Mount Ararat focus of the searches for Noah's Ark. Augustin Calmet wrote in his 1722 biblical dictionary, "It is affirmed, but without proof, that there are still remains of Noah's ark on the top of this mountain; but M. de Tournefort, who visited this spot, has assured us there was nothing like it; that the top of mount Ararat is inaccessible, both by reason of its great height, and of the snow which perpetually covers it." Archaeological expeditions, sometimes supported by evangelical and millenarian churches, have been conducted since the 19th century in search of the ark. According to a 1974 book
Mount Ararat Indeed, the phrase is translated as "mountains of Armenia" ("montes Armeniae") in the Vulgate, the fourth century Latin translation of the Bible. Nevertheless, Mount Ararat is considered the traditional site of the resting place of Noah's Ark. It is therefore called a biblical mountain. Mount Ararat has been associated with the Genesis flood story since the 11–12th centuries. The local Armenian population began to identify it as the ark's landing place during those centuries. F. C. Conybeare wrote that the mountain was "a center and focus of pagan myths and cults [...] and it was only in the eleventh century,