The Flood Myth

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Versions of the legend of the Flood are known in different parts of the world. Is not the myth of the ark and the saved righteous people based on some real large-scale catastrophe, deeply imprinted in the memory of strangers with each other?

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The Flood is described in the Old Testament. The biblical story of Noah's Ark is compiled from two texts that appeared between the 8th and 6th centuries BC in the Israel and Judean kingdoms. However, the oldest version of the flood came to us from Mesopotamia (the territory of modern Iraq). The Sumerian text of the 3rd century BC retells the famous Babylonian "Tale of Gilgamesh", recorded almost 2000 years earlier. In this epic hero Utnapishtim narrates the legendary ruler Gilgamesh, how he escaped from the destroyed all the flood sent to the earth by the gods.

There are many other versions. In Maya in Central America, the role of Noah is played by God-fearing Tapi; In the Persian code of texts, known as the "Vendidade," Yima is saved from the flood; In one of the Indian legends his name is Manu, and in the ancient Greek version — Deucalion. The Flood is mentioned in the mythology of the Chinese, Polynesians and Australian Aborigines, a sign of the Incas in Peru and Indians of North America. And in Africa only a few tribes heard about it.

Chaos and a new beginning

The myth of the flood always implies death and rebirth. The destruction of sinful humanity by God's will means a return to chaos, but such an end of the world is a fixable matter. From under the water, the symbols of the original act of creation appear again: the virgin land, delivered from vices by the purifying power of water. And on it, the chosen righteous give birth to a new humanity. In each of the versions of the hero in advance warn of an imminent catastrophe. Noah and Yima learn about this directly from the god-creator, other heroes — from one of their gods. So, Utnapishtimu news that not all people will perish, brings the Babylonian god Ea. In Greek mythology, Zeus' plans for Deucalion are warned by his father Prometheus. And Manu learns news from God in the form of fish.

Almost in all the stories, the gods are told to build the ship: Noah is building the ark, Deucalion with his wife Pirroy is a floating trunk, and in the legends of North American Indians there is a raft of tree trunks. The exception is the Persian version: here the elect escape from the water on a preserved piece of land. Most of the heroes take on board not only their family, but also many different animals and plants. Noah, for example, selects into the ark a pair of producers of all kinds of the then fauna.

Then water appears. In the "Legend of Gilgamesh" it is a downpour that does not abate for seven days; The Bible rains for forty days and nights until the sea approaches the mountain tops. In "Vendidades", the flood is caused by rain and melting snow after a severe winter. Ships rush through the raging sea and stick to the mountain rising out of the water. In the Indian version, the fish sent by the gods dragged the boat to the Himalayas and tied it to a tree.

After the retreat of the waters, the survivors are ordered to multiply and create a new civilization. Deucalion and Pyrrhus, marching along the earth, throw stones behind themselves, which turn into people. Manu makes a sacrifice to the gods, and they send him a wife. In the Old Testament, God blesses Noah, his family and animals — they have to re-colonize the land.

Opinion of scientists

Different legends about the flood coincide in many respects. Events developed almost equally in remote regions. Perhaps, collective memory has not let down humanity. This version is shared by many specialists.

In all cases, there is a strong long rain, which can be attributed to a sharp climatic fluctuation during the ancient Stone Age (Paleolithic). However, a shower of even biblical proportions could not lead to such a terrible flood. Therefore, supporters of the climate theory admit that by the end of the last glaciation, that is, 14,000 to 8,000 years ago, the rise in temperature led to the rapid melting of massive ice sheets formed over thousands of years. This caused a rapid rise in the level of the World Ocean and catastrophic floods.

French climatologist Kapar details this theory. The flood was caused by a huge glacier covering the northern part of Scandinavia. A sharp warming led to its cracking and the fall of a colossal iceberg into the Baltic Sea. It raised a gigantic tidal wave that rolled over Eastern Europe to the Mediterranean.

Other scientists look at the myth with different eyes. At the end of the glacial era, an economic revolution took place. With the increase in the fertility of the land, the nomadic groups of hunters and gatherers settled and began to engage in agriculture. The biblical legend of Noah reflects this trend: the creation of stocks of seeds and animal producers and the settlement of a certain territory, probably freed after a major flood.

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