After the global flood. Biblical doctrine of the Flood. When was the flood
Chapters about why the Poles survived the Flood separately from the whole civilization... Where people were saved... When was it... and how brunettes differ from blonds.
The legend of a global catastrophe, when water flooded the entire Earth, is found in almost all ancient books of all world religions. When it was? And was it? Or is it some kind of allegory? Today we can unequivocally say that such an event took place on our planet in reality. It happened about 13,600 years ago, and the flood ended 11,600 years ago. That is, it lasted about 3 thousand years.
The Aryan Vedas report that Manu, the son of Vivasvat, settled with southern mountains. One day, when he was washing his hands, he came across a small fish in the water. She told him: "Save my life, and I will save you." "What are you saving me from?" Manu asked surprised. The fish said, “There will be a flood for all living beings. I will save you from him." “How can I keep you alive?” And she said: “We fish, while we are so small, are threatened with death from everywhere. One fish eats another. You first keep me in a jar, and when I grow out of it, dig a pond and keep me there; and when I grow even more, take me to the sea, for then death will no longer threaten me from nowhere. Manu did just that. Soon she became a huge jhasha fish with a horn on its head. Then she said: “In such and such a year there will be a flood. You make a ship and wait for me. And when the flood comes, board the ship and I will save you.”
And in the year indicated by the fish, Manu built a ship. When the flood came, he boarded the ship, and the fish swam to him. The seven holy sages, the sons of Angiras, boarded the ship with him. Obeying the command of the fish, Manu took with him the seeds of various plants. Manu, the seven sages and the fish were the only living beings in the watery chaos. Fierce winds rocked the ship. But the fish took Manu's ship to the Himalaya mountain. Then she said to Manu: "Go down gradually, following the fall of the water." Manu followed the advice of the fish. Since then, this place in the northern mountains has been called Manu's Descent.
And the flood washed away all living beings. One Manu remained to continue the human race on earth. When it was? Examining the texts of ancient books, we have already come to the unequivocal opinion that fish, birds, animals do not just appear in the texts. They usually indicate the astrological epoch. So what does the slave who saved the human race mean?
It is presented mainly according to the Vedic version ("Shatapatha Brahmana" book I). The seven wise men accompanying Manu and some of the details are borrowed from the myth of the flood in the book. III of the Mahabharata. The Mahabharata version differs significantly from the Vedic version; the fish that saved Manu appears in the epic as the incarnation of the god Brahma. In later versions, in the Puranas, the fish is one of the incarnations (“avatars”) of Vishnu.
An astrological era in astrology is a period during which the vernal equinox is in the same zodiac constellation. The change of astrological eras is associated with the phenomenon of the precession of the earth's axis. By the name of the zodiac constellation in which the vernal equinox is located, the astrological era is also called. It is assumed that we are currently living at the turn of the Age of Pisces and the Age of Aquarius. The idea of the precessional year is closely intertwined with the idea of the Great Year - Mahayuga. Specify exact years the change of astrological eras is impossible, since there is no clarity in exactly where the boundaries of the constellations pass.
Astrologers note that when astrological eras change, changes occur in religion and cults. So the dawn of Christianity correlates approximately with the beginning of the Pisces era, and at the approximate beginning of the Aries era, the formation in Russia and in Ancient Egypt of the cult of the god Amun, who has a ram's head, falls.
The astrological epoch affects the subtle psychological plan of humanity, determining its spiritual and moral values. An example is the change from the Age of Aries to the Age of Pisces, which occurred about two thousand years ago and approximately coincided with the birth of Jesus Christ.
Precession is used by astrologers as a time scale for marking the periods of evolution of our civilization. For the convenience of calculations in astrology, the full circle of movement of the vernal equinox along the ecliptic, the so-called Great Year of Plato (ind - Maha Yuga), is assumed to be 25920. There are 12 signs in the Zodiac, corresponding to 12 phases of the development of any phenomenon. Dividing 25920 by 12, we get 2160 years - the month of the Great Year. The Earth, according to astrologers, is currently experiencing the fifth era of its life, the Cenozoic, in the fourth (Quaternary) period (epoch) of which we live.
And what in a row, from the beginning of civilization, astrological era are we entering? The question to which there is no answer: from which stove to dance?
How many signs of the Zodiac our civilization has already passed is also unknown. If we count from the universal catastrophe 12-13 thousand years ago, which destroyed almost all of humanity and remained in the memory of generations in the form of the Flood, we get 6 signs, we are entering the seventh - there is still half the way ahead. But if we measure from the moment of the beginning of settlement on the planet, when, after a global volcanic eruption in the Mediterranean, the ash hid the sun for a long time? It was about 26-32 thousand years ago. Then the Neanderthals died, and our ancestors first emerged from the pre-glacial forests. Then it turns out that we are on the threshold of the end of the Great Year.
It is interesting that the astrological periodization of history coincides well with the historical and archaeological ones. Far from astrology, the historian L.N. Gumilyov calculated the lifetime of the ethnic group at about 2000 years.
After the Great Flood, the first era that we know something about is the era of Leo (9-11 thousand years BC), this is the end of the Stone Age. The man led the life of a hunter and fought with cave lions and a bear. AT rock art of those times, hunting scenes and images of a lion are frequent.
In the Zodiac, in the character of any sign, there are features of a countersign located diametrically opposite, which, as it were, restrains the destructive essence of the main thing on this moment sign. In the way of life of a man of the era of Leo - a lone hunter - it is easy to notice the elements of the sign of Aquarius. The Age of the Lion was preceded by the Flood. The opposite "sign of the tamer" corresponds to the sign of Pisces (that is, the Christian era). In essence, this myth says that people were saved during the Great Flood by Jesus Christ. Surprisingly, these myths of India originated long before the coming of Jesus Christ!
This is how the astrological calendar of East and West correlate.
Dog - Lion
Boar - Cancer
Rat-Gemini (6 - 4 thousand years ago)
Ox-Taurus
Tiger - Aries
Cat-Pisces (0 - 2 thousand)
Dragon - Aquarius (modern)
Snake - Capricorn
Horse - Sagittarius
Goat - Scorpio
Monkey - Libra
Rooster - Virgo
But now let's compare with the research of modern scientists. A group from the Institute of Cell Biophysics of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Pushchino, Moscow region, Russia) studied the glaciers of Greenland. In 2009, scientists Karnaukhov A.V., Karnaukhov V.N., published their models of glaciation in the Northern Hemisphere of the planet.
On fig. 5A shows a map of Eurasia during the last glaciation 14,670 years ago. Severny froze due to water desalination Arctic Ocean. This happens periodically due to the interruption of the warm Atlantic currents.
This situation developed gradually. Initially, the entire West Siberian lowland was flooded with the flows of the Ob, Yenisei and Lena rivers, after which the waters of these Siberian rivers poured through the Turgai hollow into the Aral Sea and began flooding the Turan lowland, and then the Caspian and Black Seas with the adjacent Caspian, Black Sea and Danube lowlands.
