Was there really a Flood? This question has been stirring the minds of all mankind for many centuries. Is it really true that the entire population was destroyed by the will of God from the face of the Earth in an instant in such a barbaric way? But what about love and mercy, which are attributed to the Creator by all world religions?
Scientists around the world are still trying to find reliable facts and a scientific explanation for the global flood. The theme of the Flood appears in literary works, and in the paintings of famous artists, the biblical apocalypse reflects the full power of natural elements. On the famous canvas of Aivazovsky, the deadly cataclysm is depicted so vividly and realistically that it seems that the great painter personally witnessed it. Everyone knows the famous fresco by Michelangelo depicting representatives of the human race a step before their death.
"The Flood" by Michelangelo Buonarroti
The theme of the Flood was embodied on the screen by American filmmaker Darren Aronofsky in the film Noah. He presented to the audience his vision of the famous biblical story. The film caused a lot of controversy and conflicting reviews, but left no one indifferent. The director was accused of the divergence of the script from the generally accepted outline of the development of events in the biblical presentation, of the protractedness and severity of perception. However, the author initially did not claim originality. The fact remains: the film was watched by nearly 4 million viewers, and the box office was over 1 billion rubles.
What the Bible says
Every person knows about the history of the Flood at least by hearsay. Let's take a quick excursion into history.
God could no longer put up with the unbelief, debauchery and lawlessness that people committed on earth, and decided to punish sinners. The Flood was intended to end the existence of people by death in the depths of the sea. Only Noah and his loved ones at that time deserved the Creator's mercy, leading a godly life.
By God's direction, Noah had to build an ark that could withstand a long voyage. The vessel had to be of a certain size, and it had to be equipped with the necessary equipment. The term for the construction of the ark was also agreed - 120 years. It is worth noting that life expectancy at that time was calculated in centuries, and at the time of completion of the work, Noah's age was 600 years.
Further, Noah was ordered to enter the ark with the whole family. In addition, in the holds of the ship were placed a pair of unclean animals from each species (those that were not eaten due to religious or other prejudices, and also were not used for sacrifices), and seven pairs of clean animals that exist on earth. The doors of the ark were closed, and the hour of reckoning for sins came for the whole person.
The heavens seemed to open up, and the water rushed to the earth in an endless powerful stream, leaving no chance of survival. The elements raged for 40 days. Even mountain ranges disappeared under the water column. Only the passengers of the ark remained alive on the surface of the endless ocean. After 150 days, the water began to subside, and the ship moored at Mount Ararat. 40 days later, Noah released a crow in search of land, but numerous attempts were unsuccessful. Only the pigeon managed to find land, after which people and animals found ground under their feet.
Noah performed the rite of sacrifice, and God made a promise that the flood would not happen again, and the human race would continue to exist. So a new round in the history of mankind began. According to God's plan, it was from the righteous in the person of Noah and his descendants that the foundation of a new healthy society was laid.
For a common man in the street, this story is full of contradictions and raises a lot of questions: from the purely practical "how it was possible to build such a colossus with the help of one family" to the moral and ethical "was this mass murder really so deserved."
There are many questions ... Let's try to find the answers.
Mention of the Flood in world mythology
In an attempt to find the truth, we turn to myths from other sources. After all, if we take it as an axiom that the death of people was massive, then not only Christians suffered, but also other nationalities.
Most of us perceive myths as fairy tales, but then who is the author? And the event itself is quite realistic: in modern world more and more deadly tornadoes, floods and earthquakes are observed in all corners of the world. Human victims from natural disasters number in the hundreds, and sometimes they occur where they should not be at all.
Sumerian mythology
Archaeologists who worked on the excavations of ancient Nippur discovered a manuscript, which says that in the presence of all the gods, on the initiative of the lord of Enlil (one of the three dominant gods), it was decided to arrange a great flood. The role of Noah was played by a character named Ziusudra. The element raged for a whole week, and after Ziusudra left the ark, brought sacrifice to the gods and gained immortality.
“Based on the same list (approx. Nippur royal list), we can conclude that the flood happened 12 thousand years BC. e. "
(Wikipedia)
There are other versions of the great flood, but they all have one significant difference with the biblical interpretation. Sumerian sources consider the whim of the gods to be the cause of the disaster. A kind of whim to emphasize your power and might. In the Bible, the emphasis is on the causal relationship of life in sin and the unwillingness to change it.
“The Bible story of the Flood contains a hidden power that can influence the consciousness of all mankind. There is no doubt that this very goal was set in the recording of the Flood account: to teach people moral behavior. None of the other descriptions of the Flood that we find in sources unrelated to the Bible, in this respect, is completely different from the story given in it. "
- A. Jeremias (Wikipedia)
Despite the various prerequisites for a global flood, there is a mention of it in the ancient manuscripts of the Sumerians.
Greek mythology
According to ancient Greek historians, there were three floods. One of them, the Deucalion flood, partially overlaps with the biblical story. All the same saving ark for the righteous Deucalion (part-time son of Prometheus) and a pier at Mount Parnassus.
However, according to the plot, some of the people managed to escape from the flood at the top of Parnassus and continue their existence.
Hindu mythology
Here we are faced with, perhaps, the most fabulous interpretation of the flood. According to legend, the founder of Vaivasvata caught a fish, into which the god Vishnu incarnated. The fish promised Vaivasvat salvation from the coming flood in return for the promise to help her grow. Further, everything is according to the biblical scenario: at the direction of a fish that has grown to a huge size, the righteous man builds a ship, stocks up on seeds of plants and sets off on a journey led by a fish-savior. Stop at the mountain and sacrifice to the gods - the finale of the story.
In ancient manuscripts and other peoples there are references to a great flood that revolutionized human consciousness. Isn't it true that such coincidences cannot be accidental?
