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 of the natural elements. On the famous canvas of Aivazovsky, the deadly cataclysm is depicted so vividly and realistically that it seems that the great painter personally witnessed it. Everyone knows the famous fresco by Michelangelo depicting representatives of the human race a step before their death.
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 ship had to fit certain dimensions, and it had to be outfitted with the right 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, in the holds of the vessel were placed a pair of unclean animals from each species (those that were not eaten for religious or other prejudices, and were not used for sacrifices), and seven pairs of clean animals that exist on earth. The doors of the ark were closed, and the hour of retribution for sins came for the whole person.
The heavens seemed to have opened up, and the water rushed to the earth in an endless powerful stream, 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. Thus began a 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 a simple layman, 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 the 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 of 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. In simple terms, 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, it crossed the entire globe. The contents of the underground bowels, most of which were groundwater, instantly broke free.
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. Intelligent beings made no 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".
When the ancient people were mired in the violation of laws, unbelief and general unspiritual lawlessness, God, with the help of the flood, arranged for the world a kind of “reboot” of the failed system. Leaving only the righteous family of the forefather Noah alive. However, as subsequent history showed, this did not solve the problem of evil and human sinfulness.
At the beginning of the biblical story of the Flood, there are curious lines: “When people began to multiply on earth and daughters were born to them, then the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful, and took them as their wife, which one they chose ...”, “... at that time time there were giants on earth, especially since the time when the sons of God began to enter into the daughters of men, and they began to give birth to them ... ". But who are they - these mysterious sons of God, because of which humanity has become so hopelessly corrupted?
Theologians have three versions of this:
1. The sons of God are fallen angels who started love affairs with earthly girls. From them were born children with demonic characters and superpowers. This opinion was held by Philo and Clement of Alexandria, Justin the Philosopher, Irenaeus of Lyon and Tertullian. In favor of this version, the apocryphal book of Enoch is usually cited as an example, which tells about the cohabitation of people and demons, from which giants were born. Due to bad heredity, the decline in morals and social inequality progressed. People dabbled in magic and witchcraft, trying to become "like the gods."
2. Many saints, such as John Chrysostom, Ephraim the Syrian and Augustine the Blessed, categorically disagreed with the previous version. They believed that the "sons of God" were those descendants of the pious son of Adam Seth, who intermarried with the wicked offspring of the fratricide Cain.
3. And finally, the third interpretation suggests that the sons of God are princes, rulers and nobles. The ruling elite is mired in sins and depravity, began to worship not God, but demons, and corrupted the rest of the people. With all the ensuing consequences. Well, we will not consider modern exotic versions like “aliens visits”.
God told Noah about the coming flood in advance. The five-hundred-year-old head of the family (ancient people lived an order of magnitude longer than modern ones), together with his sons and workers, built and equipped a huge ship that could survive the coming cataclysm for more than 100 years. When everything was ready, God told him to go into the ark with his family, and take with him a couple from each kind of animal in the world. The earth was flooded for 40 days, the water covered even the highest mountains. The journey of Noah's Ark lasted for a whole year before the waters began to subside and the surviving family with the world's largest zoo was finally able to land on the slopes of Mount Ararat.
The descendants of Noah settled along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, filling the ancient Mesopotamia. All modern humanity originated from them, eventually settling all over the world and dividing into races and language groups. However, that's another story.
Miracles in the ark
Not only scientists, but also just people who have logical thinking, after reading the story of the Flood, ask skeptical questions. For example:
1. Where did such an incredible amount of water come from to raise the level of the world's oceans by at least 5 thousand meters (the height of Mount Ararat), or even almost 9 thousand (the height of Chomolungma), according to the biblical lines, according to which water covered the highest mountains ? Even if water continuously poured from the sky and from underground, the entire earth's hydrosphere would not be enough to cover the Earth with such a multi-kilometer layer.
2. And where did all this water go? Just imagine at least a five-kilometer shell of water around the entire globe! You can, of course, come up with an explanation that the Earth is empty inside (like a fanatic's head), and declare traces of weathering and sedimentary rocks of the earth's crust "traces of the Great Flood", but scientists will certainly not agree with such conclusions.
3. Hypothetically, let's assume that water miraculously materialized in such an incredible amount, and a year later it left somewhere. But, in this case, how did Noah manage to collect “each creature in pairs” for salvation? After all, there are several million (!) species of living beings in the world that would have to be saved in the ark if the Flood were global.
4. Suppose that such an incredible fabulous miracle happened that all the animals to be saved, themselves or by God's order, organized themselves and came-flown to Noah from all over the world. But how did he manage to accommodate all of them in his ark? How and with what did Noah manage to feed and water such an innumerable horde, and even for a whole year? How did he manage to clean up after them? Just imagine this million-strong menagerie, which would not be enough to take care of an army of thousands of employees and whole mountains of food - from plant to animal food! Moreover, all animals would have to survive for a whole year in captivity, without light and almost without fresh air. But, in addition to the zoo, Noah would still have to collect hundreds of thousands of tons of seeds and seedlings of various plants that could not survive in a flooded state ...
And these are far from all the questions, the answers to which would have to wrestle with those who literally perceive the story of the ark and the salvation of all the animals of the Earth in it. However, they are unlikely to convince “true believers” - after all, everything that cannot be rationally explained can simply be declared a miracle of God and not strain the convolutions in unsuccessful attempts at logical reasoning.
