Month: August 2022

Categories
World History

Noah’s Ark: a Story

hand rising from water

“How long is that crazy old coot going to stay shut up in that boat?” said Kenan.

“At least we don’t have to listen to his fanatical speeches anymore.” Javar laughed.

The friends drifted away, looking for new entertainment.

The three-story enclosed barge stood alone on the flat landscape, the only door shut.

The days passed uneventfully.

This day began with the perfect weather experienced every day. Crops grew in the field, watered by underground springs. People went about their business or pleasure.

“Kenan, look at that!” Javar pointed to the sky. “What do you reckon it is?”

A fluffy, translucent cloud stretched from horizon to horizon.

“Huh. Somethin’ new.” Jevar stared up, his hands on his hips. “Looks like it’s comin’ down from the sky.” He poked his friend in the ribs. “Gonna be interestin’ to be inside that, if it comes down this far.”

Curious. Unique. But silent, and soon forgotten.

Boom!

“What the–” Kenan jumped up from his dinner, knocking his plate to the ground. He had felt that sound vibrate wildly against his feet.

Boom!

Javar, also on his feet searched the sky, the origin of the second sound. All he saw was the gentle, fluffy cloud drifting lower, but still a long distance away.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Sounding loudly from below the ground and above it, the sky and earth seemed to be answering each other.

Everything broke at once.

Earthquakes shook the ground and created great cracks. People screamed as they fell into the gaps.

Eruptions burst forth from underground.

A geyser’s spout spewed from the left of Javar. The people it caught unaware screamed as they were boiled alive.

Javar and Kenan ran in the opposite direction.

Boom! The cone of a volcano rose before them, spilling lava, scorching and roasting the humans in its way.

“Come on!” Coughing from the noxious fumes, Javar pulled Kenan at a right angle to the lava streaming toward them.

Young and fit, the men raced past most of the other people scrambling away from the volcano.

“Everything’s on fire!” shouted Kenan. His voice was lost in the booming and hissing and human screams.

The men didn’t stop at the river’s edge. Plunging into the water, they swam with strong but desperate strokes to the other side. A tall hill thrust up before them, newly made by the chaos. After a moment of shocked surprise, the men climbed to the top. From here they could watch the sea.

People racing to the river or sea did not find safety. The lava boiled the sea and evaporated much of the river. But the lava could not climb the hill. However, it set fire to the vegetation. The fire worked its way toward Kenan and Javar.

Some humans hid in their houses or caves, too crazy with fear to consider what wild animals had chosen that refuge as well. They found an unusually high tide lapping at their toes.

Suddenly a tidal wave sea reared then crashed over the land near the sea, sucking many people into the depths.

Jevan and Kenan were safe on the cliff. It was too high to be touched by the wave, but the sea sprayed over the cliff, extinguishing the fire that was reaching toward them.

But that was not the worst of the terrors.

The fluffy cloud turned dark and curled.

With the loudest sky boom yet, the cloud broke into enormous drops, deluging these people who had never experienced rain. It pelted them mercilessly. It beat them to the ground.

“The sky is falling!” They called to one another in horror.

Lightning flashed everywhere, and thunder answered like a bass drum.

In flashes of light, Kenan and Javar saw the ark begin to lift gently on the water. People near the ark slogged their way toward it, their desperate pleas for help snatched away by the wind.

The weak fell and could not get up, drowning in water or asphyxiating when those who were stronger trampled their faces into the mud.

Funnel clouds whirled over land and sea, ripping trees and houses, tossing them on the people frantic to escape.

Javar and Kenan crawled under bushes and clung to them in desperation.

The clouds of dirt and fumes from volcanos spread across the ground and were tossed upward by violent winds. The darkness grew from earth to sky, meeting the storms blocking out the friendly stars.

In the darkness, all sight of the ark was lost.

The people were lost.

Lost.

Photo credit: Photo by nikko macaspac on Unsplash

Categories
World History

Surviving Noah’s Flood

Noah's Ark illustration

Who Survived the Cataclysm?

How Did They Survive?

Description of an Ark

The Disappearance of Dinosaurs

Description of Noah’s Ark

What Noah’s Ark Was Not

What Happened During the Voyage?

Post-Cataclysm Changes

The Rainbow

Surviving Noah’s Flood

In almost all cultures, there were survivors of the cataclysm. When humans did not survive, a god would throw stones that turned into people or use other means to restart the human race.

Following the rule of the majority, we must ask who survived and how.

Who Survived the Cataclysm?

The most and oldest reports describe a Noah-like character who survives with his family. Some cultures even specify three sons.

