Mount Ararat terminology index: find a name and where it comes from
Readers meet Mount Ararat under several names, and the places around it under several spellings. This index lists the terms used on Ararat Info, says what kind of place each one is, and records the forms found in the sources behind this site. Where a source spells a name differently, the index keeps that spelling rather than silently correcting it.
Each entry gives the term, what it refers to, the variant forms seen in sources, and the page where it is discussed. For the general rules on writing Turkish names in English, see names and terms.
A
Ağrı — a province and its city in eastern Türkiye; the same word forms part of the mountain’s Turkish name. Distinguish the province from the mountain before reusing the word. See geographic setting.
Ağrı Dağı — the Turkish name of Mount Ararat, used by the Ağrı Governorship and by GoTürkiye. Nineteenth-century English texts write it Agridagh (Parrot, 1846) or Aghri Dagh (Bryce, 1878). The editor of the 1846 translation notes that the name is Turkish, correcting Parrot’s statement that it was Arabic.
Aralykh — a settlement at the foot of the mountain, named by James Bryce as the starting point of his 1876 climb; the Brockhaus and Efron encyclopedia writes it Аралых. See climbing history.
Ararat, Mount Ararat — the usual English name. GoTürkiye explains that the name was attached to this mountain in the West because scholars identified it with the “mountains of Ararat” of Genesis 8:4, although that passage does not name a single peak.
Arguri — the village on the north-eastern side of the mountain, home of two members of Parrot’s 1829 summit party; it was destroyed in 1840. Forms seen: Arguri and Arghuri (Parrot, 1846), Arghuri (Bryce, 1878), Архури (Brockhaus and Efron). See geology and nature.
C
Cebel ül Haris — listed by the Ağrı Governorship among the other names of the mountain. The Governorship does not explain its meaning, and this index does not supply one.
D
Doğubayazıt — the district town from which, according to the Ağrı Governorship, the authorised approach to the main summit begins. The district governorship’s own website uses Doğubayazıt; the Governorship’s mountain page uses both Doğubayazıt and Doğubeyazıt, and GoTürkiye uses Doğubeyazıt. Ararat Info writes Doğubayazıt and keeps a source’s spelling when quoting it.
E
Eli, Eli Çiftliği — named by the Ağrı Governorship as points on the authorised approach from Doğubayazıt (köy means village, çiftlik farmstead). See route names.
G
Gli Dağ — listed by the Ağrı Governorship among the other names of the mountain, without explanation.
Greater Ağrı / Great Ararat — the higher, north-western cone of the massif, given as 5,137 m by GoTürkiye. Great Ararat is the form in Parrot (1846) and Bryce (1878); Большой Арарат in Russian sources. It is a separate summit from Little Ağrı, not an alternative spelling.
K
Kip Gholl — the name of Parrot’s 1829 camp site on the north-western side, in Bryce’s spelling. It is a historical label, not a current camp name.
Küçük Ağrı / Little Ağrı / Little Ararat — the lower, south-eastern cone, 3,896 m according to GoTürkiye and the Governorship. Parrot’s translator writes Less Ararat; Russian sources use Малый Арарат.
Kuh-i Nuh — “Mountain of Noah”. The Governorship lists Kuh-i Nuh among the mountain’s names; Parrot (1846) writes Kuhi Nuh and attributes it to some authorities on Persian usage, adding that he could not confirm it himself.
M
Massis — the Armenian name recorded by Parrot, who wrote that Armenians of the area knew the mountain by no other name. The Brockhaus and Efron encyclopedia gives the Russian form Мазис. Modern Armenian spelling and transliteration have not yet been checked for this index.
S
Sardarbulakh / Serdarbulak — Bryce’s Sardarbulakh is the starting point of nineteenth-century climbs on the south-eastern face; the Ağrı Governorship places the Serdarbulak plateau on the eastern side, next to Little Ağrı.
St James’s monastery / monastery of St Jacob — the monastery near Arguri, on the edge of the great chasm, where Parrot stayed in 1829, destroyed in 1840. St James’s is the form in the 1846 translation, St Jacob in Bryce; the Brockhaus and Efron encyclopedia writes монастырь св. Якова.
T
Topçatan — a village named by the Ağrı Governorship on the approach route from Doğubayazıt to Eli.
Names not yet in this index
Kurdish and modern Armenian forms of the mountain’s names are in everyday use but have not yet been checked against a source that this site can cite. They will be added when that check is done, rather than copied from unsourced lists.
Sources
- GoTürkiye, Mount Ararat (Ağrı Dağı) in Ağrı. Checked 14 September 2026.
- Ağrı Valiliği, Ağrı Dağı (page dated 14.09.2020). Checked 14 September 2026.
- T.C. Doğubayazıt Kaymakamlığı, official website. Checked 14 September 2026.
- Friedrich Parrot, Journey to Ararat, translated by W. D. Cooley, New York: Harper and Bros., 1846. Internet Archive. Read 14 September 2026.
- James Bryce, Transcaucasia and Ararat, 3rd ed., London: Macmillan, 1878. Internet Archive. Read 14 September 2026.
- «Арарат, горы», Энциклопедический словарь Брокгауза и Ефрона (1890–1907). Wikisource. Read 14 September 2026.