This mystery is great
So was the Flood worldwide? And is it possible to believe in all these fabulous details of the salvation of Noah's family and animals?
Many Christians confidently answer these questions: yes! After all, the Savior Himself and His apostles in the New Testament mentioned the Flood as real events. And the Apostle Paul in his Second Epistle to Timothy stated: “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching.” The holy fathers teach that the Bible is a book from God, and everything that is described in it is the truth. Since the Holy Scripture describes events in this way and not otherwise, it means that this is how it actually happened. To think otherwise means to doubt the correctness of Scripture and the truth of one's native faith. In addition, many priests believe that the Flood has a dogmatic meaning: the doctrine of the unity and continuity of the human race from Adam through Noah to our time is associated with it.
All these arguments are of decisive importance for orthodox Christians. For it is easier for the Christian consciousness to assume that the whole world is mistaken than to blasphemously think that the God-man and His apostles, as well as the hosts of holy fathers, could have made a mistake.
“The Flood is denied by the science of geology? So geology is wrong! And in general, you should not trust this atheistic science that undermines the roots of the true faith! - sometimes you have to hear from priests and laity. Who in the rest of their lives give the impression of adequate people, but when it comes to criticizing religious foundations, their logical thinking is turned off. And they reject everything that contradicts the meaning and letter of the biblical narrative with the same conviction with which young children fend off the confessions of adults that Santa Claus is a fairy tale and does not really exist.
"Scientific creationists" go even further. Pulling out of the context of scientific data individual fragments that suit their faith, they mold their own theories from them and express unambiguous conclusions, which the entire scientific community then makes fun of. But this does not bother them. Indeed, any critical questions that cast doubt on the events described can always be answered in the spirit: “it was a miracle of God” or “this mystery is great.”
"Noah" was a lot?
The biblical story of the Flood is by no means the only legend of its kind about a worldwide cataclysm. Anthropologists and ethnographers managed to find traces of legends with a “flood” plot in Palestine, Babylonia, Syria, Armenia, Kazakhstan, India, Burma, Vietnam, China, Australia and on many islands of the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, as well as in many other regions of the earth. Scientists have about 250 versions of this story found in the mythology of the peoples of the world. In Eurasia, especially in the Middle East and Europe, this legend is one of the fundamental principles of ideas about the world order. At the same time, it is not found in the mythological systems of the peoples of Central and South Africa.
When studying ancient legends, it seems that Noah's family was by no means the only one who managed to escape the flood. For example, in the Sumerian legend in "Noah" was the pious king Ziusudra, the priest of the god Enki. The mentally ill Sumerian gods conspired among themselves and decided to drown the people, but Ziusudra found out about this and took action. The voyage of his ark lasted 7 days, after which he found land, sacrificed bulls and sheep, and convinced the gods not to fool around like that anymore. In an Akkadian legend similar in plot, the forefather was called Atrahasis. Atrahasis-Ziusudra not only restored the human race, but also received the gift of immortality from the gods and was taken to a transcendental fairyland.
In the Babylonian version, the protagonist's name was Utnapishtim ("Long-liver"), and he was the ruler of the city of Shuruppak on the banks of the Euphrates River. After the gods conspired to destroy humanity, one of them, Ninigiku, secretly warned his pet Utnapishtim about the impending trick and helped him escape. The Babylonian "Noah", in addition to his relatives, took with him craftsmen to the ship to preserve knowledge and technology, livestock, as well as animals and birds. The seven-day flood was so terrible that the gods themselves began to curse themselves for getting so excited. In search of land, Utnapishtim also released birds for reconnaissance, though not in the same order as the biblical Noah did. The dove and the swallow returned to him with nothing, and the third scout, the raven, did not return, remaining on the found land. Where the surviving team soon descended from the mountain. As a sacrifice to the gods, Utnapishtim did not bring animals, but plants - he burned a mixture of myrtle, reed and cedar. The forefather and his wife received the gift of immortality, and the human race was continued by their children and other surviving people.
It is likely that the ancient Jews adopted their legend of Noah from the Sumerians and Babylonians, reinterpreting it in their own way, reducing the number of gods to one and adding new details. And also having come up with a spiritual reason and instructive moral and ethical meaning of the flood, which was absent in the primary sources.
The timing of the event varies markedly. When calculating the date on the basis of the Sumerian King List, it turns out that the Flood could have occurred no later than 33,981 BC. However, comparing the legends about the cataclysm with geological discoveries, scientists come to the conclusion that in reality the Earth was flooded approximately 3000 BC. Well, according to biblical chronology, the Flood happened in 1656-1657 BC.
In the Greek version, there were as many as three floods: Ogygi, Deucalion and Dardanov. Of these, the Deluge most of all looks like the Deucalion flood, with which Zeus punished people for the fact that they began to bring human sacrifices to the gods. In the ark, built according to the instructions of the titan Prometheus, his son Deucalion escaped with his wife Pyrrha, and they landed on Mount Parnassus on the ninth day after the flood. At the same time, not only they were saved, but also the inhabitants of the city of Parnassus, founded by the clairvoyant son of Poseidon. They were warned of the cataclysm and were able to take shelter from the flood on top of a mountain. And by no means did they stop their barbaric practice of sacrifice - so Zeus clearly screwed up.