The global flood from the point of view of scientists
Such is human nature that we certainly need strong evidence of the existence of something in fact. And in the case of a global flood that hit the earth thousands of years ago, there can be no question of any direct witnesses.
It remains to turn to the opinion of skeptics and take into account the numerous studies of the nature of the occurrence of such a large-scale flood. Needless to say, there are very different opinions and hypotheses on this issue: from the most ridiculous fantasies to scientifically based theories.
How many Icarus had to crash in order for a person to learn that he would never ascend to heaven? However, it happened! So it is with the flood. The question of where such an amount of water could come from on earth today has a scientific explanation, because it is possible.
There are many hypotheses. This is the fall of a giant meteorite, and a large-scale volcanic eruption, which entailed a tsunami of unprecedented strength. Theories were put forward about a super-powerful explosion of methane in the depths of one of the oceans. Be that as it may, the Flood is an undeniable historical fact.... There is too much evidence from archaeological research. Scientists can only agree on the physical nature of this cataclysm.
Heavy rains that go on for months on end have been in history more than once. However, nothing terrible happened, humanity did not perish, and the world's oceans did not overflow its shores. Hence, the truth must be sought in something else. Modern scientific groups, which include climatologists, meteorologists and geophysicists, are jointly looking for an answer to this question. And very successful!
Let's not bore readers with sophisticated scientific formulations for a person ignorant. In simple terms, one of the popular theories of the occurrence of the Flood looks like this: due to critical heating of the earth's interior under the influence of an external factor, the earth's crust split. This crack was not local, the split in a matter of hours, not without the help of internal pressure, crossed the entire globe. The contents of underground bowels instantly burst free, most of which were underground waters.
Scientists even managed to calculate the power of the emission, which is more than 10,000 (!) Times higher than the most terrible large-scale volcanic eruption that has happened to humanity. Twenty kilometers - it was to this height that the column of water and stones rose... The subsequent irreversible processes provoked heavy downpours. Scientists focus on groundwater, because there are many facts confirming the existence of underground water reservoirs, several times exceeding the volume of the world ocean.
At the same time, researchers of natural anomalies admit that it is not always possible to find a scientific explanation for the mechanism of occurrence of the elements. The Earth is a living organism with tremendous energy, and in what direction this force can be directed - only God knows.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I would like to offer for the reader's judgment the point of view of some clergy on the Flood.
Noah is building an ark. Not secretly, not under cover of night, but in broad daylight, on a hill and as much as 120 years! People had enough time to repent and change their lives - God gave them this chance. But even when the endless line of animals and birds headed towards the ark, they perceived everything as a fascinating performance, not realizing that even animals at that time were more pious than people. Sentient beings have not made a single attempt to save their lives and souls.
Not much has changed since then ... We still need only spectacles - actions when the soul does not need to work, and thoughts are shrouded in cotton candy. If each of us is asked a question about the degree of our own morality, can we sincerely answer at least to ourselves that we are capable of becoming the saviors of the new humanity in the role of Noah?
During the school years, wonderful in the 70s - 80s of the last century, teachers brought up the ability to develop their point of view with a simple question: "And if everyone jumps into the well, will you jump too?" The most popular answer was: “Of course! Why should I stay alone? " The whole class laughed merrily. We were ready to fall into the abyss, just to be there together. Then someone added the phrase: "But you will never have to do your homework again!", And a massive jump into the abyss became fully justified.
Sin is a temptation that is contagious. As soon as you succumb to it, it is almost impossible to stop. It's like an infection, like a weapon of mass destruction. It has become fashionable to be immoral. Nature knows no other antidote to the feeling of impunity, how to show humanity its power - isn't this the reason for the frequent natural disasters of destructive power? Perhaps this is a prelude to a new Flood?
Of course, we will not be combing all of humanity with the same brush. There are many kind, decent and honest people among us. But after all, nature (or God?) So far only locally lets us understand what it is capable of ...
Keyword "bye".
The main source of knowledge about the Flood for the majority is the Bible. At the same time, references to it by believers look more or less normal. References to the Bible from alternatively gifted individuals already look ridiculous - after all, the same individuals claim that the Bible is a fiction, but confidently adjust their "facts" to it.
I propose to expand my horizons, and show a few more existing myths about the Great Flood among different peoples of the world. In this article, we will only talk about myths, without data from archeology and other sciences.
Global flood. Biblical version.
“... After seven days the waters of the flood came to the earth. In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day, all the springs of the great abyss were opened, and the windows of heaven were opened. And there was rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights ... And there was a flood for forty days on the earth, and the water multiplied, and lifted the ark and it was lifted up above the earth. And the water grew stronger and greatly increased on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the waters. And the water increased exceedingly on the earth, so that all the high mountains that are under the whole sky were covered. The water rose fifteen cubits above them, and the mountains were covered. And every flesh moving on the earth lost its life: birds, and cattle, and beasts, and all the reptiles crawling on the earth, and all people. Everything that had the breath of the spirit of life in its nostrils, everything on dry land, died. And every creature that was on the surface of the earth was destroyed; from man to cattle, and creeping things and birds of the air, they were destroyed on earth: only Noah remained and what was with him in the ark. And the water increased on the earth for one hundred and fifty days. And God remembered Noah, and all the beasts, and all the cattle that were with him in the ark; and God brought the wind to the earth, and the waters stopped. And the springs of the abyss and the windows of heaven were closed, and the rain from heaven ceased. And the water returned from the earth gradually, and the water began to decrease after one hundred and fifty days. And the ark stopped in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat. And the water gradually subsided until the tenth month; on the first day of the tenth month, the tops of the mountains appeared. "
This is how the holy book of Christians and Jews tells about the Flood. And if you translate her testimonies into language modern sciences about the Earth, we get the following picture.
