The next logical step would be to search for the remains of villages and sunken boats from the time of the deluge. 2,3 Sponsored link ![]()
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One in Sumerian "the language of the first known writing, a
language with no known roots and no known descendants" and |
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The other In Akkadia, "one of the ancient tongues of the Semitic language group to which the Arabic dialects, Hebrew, [and Aramaic] belong." |
Linguists are able to trace elements of languages back before they were first written down. William Ryan and Walter Pitman claim that "It is possible through linguistics to tie these people together, with speakers of other languages at about the time of the flood and to the region of the Black Sea." 4
The Babylonian flood myth in the Epic of Gilgamesh is generally regarded as having been derived from these earlier flood stories. The Epic dates back to the third millennium BCE. The Epic, in turn, appears to be a main source of the flood stories in Genesis.
According to the Documentary Hypothesis, there were originally two biblical stories written in Hebrew by two unknown authors, called "J" and "P." These were interleaved into the single Genesis account of the flood by a redactor (editor) called "R." There are about 20 points of similarity between the Bible story and the flood story in the Epic of Gilgamesh. 3 Many believe that the Hebrew version is a monotheistic re-writing of the original Babylonian polytheistic text.
There were other flood stories in ancient times. For example, a 1999 article in AAnews states:
"The Greeks had the story of Deucalion, son of Titan Prometheus, who was king of Phthia during the time Zeus destroyed the human race in his own anger-inspired deluge. [Zeus']... flood did the job in only nine days. Deucalion and his wife, Pyrrha were the lone survivors, thanks to a warning by Prometheus. Deucalion constructed a boat, which, after the inundation, came to rest on the top of Mt. Parnassus." 5

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Findings during the year 2000 and later:
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2000-FEB-17: Search for Noah's Ark: According to ReligionToday:
"The explorer who discovered the wreck of the Titanic wants to find Noah's Ark. Robert Ballard will look in the Black Sea near the Bosphorous where a cataclysmic flood is believed to have occurred 7,500 years ago. Ballard, 57, will use a sonar exploration vessel, undersea search equipment, and a fleet of submarine robots, the Los Angeles Times said. He has discovered the wrecks of the Lusitania, the Nazi battleship Bismarck, U.S. and Japanese warships in the Pacific, and ancient Roman and Phoenician ships. Work begins in a few months." 6
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2000-JUL: Article in National Geographic: The National Geographic magazine has published an article titled "Black Sea Flood" in its 2000-JUL issue. It describes a massive flooding of
the Black Sea by Mediterranean seawater -- perhaps started by an earthquake.
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2012-AUG: David R. Montgomery wrote a book titled: "The Rocks Don't Lie: A Geologist Investigates Noah's Flood." Amazon.com customers gave it a 4.5 star rating out of 5. "Geo in Indiana," a geologist, posted a review of the book, saying:
"... it spells out the origin and timing of competing beliefs about a global deluge, pointing out why many Christians see no contradictions, and why others find the arguments of geologists to be an attack on their faith. The author clearly makes the argument that Christianity has informed and guided science, and that scientific evidence has informed and guided Christianity. ..."
"I heartily recommend this book to anyone who wants a deeper understanding of both the argument some make for Noah's Flood, and the argument that science and religion cannot peacefully -- and beneficially -- coexist." 7,8 - 2012: Christine Amanpour was featured on an ABC News special "Back to the Beginning." The advertising of the feature said, in part: "Noah's Biblical Flood: New Evidence Suggests It Happened." The special was repeated during 2014-FEB:
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This ABC special is somewhat confusing:
- Parts of the above preview seem to imply that Noah's flood as described in the Bible really happened. But that would require a world-wide flood, deep enough to cover the highest mountain, and associated with a massive genocide that only left 8 survivors alive on earth. There is no evidence, other than the biblical text, that any of that has actually happened.
- The TV program instead discussed the evidence for an isolated freshwater lake being converted to a salt water sea linked to the Mediterranean Sea -- a local occurrence that disrupted a lot of lives and probably resulted in many deaths, but hardly a genocide that almost wiped out the human race.
Related essays on this web site:
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Writer(s) of the book of Genesis: Noah and the ark The flood |
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Who wrote the five books of Moses? -- The documentary and literalist hypotheses |
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Comparison of the Babylonian and Hebrew flood stories |
References used:
The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.
- John Wilford, "Black Sea Clues to Biblical-era Flood," New York Times Service, at: http://www.iht.com/articles/34271.html
- "Ballard & the Black Sea: The search for Noah's flood," at: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/blacksea/
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Frank Lorey, Impact #285: The Flood of Noah and the Flood of
Gilgamesh", Institute for Creation Research, El Cajon,
CA (1997) Online at: http://www.icr.org/pubs/imp/imp-285.htm
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William Ryan and Walter Pitman, "Noah's Flood: The new scientific discoveries about the event that changed history," Page 200, Simon & Schuster, (!998) Read reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store.
- AANEWS for 1999-NOV-23.
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ReligionToday for 2000-FEB-17. They provide free newsletters to which you can
subscribe at: http://www.ReligionToday.com.
These summaries are part of GOSHEN.net
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David R. Montgomery, "The Rocks Don't Lie: A Geologist Investigates Noah's Flood," Page 200, W.W. Norton, (2013). Read reviews or order this book
- Brook Wilensky-Lanford, "High Ark: A Geologist on the True Meaning of Noah’s Flood." Religion Dispatches, 2012-SEP-2012, at: http://www.religiondispatches.org/
- "Noah's Biblical Flood: New Evidence Suggests It Happened." ABC News, 2012-DEC-21, at: http://abcnews.go.com/
- William B.F. Ryan et al., "An abrupt drowing of the Black Sea shelf," Marine Geology Vol. 138 (1997), Pages 119 to 126, at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/
Copyright © 1999 to 2016 by Ontario Consultants on
Religious Tolerance
Originally written: 1999-NOV-20
Latest update: 2016-DEC-02
Author: B.A. Robinson
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