People who by this time had practically settled all over the planet had no choice but to leave the water and gather on the hills. The whole history of mankind in the future paints only the descendants of people who escaped on the Central Russian and Valdai Uplands. Nothing is said anywhere about the fate of all other people who could be saved, for example, in the Pamirs.
Most likely, during the Flood, the Central Russian and Voldai Uplands were connected with the Ural Mountains by the Northern Ridge Ridge, which stretched along the watershed of the Volga and the Northern Dvina. It is surprising that Valdai is located at the western end of this ridge, where temples and large settlements were located in the Stone Age, and at the eastern end, in the Urals, archaeologists found the famous city of Arkaim and the valley of ancient cities adjacent to it. Arkaim is located strictly on the watershed.
Then, in the Urals, an ethnos of an epic people, called in the Aryan Vedas - asuras, could arise. When read back, it turns out - Rus. That is, white-skinned brunettes originated in the Urals (these are asuras), and white-skinned blondes in Valdai and the Central Russian Upland (these are Russ). Later, a special caste of priests emerged from the Asuras and Ruses, who settled in Valdai - they began to be called gods.
The annals mention another people - the Panii. It is mixed with the features of some real people. Indra, the most powerful of the 12 tribal leaders of Valdai (sons of Angiras), returned to the gods sacred cows, abducted by a tribe of Panii, who lived in unknown lands, outside the world of gods and asuras. The panii drove the cows to a far country beyond the river Rasa, which flows at the end of the world, and hid them in a mountain cave.
The gods lived in the Valdai-Baltic area, the asuras controlled the entire Volga region to the very Ural mountains. So the Panii, after the end of the flood, migrated from behind the Urals. But where could they be saved? All Western Siberia was hidden by the waters of the Eurasian Ocean!
It seems that the Aryan Vedas tell of the salvation of two different groups during the Flood. In one myth about the escaped Manu, from whom the human race descended, two stories merged. In the myth where, together with Manu, 7 wise men are saved on a ship, he talks about people who have gathered on the Central Russian and Valdai Uplands. It is here that the traces of these seven sages (Rishis) are subsequently found. The constellation Ursa Major and Ursa Minor are named after them. In Russia they were called Bears. As the glaciers melted, they reached the Khibiny (in India, this name was distorted to Himalaya). From them came the first world civilization after the flood, Sarmatia.
But in another version of the Aryan Vedas, there were no wise men on the ship and Manu was saved alone. Most likely here we are talking about the people who escaped in the upper reaches of the Yenisei. Indeed, Manu followed the advice of the fish, the Vedas say, since then this place in the northern mountains, where he escaped, is called "Manu's Descent".
And now let's take a look at the map of the surroundings of Krasnoyarsk. Twenty-five versts above Krasnoyarsk, the beautiful taiga river Mana flows into the Yenisei on the right. Its fast and transparent waters come from the White Mountains, in which the Man Lakes are located at a considerable height, giving out the Manu River to the north. Well, what did you convince?
Some researchers identify this people with the ancient tribe of the Polyans who lived in the Middle Don. Most likely, they returned to the original world after the end of the flood. During the World Migration of Peoples, they migrated to the West, where on this substrate, after assimilation with the Krivichi Slavs, Poles (pans) arose. In fact, according to this plot, you can restore ancient history Polish people. The true homeland of the Poles is the outskirts of Krasnoyarsk. Here they lived in isolation from the rest of civilization for almost 3 thousand years.
On behalf of the legendary man Manu, the names originated:.
Mana - a taiga river in the Krasnoyarsk Territory;
. Mana is a small island in New Zealand;
. Mana - reserve magical powers.
. Semolina is coarse wheat groats.
. Manna from heaven - according to the Bible, the food that God fed Moses and his fellow tribesmen during the 40-year wanderings after the Exodus from Egypt.
. Manna is an ancient state on the territory of modern Iran.
If the flood approached gradually and people had time, for the most part, to leave on a hill, then it ended almost instantly.
The Bosporus Strait did not yet exist, but it was here that the water broke into the shallow Mediterranean lake. coast of Africa. The Eurasian Ocean flowed into the Atlantic. Vast territories of Eurasia were freed from water, and the level of the World Ocean rose sharply by a hundred meters, flooding vast coastal areas. If for the inhabitants of primitive Russia these events of the end of the flood passed without consequences. In the rest of the world, many people died, usually settled along the coast. Perhaps there were some closed enclaves of people in the mountains, which later became the basis for the birth of Negroids and Mongoloids.
The Caspian and Aral Seas separated probably only 2-3 thousand years ago.
Major catastrophic events associated with the end of the last ice age occurred between 12000-11640 years ago. Mentions of the "great flood" are found in Sumerian and Greek myths and ancient Slavic traditions. Written sources - Vedic and Biblical texts - have the same basis.
Greek scientists wrote about the breakthrough of the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles. In the 3rd century BC, the physicist Straton from Lampsak wrote: "The Euxinian Pontus (Black Sea) had no outlet at Byzantium before, but the rivers flowing into Pontus broke through and opened a passage and water rushed to the Propontis (Sea of Marmara) and the Hellespont (Dardanelles) ".
Another Greek scholar Plato, who reported with reference to Solon, who in turn referred to information received from Egyptian priests, that 11,600 years ago, as a result of a catastrophic flood, the Athenian army (probably in the Aegean Sea) and Atlantis, which was in the Atlantic Sea, perished. .
The date given above, 11,600 years ago, is made up of the lifetime of Solon (6th century BC), the information of the Egyptian priests that the catastrophe occurred 9,000 thousand years before this information was reported to Solon, and 2,000 years have passed since the beginning of a new era.
In modern science, the prevailing opinion is that Plato invented Atlantis to illustrate his ideal state structure and there is no objective evidence that Atlantis could exist. It is useful, however, to compare the date of the death of Plato's Atlantis (11,600 years ago) and the date of the catastrophically rapid climate change in the Northern Hemisphere (11,640 years ago), determined by the change in the thickness of the ice layers in Greenland, which scientists associate with the moment of rapid shelf flooding mediterranean sea waters of the Eurasian Ocean after the breakthrough of the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles. At this time, the level of the world's oceans rises sharply, the waters again flood the coastal areas and break into the lowlands at the site of today's White and Baltic Seas. This is how modern world geography arose.
It was published by Arno Poebel in 1914. Unfortunately, two-thirds of the text on the only known tablet has been destroyed, and the content of the poem can only be reconstructed by analogy with the Akkadian poems, although the Sumerian version may have differed from them (the surviving text is presumably dated to the time of the 1st dynasty of Isin).
In the beginning, it was told how God sent essence to people ( me) and founded five cities. Then the council of the gods is mentioned. It is said that the pious king Ziusudra (according to another version of reading - Ziuzuddu), the priest of the god Enki, overhears someone's speech addressed to the temple wall (probably Enki himself), telling that at the council of the gods, at the request of Enlil, it was decided to arrange great flood. After the gap, it is described that the flood lasted seven days and seven nights, after which Ziusudra left his ship and sacrificed bulls and sheep.
