The significance of Noah for Armenians is rooted in the notion of sacred land; we revere Mount Ararat as a symbol of resilience and God’s favor. But as an American Armenian, I grew up disconnected from much of its biblical context, even though my family belonged to a local Armenian Apostolic church. And over the years, despite enthralling Sunday school stories and Protestant church sermons, Noah’s ark remained for me no more than a colorful episode in the grand narrative of the Old Testament, like that of David and Goliath or Jonah and the whale. Simply fantastical, the story seemed impossible to interpret literally and was therefore easy to dismiss.
It wasn’t until I began visiting my ancestral homeland and studying Armenian Christianity that the story of Noah evolved beyond a childhood tale.
I contributed this short piece to an article in Christianity Today written on the occasion of the feast of St. James (Hagop) of Nisibis, which was celebrated this year in the Armenian Church on December 14th.
Armenian Manuscript Illumination
Boarding of Noah and the Animals
Between 1643 and 1646
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