Noah's Ark (Hebrew: תיבת נח, Tevat Noach; Arabic: سفينة نوح, Safina Nuh) is the vessel, which, according to the Book of Genesis, was built by the Patriarch Noah at God's command to save himself, his family and the world's animals from a worldwide deluge. The story features in a number of Abrahamic religions including Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The biblical account, told in the Book of Genesis 6-9, tells how God sends a great flood to destroy the earth because of man's wickedness and because the earth is corrupt.
God tells Noah, a man righteous in his generation, to build a large vessel to save his family and a representation of the world's animals. God gives detailed instructions for the Ark, and after its completion, sends the animals to Noah. God then sends the Flood which rises until all the mountains are covered and every living thing died.
Then "God remembered Noah," the waters abate, and dry land reappears. Noah, his family, and the animals leave the Ark, and God enter a covenant to never again send a flood to destroy the earth. The narrative has been subject to extensive elaborations in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, ranging from hypothetical solutions to practical problems (e.g. waste disposal and the problem of lighting the interior), through to theological interpretations (e.g. the Ark as the precursor of the Church in offering salvation to mankind).
Although traditionally accepted as historical, by the 19th century the discoveries of archaeologists and biblical scholars had led most people to abandon a literal interpretation of the Ark story. Nevertheless, biblical literalists continue to explore the region of the mountains of Ararat, in eastern Turkey, where the Bible says the Ark came to rest.