The next most popular legend is that a brother and sister survive. After the flood they must get a special dispensation from the gods to marry. Otherwise, there will be no more humans.

The odd stories include the survival of two men (how does that work out?) or a group of people larger than one family.

How Did They Survive?

Legends describe a variety of survival strategies.

In legends that say one mountain peak remained above water, the survivors fled there.

There are a variety of escape crafts.

One legend says people escaped in wooden houses that floated on the flood. It sounds to me like they would not remain upright in a storm.

In two tales, people escaped sealed in a gourd. That sounds like asphyxiation to me.

Three times the survivors are described as escaping sealed in a tree or log. There’s little air there either.

Four times, people are described as escaping by raft. Can you imagine surviving many days in the storm we talked about last time? Maybe the raft would, but people would surely be washed overboard.

Now, let’s look at the more sensible ideas.

Two sources state the survivors escaped in a chest or box. As long as they have air holes and the box is made of wood, it’s possible. The size and shape of the box would be big factors in success.

Eleven tales say people escaped in a boat, ship, or canoe. Sorry, but a canoe is not going to make it through a cataclysm. A boat is a general term. A ship is large and made for traveling seas and oceans.

Surprisingly, four legends use the same word: ark.

Description of an Ark

I was sixty-nine years old and had heard the story of Noah’s Ark all of my life when I thought to ask myself, “Does the word ‘ark’ mean anything specific?”

To my surprise, it does!

An ark is a strongbox or sturdy chest in which one’s most precious treasures are protected.

Noah’s ark was a ship-sized treasure chest whose purpose was to protect God’s greatest treasures from the cataclysm. Those treasures were the righteous Noah and his family!

For the family’s survival after the flood, animals were invited onto the ship also.

I must admit that tales trying to be both “biblical” and “scientific” slip into ridiculousness, as is often the case. In one, the mammoth was too big to enter the ark so it sat on top. That’s not going to work.

In another story, the dinosaur swam behind. That was a very long swim.

The Disappearance of Dinosaurs

Let’s digress a moment and answer a question that has been nagging at us: What happened to dinosaurs?

Here’s a theory. Remember that Noah could only bring two of each kind of unclean animal into the ark. Whatever “kind” meant in Moses’ Egyptian classification of living things, it seems to be between species and family in ours. Therefore, not all species of dinosaurs would be included in the ark.

Reptiles are “unclean” animals, so one male and one female of each kind would be chosen.

Also, consider that most dinosaurs were smaller than today’s horse, even as small as a chicken. Wouldn’t it be logical to choose, say, the crocodile and Komodo dragon instead of Tyrannosaurus Rex?

The rest drowned with other animals we have never seen.

Description of Noah’s Ark

As an Egyptian prince, Moses surely was interested in building, architecture, and engineering. He probably studied those arts. His description of Noah’s Ark is specific.

  1. Make it of wood. (Wood floats easily.)
  2. Put rooms in it.
  3. Waterproof it with pitch inside and outside.
  4. The dimensions are to be 450 feet by 75 feet by 45 feet. (That’s half as long as the Titanic!)
  5. Three stories.
  6. One door in the side.
  7. One window at the top.

What Noah’s Ark Was Not

Noah’s Ark was not designed for navigation. It was designed only for floating.

It lacks these parts: a pointed bow, a pointed stern, an anchor, a propeller and rudder or oars, slanted sides, and one or more masts.

Those were invented for navigation and cruise efficiency. It’s not as stable as a flat bottomed craft. Also, any structure under the water line could be damaged by hidden aquatic dangers.

The picture above does not represent Noah’s ark.

The blueprint describes a three story enclosed barge. Because of the straight sides, the enclosed volume of Noah’s Ark was roughly the same as the Titanic! Who says there isn’t room for every “kind” (not species) of animal?

What Happened During the Voyage?

We don’t know.

That’s right. No legend tells us what happened on board during the flood. Neither does Genesis. Apparently, Moses didn’t think it important.

The next thing we know is that the cataclysm was over, the waters receded considerably, and Noah was at the window.

Is it just Moses’s minimalistic style, or is it fact that there was nothing on board but the humans and the animals? Noah was not commanded to bring food or any other supplies on board.

Could it be that in God’s mercy He put the passengers of the ark into suspended animation, saving them the trauma of the cataclysm?

That would be my choice!

The fact is, we don’t know. Period.

Post-Cataclysm Changes

The earth Noah saw when he left the ark was as bizarre and astonishing as if he had landed on the moon.

God told Noah there would be changes between humans and animals. The Dream Time was finished. First, animals would be afraid of people. Second, “every living thing that moves will be meat for you.”