The last passage says that Ziusudra prostrates himself before Anu and Enlil, and they swear that they will revive life on earth. They give Ziusudra eternal life and settle him in the land of Dilmun at sunrise.
According to the hypothesis of V. V. Emelyanov (in an article of 1997), in the dilapidated line 255, a woman was mentioned, whom the gods give as wife to Ziusudra.
The legend of Atrahasis
The Tale of Utnapishtim
The original story of the flood in the Babylonian version was found during the excavation of the famous library of Ashurbanipal by Ormuzd Rassam, a Chaldean Christian, a former diplomat who excavated in Nineveh for the British Museum in London. George Smith managed to read and translate the found tablets. More precisely, Smith managed to find the beginning of the epic story about Gilgamesh, who, in search of the herb of immortality, goes to the ends of the earth to the only person survivor of the ancient flood - Utnapishtim. Here the story broke off, but Smith went to the hill of Nimrud, which hid ancient Nineveh, and found the missing part of the text there - a total of 384 tablets.
The flood story told in the Epic of Gilgamesh (table XI, lines 9-199, where Utnapishtim tells it to Gilgamesh) was probably originally an independent poem, later included in its entirety in the epic. The name Utnapishtim is the Akkadian equivalent of the Sumerian name Ziusudra ("Found life of long days").
The story begins with the fact that at the meeting of all the gods it was decided to destroy humanity. The reasons for this decision are not mentioned. One of the initiators of the flood - the god Enlil - took a word from each of the other gods that they would not warn people. The god Ninigiku (Ea) decided to save his favorite and a person devoted to him - the ruler of the city of Shuruppak on the banks of the Euphrates River - Utnapishtim, whom the epic calls "possessing the greatest wisdom." In order not to break the oath, Ninigiku-Ea informs Utnapishtim during a dream that he must build a ship and prepare for his own salvation. Ninigiku-Ea also advises Utnapishtim to answer those who will ask him about the reasons for the unexpected construction, so that they do not guess anything (he says that he is going to leave the city).
Following the instructions of Ninigiku-Ea, Utnapishtim orders the townspeople to build a ship (the drawing is drawn by Utnapishtim himself) - a square structure with a flat bottom with an area of three acres, six decks, high (one hundred and twenty cubits) sides and a roof. When the ship was ready, Utnapishtim loaded onto it his property, family and relatives, various masters to preserve knowledge and technology, livestock, animals and birds. The ship's doors were tarred on the outside.
Loaded it with everything I had
I loaded it with everything that I had silver,
I loaded it with everything that I had gold,
I loaded it with everything that I had a living creature,
Raised the whole family and my kind on the ship.
The cattle of the steppe, the animals of the steppe, I raised all the masters.
The wind raged for six days and seven nights and flooded the whole earth without a trace (the earth is identified here with the plain of Sumer). On the seventh day the water calmed down and Utnapishtim was able to go on deck. All mankind by that time had been destroyed and "became clay." Then the ship landed on a small island - the top of Mount Nizir. On the seventh day of the camp, Utnapishtim released a dove and it returned. Then he released a swallow, but she flew back. And only the raven found the land that appeared from the water and remained on it.
Then Utnapishtim left the ship and offered sacrifices to the gods. " Deities flocked like flies to the smell of sacrifices and began to quarrel among themselves. Ellil is angry that the people were saved. Ishtar says that the azure stone around her neck will always remind her of the days of the flood. After a quarrel, the gods convinced Enlil that he was wrong, and he blessed Utnapishtim and his wife and, having given immortality, settled away from people in an inaccessible place at the source of the rivers (obviously, the Tigris and Euphrates).
Berossus' story
Babylonian flood legend long time was known to European scientists thanks to its presentation by the "Chaldean" historian Berossus (III century BC), who wrote in Greek. The work of Berossus itself has not survived, but his story was retold by the Greek scholar Alexander Polyhistor, who, in turn, is cited by the Byzantine author George Sinkell. Thus, this version may have been distorted and probably bears the imprint of Greek influence.
According to Berossus, the god (whom he calls Cronus or Kron) appeared in a dream to Xisutrus (Xisuthrus), the tenth king of Babylonia, and said that the gods decided to destroy the human race and the great flood would begin on the 15th day of the month of Desia (8th month according to the Macedonian calendar). Therefore, Xisutrus was ordered to write the history of the world and to bury it for safety in the city of Sippar, and having built a huge ship, sufficient to accommodate the king's family, his friends and relatives and poultry and four-footed animals, and when everything was ready, set sail " to the gods", but before that "to pray for sending good to people".
The king carried out the order by building an ark five stadia long and two stadia wide. From the surviving passages it is not clear how many days the flood lasted. When the water began to subside, Xisutrus released several birds one after another. But, not finding food and shelter anywhere, the birds returned to the ship. A few days later, Xisutrus released the birds again, and they returned to the ship with traces of clay on their feet. The third time he released them, they never returned to the ship. Then Xisutrus realized that the land had come out of the water, and parting some boards in the side of the ship, he looked out and saw the shore. Then he steered the ship towards land and landed on a mountain (called Armenia, although it is not known whether this detail of the story belongs to Alexander Polyhistor, Berossus or his source), along with his wife, daughter and pilots. Landing on the deserted land, Xisutrus paid homage to the land, built an altar and made a sacrifice to the gods. Beross specifies that Xisutrus, his wife, daughters and helmsman were the first to leave the ship, and were sent to the gods. The rest of the companions never saw them again, a heavenly voice announced to them what piety Xisutrus and his family had joined the host of the gods. According to this version, humanity descended from the companions of Xisutrus who returned to Sippar.
