Thomas II

This is my take about the origin behind the story of Noah's Flood.
There was no flood covering the whole world, and animals did not come from everywhere to get into the ark,but...not only there was one MEGA FLOOD, but there were MANY MEGA FLOODS! There is CLEAR EVIDENCE!

Take a look:
www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/megaflood

Don776

i agree with that, aside evidence in the past, there has been even more recent evidence of regular ice ages to floods in the ice of the polar regions.
i stand behind the theory they reoccur every 10-14 thousand years, i also think perhaps the mayan calender recorded this with mathmatics, and maybe, i stress maybe, the 2012 date is the beginning of it.
maybe the moon snaps out of orbit, as it is at the moment, 2 cm or so a year. perhaps in 2012 it leaves the point of earths gravity and into the suns, and breaks free, causing poles to spiral and move resulting in ice age-flood.
im no conspiracy theorist or shit like that, but you have to admit the evidence makes alot of sense.

Thomas II

And there is this too:

http://personals.galaxyinternet.net/tunga/Flood.htm


So The Flood is not just a Bible story. There are flood stories in hundreds of diferent cultures.
So, I don't have a doubt it happened.
Could it happen again?
YOU BET!

Just for reference, mythological accounts of the Flood around the world:

www.talkorigins.org/faqs/flood-myths.html

Asha'man

I watched that Nova, it was a very good episode.

However, there is a big problem with your idea. The geology of the megaflood area was noticeably different than geology elsewhere, that's how they knew something different had happened. So, while there were clearly a sequence of huge floods, they were confined to that single flood basin in the NW united states. There is not a chance in hell that a middle eastern flood myth was based on a flood on the other side of the world like that.

In reality, the Noah flood is merely a copy (with exaggerations) of a Babylonian story about the ancient king Gilgamesh. The Babylonian story is a retelling of an earlier Sumerian story about a wealthy man, probably a merchant. In the Sumerian version, it was not a worldwide flood, but just a large river flood, and he was only trapped on his livestock barge for a week or two as he floated downstream. The Sumerian story might be based on a real event, because Sumeria was located on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which flood regularly, and the hero ended up in the Persian Gulf, Bahrain I think. Archaeological evidence from ancient cities like Ur show that, now and then, there are extra thick layers of river sediment, indicating an above-average flood.

As for other flood stories around the world, notice that early mankind lived in flood valleys before they invented irrigation. Rivers always flood, and man always tells exaggerated stories about natural disasters.

Ruhan

Asha'man is correct but the Sumerian story has it's roots in a story dating back to around 5500 BC in which the Black Sea flooded. People living nearby fled into various regions in Mesapotamia, taking the flood story with them. Do a google on is as there are loads of sources on it.

Thomas II

Wasn't it good? Visually it's very clear what took place.
Here is the gilgaflood:

www.english.udel.edu/dean/202/gilgaflood.html

Mind you that I am not trying to make Noah's flood fit.
I'm just looking into MEGAFLOODS. Where they happened and how, in order to get to the bottom of this issue.
I'm looking to see if ANY flood was possible at all, under what conditions, and to what proportions.

Harry Bosch

Good post. Another point is that valley's that tend to flood every 100 years produce the best soil for farmers. And of course rivers provide transportation for people, drinking water and etc. Throughout the world, early civilizations always located near rivers.

Thomas II

Look into this and tell me what you think:

http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2003AM/fin...ssion_9644.htm

Asha'man

I agree that the Black Sea flooded, but I disagree that the Sumerian story is based on it. The difference in time span seems to large, given a lack of writing. And there is clear evidence of flooding from the Tigris and Euphrates, including cities like Ur with a 2 foot (or so) layer of river silt that is far, far more recent. I'd think the much more recent event is a far likelier source for the story. There are also elements of the Sumerian story that simply fit a river flood better, like the hero ending up in the Persian Gulf (not the Black Sea).

Chili

The question is: will there be another Noah?

We have lots of floods but we are short on Noah's. In Catholic tradition we have replaced the flood with Advent so we can be noah without knowing it.