First: the cause of the disaster. According to the Bible, the reason was the wrath of God, which fell upon the completely corrupted humanity. The history of religion, mythology, folklore give us many examples of how natural disasters such as droughts, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, floods, were interpreted as "God's punishment". Therefore, we are talking about a natural phenomenon, interpreted by the creators of the Bible in full accordance with their worldview.
Second: mechanism of the flood. It is probably understandable that various natural phenomena were the cause of the floods of our century. These are earthquakes that generate giant tsunami waves, and spring floods associated with melting snow, and hurricanes, and storms that bring sea waters to river mouths and low-lying shores, and torrential rains, and dam breaks. According to the Bible, "all the springs of the great abyss were opened," and "the windows of heaven were opened." It is not difficult to interpret the "open windows of heaven": we are obviously talking about heavy rains. How to understand the opened "sources of the great abyss" is a controversial question. This can be tsunami waves, and hurricane-driven waters, or a storm surge.
Third: the rate of the flood. The Bible says that "there was a flood for forty days." However, after six phrases, it is stated that the water "strengthened on the earth for one hundred and fifty days." Perhaps here we are dealing with some kind of mistake or a slip of the tongue, because even further, after two phrases, it is said that "water returned from the ground gradually, and the water began to decrease after one hundred and fifty days." So, most likely, "forty days" is the time of the increase in the flood, the arrival of the waters, and "one hundred and fifty days" is the time of its duration, the time of the high standing of the water.
Fourth: the end of the flood. The Bible considers that the reason that the flood stopped is the fact that God "remembered Noah, and all the beasts, and all the cattle that were with him in the ark." The technology is described more realistically: “the windows of heaven were closed”, just like the “springs of the abyss”, the waters stopped, because “God brought the wind to the earth” and “the rain stopped”. The flood water “gradually subsided until the tenth month” (according to another option; the water subsided in only three weeks).
Fifth: flood water level. Here the Bible literally says the following: water “covered all the high mountains that are under the whole sky,” and the water above them rose “fifteen cubits,” that is, seven and a half meters.
Sixth: the scale of the flood. The entire earth was flooded, including "all the high mountains." The dry land remained only "on the mountains of Ararat", where pious Noah stayed with his ark.
Seventh: damage caused. “Every creature that was on the surface of the earth was destroyed; from man to cattle, and creeping things and birds of the air. " All perished, "only Noah remained and what was with him in the ark."
And in the ark, besides Noah, were "his sons and his wife and his sons' wives ... and (of clean birds and unclean birds) of clean and unclean beasts (and of beasts) and of all that creep on the earth" one pair at a time (according to another version, one pair of unclean living beings was taken, and seven pairs of clean ones).
Eighth: dating of the flood. The Bible says that the flood began "in the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month." How to correlate this date with the chronology that we use? The date of the "creation of the world" is known from the Bible, it contains the genealogy of various characters and the dates of their lives. Both in the Middle Ages and in modern times, and to this day, believing Christians and Jews, as well as non-believing scientists, argue about the "starting point", thanks to which it would be possible to compare the biblical time scale with the modern one. That is why we have several different dates for the time of the global flood, which the Bible tells about.
Some authors call 2501 BC. e. Others, relying on the chronological system developed by the English archbishop Usher, date the flood to 2349 BC. e. 3553 BC e. calls an Orthodox theologian hiding under the pseudonym FR. According to calculations based on the chronological data of the Greek translation of the Bible - the Septuagint ("Seventy Interpreters"), the worldwide flood took place in 3213 BC. e. Thus, the scatter of dating, despite the fact that it is quite large (from 3553 to 2349 BC), limits the time of the catastrophe to IV-III millennia BC. e.
Global flood. Epic of Gilgamesh.For the sake of justice, it is worth noting that some folk historians are familiar with this epic.
Human civilization rediscovered the Epic of Gilgamesh in 1872, when George Smith, analyzing the material brought from the excavations of Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, discovered a tablet on which was written the following:
The ship stopped at Mount Nitsir,
Mount Nitsir restrained the ship, does not allow it to swing.
One day, two days Mount Nitsir holds the ship,
does not allow to swing.
Five and six Mount Nitsir holds the ship,
does not allow to swing.
On the seventh day
I carried the dove and let it go;
Having gone, the dove returned back:
I couldn't find a place, I flew back.
The clay tablet was clearly older than the Bible, so Smith made every effort to track down the rest of the tablets related to this text. He found something among the brought material ...
And I will tell you the secret of the gods.
Shuruppak is the city that you know
What lies on the banks of the Euphrates;
This city is ancient, the gods are close to it.
The heart of the great gods conceived to arrange a flood ...
And for something, I had to organize another expedition to the excavation site. As a result, there were 384 more clay tablets with other parts of the text.
Led by the formidable Enlil, the gods hold a council: they decide to send a flood to the human race. The god Ea, who is well-disposed to people, sends Utnapishtim a prophetic dream, in which he commands:
I will reveal, Gilgamesh, the secret word,
Demolish the dwelling, build a ship
Leave abundance, take care of life
Despise wealth, save your soul!
Load all living things on your ship.
The ship that you build.
Let it be four-cornered by outline,
Let the width be equal to the length.
Like the Ocean, cover it with a roof!
Utnapishtim convenes "the whole region", and on his order a ship is built, rivaling the size of Noah's ark: "a third of a tithe area, a side of one hundred and twenty cubits in height, one hundred and twenty cubits of the edge of its top." When the ship was ready, then, as Utnapishtim says to Gilgamesh:
Loaded it with everything I had.
I loaded it with everything that I had silver,
Loaded him with everything that I had gold,
Loaded him with everything that I had a living creature,
I took the whole family and my family on the ship,
Steppe cattle and wild beasts, I raised all the masters.
At the time appointed by the gods, a downpour poured in the morning, at night - "bread rain", and it was scary to look "at the face of the weather":
What was light turned into darkness,
The whole earth split like a cup.
The first day the South wind is raging,
Quickly swooped down, flooding the mountains.