biblical flood
| Subject | bible story | Sumerian legend, III millennium BC e. (preserved in fragments of the 18th century BC) |
Babylonian legend, XVIII-XVII centuries BC e. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Source | Book of Genesis | Cuneiform tablets found in the excavations of Nippur. | 1) Babylonian historian Beross, 3rd c. BC e., reached in the retelling of Greek historians; 2) Cuneiform tablets from the library of King Ashurbanipal, insert story in table XI of the Song of Gilgamesh; |
| Character | Noah, 10th generation after Adam |
Ziusudra, king and priest of the god Enki Ziusudra, literally translated from Sumerian, means "who has found life of long days" |
1) Xisutrus(Ziusudra), 10th king of Babylon; 2) Ut-write translated from Akkadian: "he who found the breath", |
| saving god | Yahweh | Enki (Eya) | 1) Kronus; 2) Ea |
| Order | Build an ark, take your family and animals with you | There is a lacuna in the text, but it is clear that it is close to the Akkadian version: the reference of the god to the wall of the hut is mentioned, which Ziusudra hears | The gods make a decision at the council, but Eya, in secret from the rest of the gods, informs Ut-napishti of their decision and advises them to build an ark, take their family and animals with them |
| Downpour duration | 40 days and 40 nights | 7 days and 7 nights | 7 days and 7 nights |
| Birds | Releases a raven, then releases a dove three times | (text missing) | 1) several birds; 2) a dove, then a swallow and a raven |
| Mooring place | Ararat | 1) Armenia; 2) Nisir |
|
| Sacrifice after salvation | Building an altar and offering a sacrifice | Sacrificing bulls and sheep | Construction of an altar and sacrifice of incense from myrtle, reed and cedar |
| Blessing | God makes a covenant with Noah and blesses him | An and Enlil grant Ziusudra "life like gods" and "eternal breath" and settle him together with his wife on the island of the blessed Dilmun (Tilmun in the Akkadian version) | Ut-napishti and his wife (or Atrahasis without a wife) upon leaving the ship receive the blessing of the god Ellil |
Researchers' opinions on the origin of the biblical story can be divided into three groups:
The difference between biblical history and ancient Mesopotamian
Noah,
book illustration, 1913
The outward resemblance to the narrative of the Book of Genesis is obvious: in both texts, we are talking about the destruction of all mankind in the waters of the Flood, about the salvation of one person with his family, about the fact that he takes animals with him into the ship, sends birds to explore, and, leaving the ship makes sacrifices.
However, of much greater importance are those differences that, with a cursory acquaintance, elude attention. According to Soncino, the Babylonian epic is not based on any moral and ethical standards. Everything that happens is described in it as the result of a whim or a game of deities. However, S. N. Kramer notes that already in the Sumerian legend, Ziusudra “appears as a pious and God-fearing king, guided in all his affairs by instructions received from the gods in dreams and predictions.”
From a traditional point of view, the Bible reveals the way the Creator controls the world, emphasizing that nothing in the world happens by chance. The Lord sends the Flood to the earth only because man himself perverts his ways on earth, “filling” it with robbery, violence and debauchery. Immediately, although in a hidden form, there is the idea that the responsibility for the state of society is shared by all those who voluntarily or involuntarily accepted its norms and did not protest. Noah is saved not because of the whim of a deity and not because he “possesses the greatest wisdom” (which does not exclude the possibility of doing evil and bringing grief to others), but because he is a righteous person, that is, striving for good. God saves Noah not so that he could enjoy eternal bliss, but so that he and his descendants become the foundation of a renewed humanity. According to J. Weinberg, in the Pentateuch "The Flood is depicted as a test, by which and during which the transformation of antediluvian pre-humanity into post-Flood true humanity is completed."
The moral and ethical force inherent in the biblical story of the Flood is also recognized by researchers from the school of "Biblical Criticism":
“The story of the Flood given by the Bible contains a hidden power that can affect the consciousness of all mankind. There is no doubt that this was the purpose of writing the story of the Flood: to teach people moral behavior. No other description of the Flood that we find in non-Biblical sources is in this respect completely similar to the story given in it.
A. Jeremias
“The Babylonian text about the Flood seemed to have been specially composed in order to make the superiority of the idea of Israel about the One God even more clear and distinct. For its part, the Bible crosses out all those descriptions of the Flood that were known to the ancient world before it: their repulsive images lose any meaning.
Hermann Gunkel
Analysis and dating of the Flood story
The Biblical Criticism Approach
For these versions, it is remarkable not only how they differ, but also the fact that the facts, which in principle coincide in both versions, are nevertheless mentioned twice, for example:
- Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, Japheth (this is reported in Genesis 5:32 and Genesis 6:10.
- God sees that great evil is on earth (in one case the name Yahweh is named Gen. 6:5, in another case the name Elohim is called Gen. 6:12).
- God addresses Noah twice and shows him salvation in the ark: once the name Elohim Genesis is called. 6:13-21, and the second time, the name Yahweh Gen. 7:1-4.
- The formula “and he did as God commanded him” is repeated twice (Gen. 6:22 and Gen. 7:5).
- Noah is described twice as entering the ark with his family and animals (Gen. 7:7 and Gen. 7:13)
- Noah is described twice as leaving the ark (Gen. 8:18 and Gen. 9:18).
In addition, when reading the biblical story of the Flood, a number of contradictions are striking:
| Source I (J) | Source II (P) | The Conclusion of Biblical Criticism |
|---|---|---|
| A distinction is made between clean and unclean animals: the former were taken into the ark, seven pairs of each species, while the latter only one pair each. | There is no distinction between clean and unclean animals, the number of animals saved in the ark is limited to one pair of each type. | Perhaps, according to source P, the distinction between clean and unclean animals was first revealed by the god to Moses, so that Noah could not know anything about it; the author of Yahvista believed that the distinction between clean and unclean animals is natural and has existed since ancient times. |
| The downpour that caused the Flood lasted 40 days and 40 nights, after which Noah remained in the ark for another 3 weeks, until the water subsided and the earth appeared. Only 61 days. | It was 150 days before the waters receded. In total, the Flood lasted 12 months and 10 days. | Given that the Jews adopted the lunar calendar, 12 months is 354 days. Thus the Flood lasted 364 days - a whole solar year, indicating familiarity with solar cycle calculations. |
| As the cause of the Flood, rain is indicated - water from heaven. | Water gushed simultaneously from the sky and from the ground. | |
| Describes the offering of sacrifices by Noah in gratitude for salvation from death during the Flood. | Sacrifice not mentioned | Possibly indicates a later origin of the text, when a ban on sacrifices appeared outside the Jerusalem temple. |
There are also semantic differences that are often not reflected in the translation of the text of the Bible into other languages. So, for example, the word "exterminate" corresponds in both sources to two different words.
Arguments in favor of the traditional view
From the point of view of the Jewish tradition, the appearance in the text of different names of God and their combination with each other does not cause difficulties: the name Elohim is always used when it is said about the manifestation of the Creator's justice, and the name Tetragrammaton (separately or in combination with the name Elohim) - when It speaks of the manifestation of His mercy. These names change each other depending on the context. Three authoritative scientists (D. Goffman, V. Green and B. Jacob) made a thorough analysis of the text of the Book of Genesis and showed in all cases, without exception, the correspondence of the name of God to the context: depending on the manifestation of the quality of mercy or justice. Consider one of the many examples: and those who entered [unto Noah into the ark] male and female of all flesh entered, as God (Elohim) commanded him. And the Lord (Tetragrammaton) closed after him [the ark]» (Gen. 7:16). Here, in one passage, both names of God occur. Adherents of the school of "biblical criticism" claim that this passage is written on the basis of source P. But if this is so, then, according to their own theory, only the name Elohim should have appeared in the text. Therefore, they split this passage into two and attribute the “main text” to source J, and the “insert” to source P. At the same time, from the traditional point of view, the use of two names in this verse is easy to explain: the four-letter name is used in connection with by the fact that the Almighty closed the entrance to the ark, saving those who were in it from death, which, without a doubt, is a manifestation of the mercy of the Creator.- The contradiction in the instructions given to Noah is also easy to explain. In 6:19 Noah is ordered to take a pair of each type of animal into the ark, while in the next chapter he is ordered to take a pair of unclean animals and seven pairs of clean animals.