Well, the hero of Hindu mythology Vaivasvat, a representative of the local ruling elite, was saved from the flood by the divine fish Matsya-avatara, who accidentally caught him while swimming, on whose advice he built the ship. Moreover, he escaped alone, along with the seeds of plants and animals, and then, in the process of offering sacrifices to the gods, he was presented with a new wife, with the help of which the human race was restored.
Local cataclysms
In fact, science does not reject the Flood at all. According to scientists, cataclysms of this kind really happened, and happened more than once. But all the earth's land was not flooded at the same time, and even more so, water never covered the continents with a many-kilometer layer. Ancient people lived compactly, in limited areas. And for them, even a local flood could seem worldwide.
According to the Bible, it was not so much the rains that flooded the earth as "the fountains of the great deep." What were these mysterious sources? The answer is quite obvious. Judging by the coastlines of ancient flooded cities and other geological factors, during the last ice age, the level of the world's seas was more than a hundred meters lower than the current one. When it got warmer and the glaciers began to actively melt, catastrophes began to occur all over the world. The overflowing oceans flooded vast territories, including those inhabited by people. Freshwater lakes turned into seas, rivers turned back and flooded vast valleys. And as a result of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, groundwater was thrown to the surface.
In a philosophical sense, the legendary Flood can indeed be called worldwide, since floods at different times occurred almost all over the globe. And as a result of these cataclysms, entire nations and civilizations perished. Only the luckiest managed to swim or run away to elevated places and escape. The biblical Noah clearly had many real prototypes. And since the whole world for the ancient peoples was limited to a rather narrow framework of the space of the earth's surface they explored, it sincerely seemed to each group of surviving people that only they survived, and the inhabitants of the rest of the world died. Stories about the events experienced were passed from mouth to mouth, embellished, supplemented with new details, and over time transformed into all those myths and legends that have survived to this day.
The causes of cataclysms were traditionally explained by the wrath or whims of the gods, or "God's punishment for sins." The introduction of fear of the punishments of the Lord into the people's consciousness has traditionally helped spiritual leaders to somehow restrain the base instincts and impulses of people and keep the crowd in obedience.
But can a Christian trust scientific explanations and not support the belief in a literal interpretation of the Flood?
Of course - it can! After all, Christianity is by no means a dark blinkered religion, incapable of going beyond the framework of primitive views and ossified dogmas. It fully admits the existence of opposing opinions and the trust in scientific research and discoveries. If this were not so, Christians would still believe that the earth's firmament is flat, or that the Sun revolves around the Earth. Or other ancient nonsense that no educated, self-respecting Christian believes in these days.
The Flood is, first of all, a biblical story, described in the first of the books and the entire Bible. However, there are legends or tales about the global flood in a number of mythological and religious texts of various peoples of the world.
In this article, we will look at Biblical Flood or, as it is often called, Noah's Flood, because it is a key figure in the events associated with the Great Flood in the Bible.
According to the Book of Genesis, the Flood is God's punishment for the sinfulness of mankind.
And the Lord said: I will destroy from the face of the earth the people whom I created, from man to cattle, and the creeping thing and the birds of the air, for I repented that I created them. (Book of Genesis. Chapter 6)
The flood is God's way of eradicating sin from man. God left only Noah and his family alive, commanding Noah to build an ark in which Noah and his family took refuge, as well as a couple of different animals and birds. We will not dwell on the history of the construction of the ark and its navigation, since there is already an article about this on the site that you can read -. Let's talk more about the Flood, its symbolism and possible scientific interpretation.
Flood in the Bible
As we have already said, the biblical story of the Flood is told in the book of Genesis.
The Flood is a monstrous catastrophe of biblical history, the consequence of which was the flooding of the entire planet and the death of almost all living things. Water during the flood arrived not only due to the incessant 40 days of rain, but also due to the discovery of giant underground sources.
In God's plan, it assumed perfection and universal harmony. Everything changed after. Evil and sin settled on the Earth. The first result was that his blood brother did it out of jealousy. Some lived according to God, others in sin. Over time, there were so many sinners and unbelievers that the Lord decided to cleanse the Earth by sending a Flood.
All opened "fountains of the abyss" and opened "windows of heaven" It was raining. hitherto unseen strength, and he walked for 40 days. Water oozed from the bowels of the Earth for 150 days. After that, the water began to subside. It took seven months for the top of Ararat to emerge from the water. Noah came out of the ark and built an altar to the Lord and made a sacrifice. The Lord, having seen the grateful heart of Noah, decided never to repeat the Flood again.
... I will no longer curse the earth for man, because the thinking of the human heart is evil from his youth; and I will no longer strike every living thing, as I have done. (Genesis chapter 8)
The Flood in the Apocrypha.
In addition to the canonical books of the Bible, the story of the Flood can be found in, for example, in (chapter 5), as well as in the Book of Enoch. In general, the apocryphal stories about the Great Flood do not contradict the canonical text of the Book of Genesis, however, the cause of the flood in the apocrypha is the relationship of angels with women, which led to the emergence of magic and sorcery, as well as to a general decline in morals.
The Flood divided biblical history into two eras: antediluvian and post-Flood times.
The origins of the biblical story of the Great Flood.
The biblical story of the Great Flood has its source - the Assyrian myth of Gilgamesh, which has been preserved on clay tablets. These cuneiform legends date back to the 21st century. BC e. the story tells about the miraculous rescue of the Assyrian Utnapishta with all his belongings and animals in the ark during the Flood. On the seventh day of the voyage, the ark of Utnapishta stopped, clinging to the top of Mount Nizir.