As if by war overtaking people.
When the flood stopped (it lasted, in contrast to the biblical, “six days, seven nights” and stopped “at the onset of the seventh day”), Utnapishtim saw that “all mankind became clay”. Like righteous Noah, the elder Utnapishtim sends out bird-messengers: first a dove, then a swallow and, finally, a raven, which does not return, "seeing the decline of the water." Utnapishtim leaves Mount Nitsir and returns to himself, offering sacrifices to the gods. And the gods make him immortal.
Global flood. Sumerian version - is it Sumerian?
After the opening of the Epic of Gilgamesh, it became clear that the story of the flood, as described in the Bible, is only a retelling of an older legend created in Mesopotamia. George Smith extracted the eleventh song of the epic from 20 thousand tablets that made up the library of the ruler of Assyria, Ashurbanipal. The Assyrians borrowed the story of Gilgamesh from the more ancient inhabitants of the Tigris and Euphrates valleys, the Babylonians. In the XX century, monuments of an even more ancient people - the Sumerians - were discovered in the land of Mesopotamia. And the more scholars studied Sumerian culture, mythology, and literature, the clearer it became to them that the Bible owes the Sumerians a large number of its "inspired truths."
Here I will not show the parallels between Sumerian mythology and biblical stories. Of all this, only one text is interesting. During excavations of the Sumerian city of Nippur, a tablet was found, or rather, a fragment of a tablet, on which six columns were preserved. “The content of this passage is mainly about the flood. Until now, it remains unique, despite the fact that scientists have done everything in their power to find at least one more similar tablet, writes S. Kramer. "Not even a fragment with an inscription dedicated to the flood was found in a single museum, or during new excavations, or in private collections." A fragment of the "Sumerian Flood" is kept in Philadelphia at the University of Pennsylvania Museum. It was published in 1914 by the renowned Assyriologist and Sumerologist Arne Pöbel.
In the part of the text that has survived by about one third, it is about the creation of man, animals and plants, then about the sending of royal power from above and the founding of five cities, about the anger of the gods and their decision to send a flood to earth in order to destroy the human race. To the pious and God-fearing king Ziusudra, a divine voice announces the decision of the gods: a flood will fall on the earth in order to completely "destroy the seed of the human race."
The flood that hit "the country" lasted seven days and seven nights, and on the eighth day the sun god Utu appeared:
All storms raged with unprecedented force at the same time.
And at the same moment, a flood flooded the main sanctuaries.
For seven days and seven nights the flood flooded the earth,
And the winds carried the huge ship through the stormy waters.
Then came Utu, the one who gives light to heaven and earth.
Then Ziusudra opened a window on his huge ship,
And Utu, the hero, penetrated with his rays into a huge ship.
Ziusudra, the king. I prostrated myself before Utu,
The king killed a bull for him, slaughtered a sheep.
At the end of the poem, Ziusudra receives "life like a god" and "eternal breath", which are given to him by the omnipotent deities An and Enlil.
Then Ziusudra, the king,
Savior of the name of all plants and the seed of the human race,
To the country of transition, to the country of Dilmun,
where the sun rises, they placed.
It is obvious that the God-fearing king Ziusudra, the immortal elder Utnapishtim and the pious patriarch Noah are one and the same person, the same character, only differently named by the Sumerians, Babylonians and the ancient authors of the Bible. And it is equally obvious that the biblical history of the flood dates back to Sumerian mythology, created several thousand years before the holy book of Jews and Christians was written. The Bible-makers lived in a country that did not know either destructive hurricanes, or grandiose floods, or powerful river floods. All these natural disasters affected the land of Mesopotamia, the country of the Sumerians.
Later, a tablet was discovered with a text in which the flood is mentioned in passing.
After the storm brought the rains
After all the buildings were destroyed,
After a fierce storm brought the rains,
After people have risen, like enemies, against each other;
After the seed has been planted - yes, it has been planted,
After the seed has been begotten, yes, it has been begotten.
After the storm, he said, "I will bring the rains"
Then he said: "I will rain on them",
After the Flood, he said, "I will wipe everything off the face of the earth."
Heaven commands. The earth will give birth
gives birth to the numun plant,
Earth gives birth, heaven commands
give birth to the numun plant.
In addition to the above, the "list of kings" made by the Sumerian priests was also discovered, which says the following:
Only 8 kings, 5 cities ... Then there was a flood. After him, the royal power was again sent down from above.
There were other clay tablets with various texts mentioning the flood and / or its consequences, confirming the change of power after the flood, etc.
Archaeologists sometimes call the land of Mesopotamia "a big puff cake". For the present Arab civilization, which is more than a thousand years old, was preceded by others, whose roots go back to the deepest antiquity. And, as if in a multi-layered cake, archaeologists discover under the next layer, which was considered the oldest, a new cultural layer, traces of an even more ancient civilization. The Assyrians, who conquered the entire valley of the Tigris and Euphrates, and then extended their rule to other lands of the Middle East up to Egypt, were "barbarians" in comparison with the Babylonians, whose history was thousands of years older than the history of the Assyrians who appeared on the historical arena in VIII century BC e. In an era that is four to five millennia distant from us, the time of the appearance in Mesopotamia of Akkadians, a people who spoke the Semitic language, is passing away. However, the Semites-Akkadians were preceded by an even more ancient people - the Sumerians.
Leonard Woolley, excavating Ur, discovered that the classical Sumerian culture was preceded by another, more ancient one. Along the hill where traces of it were first found, this culture began to be called "El-Obeid", or "El-Ubeid". At first, it seemed to archaeologists a typical culture of the late Stone Age: people lived in primitive huts with clay coating, metals were used to make luxury goods. However, further excavations in Ur, and then in the city of Eridu, where, according to the list of the rulers of Sumer, the royal power first "descended from heaven", presented the culture of El-Ubeid in a new light. It was then that a rapid leap was made from a primitive society to an early class one, from "savagery" to civilization. It was then that cattle were domesticated, and the wheel and plow were invented. It was then that the first palaces and temples began to be erected. It was then that the most ancient cities of Mesopotamia arose - Eridu, Ur, Uruk. It was then that tools made of stone began to be replaced by tools made of metal ... In a word, the culture of El-Ubeid (or El-Obeid) is at the origins of the culture of the Sumerians, who were the teachers of the Babylonians.