Greek mythology
Paul Mervart. Deucalion holding his wife
According to the most common Greek version, there were three floods: Ogigov, Deucalion, Dardanov (in that order). According to Servius, there were two, according to Ister, four, according to Plato, many.
Ogygos flood
The Ogyg Flood occurred during the reign of Ogygus, one of the mythical Theban kings and founder of Eleusis. As a result of the flood, Attica was devastated and its policies were destroyed: a period of anarchy began, which lasted about two hundred years and ended only with the accession of Kekrop. According to Sextus Julius Africanus, a Christian historian of the 3rd c. n. e., the time of the Ogigov flood corresponds with the exodus of the Jews from Egypt.
deucalion flood
Deucalion's flood was caused by the wickedness of Lycaon and his sons, who offered human sacrifices to Zeus. Zeus decided to destroy the sinful human generation in the flood. The son of Prometheus Deucalion escaped with his wife Pyrrha in an ark built according to the instructions of his father. On the ninth day of the flood, the ark came to rest on Mount Parnassus, or one of the peaks of the Ophrian range in Thessaly.
Having descended to earth, they went to the sanctuary of the titan Thetis by the river Kefiss, where they offered up a prayer for the revival of the human race. Thetis answered them: “Cover your heads and throw the bones of the foremother over your head!” - since Deucalion and Pyrrha had different mothers, they considered that “the bones of the foremother” are stones - the bones of Gaia. They began to collect stones and throw them over their heads; men appeared from the stones thrown by Deucalion, and women appeared from the stones thrown by Pyrrha.
However, Zeus did not achieve his goal: in addition to Deucalion, the inhabitants of the city of Parnassus, founded by the son of Poseidon Parnassus, who invented the art of prediction, also escaped. They were awakened wolf howl and followed the wolves to the top of Mount Parnassus, where they waited out the flood. Some of them then moved to Arcadia and continued the Lycaon sacrifices there.
Hindu mythology
Vaivasvata, the seventh of the Manns (ancestors of the human race), accidentally caught a tiny fish while bathing, which promised to save him from the coming flood if he helped her grow. The fish (which was an incarnation of Brahma or Vishnu) grew to a huge size, and on her advice, Vaivasvata built a ship and tied it to the horn of the fish. On the ship he took many rishis and the seeds of all plants. The fish drove the ship to the mountain, and when the waters receded, Vaivasvata made a sacrifice to the gods, from which a girl appeared who became Mann's wife.
Research results
In 1927-1928, during the excavations of ancient Ur, Leonard and Catherine Woolley unearthed the so-called "royal tombs of Ur", which apparently belonged to the Sumerian period. Suddenly, right below them, the researchers stumbled upon a 20-meter layer of alluvial (alluvial) clay without any traces of human presence. The most likely explanation for the emergence of such a layer in this area could be a catastrophic flood in its strength and consequences, caused by many days of heavy rains and, as a result, a catastrophic flood of both rivers. This discovery led Woolley to an exceptionally bold conclusion that the "pious priest" - Ziusudra, Utnapishtim - and he - the biblical Noah could be a historical person, a Sumerian by origin, observant enough to notice the menacing signs of a flood that had begun, take timely action.
Archaeological data
Scientific hypotheses
The Black Sea in our time (blue color) and at the beginning of the VI millennium BC. e. according to the Ryan-Pitman hypothesis
The story of the global flood is common among many peoples living tens of thousands of kilometers from each other. Reconstructions of the absolute age of the Flood give an approximately similar array of data from 8 to 10 thousand years ago. It is known from paleogeographic data that the last ice sheet (the Laurentian ice sheet in North America) in the Northern Hemisphere disappeared from 8 to 10 thousand years ago.
There is a Ryan-Pitman hypothesis (William Ryan and Walter Pitman from Columbia University) that the story of the flood is a kind of reflection of the global process of rising sea levels. According to V. A. Safronov, the global catastrophe caused by the rapid melting of glaciers should be dated to 8122 BC. e.
In particular, Ryan and Pitman associate the Flood with the Black Sea water level rising by 140 meters around 5500 BC. e. (see The Theory of the Black Sea Flood). They found (according to the analysis of flooded coastlines and the distribution of sedimentary layers) that at that time the sea level rose by tens of meters from -50 to 0 meters (in modern system absolute coordinates), one of the consequences of which was the formation of the Bosporus Strait and an increase in the area of the Black Sea by almost 1.5 times. The effect of such flooding of large coastal areas, according to the researchers, could play a role in the emergence and global spread of the flood story.
In favor of the hypothesis of the Flood, associated with the rise in the level of the World Ocean, a change in the basis of the erosion of rivers and the corresponding sharp same-age restructuring of all river valleys on Earth could speak. . This restructuring would have consisted in the widespread flooding of river floodplains and river terraces adjacent to the valley. In theory, the entire space from the river's edge to the melting of ice caps and up the slopes of the river valley to a height of 50 meters should have been flooded by the river and covered with its sediments. Naturally, such areas adjacent to the rivers were places of increased concentration of people, and by observing such processes, a person could create a story about the flood. Having received information about the “flood” on the coasts of the seas and data about the “flood” along all the rivers of the Earth, any man of sense(and even more so the group) will create a myth about the worldwide scale of the observed phenomenon. The flooding of the river valley during the Flood terminated the linear erosion inherent in the work of water flow in the channel, which would undoubtedly have left an imprint on the geological record and structure of the ancient valley, affected the structure of the deposits, and also shifted the basis of erosion. If we accept the concept of the Universality of the Flood, then such phenomena would be observed in the valleys of all major ancient rivers of the planet, which is not the case.
Notes and sources
- Frazer J.J. Folklore in the Old Testament. M., 1989. S.157-158 (results)
- Poebel, A. Historical and grammatical texts (Museum of the University of Pennsylvania. Publications of the Babylonian section IV). Phildelphia 1914
- History of the Ancient East. Book 1. Part 1. M., 1983. P. 473
- It was regarded by connoisseurs almost as a miracle.
- http://www.lib.ru/PRIKL/KERAM/bogi_archeology.txt
- http://izbakurnog.historic.ru/books/item/f00/s00/z0000008/st063.shtml
- Folklore in the Old Testament. Ch. Great Flood. James George Fraser
- Midrash Genesis Rabbah 32:7
- Talmud, Zvachim 113a
- Archpriest Stefan Lyashevsky, The Bible and the science of the creation of the world. Part four. Area flooded during the flood.
- Weinberg J. Introduction to the Tanakh. Part 1. M.-Jerusalem, 2002. S.165-166
- Cramer S. N. The story begins in Sumer. M., 1991. S.155-159
- Story world literature. M., 1983. T.1. p.90
- Kramer S. N. History begins in Sumer. M., 1991. P.157
- Description of the Flood in the Torah and Parallels in Old Babylonian Literature. Commentary by Soncino. Notes on the book Breishit.
