The Deluge is described in two accounts combined in Genesis 6 to 8. In one version, God instructs Noah to save one male and one female of every animal. Both accounts agree that God sent the flood to punish the wickedness of humanity. Stories about great floods occur in the religious tradition of many peoples. A famous account is found in the Epic of Gilgamesh from Mesopotamia.
Many scholars believe the Mesopotamian and Biblical accounts are related.
The Biblical story is told in Genesis 6-8. Ararat was the area surrounding Lake Van in ancient Armenia, now part of Turkey. Many people believe that Noah's ark came to rest on Mount Massis, the tallest mountain in Ararat, known today as Mount Ararat. However, the Aramaic and Syriac translations of the story speak of the ark landing in the mountains of Kurdistan, southeast of Lake Van. These passages tell that the sons of the Assyrian king Sennacherib fled to Ararat after they killed their father.