The biblical story essentially differs from the legend about the salvation of Utnapishta only by the duration of the flood: according to the Bible, the flood lasted almost a year, and according to Assyrian sources - seven days.
The description of the construction of the ark, as well as the method of determining the water level with the help of birds, coincide. Utnapishty released a dove and a swallow, and Noy a raven and a dove. The amazing similarity between the Assyrian and the Biblical narrative seems even more wonderful if we mention that sometimes these versions are absolutely identical in expression. The Assyrian story of the Flood reduces the flood to a small and plausible size - the flood lasts seven days, the water does not cover the top of Mount Nisir (its height is about 400 meters).
But is the Assyrian legend the ultimate source? No. Archaeologists often refer to the land of Mesopotamia as a "big layer cake". Civilizations here replaced one another. The Assyrians, who conquered the valley of two rivers, were a very young nation compared to the Babylonians, who lived in this territory long before the arrival of the Assyrians. The Assyrians, of course, borrowed the story of Gilgamesh from the more ancient inhabitants of the Tigris and Euphrates valley - the Babylonians. After a number of Sumerian monuments were found in the 20th century, it became clear that the story of the flood migrated to the Babylonians from an even more ancient people - Sumerians. However, here we will not find the end point of our journey to the source of the plot about the Flood.
Leonard Woolley, the famous archaeologist and explorer, while excavating Ur, discovered that the Sumerian culture was preceded by another, even more ancient one, it is called El Obeid a culture named after the hill where traces of it were first found. Among other values, the people of the El Obeid period passed on to the Sumerians the story of the Flood.
The Sumerians were very ancient nomads who, coming from outside, adopted the achievements of a settled people. An analysis of the words of the Ubaid language that have come down to us shows that it has much in common with the language of the Dravidians living in South India. The Dravidian peoples also have a legend about a worldwide flood.
Was there a flood? scientific point of view.
The story of the Flood described in the Bible has analogues among different peoples, far from the Old Testament ideas. This suggests that such a cataclysm took place and its consequences were, indeed, difficult, since the legends of the Great Flood were preserved in the memory of the peoples of all continents of the Earth.
To date, scientists reject the version that in the times described by the Bible there really was a World Sweat. A large number of traditions, including the biblical one, most likely describe various catastrophes related to water and flooding, which occurred at different time periods and were of a local nature.
Thus, the Flood is, most likely, a huge number of local disasters in different regions, to which the inhabitants of the affected areas attributed a global character. The likely causes of local sweats were:
- tsunamis due to earthquakes or meteor impacts,
- rising water levels for one reason or another,
- water breakthroughs from closed reservoirs due to karst processes,
- typhoons.
What are we dealing with when we talk about the Biblical Flood?
Questions about the flood worried the Austrian geologist E. Suess, who studied the biblical text, as well as the primary source of the biblical legend - the Assyrian myth of Gilgamesh, concluded that Noah's Flood was nothing more than a devastating flood of the Mesopotamian lowland in the lower reaches of the Euphrates. E. Suess considered the main cause of the Biblical Flood to be the tsunami formed as a result of a strong earthquake in the Persian Gulf. Scientists - followers of Suess - found that the probable cause of Noah's Flood was still not a tsunami - tsunamis of such strength are not typical for this region, but a devastating flood that occurred as a result of prolonged downpours and a strong wind blowing against the flow of rivers. Similar floods have been observed more than once in the Bengal region. The water level during such floods quickly rose by 16 meters. Hundreds of thousands of people perished. Probably, a similar flood 4000-5000 years ago was described in the Bible as the Flood.
There is, however, another opinion among scientists, according to which the Flood took place precisely in the form of a global catastrophe, when the Black Sea ceased to be closed. Due to a strong earthquake, the water level rose by 140 meters, the Black Sea connected with the Mediterranean, causing flooding of vast regions and the death of a huge number of people.
Flood time
When was the Flood? What year? The Bible contains enough chronological information to answer these questions. In Genesis, the genealogy from the creation of the first man Adam to the birth of Noah is very accurately recorded. The flood, according to biblical tradition, began
in the six hundredth year of Noah's life (Genesis, chapter 7).
If we take as a starting point 537 BC. e., when the remnant of the Jews left Babylon and returned to their homeland, then by subtracting the periods of reign of the judges and kings of Israel, as well as the years of life of the post-Flood patriarchs indicated in the Old Testament, we get that the Great Flood occurred in 2370 BC. uh.
It should be remembered that the biblical story was borrowed from the Assyrians. An Assyrian legend describes a natural disaster that occurred about in 5500 BC.
There are also alternative versions. Based on the chronological system of the English Archbishop Ussher, the flood can be dated 2349 BC. e. According to the calculations of the chronological data of the Septuagint, the Flood occurred in 3213 BC e.
The ancient story of Noah and the Flood is kept in our memory from childhood. The Flood allegedly became a punishment to people from the Almighty, for unbelief and deviation from the laws of God.
But it is interesting, was the flood really global and worldwide, as a page of history presents us with? Or it was a local-scale flood, which is not uncommon even today.
So, let's look deep into the centuries, let's go on an amazing adventure from the times of hoary antiquity. We will go towards the old legends and see if there really was a Divine retribution for human sins?