Humans are no longer to be vegetarians. That’s a good reason for animals to be afraid!

But why the change? God doesn’t say. It’s logical, however, to suggest that the change is related to the vastly altered earth.

The Rainbow

I was surprised how many legends included a rainbow at the end of the story as a sign of hope and peace. One story had four rainbows: one in each direction!

Of course, there are always outliers, such as the story with the Rainbow Serpent.

In Genesis, God says, “I will set my bow in the clouds” as a sign (think seal or signature) of the covenant between myself and the earth that I will never do this again.

This ceremony of the bow survives today in some places. When two tribes or clans have been warring but meet to create a peace treaty, each leader hangs his (war) bow on the wall, signifying he comes in peace and trusts not to be attacked.

The bows are always hung curved side up…just like the one in the sky.

Photo credit: Javiare_Art_Photography on Unsplash.com

Categories
World History

Welcome to Noah’s Real Worldwide Flood!

Noah's real worldwide flood

In Generalities, Unity

In Specifics, Diversity

Causes of the Flood

Four Recurring Ideas

How Enough Rain Fell to Cover the Earth

Forming Diamonds

And That’s Not All!

Geographical Changes Resulting From the Flood

Welcome to the Real Flood!

Welcome to Noah’s Real Worldwide Flood!

In Generalities, Unity

Nearly all of the worldwide flood stories agree on these things: the flood covered the planet to at least the tip of the highest mountain, there was an escape vehicle, and very few humans survived.

The fact that these agreements come from all times and cultures around the world establishes these as facts. No history book should ignore them.

In Specifics, Diversity

Often differing by geographical area, the legends generally become more fantastic the farther their origins are from Turkey and the near east in time and geography.

We would expect both of these effects for spoken legends. It verifies the location of the first human settlement.

Causes of the Flood of Water

Ancient Greece: The fountains of the deep opened and rain fell in torrents.

Celtic: The Giant named Earth was murdered and his blood caused the flood.

Assyria: The waters of the abyss rose up.

Chaldea: There was violent rain, and the rivers, lakes, and ocean burst forth from

beneath.

Hebrew (not Genesis): The male waters of sky met the female waters of the ground.

A hole in the sky was caused by the removal of two stars from the Pleiades.

Persia: The Angel Star (Sirius) descended three times.

Masai: There was a great long rain.

Tuvinian: The earth’s supporting frog (or turtle) moved.

Hindu: There was constant rain and ocean overflow

Lisu (China): There were torrents of rain and a huge wave.

China: A chief was defeated by a goddess. Angry that he had been defeated by a female,

the chief beat his head against the Heavenly Bamboo, knocking it down and

tearing a hole in the sky.

Victoria, Austrailia: The god Bunjul urinated into the ocean.

Lake Tyres, Austrailia: Frog swallowed all of earth’s water but Eel made him laugh and

spit it out.

Maori, New Zealand: A man worshipped as a god became angry. He stomped on the

floor of heaven, breaking it and releasing the Celestial Waters.

Innuit, Alaska: There was an unusually high tide.

Tinneh, Alaska: An unusually heavy snowfall one September melted.

Tinneh, Alaska: The Mariner rocked his canoe.

Bella Coola, Br. Columbia: The Creator stretched the rope connecting earth and sky.

The earth sank, allowing the waters to run over it.

Kato, California: The sky fell.

Cree, Canada: A monster lashed the sea with its tail.

Chippewa, Wisconsin: There was a great snowfall one September. Mouse nibbled a hole

in the leather bag containing the sun’s heat. The snow melted.

Mandan, N. Dakota: The earth is a large tortoise. A tribe digging for badgers cut a hole

in the shell. Tortoise began to sink and water rose through the knife wound.

Nahua, central Mexico: The heavens came crashing down in one day.

Jivaro, eastern Equador: A great cloud fell from heaven and turned to rain.

Canelos Quechua, Equador: The stars were crying.

Yamani, Tierra del Fuego: It snowed so much that ice covered the earth. A

rapid thaw caused the flooding.

Four Recurring Ideas

Although these explanations sound very different, there are four repeated ideas:

  1. Snow and ice
  2. Underground water thrusting upward
  3. Torrential rain falling downward
  4. Enormous wave(s)

The last idea includes The Mariner rocking his canoe and a monster thrashing its tail. Since neither of these could have been observed by anyone but Noah, we can omit the monster and Noah’s canoe as literary hyperbole.

That leaves us with this: repeated waves crashing over the land flooding it. Perhaps the waters were rising, but these waves, so striking that they have been remembered for millennia, were the first cause of flooding the land.

