Noah's Ark - Frequently asked questions Frequently Asked Questions Questions are in bold face .
Answers are in regular type.
Much of the flood story was fiction, but there was a real river flood on which the original flood legend was based. The flood of Noah was a Euphrates River flood in southern Sumer similar to the flood of 1985 in southern Iraq. Mount Ararat was not involved in the original flood legend. The ark grounded in an estuary at the mouth of the Euphrates River. The mountains of Ararat got involved in the story because Noah's son Shem traveled on foot to the mountains of Ararat after the barge grounded.