| Show turkey u Ac acquires quiTes L noted mountain persia gives up all claim to little ararat washington part of one ona of the worlds most famous mountains has changed hands as a result of persian Per sias ratification of a new boundary treaty with turkey by the agreement per ier aa sla has ceded to till all claim to little ararat now both peaks great and little ararat and their common base lie wholly within turkish territory A bulletin from the national geographic society tells of the double mountain whose name Is familiar because of its association with noah and his ark arafat amaat holy to armenians Armen ians ararat lies lu in a region far from moll mountains a bains of 0 comparable magnitude and height says the bulletin and so from the earliest times has been looked upon not only as a significant landmark hut but also as a holy spot on oil the north the snow covered peaks ot of the caucasus are arc miles away while the snowy summits of the I 1 kl ll 11 burz range in persia hersla lie ile miles to the southeast southward there tire are no mountains in asia minor or arabia that approach ararat in importance rising to a height of nearly feet greater ararat Is toped by several thousand feet of snow which glistens through the long summer while the plains and plateaus below and even the slopes of the mountain are hot and dry this unique character the seeming impossibility of scaling the peak and the traditions of nealis noahs landing on its heights combined to build bp up in the minds of the armenians Armen ians who lio lived nearby an idea of holiness they maintained that supernatural forces guarded the top as a sacred preserve pi oserve and that tha t no man would be able to reach it w when en parrot climbed to the top in making the first recorded ascent the armeni ans refused refuse to believe that the feat had been accomplished A number of mountaineers have scaled the peak since parrots pai rots day including a russian surveyor who nho spent five fire days on tie the summit and james bryce later british li ambassador to the united states where empires met hiet approximately seven seen miles eolith enst east of the peak of greater ararat lies little ararat fe feet c t high the snow line on the ararat massif Is very high feet so that little littie ararat Is without a white cap during the summer the ridge which connects the two peaks has an altitude about feet little ararat was ft as of unusual political significance before the world war for three empires met tile the russian the turkish and the persian the boundary lines roughly trisected little ararat as though a pie were cut into three equal pieces the turk ish persian line ran southward the russian persian line northeastward and the russian turkish line north westward v es the latter line struck across the southern shoulder of greater ararat leaving the entire upper portion of the mountain in russian territory during the war the turk ish boundary bound fluctuated north and south of ararat in 1021 1921 by the treaty of kars rus russia sla and turkey agreed that their new common boundary should run niti about 25 rulles miles north of ararat along the river araxes since then greater ararat has been entirely in turkish territory while the line has continued to run through lutle little ararat the recent agre cinert between persia and turkey this latter line aas east t ward down the slopes of little ararat so that the entire entile ararat massif falls under tinder turkish sovereignty to compensate persia for this transfer T turkey ur has bas relinquished a narrow strip of territory farther south the adjustments have been made to aid both countries in the control of tribesmen living along the border |