The Innuit report an unusually high tide. The Canelos Quechua specify that people were swept out to sea.

If we put all of this together, are the ancients talking about tidal waves?

Okay, this is more than we bargained for!

The idea of snow and ice is only reported by cultures from Alaska, Wisconsin, and Tierra del Fuego: all places that still see heavy snow. The Sek’hem of the southern tip of Argentina report ice floes seen during the flood. Remember, the Wisconsin story includes a sudden increase in heat from the sun.

I’m not sure what to make of this. There are hints of glaciers and icebergs. And what would cause the increased intensity of solar heat? Yet, it’s so precise and sounds so reasonable (except for Mouse) that it feels authentic.

I know. That’s not scientific. But sometimes a feeling or an intellectual nudge leads to a scientific discovery.

Reports of water thrusting upward from “the deep” into existing rivers, lakes, and the ocean are intriguing. Are we talking about geysers? If so, what is the sudden cause of sufficient force to result in these eruptions? Where was this water before the eruptions? In aquafers?

And what about the rain?

It is described as a deluge most frequently. Cultures also describe the rain as torrential, constant, and violent. Through various stories, the Cosmic Waters are described as dumping or gushing from heaven. Persians stated that “each rain drop was as big as a bowl.”

One gets the idea that the ancients are struggling to describe a unique event.

How Enough Rain Fell to Cover the Earth

Critics of the flood accounts ask, “How could enough rain fall to cover the mountains in the time allotted? What was the source of the rain?”

Three legends are of particular interest to me: the Jivaro description that “a great cloud fell from heaven and turned into rain.” The Nahua of Central Mexico state that “the heavens came down in one day.” The Kato report simply, “The sky fell.”

Some scientists who believe the Genesis account point to Genesis 1:6.

And God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters

to separate water from water.” So God made expanse and

separated the water under the expanse from the water above

it. God called the expanse “sky.”

In the view of these scientists, this verse describes a layer of water above the sky which no longer exists. It came crashing down during the flood.

The legends now sound reasonable, don’t they?

Other scientists object, saying such a layer would create a greenhouse effect so intense that it would destroy life.

Meanwhile, it created the perfect worldwide climate described in Genesis. And while it may have had a negative effect (which we don’t know as fact), the canopy was only in place until the tenth human generation.

Forming Diamonds

An objection to the “short earth theory” is the formation of diamonds and other geological findings that are said to require billions of years under the pressure of the earth: today’s earth pressure is what the scientists mean.

But if the pressure is tremendously increased by the weight of a mountain-covering flood, then the equation demands an equal decrease in required time.

A mathematician calculated the time-pressure result of the biblical flood and found it to be more than sufficient to create diamonds.

And That’s Not All!

There’s more to the “flood” than rainfall and flooding. These are in the legends:

Mountains parted

Islands arose

Mountains rose

Earthquakes

It all began with a great booming above the earth and another below ground.

Storm

The day turned dark.

Violent winds

Mountains tumbled down

Hot subterranean waters gushed out

Black rain of resin (???)

Darkness ascending from earth to sky

Thunder

The sun and moon turned red, blue, and yellow

Volcanoes erupted.

(Now you understand why I insist on calling it the Great Cataclysm!)

Geographical Changes Resulting From the Flood

Three cultures (Lushai, Bunun, and Kiangan Ifugaro) state that the earth’s surface was flat before the flood. Interesting. No other culture describes the overall geography of the earth before this event, nor does Genesis.

The intense pressure from the water formed diamonds and other geographical findings.

The same disruptions by water from below, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions that altered mountains and islands easily explain the missing, inverted, and shuffled geologic layers as well as seashells atop mountains.

Welcome to the Real Flood!

Photo credit: Elen11 on Unsplash.com

Categories
World History

Cataclysm Journalism

writing in spiral bound journal

Why?

Who?

When?

Where?

Cataclysm Journalism

Just like we looked at the origin of humans, we will explore the journalistic questions: who, what, when, where, why, and how.

Usually we would end with “why” because it wraps up everything we learn. This time we will begin with that question.

Why? Because Moses begins there so that what he tells us will make sense.

Why?

Unlike the comfortable comet theory which posits a huge asteroid crossing earth’s path and being sucked in by gravity, the event commonly called Noah’s Ark is always initiated by one or more gods who deign to punish humans.

The corrupt acts vary from a woman who drank from a stream during her menses to disrespect of the gods to complete wickedness. A few cultures say it wasn’t evil that triggered the event, but overpopulation.