- Weinberg J. Introduction to the Tanakh. Part 1. Jerusalem-M., 2002. S.380
Was there really a Flood? This question excites 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 the love and mercy that all world religions attribute to the Creator?
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 natural element. 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.
Aivazovsky's painting "The Flood"
Deluge by Michelangelo Buonarroti
The theme of the Flood was embodied on the screen by the American film director 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 discrepancy between the script and the generally accepted outline of the development of events in the biblical presentation, protractedness and severity of perception. However, the author initially did not claim originality. The fact remains that the film was watched by almost 4 million viewers, and the box office receipts amounted to more than 1 billion rubles.
What the Bible Says
Everyone knows about the history of the Flood at least by hearsay. Let's take a brief 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 with death in the depths of the sea. Only Noah and his loved ones at that time deserved the mercy of the Creator, leading a pious life.
By God's direction, Noah had to build an ark that could withstand a long voyage. The vessel must comply certain sizes, and it was necessary to equip it with the necessary equipment. The term for the construction of the ark was also agreed - 120 years. It is worth noting that the life expectancy at that time was calculated in centuries, and at the time of completion of the work, Noah was 600 years old.
Next, Noah was instructed to enter the ark along with the whole family. In addition, a pair of unclean animals of each species (those that were not eaten for religious or other prejudices, and also not used for sacrifices) and seven pairs of clean animals that exist on earth were placed in the holds of the vessel. The doors of the ark were closed, and the hour of retribution for sins came for the whole person.
The sky seems to have opened up, and the water is endless powerful stream rushed to the ground, leaving no chance for survival. The elements raged for 40 days. Even mountain ranges have 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. After 40 days, Noah released a raven in search of land, but numerous attempts were unsuccessful. Only the dove managed to find land, after which people and animals found ground under their feet.
Noah performed the ritual of sacrifice, and God gave a promise that the flood would not happen again, and the human race would continue to exist. This is how it started new round in the history of mankind. According to God's plan, it was from the righteous person in the person of Noah and his descendants that the foundation of a new healthy society was laid.
For common man this story is full of contradictions and raises a lot of questions: from the purely practical “how could such a colossus be built by the forces of one family” to the moral and ethical “is this mass murder really so deserved”.
There are many questions ... Let's try to find answers.
The mention of the Flood in world mythology
In an attempt to find the truth, let's 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, but also other nationalities suffered.
Most of us perceive myths as fairy tales, but then who is the author? And the event itself is quite realistic: in the modern world, it is increasingly necessary to observe deadly tornadoes, floods and earthquakes 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 working on the excavations of ancient Nippur discovered a manuscript that says that in the presence of all the gods, on the initiative of the lord 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, made a sacrifice to the gods and gained immortality.
“Based on the same list (approx. Nippur royal list), we can conclude that global flood happened 12 thousand years BC. e."
(Wikipedia)
There are other versions of the great flood, but they all have one significant difference from the biblical interpretation. Sumerian sources consider the whim of the gods to be the cause of the disaster. A kind of whim to emphasize their power and might. In the Bible, the emphasis is on the causal relationship of living in sin and unwillingness to change it.
“The story of the Flood given by the Bible contains a hidden power that can affect the consciousness of all mankind. There is no doubt that this was the purpose of writing the story of the Flood: to teach people moral behavior. No other description of the Flood that we find in non-Biblical sources is in this respect completely similar to the story given in it.
- A. Jeremias (Wikipedia)
Despite various prerequisites for a global flood, there are mentions of it in ancient Sumerian manuscripts.
Greek mythology
According to ancient Greek historians, there were as many as three floods. One of them, Deucalion's flood, partially echoes the biblical story. All the same saving ark for the righteous Deucalion (concurrently the son of Prometheus) and the mooring at Mount Parnassus.
However, according to the plot, some people managed to escape from the flood on 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, in which the god Vishnu incarnated. The little fish promised Vaivaswat salvation from the coming flood in exchange for a 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 plant seeds and sets off on a journey led by the savior-fish. A stop at the mountain and a sacrifice to the gods is the end of the story.
In ancient manuscripts and other peoples there are references to the great flood, which made a revolution in human consciousness. Is it not true that such coincidences cannot be accidental?
Flood from the point of view of scientists
Such is human nature that we certainly need hard evidence that something actually exists. And in the case of a global flood that hit the earth millennia ago, there can be no question of any direct witnesses.
It remains to turn to the opinion of skeptics and take into account 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 for a man to learn that he would never rise to the sky? However, it happened! So it is with the flood. The question of where on earth such an amount of water could come from 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 resulted in a tsunami of unprecedented strength. Versions 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 a historical fact beyond doubt.. There is too much evidence based on archaeological research. Scientists can only agree on the physical nature this cataclysm.
Heavy rains that go on for months on end have happened in history more than once. However, nothing terrible happened, humanity did not die, and the world ocean did not overflow its banks. So, the truth must be sought elsewhere. Modern scientific groups, which include climatologists, meteorologists and geophysicists, are working together to find an answer to this question. And very successful!
Let's not bore readers with tricky scientific formulations for an ignorant person. talking plain language, one of the popular theories of the occurrence of the Flood looks like this: due to the critical heating of the earth's interior under the influence of an external factor, the earth's crust split. This crack was not local; in a matter of hours, not without the help of internal pressure, the split crossed the entire globe. The contents of the underground bowels instantly broke free, most of which were The groundwater.
Scientists even managed to calculate the power of the ejection, which is more than 10,000 (!) Times greater than the most terrible large-scale volcanic eruption that has fallen to mankind. Twenty kilometers - it was at such a height that a column of water and stones rose. The subsequent irreversible processes provoked torrential downpours. Scientists focus on groundwater, because. there are many facts confirming the existence of underground water reservoirs, many times larger than the volume of water in the world ocean.
At the same time, researchers of natural anomalies recognize that it is not always possible to find a scientific explanation for the mechanism of the occurrence of elements. The Earth is a living organism with enormous energy, and God alone knows in what direction this force can be directed.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I would like to offer to the reader's judgment the point of view of some clergy on the Flood.
Noah builds an ark. Not secretly, not under the 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 an endless line of animals and birds headed towards the ark, they perceived everything as a fascinating performance, not realizing that even the animals at that time were more pious than people. sentient beings did not make 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 the question about the degree of our own morality, can we sincerely answer at least to ourselves that we are able to become the saviors of the new humanity in the role of Noah?
During the school years, wonderful in the 70s and 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, if only to be there together. Then someone added the phrase: “But you will never have to do homework again!”, And a massive jump into the abyss became completely justified.
