THE ARK. 
637 
account which Moses gives, appears to warrant the supposition. 
He describes the ark as being built with a single window, and he 
places it “ above,” or on the top. 
“ A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt 
thou finish it, above ; and the door-way of the ark shalt thou set 
in the side.” Chap. vi. verse 16. 
And from the succeeding observations from this window, I 
presume my opinion of the subsequent descent being rather 
from the middle of the mountain, than either of its peaked sum¬ 
mits. The sacred historian goes on in the eighth chapter, to 
describe, that after “ the waters assuaged, and returned from off 
the earth continually, the ark rested upon the mountains of 
Ararat.” Here, we have mountains specified as the place of its 
haven, not the mountain , as denoting a single summit. Therefore, 
as the holy ship could not rest on both peaks , the account must 
necessarily mean that its rest was on the bases of the two great 
uniting mountain-piles of Ararat; which plain reading would 
bring it into the broad mountain-valley between those immense 
pyramidal summits. After it has thus found a haven, the 
description proceeds to say, that “ the tops of the mountains 
were seen. And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that 
Noah opened the window of the ark.” By the tops of the 
mountains being seen when he opens the window, (which we 
were before led to understand was on the roof of the ark, and 
therefore could command an upward view only,) the summits 
Noah then saw, must have been above the ark ; from its position, 
there not being a possibility of his seeing beneath it. And, if 
such be the right understanding of the text, it certainly esta¬ 
blishes my idea; that the ark gently descended with the sub¬ 
siding flood into the great mountain-vale between the two 
