The ark rests on Ararat GEN 8:4

After a hundred and fifty days the floodwaters begin to recede, and the ark comes to rest on the mountains of Ararat. Noah does not immediately open the door; he waits and tests the outside world with a raven and then a dove before stepping out onto dry ground. The first action he takes once outside is building an altar.

The text actually says "the mountains of Ararat," a range or region in ancient Armenia, not necessarily the single volcanic peak now called Mount Ararat in modern Turkey. The common identification with that specific summit is a later tradition, something the passage itself does not spell out. Readers disagree on whether the text points to one mountain or simply a general highland area.

Even though the ark has settled on solid ground, Noah cannot see whether the waters have receded enough to live outside, so he sends birds to test the state of the earth. The raven simply keeps flying back and forth, while the dove's inability to find a resting place shows the ground is still too wet; her return with an olive leaf and later failure to return mark the land drying in stages. This patient testing shows Noah waiting for clear evidence rather than acting on guesswork alone.

The passage notes that the very first thing Noah does on dry ground, before settling in or planting anything, is build an altar. This has traditionally been read as an act of worship and thanksgiving for having survived the flood. Christians differ on how much theological weight to give this detail: some see it as establishing sacrifice or worship as foundational, others read it more simply as an expression of gratitude.