According to the sacred writings, a catastrophe on a planetary scale came from the sky as heavy rain for 40 days and nights, although according to Sumerian records, the downpour lasted a week.
It is obvious that the described catastrophe should leave many traces in the form of sediments, both on land and at the bottom of the oceans. But have the researchers found at least some traces of a catastrophe of a planetary volume? Geologists conducted a study on all continents, but the true evidence of the Flood was not found.
But such a disaster must necessarily leave traces, and quite noticeable, but for some reason they are not. There is no evidence that once the whole land disappeared under water. What's more, the lack of direct evidence isn't the only problem, climate scientists say. After all, the very idea of a universal flood contradicts what we know about our planet. According to one of the assumptions of biblical critics, to flood the entire planet with water, it would take about three times more water than the water basins of the entire planet store.
Flood, where did the water come from?
From the point of view of logic, it is impossible to explain the appearance of such colossal volumes of water, just as it is impossible to imagine the container where it was contained. Biblical records report 40 days of heavy rain, but even this amount of precipitation is not enough for the entire planet to be under water. So what is this container where such volumes of liquid were stored?
Maybe the answer lies in the sacred books, which mention a certain great abyss: “all the fountains of the great abyss burst open, and the windows of heaven were opened”; Genesis 7:12. I agree, not a very meaningful answer, but it is clear from it that there were two sources of the elements - groundwater and heaven.
I wonder if the firmament could open up, and water gush from the bowels of the earth? Scientists say that this is a crazy idea, no underground sources have the ability to provide such an amount of water. But let's assume for a moment that the water really got close to the earth's surface and nourished the earth's soil.
In this case, water turns the land into a liquid substance, and the quicksand does not give a chance to stand on it. In addition, all this took place in a sandy area, and sand saturated with water is a disgusting foothold.
But even if circumstances turn around so that all kinds of geysers work, then all the inhabitants of the earth and Noah with his whole family become hostages to other problems.
Let's say the Flood was brought by geysers, in which case it changes the gas composition of the atmosphere. The air becomes extremely humid and saturated with water, so much so that people and animals could simply choke when they inhale. At the same time, we do not forget that strong atmospheric pressure could break the lungs of any living creature.
But this is not all the dangers of a hypothetically happened tragedy, since there are widespread eruptions from the bowels of the earth, this worsens many times over. Assuming geysers spouting water, we will have to agree with the fact that huge volumes of poisonous gases and acids are ejected from the bowels of the earth into the atmosphere, which are capable of destroying all life and those fleeing on Noah's ark as well. As you can imagine such a scenario, trillions of tons of poisonous gases released into the atmosphere are guaranteed to destroy a living being even before the start of the Flood.
Having discarded the version with the appearance of water from underground, it remains to look at the sky, in the end, it is it that gives us precipitation. But since the law of the circulation of substances in nature is inviolable, and clouds are simply not able to carry so much water, we have to look for the source of a global catastrophe in space.
A comet is a huge reservoir of frozen water. However, a comet, which is a huge volume of frozen liquid, will have the size of a small planet three, or even more than thousands of kilometers in diameter.
So, even with a comet, the story does not add up beautifully, since we are not considering the origin of life billions of years ago, but the relatively recent time of the Flood - according to various estimates, this happened from 5-8 thousand years ago before the birth of Christ.
If our planet met on its way, then in the event of a collision with it, all life would most likely annihilate. Such an encounter will end in an explosion with so much energy that in a matter of seconds the temperature of the atmosphere can reach 6600 degrees Celsius! By the way, it is slightly hotter than on the surface of the Sun. It is unlikely that anyone would have managed to escape in this madness, including the inhabitants of Noah's ark, even if the Almighty helped him.
In such a situation, the flora and fauna of the planet, including Noah and those saved on the Ark, would have turned into clouds of steam, initially scalding heavily in it, and even before the Flood. Unless, to trust ufology, and consider the Ark a ship of a highly developed alien civilization. In this case, yes, many problems of salvation disappear.
The Flood, the interweaving of ancient legends.
As can be seen from all of the above, most likely the flood was not universal, for such a large-scale incident there is no source of abundance of water. But do not rush to leave the page, this is not the end of our story. As biblical scripture tells us, Noah's ark ran aground and got stuck in the region of Mount Ararat.
But if this really happened, then somewhere there must be at least some traces of a rescue ship. However, no, research expeditions climbed Ararat in search of the ark of salvation more than once, but all to no avail, not one of them found even the slightest trace of the supertanker.
Interesting, but what if the story of the Flood and the escaped Noah and his whole family look skeptically? Hundreds of Bible students say that the legend of the Flood and Noah was written down in the 6th century BC by Jewish priests who, being in exile, settled in Babylon (possibly offended and angry).
One should not lose sight of the fact that they once wrote a story about what a terrible punishment anger will fall on those who disobey the law of God. And what? - by introducing such an idea into the minds of peoples, you can acquire a good lever for influencing society, and as a bonus, then promote any proposal on behalf of God.
But whatever the fairy tale, in every fiction there is a certain piece of truth. It is likely that the story of the Flood and Noah is still a reflection of a real event that happened in the past, but as the story was passed down through generations and written down, it acquired a scale.
About one hundred and fifty years ago, archaeologists during excavations in Iraq found amazing artifacts that made it possible to take a fresh look at the story of the Flood, Noah and the Ark. British archaeologists were in for a chic success, they discovered many different clay tablets.