“It is still unclear whether the people of the El Obeid period can be called Sumerians. But one thing is clear: the culture they created was not sterile, it survived the flood and played a significant role in the development of the Sumerian civilization, which later reached a magnificent flourishing. Among other values, they passed on the legend of the Flood to the Sumerians. This is beyond doubt, since it was they who survived this disaster and no one else could have created such a legend, ”wrote Leonard Woolley, summing up the results of his excavations in Ur. At present, we can say with great confidence that the people who survived the flood, the creators of the El-Ubeida culture, were not Sumerians.
The Sumerians were aliens in the Tigris and Euphrates valleys, albeit very ancient. And before the Sumerians, a people lived in Mesopotamia, who created the civilization of El-Ubeida. In relation to him, the Sumerians were the same nomadic barbarians who came from outside, and then assimilated the achievements of the culture of a sedentary people, as the Babylonians were in relation to the Sumerians.
Samuel N. Kramer, the best connoisseur of the Sumerian language and literature, having analyzed the names of the most ancient Sumerian cities, such as Eridu, Ur, Larsa, Uruk, Lagash, Nippur, Kish, etc., came to the conclusion that they are not Sumerian. And this suggests that the language of the creators of the cities, which were still settlements in the era of El-Ubeid, is not Sumerian, but different. In the same way, the names of the two great rivers of Mesopotamia, the Tigris and the Euphrates, cannot be explained on the basis of the laws of the Sumerian language (in cuneiform texts they are read as “Idiglat” and “Buranun”). The names of the rivers were also given by the first settlers on their banks - the Ubaids, if you call the predecessors of the Sumerians, as S. Kramer and other researchers suggest, by the name of El-Ubeida, where the pre-Sumerian culture was first discovered. Ubaidic, and not Sumerian, are the words denoting various professions in ancient Sumeria; peasant, carpenter, merchant, etc. This again suggests that the professions of a peasant, carpenter, merchant and many others arose before the Sumerians appeared in Mesopotamia and the "creators" of these professions were people who spoke another language.
Which? The list of ubaid words that have come down to us is small. These are the names of rivers, cities, gods, professions. An analysis of them shows that the Ubaid language has a number of features that bring it closer to the Dravidian languages inhabiting South India. The Dravidian peoples have a legend about a flood that swallowed up the southern continent, which was their ancestral home many thousands of years ago. Flood legends appear in the sacred books of India. But only the savior of the human race is not the righteous patriarch Noah, not the Babylonian elder Utnapishtim, not the Sumerian king Ziusudra, but the lawgiver and prophet Manu ...
Now we can leave the valley of Mesopotamia, and make a journey in search of the flood to the east, referring to the myths and legends of peoples living in various parts of the planet.
The ancient history of Noah and the Flood has been preserved in our memory since childhood. The Flood allegedly became a punishment to people from the Almighty, for unbelief and deviation from the laws of God.
But I wonder if the flood was really global and universal, how does a page of history present it to us? Or it was a local flood, which is not uncommon today.
So, let's look deep into the centuries, let's go on an amazing adventure from the times of hoary antiquity. We will go towards the old legends and see if there was actually Divine retribution for human sins?
According to the sacred writings, a catastrophe of a planetary scale came from the sky as a torrential rain for 40 days and nights, although according to Sumerian records, the downpour lasted for a week.
Obviously, the described catastrophe should leave many traces in the form of deposits, both on land and at the bottom of the oceans. But have the researchers found at least some traces of a catastrophe of planetary volume? Geologists have carried out research on all continents, but reliable evidence of the Flood has not been found.
But such a disaster must necessarily leave traces, and quite noticeable, but for some reason they are not. There is no evidence that one day the entire land was hidden under water. What's more, climatologists say the lack of direct evidence isn't the only problem. After all, the very idea of a universal flood contradicts what we know about our planet. According to one of the assumptions of biblical critics, in order to flood the entire planet with water, it will take about three times more water than the water basins of the entire planet store.
Flood, where did the water come from?
From the point of view of logic, it is impossible to explain the appearance of such colossal volumes of water, just as it is impossible to imagine the container where it was contained. Biblical records report 40 days of heavy rain, but even this amount of precipitation is not enough for the entire planet to be under water. So what is this container where such volumes of liquid were stored?
Perhaps the answer lies in the sacred books, which mention a certain great abyss: “all the sources of the great abyss were opened, and the windows of heaven were opened”; Genesis 7:12. I agree, not a very meaningful answer, but it is clear from it that there were two sources of the elements - underground waters and heaven.
I wonder if the firmament could open up and water gush out from the bowels of the earth? Scientists say that this is a crazy idea, no underground sources have the ability to provide such an amount of water. But let's assume for a moment that water really got close to the earth's surface and saturated the earth's soil.
In this case, the water turns the land into a liquid substance, and quicksand does not give a chance to resist on it. Moreover, all this took place in a sandy area, and the sand saturated with water is a disgusting support for the legs.
But even if the circumstances turn around so that all sorts of geysers have started working, then all the inhabitants of the earth and Noah with his entire family fall hostage to other problems.
Suppose geysers brought the Flood, in this case, it changes the gas composition of the atmosphere. The air becomes extremely humid and saturated with water, so much that people and animals could simply choke on inhalation. At the same time, do not forget that strong atmospheric pressure could rupture the lungs of any living creature.
