararat,where Noah landed according to Genesis, and fromSyriathis legend also spread to theArmenians.The Armenians did not traditionally associate Noah's landing site withMount Ararat,known natively asMasis,and continued to associate Noah's ark with Mount Judi, until the11th century.^[11]

The biblicalAraratis thought to be a variation ofUrartu,an ancient term for the region north of ancientAssyria,which encompasses theArmenian plateau.According toJosephus,the Armenians in the first century showed the remains of Noah's ark at a place called αποβατηριον "Place of Descent" (Armenian:Նախիջեւան,Nakhichevan,Ptolemy's Ναξουανα), about 60 miles (97 km) southeast of the summit ofMount Ararat(c.39°04′N45°05′E/ 39.07°N 45.08°E/39.07; 45.08).^[12]The "mountains of Ararat" in Genesis have become identified in later (medieval) Christian tradition with the peak now known as "Mount Ararat" itself, a volcanic massif now in modern Turkey and known in Turkish as "Agri Dagh" (Ağrı Dağı).

Islam

According to the Qur'an (11:44),^[1]the final resting place of the vessel was called "Judi", without the word "mountain".

Then the word went forth: "O earth! swallow up thy water, and O sky! Withhold (thy rain)!" and the water abated, and the matter was ended. The Ark rested onAl-Judi,and the word went forth: "Away with those who do wrong!
— Quran, 11:44^[1]

The ninth centuryPersiangeographerIbn Khordadbehidentified the location of mount Judi as being in theland of Kurds(Al-Akrad), and theAbbasidhistorianAl-Mas'udi(c. 896–956) recorded that the spot where it came to rest could be seen in his time. Al-Mas'udi also said that the Ark began its voyage atKufain central Iraq, and sailed toMecca,where it circled theKaaba,before finally travelling to Judi.Yaqut al-Hamawi,also known as Al-Rumi, placed the mountain "above Jazirat ibn Umar, to the east of the Tigris," and mentioned amosquebuilt by Noah that could be seen in his day, and the travellerIbn Battutapassed by the mountain in the 14th century.^[3]

References

^^a ^b ^c ^dQuran 11:44^{(TranslatedbyYusuf Ali)}
^Mount Judiat Geoview. Accessed 15 March 2024.
^^a ^b ^cLewis, J. P. (December 1984),Noah and the Flood: In Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Tradition,The Biblical Archaeologist, p. 237(subscription required)
^McAuliffe, Jane Dammen (2001).Encyclopaedia Of The Quran.Vol. 1.Brill.pp. 146–147.ISBN 978-90-04-11465-4.Retrieved11 January2023.
^Sawma, Gabriel (2006).The Qur'an, Misinterpreted, Mistranslated, and Misread: The Aramaic Language of the Qur'an.Gabriel Sawma.ISBN 978-0-9778606-9-2.
^^a ^b ^cSale, George(1734).The Koran.Posner Memorial Collection.
^Toumanoff, Cyril (1963). "The Orontids of Armenia".Studies in Christian Caucasian History.Georgetown University Press.pp. 323–378.Retrieved2021-08-22.
^Sirakaci, Anania (1992). "The Geography of Ananias of Sirak (Ašxarhac'oyk')". InHewsen, Robert H.(ed.).The Long and Short Recensions.Wiesbaden,Germany:Reichert.ISBN 3-88226-485-3.Retrieved2021-08-23.
^Strabo."14.5".Geographica.Vol.XI.
^Mingana, Alphonse (2004).Syriac Influence on the Style of the Kur'an.p. 97.
^Conybeare, F. C.(April 1901) [1900]."Review of Friedrich Murat,Ararat und Masis, Studien zur armenischen Altertumskunde und Litteratur".The American Journal of Theology,TheUniversity of Chicago Press(in German).5(2).Heidelberg,Germany: 335–337.JSTOR 3152410.
^Conybeare (1901)

External links

[Cite_quran|11|44|t=y|s=ns-1] Quran 11:44^{(TranslatedbyYusuf Ali)}

[2] Mount Judiat Geoview. Accessed 15 March 2024.

[Lewis-3] Lewis, J. P. (December 1984),Noah and the Flood: In Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Tradition,The Biblical Archaeologist, p. 237(subscription required)

[encyclo-quran-4] McAuliffe, Jane Dammen (2001).Encyclopaedia Of The Quran.Vol. 1.Brill.pp. 146–147.ISBN 978-90-04-11465-4.Retrieved11 January2023.

[5] Sawma, Gabriel (2006).The Qur'an, Misinterpreted, Mistranslated, and Misread: The Aramaic Language of the Qur'an.Gabriel Sawma.ISBN 978-0-9778606-9-2.

[Sale1784-6] Sale, George(1734).The Koran.Posner Memorial Collection.

[Toumanoff1963-7] Toumanoff, Cyril (1963). "The Orontids of Armenia".Studies in Christian Caucasian History.Georgetown University Press.pp. 323–378.Retrieved2021-08-22.

[Sirkaci1992-8] Sirakaci, Anania (1992). "The Geography of Ananias of Sirak (Ašxarhac'oyk')". InHewsen, Robert H.(ed.).The Long and Short Recensions.Wiesbaden,Germany:Reichert.ISBN 3-88226-485-3.Retrieved2021-08-23.

[StraboThamanin-9] Strabo."14.5".Geographica.Vol.XI.

[10] Mingana, Alphonse (2004).Syriac Influence on the Style of the Kur'an.p. 97.

[Conybeare-11] Conybeare, F. C.(April 1901) [1900]."Review of Friedrich Murat,Ararat und Masis, Studien zur armenischen Altertumskunde und Litteratur".The American Journal of Theology,TheUniversity of Chicago Press(in German).5(2).Heidelberg,Germany: 335–337.JSTOR 3152410.

[12] Conybeare (1901)

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