At first, archaeologists were unable to decipher the inscriptions on the tablets, and sent them to the British Museum, where the records lay on the shelves for a while until they were deciphered. As it turned out later, the clay tablets contained a story about the Flood! It really was, the significance of which cannot be underestimated.
After all, this miraculously echoed the epic of Gilgamesh. Amazingly, it turned out that the biblical story of Noah and the epic of Gilgamesh have a lot in common.
The epic says the following: "The great gods decided to send a flood ... Build a boat and take every creature in pairs into it ... ". The Biblical Noah receives almost exactly the same advice/recommendation.
In subsequent studies, other evidence was found in Iraq that speaks of a flood in ancient Mesopotamia, exactly in the place where the Sumerian, Assyrian and Babylonian civilizations arose.
All the ancient stories of the flood, written at different times and under different names, seem to have a common source, which appeared about five thousand years ago BC (Christ). It is very likely that the biblical story of the global flood was based on the story of a devastating flood in Mesopotamia, at least this is indicated to us by the similarity of ancient myths.
Two different legends tell the story of how the gods decided to exterminate the human race and sent the Flood. In both cases, it is also described how one family builds the Ark, takes every creature there in pairs, and when the waters finally subside, all the survivors repopulate the earth.
One of the earliest evidence of the flood is the epic of Atrahasis, which was written long before the famous epic of Gilgamesh. The epic was discovered not so long ago, and tells about the flood in a certain area. Yes, the flood really happened, but it was not a universal flood, but a local flood in Mesopotamia.In 1931, a group of archaeologists were excavating the ancient city of Ur, in Mesopotamia. Archaeologists came across finds whose age was five to six thousand years, which corresponded in time to the biblical story of the rescuer Noah.
A little later, archaeologists stumbled upon a layer of earth that could only remain after a flood. Soil samples were taken, and as the analyzes showed, it really was river silt.
In this area, seasonal river floods occur and this is not uncommon, but such an extensive layer of muddy earth is an out of the ordinary phenomenon. Also, archaeological excavations show that five thousand years ago, at least three cities in Mesopotamia experienced severe flooding.
Thus, the discovery of archaeologists in 1931 allows us to conclude that a severe flood occurred in ancient Mesopotamia, and this may be evidence that the Babylonian and Biblical texts are based on real events of a regional scale.
Of course, when the Sumerian priests dictated the history of events to the scribes, they could embellish it with a lot of invented facts. But in their narrative there are many details that are invaluable landmarks in the reconstruction of past events.
Many facts tell us that we can forget about the fantastic spaciousness of the Ark of Salvation and the Universal Flood, about the many animals on board the Ark and the subsequent descent from Mount Ararat. You can also forget about the biblical Noah, and try to imagine a person who looked and lived very differently.
Based on archaeological finds, we can assume that the story of the flood took place in the ancient Sumerian civilization, which flourished in the lands of present-day Iraq. Sumerian tablets contain references that, like grains of bread, send us to the very beginning of the supposedly universal tragedy in the city of Shuruppak (a place of healing and prosperity).
It was in this city that the Sumerian Noah lived and flourished, who later became, so given the records of the tablets, let's see a completely different picture of the flood.
Noah, Sumerian rescuer or merchant?
First of all, looking at Noah himself, we do not see any biblical robes on him, this is a normal Sumerian man who makes up his eyes, shaves off his hair, and wears a skirt. The epic of Gilgamesh mentions that the Sumerian Noah was a very wealthy man who had silver and gold - which only rich merchants paid for.
Most likely, the Sumerian Noah was a vine grower, but a wealthy and wealthy merchant who built not an ark to save him from the flood, but a trading ship, on which he planned to transport all kinds of goods - grain, beer, cattle. All large ancient cities such as Ur are on the Euphrates, so it was more convenient, faster and cheaper to transport goods by water, and also safer than caravan routes by land.
But here the question arises, how big was the ship of the merchant Noah? The Sumerians used different boats, small reed and large six-meter wooden barges.
All the Babylonian texts say that the ship was huge, which is not an indicator of size. Probably, the merchants needed an incredibly large barge to carry more cargo. However, in those days they still did not know how to build large ships, how then could the Sumerians build a large ship?
Perhaps they fastened several small boats together like pontoons. In the epic about Gilgamesh, it is reported that the ship of salvation was sectional, which most likely recruited as a pontoon, and the ark was already erected on this structure.
Well, since this Sumerian ark was a merchant ship, it can be easily assumed that the Sumerian Noah loaded cattle, grain and beer on it for sale, but not at all as it is described in the Bible. And yet, according to the epic, the Sumerian Noah was not just a rich merchant, he was the king of the city of Shuruppak.
Moreover, the king also obeyed the adopted laws, and if he did not deliver the cargo on time, not only ruin awaited him, but also the loss of the throne.
Yes, a law ruled in Sumer, which is now hard to believe, in those days, anyone who did not repay the debt, and even the king, was amazed in all rights and sold into slavery. And what about the flood, you ask? We can assume that the Sumerian Noah could have been a victim of natural disasters.
The thing is that in some places the Euphrates was navigable only during the flood, which means that Noah had to carefully calculate the time of departure. About 3 millennia BC, in Shuruppak and in some other Sumerian cities (Ur, Uruk and Kish) there was a severe flood, which was confirmed by the Schmidt expedition, finding silt deposits at a depth of 4-5 meters.