But this is not all the dangers of the hypothetically happened tragedy, since widespread eruptions from the earth's interior occur, this greatly aggravates. Allowing geysers gushing with water, we will have to agree with the fact that huge volumes of poisonous gases and acids are emitted from the depths of the earth into the atmosphere, which are capable of destroying all life and those fleeing on Noah's ark as well. As you can imagine a similar scenario, trillions of tons of poisonous gases that enter the atmosphere are guaranteed to destroy a living creature even before the start of the Flood.
Discarding the version with the appearance of water from under the ground, it remains to look at the sky, in the end, it is this that gives us precipitation. But since the law of the circulation of substances in nature is inviolable, and the clouds simply cannot bear so much water, we have to look for the source of a global catastrophe in space.
A comet is a huge reservoir of frozen water. However, a comet, which is a huge volume of frozen liquid, will have the size of a small planet three or even more than thousands of kilometers across.
So the history of the comet is not beautiful either, since we are not considering the origin of life billions of years ago, but the relatively recent time of the Great Flood - according to various estimates, this happened from 5-8 thousand years ago before the birth of Christ.
If you meet our planet on your way, in the event of a collision with it, all living things will most likely be annihilated. Such a meeting will end with an explosion with so much energy that in a matter of seconds the temperature of the atmosphere can reach 6600 degrees Celsius! By the way, it's a little hotter than on the surface of the Sun. It is unlikely that someone would have managed to escape this madness, including the inhabitants of Noah's ark, even if the Almighty helped him.
In such a situation, the flora and fauna of the planet, including Noah and those rescued on the Ark, would turn into clouds of steam, initially being severely scalded in it, and even before the Flood. Unless, trust ufology, and consider the Ark a ship of a highly developed alien civilization. In this case, yes, a lot of rescue problems disappear.
The Flood, the interweaving of ancient legends.
As can be seen from all of the above, most likely the flood was not universal, for such a large-scale incident there is no source of abundance of water. But do not rush to leave the page, this is not the end of our story. As the biblical scripture tells us, Noah's ark ran aground and got stuck in the area of Mount Ararat.
But if this really happened, then somewhere there must be at least some traces of the rescue ship. However, no, research expeditions climbed to Ararat in search of the ark of salvation more than once, but all to no avail, none of them found the slightest trace of the supertanker.
Interestingly, what if the story of the Flood and the rescued Noah and his entire family is viewed with skepticism? Hundreds of people who study the Bible say that the legend of the Flood and Noah was written down in the 6th century BC by Jewish priests who, being in exile, settled in Babylon (possibly offended and angry).
One should not lose sight of the fact that they once wrote a story about what a terrible punishment anger will fall on those who disobey the law of God. And what? - by introducing such an idea into the minds of the people, you can acquire a good lever for influencing society, and as a bonus, then promote any proposal on behalf of God.
But whatever the fairy tale, in every fiction there is a certain piece of truth. It is likely that the story of the Flood and Noah is still a reflection of a real event that happened in the past, but while the story was passed down through generations and recorded, it grew in scale.
About one hundred and fifty years ago, archaeologists excavating in Iraq found amazing artifacts, which made it possible to take a fresh look at the story of the Flood, Noah and the Ark. British archaeologists were in for a great success, they discovered many different clay tablets.
At first, archaeologists were unable to decipher the inscriptions on the tablets, and sent them to the British Museum, where the records lay on the shelves for some time until they were deciphered. As it turned out later, the clay tablets contained a story about the Flood! It actually was, the significance of which should not be underestimated.
After all, this miraculously echoed the epic of Gilgamesh. Amazingly, it turned out that the biblical story of Noah and the epic of Gilgamesh have a lot in common.
The epic says the following: "The great gods decided to send a flood ... Build a boat and take every creature into it in pairs ...". The biblical Noah receives almost exactly the same advice / recommendation.
In subsequent studies, other evidence was found in Iraq, speaking of a flood in ancient Mesopotamia, exactly in the place where the Sumerian, Assyrian and Babylonian civilizations arose.
All the ancient flood stories, written at different times and under different names, seem to have a common source, dating back about five thousand years BC (Nativity of Christ). It is very likely that the story of the destructive flood in Mesopotamia was taken as the basis of the biblical story of the Flood, at least the similarity of ancient myths indicates this to us.
Two different legends tell the story of how the gods decided to exterminate the human race, and sent the Flood. In both cases, it is described how one family builds the Ark, takes every creature there in pairs, and when the waters finally subside, all those who survived again inhabit the earth.
One of the earliest testimonies of the flood is the epic of Atrahasis, which was written long before the famous epic of Gilgamesh. The epic was discovered not so long ago, and tells about a flood in a certain area. Yes, the flood really happened, but it was not a universal flood, but a local flood in Mesopotamia.In 1931, a group of archaeologists excavated the ancient city of Ur, in Mesopotamia. Archaeologists have come across finds whose age numbered five to six thousand years, which corresponded in time to the biblical story of the rescuer Noah.
A little later, archaeologists stumbled upon a layer of earth that could have remained only after the flood. Soil samples were taken, and as the analyzes showed, it was indeed river silt.
In this area there are seasonal floods of rivers and this is not uncommon, but such an extensive layer of muddy earth is a phenomenon out of the ordinary. Also, archaeological excavations show that five thousand years ago at least three cities in Mesopotamia experienced severe flooding.
Thus, the discovery of archaeologists in 1931 allows us to conclude that there was a severe flood in ancient Mesopotamia, and this may be evidence that the Babylonian and Biblical texts are based on real events of a regional scale.
Of course, when the Sumerian priests dictated the history of events to the scribes, they could adorn it with many invented facts. But in their narrative there are many details that are invaluable landmarks in the reconstruction of past events.
Many facts tell us that we can forget about the fantastic capacity of the Ark of Salvation and the Universal Flood, about the many animals on board the Ark and the subsequent descent from Mount Ararat. You can also forget about the biblical Noah, and try to imagine a person who looked and lived completely differently.