Sin is a temptation that is contagious. It is worth giving in to him, and it is almost impossible to stop. It's like an infection, like a weapon of mass destruction. Being immoral has become fashionable. Nature knows no other antidote to the feeling of impunity, how to show humanity its power - is this not the reason for the increasing frequency of natural disasters of destructive power? Perhaps this is a prelude to a new Flood?
Of course, we will not comb all of humanity with the same brush. There are a lot of good, decent and honest people among us. But after all, nature (or God?) only locally makes us understand what it is capable of...
Keyword "Bye".
Was there really a Flood?
In the Sumerian and Babylonian legends, in the myths of the South American and North American Indians, in the legends of the inhabitants of the ancient civilizations of India and China, almost the same words tell about the greatest catastrophe that befell our planet at the dawn of mankind - the Flood. And all these legends and myths mention a man who saved life on Earth by building a ship and gathering people and animals on it.
In the Bible, where chapter 4 is dedicated to the Flood, this man is called Noah, and his rescue ship is Noah's Ark. What is this global catastrophe that shook the consciousness of mankind in time immemorial? Was there a real Flood or is it idle fiction? If so, what are the reasons and scale? Researchers around the world still do not have unambiguous answers to these difficult questions.
AT different times put forward many hypotheses regarding the cause of the most global of the catastrophes that once occurred on the planet - the Flood - from solidly substantiated scientific theorizations to just outright fantasies. For example, scientists assumed that the flood was caused by the fall of a giant meteorite into the waters of the World Ocean and the huge wave that rose after that swept across the globe. They also said that the great flood occurred due to the “meeting” of our planet with a comet and this collision disturbed the water balance of the Earth.
They put forward the following hypothesis: there was a super-powerful volcanic process on a planetary scale, the result of which was a titanic tsunami that flooded the entire land. Quite interesting is the hypothesis of G. Riskin, a geologist from America. According to him, the cause of the Flood could be a "methane catastrophe" - a colossal explosion large quantities methane, which was released from the waters of the oceans about 250 million years ago. It should be noted that the author of the theory himself admits that it is "rather hypothetical", but considers it "too weighty to be neglected."
The "methane cataclysm" hypothesis defended by Riskin is as follows. First on a certain historical stage for some geological, climatic or other reasons, methane began to be released from the bottom sediments, the source of which could be organic deposits or frozen hydrates. Under the pressure of the water column, the gas dissolved, and its concentration increased over time. Further, rather insignificant external interference was enough for the bottom water masses saturated with methane to move to the surface.
Such a push, according to Riskin, could be the fall of a small meteorite, an earthquake, or even - interestingly enough - the movement of a large animal (for example, a whale). The water, moving to the surface, no longer experienced strong pressure and literally “boiled”, releasing the methane it contained into the atmosphere. Further, the process became irreversible: more and more new water masses moved to the surface, which, hissing and foaming, like soda in an open bottle, released ever larger volumes of combustible gas into the atmosphere. That's all, it remains to wait until the concentration reaches a critical value and until any “spark” appears to set it all on fire.
Theoretically, according to the scientist, the waters of the World Ocean could contain enough methane to provide an explosion, in terms of power exceeding the effect of the detonation of the world stock of nuclear weapons by 10 thousand (!) Times. This is more than 100 million megatons (!) in TNT equivalent. If the described phenomenon actually took place, a cataclysm of this magnitude, with a power even one or two orders of magnitude lower, quite "pulls" on.
This hypothesis, in fact, at first glance, seems rather unrealistic. And, nevertheless, she, like any other, has her supporters. Some of the experts believe that "although she is eccentric, she is not crazy enough to not be taken seriously."
Be that as it may, but the Flood is not fiction. Many of the scientists are trying to scientifically prove this argument. I. Yanovsky, head of the Center for Instrumental Observations of the Environment and Geophysical Forecasts, wrote in the book “The Mystery of the Flood”: “The historical fact of the Flood is beyond doubt. There is a lot of similar information about him in the most different sources- archaeological research, legends of the peoples of the world, theological literature. All this, taken together, makes it possible to reproduce the general contours of what happened, the most formidable natural phenomenon.
The inconsistency of the descriptions is only in the details. And if earlier they talked about the prescription of the event at 12,500 years, then not so long ago, researchers from America announced that the Flood occurred only 7,500 years ago. But still, this is not the most important thing, the author believes. First of all, it is important for researchers to understand "the physical mechanism by which huge masses of water arose, moved and persisted for some time."
It was the misunderstanding of the mechanism that caused scientists to completely distrust the very fact of the Flood. Moreover, according to I. Yanovsky, the biblical rain, which “poured like a bucket for 40 days and nights,” does not explain anything, because in recent history, at the beginning of the well-known Godunov hard times (1600), continuous rain on for 10 weeks (from May 23 to August 16, a total of 70 days), and then nothing flooded in the Moscow State - the entire crop died only in the bud (N. Karamzin. "History of the Russian State").
The description of the Flood as a natural phenomenon is given in his fundamental work “Traces of the Gods” by G. Hancock. According to him, the large-scale Flood was accompanied by the strongest earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. As the author wrote, the characteristics of the dynamics of the water masses of this formidable natural phenomenon are very different - “from the relatively slow rise of water as a result of the melting of snow and ice covers of the “preceding ice age” (why animals and people had time to go to the mountains, accumulated in caves, etc. .) up to instant, with a height of tsunami waves of 500–700 meters!
The latter scattered in places even the megalithic buildings of the “Atlanteans”, the weight of the monoliths in which reached hundreds of tons. This and many other information, as follows from the work of G. Hancock, has undergone a thorough examination in the American geographical society; The experts included many well-known scientists, including A. Einstein. The conclusion is clear: this information is not a myth, but a scientific reality.
But if the main question - was there a Flood at all - for the most part, scientists answer positively, then there are completely different opinions about the scale of this catastrophe. Some of the researchers believe that they are greatly exaggerated and the flood was not at all worldwide, as it is said in the Bible. Antibiblical critics explain their arguments as follows. In the Old Testament, they assure, the legend of Noah and his ark came from ancient Sumerian and Babylonian traditions.
In particular, the story of this catastrophe has been preserved on Chaldean clay tablets of the 21st century BC. e. Then, 4,000 years ago, the population of ancient Sumer and Babylonia lived in Mesopotamia between two rivers - the Tigris and the Euphrates. The climate at that time was more humid, the rains were longer. Perhaps, after some very long rain (in the legend of the Sumerians it is said that the same rain fell for 7 days and 7 nights), the water in the Tigris and Euphrates rose and flooded the entire Mesopotamia. And the ancient inhabitants of Mesopotamia believed that their homeland was the whole world. Therefore, scientists come to the conclusion, stories about the Flood appeared in the legends.
But opponents of this version claim that features similar to the biblical presentation were found not only in the ancient Sumerian and Babylonian narratives, but also in the legends of many other peoples. For example, the same elements of the description of a global flood are found in the folklore of North American tribes and among the inhabitants of Central and South America, in Africa and the Middle East, in Asia and Australia, as well as in the folklore of ethnic groups of the ancient inhabitants of Europe. After this became clear, few people had any doubts that the chronicler Moses could hardly undertake such distant folklore expeditions. Therefore, the Bible should not be given the role of a collection of myths and legends borrowed from neighboring peoples.