In July, melting glaciers from the mountain peaks filled the Euphrates, when the river became deep enough to take large ships. Although there was always a risk that if heavy rains began in Shuruppak, the waters of the Euphrates would very quickly turn into raging torrents.
The danger of becoming a victim of the July rains was low, often at this time there was a dry law, and serious precipitation did not fall. Such catastrophic natural disasters happened extremely rarely in Mesopotamia, maybe once in a thousand years, and if such a disaster happened, it would certainly have been mentioned in the annals, right?
The old epic tells us that on the day of the flood, the Sumerian Noah and his family had a feast on the ship, when suddenly, for no apparent reason, the weather deteriorated sharply, and a heavy downpour began, leading to a flood. Such a downpour did not bode well for Noah and his family, since in the highlands it could quickly lead to a flood. Although Mesopotamia is not located in the tropics, it is known that hurricanes and tropical downpours have occurred in these latitudes.
Remembering that time six thousand years ago, I recall the warmer and more humid climate of these places and rare but powerful tropical downpours. In the past, such showers led to catastrophic consequences, and it is precisely such events that were described in epics, since they go beyond the ordinary. And if such a tropical downpour coincided with the melting of glaciers in the mountains, then the waters of the Euphrates could well flood the plain regions of Mesopotamia.
Biblical records assure that the downpour did not stop for 40 days and nights, while the Babylonian epic speaks of only seven downpour days. But in fairness, it should be noted that even a one-day heavy downpour could lead to catastrophic consequences, filling the banks of the Euphrates.Thus, the barge of the Sumerian Noah could find itself at the mercy of raging waves (not to be confused with the biblical one). The next day, the Sumerian Noah and his family could no longer see the earth, water stretched around. After the end of the downpour, the Sumerian Noah and his family waited until the big water left, and they could again moor to the shore. Then they did not yet know that their misfortunes were just beginning and that the "Book of History" was waiting for them.
In all versions of this story, only one thing remains unchanged, they have not seen the earth for a week. The Bible keeps the memory of the Flood, but this can be given another explanation:
Noah's family believed that their vessel was carried by the waters of the Euphrates, since the water was fresh. But in the Babylonian narrative it is said that the water was salty, which means that the Ark of the Sumerian Noah left the waters of the Euphrates and was carried away to the Persian Gulf.
In the Epic of Gilgamesh, it is said that the sea stretched out before Noah on all sides. We do not know how long Noah's ship was in the Persian Gulf, the Bible says - more than a year, and the survivors could really believe that there was no more land. But in the Babylonian epic reports - a little more than a week.
But in any case, Noah and his family faced a serious problem, they were surrounded by salt water. They had no fresh water, the only thing left for them to quench their thirst was to drink beer, which was plentiful on the ship. By the way, beer is not a bad alternative, since it is known to be 98% water, in which many nutrients are dissolved.
The Bible mentions that Noah's ark stopped on the slope of Mount Ararat, and if there was no universal flood, then the ark could have ended up in a completely different place. Ararat, located much north of the ancient Shuruppak, the ark could have been carried away for about 750 km. and he actually could be in the waters of the Persian Gulf. The biblical story of Noah ends here, but in the Babylonian story, Noah's adventures take a longer path.
Sumerian Noah, continuation of the legend.
There are interesting records on the clay tablets, some say that Noah lost his throne, the other says that he was expelled. But this is not important now, just remembering the Sumerian law, it is obvious that Noah could not return to Shuruppak. And even after the water had receded, he was still in mortal danger.
Of course, Noah's creditors survived the flood, found him and demanded to repay the debt. According to Sumerian law, Noah had to be sold into slavery, but could flee the country to avoid punishment.The question of exactly where Noah went to avoid punishment remains a mystery. One record says that he went to the country of Dilmun, where he found peace and quiet, as the Sumerians called the modern island of Bahrain.
Bahrain is the place where the gods sent the Sumerian Noah after the Flood. It seems that this is a wonderful place where the former king could live at his own pleasure without particularly bothering himself with work. And if the Sumerian Noah ended his days in Dilmun, then the island of Bahrain keeps the greatest secret of ancient history.
On this island, hundreds of thousands of burial mounds, and only a few have been dug up. Many burials date back to Sumerian times, and it is likely that they contain the burials of great kings, including Noah.
Over time, the story of the Sumerian king could turn into a beautiful legend, as each of the narrators embellished it with their own additions. Then this story was written on clay tablets, and generations of scribes changed it by publishing more and more new versions.
Probably two thousand years later, one of these stories caught the attention of the Jewish priests who wrote the Bible. Most likely, it was this story that attracted them by the kind of disaster and punishment that can fall on people if they do not live according to the laws of God.
They asked me recently what I think about the flood, at first I wanted to unsubscribe like ... I'm not the Lord God, I don't know!
But since I am writing all sorts of nonsense in my LiveJournal about all sorts of disasters, including versions of the origin of the floods, I decided to go through some of them, but not in defense, but quite the opposite. Theories of the origin of the floods and so on to a hell of a heap, although to be honest, apart from numerous legends and legends among many peoples of the world, I don’t see any convincing evidence of the FLOOD. When I write the FLOOD with a capital letter, I mean a planetary catastrophe, where NOAH, except for Mount Ararat, has no other place to stick to - everywhere there is water! When I write a flood with a small letter, I mean a local local disaster such as the Fukushima tsunami or a little more.