How did humans disrespect the gods? Here are some examples: the gods were miffed by the King of Alba setting himself up as a god equal to Jupiter, general rudeness and lack of hospitality when a god came in the guise of a poor person, or outright disregard of required sacrifices and worship.

Here are some specific wicked behaviors listed by different cultures:

They didn’t know how to act as humans. (Lakota: indigenous American)

Imperious and depraved (Chaldean: ancient Mesopotamian)

Idleness, wantonness, rapacity (Hebrew legend, not from Genesis)

Wicked, lazy, and didn’t wash (Munda: India)

Wasted fish, polluted the pond until all of the fish were poisoned (Sui: China)

Genesis 6: 5 says that “every inclination of the thoughts of (man’s) heart was only evil all the time.”

Well! That covers it!

And since we know that according to Moses, God had already ejected Adam and Eve from the garden and prevented humans from returning, had allowed the DNA decay and defect processes to begin, and had cut human life time to 120years, we see that God is progressively angrier.

God wasn’t going to take it anymore! He was going to destroy everything on earth!

But then, he remembered Noah….

Who?

It is amazing how many cultures use “Noah” or a derivative for the protagonist of the story!

These cultures use Noah: Genesis (Hebrew Bible), Islam, Russian, the Hershel Island Eskimos (Canadian Yukon). The Zapotecs of ancient Mexico called him Noéh. 

Here are related names: Nama (Altaic: central Asia), Noj (Sagaive: eastern Siberia), Nol (Lifou: New Caledonia), Nu’u (Hawaii), Nanaboujou (Ottawa: indigenous American), and Nu-mohk-muck-a-nek (Ottawa).

Other cultures refer to the same protagonist by a descriptive name.

Several cultures refer to him as a son of a god, although he may have a different name. Ancient Greeks called him Deucalion, the son of Prometheus.

According to the ancient Chaldeans, he was the tenth king of Babylon. Well, Noah was the tenth generation from Adam. It seems the Babylonians considered the Genesis genealogy to be their king list!

The ancient Sumerians called him a priest-king, which is who ruled their culture. Is Noah where the idea came from?

Another popular title was “Long of Life.” This is the meaning of Ziusudra of Sumer, Utnapishtim of Assyria, and Xisudthrus of Chaldea: all of which were ancient civilizations. Tuvinian (Soyot, north of Mongolia) and Lifou call him the Old Man. According to Genesis, Noah lived 950 years. No later person’s age was worthy of comment.

Noah was known to the Vogul (western Siberia) as the Great Man, to the Maori (New Zealand) as Hero, and to the Cree (indigenous American) as the Old Magician (Wise One).

But to me, the description that is the most tantalizing is from Sumer: The Mariner. I’m interested for two reasons: because Sumer is the oldest scientifically proven civilization, and because “The Mariner” is that specific.

The synonyms closest to “mariner” are seaman, seafarer, navigator, and sailor.

Sailor is a more general word. A sailor can work on lakes or rivers as well as the sea.

A seaman, seafarer, or mariner specifically sails the sea, and by extension the ocean. Yet, there are differences.

A seaman is one who works as a sailor, especially below the rank of an officer. That’s not Noah. He was the highest ranking person on the ark.

Seafarer can be anyone who serves aboard a marine (sea-going) vessel, or a sea traveler, often an adventurer. Yes, that could be Noah.

Mariner is the oldest of the three synonyms, dating from Latin in which “mare” means “the sea.” Mariner then means “man of the sea” or “man from the sea.” It gives the feeling that the sea is not just a job to this man. Somehow, it has become his identity.

Isn’t that true of Noah? Whenever anyone says, “Noah” the usual response is to think of the ark on the sea.

A navigator, however, is a mariner who directs the route of the ship. That was not in Noah’s job description.

When?

Ussher dates the Genesis event 2349-2348 B.C.

Most cultural legends are vague: “in the time of the stone giants,” “after the dream time,” “in the time of the first men.”

The Greeks are more specific: “Zeus sent a flood to destroy the men of the Bronze Age.” Now, that’s odd. If this legend first arose before the ancient Greece civilization we think of, the Greek tribes existed during the Bronze Age! Why didn’t the speaker just refer to that? After all, a civilization ties everything to itself.

Could it be that this is corroboration of the first bronze age: the world that Tubal-Cain invented? That is exactly when the flood occurred according to Genesis! Wow!

Where?

We don’t know where Noah lived. Surely, there was still plenty of room in Turkey for everyone to live. But maybe some went exploring.

We do know that the whole earth would be affected by the event.

What and How?

Ah, that’s the story isn’t it? And it deserves its own post.

See you next time!

Photo credit: globalmoments on Unsplash.com