Based on archaeological finds, we can assume that the flood story took place in the ancient Sumerian civilization, which flourished in the lands of present-day Iraq. Sumerian tablets contain references that, like grains of bread, send us to the very beginning of the supposedly universal tragedy in the city of Shuruppak (a place of healing and prosperity).
It was in this city that the Sumerian Noah lived and flourished, who later became, so given the records of the tablets, let's see a completely different picture of the flood.
Noah, a Sumerian rescuer or a merchant?
First of all, looking at Noah himself, we do not see any biblical attire on him, this is a normal Sumerian man who brings his eyes, shaves off his hair, and wears a skirt. In the epic of Gilgamesh, it is mentioned that the Sumerian Noah was a very wealthy man who had silver and gold - which only rich merchants paid off with.
Most likely, the Sumerian Noah was a winegrower, but a wealthy and wealthy merchant, who was not building an ark to save him from the flood, but a merchant ship, on which he planned to transport all kinds of goods - grain, beer, livestock. All large ancient cities, such as Ur, are located on the Euphrates, so it was more convenient, faster and cheaper to transport goods by water, moreover, it was safer than caravan routes by land.
But this begs the question, how big was the merchant Noah's ship? The Sumerians used different boats, small reed barges and large wooden six-meter barges.
All Babylonian texts say that the ship was huge, which is not an indication of size. Probably the merchants needed an incredibly large barge to carry more cargo. However, in those days they still did not know how to build large ships, how then could the Sumerians build a large ship?
Perhaps they fastened together like pontoons several small boats. In the epic of Gilgamesh, it is reported that the rescue ship was sectional, which most likely was recruited as a pontoon, and an ark was already erected on this structure.
Well, since this Sumerian ark was a merchant ship, it can be easily assumed that the Sumerian Noah loaded cattle, grain and beer on it for sale, but not at all as described in the Bible. And yet, according to the epic, the Sumerian Noah was not just a wealthy merchant, he was the king of the city of Shuruppak.
Moreover, the king also obeyed the adopted laws, and if he did not deliver the load on time, he not only faced ruin, but also the loss of the throne.
Yes, in Sumer the law ruled, which is now difficult to believe, in those days anyone who did not repay the debt, and even the king, was amazed in all rights and was sold into slavery. What does the flood have to do with it, you ask? We can assume that the Sumerian Noah could have become a victim of natural disasters.
The thing is that in some places the Euphrates was navigable only during the flood, which means that Noah had to carefully calculate the time of sailing. About 3 millennia BC, in Shuruppak and in some other Sumerian cities (Ur, Uruk and Kish), a severe flood occurred, which was confirmed by Schmidt's expedition, finding silt deposits at a depth of 4-5 meters.
In July, melting glaciers from the mountain peaks filled the Euphrates, then the river became deep enough to receive large ships. Although there was always a risk that torrential rains would begin in Shuruppak, the waters of the Euphrates would very quickly turn into raging streams.
The danger of becoming a victim of the July rains was low, often at that time it was dry law, and there was no serious rainfall. Such catastrophic natural disasters happened in Mesopotamia extremely rarely, maybe once in a thousand years, and if such a disaster happened, it would definitely be mentioned in the annals, right?
The old epic tells us that on the day of the flood, the Sumerian Noah and his family had a feast on the ship, when all of a sudden, the weather deteriorated sharply, and a heavy downpour began, leading to a flood. Such a downpour did not bode well for Noah and his family, as in the highlands it could quickly lead to a flood. Although Mesopotamia is not in the tropics, it is known that hurricanes and tropical showers happened in these latitudes.
Remembering that time six thousand years ago, one recalls the warmer and wetter climate of these places and the rare but powerful tropical showers. In the past, such showers led to catastrophic consequences, it is precisely such events that were described in the epics, since they go beyond the ordinary. And if such a tropical downpour coincided with the melting of glaciers in the mountains, then the waters of the Euphrates could well flood the plain regions of Mesopotamia.
Biblical records assure that the downpour did not stop 40 days and nights, while the Babylonian epic speaks of only seven days of rain. But in fairness, it should be noted that even a one-day heavy downpour could lead to disastrous consequences, filling the banks of the Euphrates.Thus, the barge of the Sumerian Noah could find itself at the mercy of the raging waves (not to be confused with the biblical). The next day, the Sumerian Noah and his family could no longer see the land, water was spreading all around. After the downpour ended, the Sumerian Noah and his family waited for the big water to leave, and they could again land on the shore. Then they did not yet know that their misfortunes were just beginning and the "Book of History" was waiting for them.
In all versions of this story, only one thing remains unchanged, they have not seen the land for a week. The Bible preserves the memory of the Flood, but another explanation can be given for this:
Noah's family believed that their ship was carried by the waters of the Euphrates, since the water was fresh. But in the Babylonian story it is said that the water was salty, which means that the Ark of Sumerian Noah left the waters of the Euphrates, and was carried away to the Persian Gulf.
In the epic of Gilgamesh, it is said that the sea was spread out in front of Noah on all sides. We do not know how long Noah's ship was in the Persian Gulf, the Bible says - more than a year, and those who survived could really think that there was no more land. But in the Babylonian epic it says - a little more than a week.
But in any case, Noah and his family faced a serious problem, they were surrounded by salt water. They did not have fresh water, the only thing left for them to quench their thirst was to drink beer, which was in abundance on the ship. By the way, beer is not a bad alternative, since it is known to represent 98% of water, in which many nutrients are dissolved.
The Bible mentions that Noah's ark stopped on the slope of Mount Ararat, and if there was no universal flood, then the ark could have ended up in a completely different place. Ararat, located much to the north of the ancient Shuruppak, the ark could be carried away about 750 km. and he actually could have ended up in the waters of the Persian Gulf. Noah's biblical story ends there, but in the Babylonian story, Noah's adventures take a longer path.
