Ararat is East of Lake Urmiah in Iran

The books of 2 Kings and Jeremiah, and a series of ancient Assyrian expeditions, help us further locate the region of Ararat in Iran. 2 Kings 19:36 states: “So Sennacherib, King of Assyria, departed and went away, returned home, and remained at Nineveh. Now it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the temple of Nishroch his god, that his sons Adarammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. Then Esaradon his son reigned in his place.” (NKJV)

Sennacherib was murdered at a time of political and military unrest. In the last years of Sennacherib's reign, invaders from the north swept down from the caucuses. These invaders were known as the Gimirrai. They formed an alliance with the Medes. Sennacherib never campaigned in the region of the Mannai even though turmoil had broken out on the Assyrian frontiers. This alliance posed the only threat to Sennacherib. At home in Assyria, there was civil unrest. Sennacherib's youngest son Esarhaddon was appointed to be his successor. The two middle sons Adarammelech and Sharezer were most assuredly incensed that the youngest son was appointed to be the new king of Assyria upon the death of their father.

The Bible said the assassins fled into the land of Ararat. The Urartian ruler at the time was Rusa II, who the New Bible Dictionary proposes as the person who gave the assassins asylum. Recent inscriptions from Rusa have been unearthed in Iran in a city called Sarab. This city is next to Mount Sabalon.

Esarhaddon states in his writings that the assassins fled to an unknown country. This does not tell us where the assassins journeyed, but it does tell us where they did not. They did not travel, according to Esarhaddon, to areas he was familiar with as the King of Assyria. Areas he was not familiar with would have been the area of the region east of Lake Urmiah. This region was avoided by his father Sennacharib and never ventured to by Esarhaddon. This is in the region of Urartu and makes it the prime candidate where the mountains of Ararat should be located. All other regions in the Urartu area were well known to Esarhaddon, thus excluding them from consideration.

In 1955, a team from the British School of Archaeology in Iraq, led by Max Mallowan, found some 350 fragments of baked clay tablets with inscriptions. Barbara Parker subsequently pieced together these clay pieces and made an identification of a treaty made in 672 B.C. between the Assyrian king, Esarhaddon and nine princes from bordering frontier states in Iran. These clay documents are more than a treaty; they are in actuality a last will and testament of Esarhaddon. As stated above, Esarhaddon's two older brothers assassinated Esarhaddon's father. Esarhaddon, now, in 672 B.C., had a son of his own named Ashur Banipal. Esarhaddon forced this treaty on the Iranian princes specifically to avoid the mortal danger that beset his father. The treaty is unique in that it covers the single subject of the royal succession of Esarhaddon's son. The wording in this treaty specifically address the attempt to avoid an assassination attempt on his son and were specifically addressed to Iranian princes. The wording is as follows: “You will protect Ashur Banipal, the crown prince. You will not bring your hand against him with evil intent. You will not revolt. You will not oust him from the kingship of Assyria, by helping one of his brothers, older or younger, to seize the throne of Assyria in his stead.” In 672 B.C., Esarhaddon was at the peak of his political power. The countries present, witnessing the treaty, were Egypt, Elam, The Arabs of the Western Desert, The City States of Syria and Palestine, Tyre, Sidon, and even distant Cilicia, Cypress, and North Arabia.

The logic derived from the above indicates that Esarhaddon was paranoid that his son would become a victim of the same group of people that joined in the civil revolt against his father. Since Esarhaddon's brothers fled to the region of Ararat, subsequent to killing their father, it is reasonable to assume that they fled into the region that had joined them in the civil revolt. This region, Ararat, that gave the assassins asylum, would probably be the same region (Iran) that was forced into the aforementioned treaty. This can be assumed because it was the only region forced to agree to a treaty of non-revolt against his son.