I'll start with one of the versions of the global cataclysm, which is very popular on the pages of some LiveJournal.
Version number 1
"Planetary Pole Shift Catastrophe"
The adherents of this theory are very fond of finding the orientations of all temples and pyramids, drawing them with thick multi-colored lines at the points of new, future poles or previous ones, but always in a different place, not where they are now. As a rule, these displaced previous poles fall on long-suffering America.
The problem with the reality of this theory is that the planet, as a rule:::-))) has two poles… and if one shifts, the other one will definitely shift! However, none of these inquisitive "researchers"
I didn’t bother to look where the opposite pole would have to be if one was in America or Greenland.
I have been urging my readers to buy a globe for a long time and look at the world and history in particular through the globe, many things are seen quite differently, even some logistical theories.
So if the pole shifts to Greenland or even worse to North America, then the south pole shifts to Australia or, at worst, Tasmania. There is one further south...
So that's what Australia and Tasmania are distinguished by their amazing flora and fauna, which is very important thermophilic and is endemic - that is, it is not found in other places! I understand that for many the very existence of the island of Tasmania is a discovery, but what can you do! It was never cold there. The highest point in Tasmania is 1600 meters. It is very difficult to say that in the foreseeable past there could have been a south pole or a deluge wave, since the animal world is unique, the plant world too. It is not my job to consider events of geological scale and estimate the likelihood of a flood or a pole shift thousands of years ago!
Theory number two - the coup of the earth according to Dzhanibekov (my favorite)
To be honest, there is no convincing data other than Dzhanibekov himself. Yes, of course, there are mammoths in the ice and so on, but in order to throw so much water even over the plains and lowlands of Siberia so that it reaches the Caspian Sea, the Aral needs a wave height of hundreds of meters! And on the other hand, the same thing should happen at the other pole, but here again Tasmania and Australia.
Well, okay, let's say that in Australia you can find traces of the flood, but Tasmania remains, it's an island, well, kangaroos and the Tasmanian devil don't swim so far. https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tasmanian cue_devil
This devil spoils many theories ...
Theory number three is man-made (Sakharov's theory)
Who does not know Academician Sakharov proposed the option of conducting a nuclear war in a clean, humane way - undermining large charges of 200 - 500 megatons in the depths of the sea or the Ocean near the selected underwater ridge, the resulting directed wave, according to calculations, could rise to a height of a kilometer !!! .... not so long ago, on TV, Zhirinovsky threatened to wash away Turkey in this way. According to the calculations of Sakharov and a group of scientists, a bomb exploded in the North Sea was guaranteed to wash away half of Europe.
Well, what can I say here ... there is NO convincing evidence for the existence of a nuclear or comparable weapon in terms of power in the foreseeable past, 200 - 300 years ago today. However, there are funnels and funnels with a diameter of kilometers! Here I just shrug, and if we develop this idea further, then we have to allow the intervention of a third force.
Theory number four is the explosion of a super volcano.
Well, for example, the explosion of the Santorini volcano is the cause of the death of the Minoan-Cretan civilization recognized by world science. However, not a single volcano will throw mammoths throughout Siberia into ice, instantly freezing them! As a manifestation of a local character, it is possible, as a cause of climate change, it is possible, but not catastrophically, not instantly. That is, something can be explained by this theory, but not everything.
Theory number five - meteorite, or even polymeteorite - a bunch of meteorites flew in, made holes and tsunami waves.
This all refutes the presence of coastal star forts in America, India, Vietnam and other surviving cities off the coast. At least in the foreseeable past, in the next 200-300 years, this was not the case.
I want to draw the attention of those who like to move the poles or shower the earth with meteorites or launch a wave of several hundred meters across Siberia to one amazing fact!!! ATTENTION!!!
There is another favorite topic for discussing the traces of antediluvian manifestations of high civilizations - marking the forest in the remote corners of Siberia, where even geologists visit once every five years, all sorts of roads that stretch for hundreds of kilometers in a straight line and, of course, canals! Channels that are everywhere and in huge numbers. When the discussion of these formations begins, for some reason, the “buried and covered with clay” on the second floors of the city are forgotten! One does not fit with the other, well, in no way, either global, albeit by local standards, floods and mudflows with clay and sand, or channels and forest markings
Not only that, I also want to put a stick in the wheel of common sense, flights of alternative thought!
Many articles are devoted to the youth of the Siberian forest, and maybe it is young, but it is all marked with milestones! All over the territory of the alleged flood in Siberia! Well, maybe, of course, someone landed him after the flood in their beds, but these are definitely not peasants who mastered Siberia in a young forest!
The presence of channels along the entire coast of the Gulf of Mexico also excludes any floods in this area, at least during their official construction - the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries!
In short, I do not know what caused the destruction of many cities of antiquity, what catastrophe occurred at the beginning of the 19th century.
A photograph that really captured all these multiple destructions appeared at best in the second half of the 19th century, but most likely massively and simply came into use in the 70s of the 19th century, and in these photos we see destroyed Egypt, ruins in ROME, Sevastopol, Paris, and many other cities from America to China and India. But not everywhere, far from everywhere.
When the disaster occurred, what it was and who is to blame, I still do not know, there is very little information.
However, when another theory arises, it is imperative to check it for the “Tasmanian Devil”, I will conditionally call now moments that do not fit and contradict other facts.
We must dig deeper and wider, dig shorter than we can dig!