Sumerian Noah, continuation of the legend.
There are interesting records on the clay tablets, some say that Noah lost his throne, in the other that he was expelled. But this is not important now, just remembering the Sumerian law, it is obvious that Noah could not return to Shuruppak. And even after the water had disappeared, he was still in mortal danger.
It is clear that Noah's creditors survived the flood safely, found it and demanded to return the debt. According to Sumerian laws, Noah was supposed to be sold into slavery, but he could flee the country to avoid punishment.The question of where exactly Noah went after escaping punishment remains a mystery. One record says that he went to the country of Dilmun, where he found rest and peace, as the Sumerians called the modern island of Bahrain.
Bahrain is the very place where the gods sent the Sumerian Noah after the Flood. It seems that this is a wonderful place where the former tsar could live for his own pleasure without particularly bothering himself with work. And if the Sumerian Noah ended his days in Dilmun, then the island of Bahrain keeps the greatest secret of ancient history.
On this island, hundreds of thousands of burial mounds, and only a few have been dug up. Many burials date back to Sumerian times, and it is likely that the burials of great kings, including Noah, are buried in them.
Over time, the story of the Sumerian king could turn into a beautiful legend, since each of the storytellers embellished it with their own additions. Then this story was recorded on clay tablets, and generations of scribes changed it by publishing more and more new versions.
Probably two thousand years later, one of these stories caught the attention of the Jewish priests who wrote the Bible. Most likely, it was this story that attracted them by the kind of disaster and punishment that can fall on people if they do not live according to the laws of God.
Soon a terrible flood began. For 40 days and 40 nights it rained incessantly. Water flooded the entire earth, but Noah's ark survived, floating on the waves. All life on earth perished from the worldwide flood, except for those who were in the ark.
Then the rains stopped, the water began to subside, and the ark came to rest on the high Mount Ararat. Noah opened the window of the ark and released from there first a raven, and then a dove. The birds flew away and flew back, as they had nowhere to sit because of the water. But once the dove released into the wild did not return to the ark, and Noah realized that the flood had stopped and dry land had risen from the sea somewhere.
Noah releases a dove from the ark. Mosaic of a cathedral in Montreal, Italy, 1180s
He went out with his family from the ark, brought out the beasts from there, built an altar and sacrificed some animals on it to God, as a token of gratitude for their salvation. He promised God to Noah that he would no longer send a flood to the earth and, as a sign of his reconciliation with people, raised a rainbow between the clouds. Having blessed Noah and his children, the Almighty told them: “Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth. May all the beasts of the earth, the birds of the air and the fish of the sea, obey you; you can eat their meat on a par with any herbs and herbs. Do not shed only human blood, for man was created in the image and likeness of God. "
The Flood Myth (Ancient Greece Myth)
Immortal gods live forever on Olympus, and time has no power over them. And below, on earth, people are born and die, generations change, one century replaces another. The golden age gave way to the silver one, then the copper age came.
The people of the copper age were cruel and powerful, and they committed many crimes. Then the great Zeus decided to destroy life on earth, in order to later revive new people, better than the old ones. But it was not so easy for him to decide on such a thing. And he wanted to test people again.
He went down to earth and under the guise of a mere mortal came to Arcadia in the city of Likosuru, where the rude and arrogant king Lycaon ruled. As always, on this hot sunny day, many people gathered in the city square, and it seemed that the tall gray-bearded old man did not stand out from the rest of the mortals. But then he raised his hand, his sharp piercing eyes emitted such an extraordinary light that no one even doubted: before them was the great thunderer himself. Someone fell on their knees in front of the majestic old man, someone bowed their heads in respectful bow. There were servants in the square
King Lycaon. They hurried to the palace to inform the king of this great event.
But Lycaon began to mock gullible people:
- Where did you see God and who told you that this old robber is a god? - with a mockery he asked his servants. - How many crooks walk around the city?
Then he figured out how to insult the gray-haired old man even more, and at the same time check - maybe people are telling the truth. The king ordered to kill the hostage who lived in his house, and cooked a meal from the body of the killed. Then he went out to the square and invited Zeus to go to his palace to taste a treat.
The great Zeus was terribly angry, he waved his club, and a bright lightning flew out of it. In the blink of an eye, Lycaon's palace collapsed, and he himself turned into a bloodthirsty wolf. After that, the great Zeus returned to Olympus. He did not then destroy the human race, because along with bad people, good people can also perish. But as time passed, and wicked people became more and more. It already happened that before they had time to be born and grow up, they began to fight and kill each other. Zeus thought for a long time, and finally he decided to send a terrible punishment to people - to destroy them under water.
And immediately all the winds ceased to blow, except for the southern - wet Note. Noth flew over the sinful earth on his wet wings, his frightening face peeps out from behind the black mists, his shaggy beard is heavy with moisture, his powerful streams are streaming over his gray hair, gray clouds are sitting on his forehead. Noth squeezed the overhanging clouds with a powerful hand, a terrible crackle split the sky, and rains locked in the sky gushed down.
The river gods prayed to Zeus. Water overflowed the rivers, there is no longer any strength to contain it. But the great thunderer is inexorable. He ordered to remove all obstacles, remove the banks and let the streams free. He himself struck the ground with a trident and opened the way for all waters. Mighty streams freely flowed along the ground, carrying away everything that was on it. And you can no longer distinguish where the land is and where the sea is. Where horned goats have recently nibbled green grass, well-fed seals have settled down, dolphins swim in the forests, wolves swim in the water between sheep and do not touch them, mighty waves drag a red lion, and branchy deer antlers stick out from the water nearby. Tired birds fly in the sky with a plaintive cry and do not find where to sit to rest.
The Great Flood buried all living things on earth under water, and with it the copper age ended.