Supporters of the so-called biblical version of the Flood believe that it is much more likely that the memory of all mankind keeps a story about the same event. In fact, almost all the peoples of our planet, who have a tradition of epic folklore or sacred texts revered in this people, keep the memory of a giant global flood.
And all the legends that have come down to us retain the common main features of the presentation: all initial life on earth was destroyed by a grandiose, incomparable cataclysm; all of life today came from one man who, being supernaturally warned of an impending catastrophe, built a special vessel and survived the Flood on it with his family. It is not surprising that in the oral traditions of various peoples this story was distorted to varying degrees, overgrown with characteristic folklore elements. And yet, the written biblical evidence has preserved it in the utmost completeness.
In the Bible, the story of the Flood occupies a key place. It is no coincidence that the description of the flood is given four chapters in the book of Genesis, which opens the Old Testament part of the holy book. And it is no coincidence that Jesus Christ himself spoke of the Flood not as a myth, but as a real event. What processes could actually take place during the catastrophic event known to us as the "Flood"? Here is how the beginning of the catastrophe is described in Scripture: “In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the 17th day of the month, on this day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, the windows of heaven were opened; and it rained on the earth for 40 days and 40 nights” (Genesis 7:11,12).
This is how the same phenomenon of geophysics would be described. The continuous heating of the Earth's interior has brought the earth's crust into a stressed state close to critical. Even a minor external impact, which could be either the fall of a large meteorite or the usual tidal deformation, inevitably caused a split earth's crust. This split, propagating at the speed of sound in the rock, took only 2 hours to circle the entire Earth.
Under the influence of pressure, erupted rocks rushed into the resulting faults - the sources of the great abyss - along with overheated underground water (even in our time, about 90% of the products of a volcanic eruption are water). According to calculations, the total energy of this eruption was 10 thousand times higher than the energy of the Krakatoa volcano eruption. The height of the ejection of rocks was about 20 km, and the ash that rose into the upper layers of the atmosphere led to active condensation and destruction of the water-steam protective layer, which fell to the ground in heavy rain.
Yet most of the waters of the Flood, according to some of the researchers, were groundwater. The total amount of water erupted from the bowels is approximately half the water reserve of modern seas and oceans. The Bible says that the fountains of the great deep flooded the surface of the earth with water for 150 days (Genesis 7:24), while the rain fell for only 40 days and 40 nights, flooding the earth, according to the calculations, with an intensity of 12.5 millimeters per hour.
The disappearance of the natural greenhouse cover led to an almost instantaneous cooling in the polar regions of the planet and the appearance of powerful glaciation there. Frozen in polar glaciers were many representatives tropical flora and fauna. Paleontologists quite often find perfectly preserved in permafrost the remains of ancient animals and plants - mammoths, saber-toothed tigers, palm trees with green leaves and ripe fruits, etc.
But as a result of the Flood, the complete destruction of life did not happen. According to the Bible, fleeing “from the waters of the flood”, Noah, his sons Shem, Ham and Japheth, as well as the wives of all four, entered the ark. As you know, Noah also took animals on board the rescue ship - "each creature in pairs." We can say that this popular expression today has come to us as a legacy from the Flood. And in our language there is the word "antediluvian" (that is, literally: what happened before the Flood). We use it when we talk about something ridiculously outdated.
Nowadays, scientists around the world are concerned about the threat of a new global flood. For the first time in 12,000 years, the glaciers of Antarctica began to melt rapidly. The largest of the ocean wanderers reaches an area of 5.5,000 km 2, which is twice the size of Luxembourg. Similar processes are taking place in the Arctic. Our blue planet may soon be left without an ice cap.
Until recently, scientists began to worry about the fact that giant ice shelves are breaking apart under the influence of global warming. As a result, part of one of the largest icebergs in Antarctica, VM-14, shrank by 3,235 km in 41 days. The head of the laboratory of the British Antarctic Survey, Doctor of Glaciology D. Vaughan, said then that he was “amazed at the speed of the process. It is simply unbelievable that an ice block weighing almost 500 billion tons broke up in just a month.”
Scientists express concern that over time the process may accelerate, and then the threat of a new global flood will become quite real for humanity. They turned out to be right. Already two months later, their colleagues from the National Glaciological Center in Suitland reported that the blocks were cracking and many kilometers of icebergs were flying off from them like chips. For example, not relatively recently, an iceberg broke off from one of the glaciers, an area 9 times larger than Singapore.
“Global warming is not a very useful and pleasant process for mankind,” says Professor M. Sokolsky of Moscow State University. - This can significantly change the climate of the planet, threatens with various cataclysms and ultimately endangers the survival of the biosphere of our planet. Even now, because of the split of the glaciers, there are difficulties with navigation, tens of thousands of animals are dying, many of which are rare and endangered species.
Last year's drift put an entire colony on the brink of survival emperor penguins at Cape Croisier. To breed, these animals need a thick, durable ice cover. But instead, the poor fellows ended up on a snowy crumb, which could not withstand their mass. More than half of them died. Naturally, anxiety arises - what's next?
It’s a pity, but scientists can’t offer any measures to combat the destructive process, except for closer observation and accurate forecasting. True, sometimes exotic hypotheses appear on how to overcome the greenhouse effect. The American D. Krauf proposed the "removal" of huge masses at the poles artificial ice, and the Australian C.Capucci developed a theory of cold injection in certain parts of the Earth, covering them with a freezer hood filled with freon.
The creation of such gigantic refrigerating chambers would cost humanity an unimaginable amount, but this is not the limit of fantasy. Scientists from the University of Maryland recently announced their project to force the planet to deviate from its usual rotation, which supposedly should allow changing the climate on it for the better.
So far, no one is seriously considering all these projects. The "know-how" of the already mentioned Moscow geophysicist I. Yanovsky seems to be the cheapest. According to the scientist, the destructive processes that occur in the bowels of the Earth, including the incredibly rapid melting of glaciers, have a direct connection with our thoughts and feelings (by the way, the viceroy of the emperor in the province in which destructive earthquakes occurred was executed!).
According to Professor Yanovsky, our bad deeds and thoughts give rise to a corresponding reaction from nature. He believes that it was the wrong behavior of mankind that once provoked the Flood. If people change their train of thought, are kinder and more tolerant, then troubles can still be avoided.
Of course, the Flood that once befell the Earth is far from the only global catastrophe that once occurred. History, archeology, geology and Scripture have brought us many testimonies of various disasters, so to speak, of a “local scale” - earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, flash floods and floods, mudflows and landslides. Naturally, all these disasters, to varying degrees, have left their mark on the face of our planet. However, the Flood remains the largest global cataclysm in the history of the Earth.
V. Sklyarenko