Nakhchivan is the land locked enclave of Azerbaijan surrounded by Armenia. Iran and Turkey.It shares land borders with these three countries. The Lesser Caucasus mountain range Zangezur extends through the border with Azerbaijan and Armenia. The border with Iran is the Aras river and capital of this region is Nakhchivan city. The average height is 1450 meter above the sea level. The most part of the territory of Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic is surrounded by the Zangazur mountain chains of the Lesser Caucasus. The highest mountain in Nakhchivan is Mount Kapudzhukh 3904 m. (12.808 ft) and Ilandag – Inandag -Snake Mountain 2415 m (7923 ft), which is visible from Nakhchivan city.
A VISIT TO NOAH’S TOMB
It was built to symbolize the Power of God and the man who believed first in God’s Power. The date of symbolic grave monument dates back to VI century BC.
The history is related to the ancient religious story Noah and the Storm. Noah’s flood (The Great Flood) is one of the most ancient religious stories of the world. Like many other stories in the Bible and Koran, the flood story has similarities. The story of Noah (as) is familiar to followers of the three major religions – Islam, Judaism and Christianity. The story about Noah described in holly book of Islam – Koran Surah 71 “Noah”.
Christianity – in the “Book of Genesis” chapter 6-9.
According to Bible chronology it happened about 5.000 years ago.
The Bible says that the rains that created the Noachian Flood lasted for 40 days (Genesis 7:17), that the waters prevailed on the earth for 150 days (Genesis 7:24), and after these 150 days the waters gradually receded from the earth so that by the seventh month and the seventeenth day, Noah’s Ark came to rest upon the mountains of Ararat (Genesis 8:4). A year plus two months and twenty-seven days later the earth was dry enough so that Noah, his family, and the load of animals could disembark from the Ark (Genesis 8:14).
The main source of this Legend is “Epic of Gilgamesh. This epic was first discovered as a serious of tablets in Nineveh. Gilgamesh was a king of the city of Uruk (NINEVEH). Nineveh was an ancient Assyrian city of Mesopotamia, located on the outskirts of Mosul, in modern day northern Iraq. According to the legend the area where Noah lived after the great flood is supposed to be Anatolia (Turkey), Mesopotamia (Iran), Persia (Iran).
Note: There are so many toponymies in Nakhchivan related to the story of Noah and the Storm. Most of historians believe that the name of Nakhchivan city is related to the legend of Noah and is assumed the city was founded by Noah and the city named after Noah – Nuh Jahan.
- There are many cities in the world named after the person founded or build. For example:
- The city Washington in USA (the city was founded by G.Washington)
- Paris – named after the Parisii tribe
- Athens – named after Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom
- Delhi eponym is Dilu, a king of the Mauryan dynasty, who built the city in 50 BCE & named it after himself.
- Bratislava – named in honor of Prince Braslav. Bratislava literally means “Baslav’s Glory”
- Kharaba Gilan in Ordubad region of Nakhchivan. It is also believed that the name of city Kharaba Gila which survived until XII century related to Epic of GILGAMESH king of Uruk
( Nineveh).