Building of the Temple. B.C. 1012-1004. Solomon began to build the temple in the fourth year of his reign, on the second month, which the Macedonians call “Artemisius,” and the Hebrews “Jur;” 592 years [1602 B.C] after the exodus out of Egypt, but 1020 years from Abraham’s coming out of Mesopotamia into Canaan; and after the Deluge 1140 years [2152 B.C]; and from Adam, the first man who was created, until Solomon built the temple, there had passed in all 3102 years [4114 B.C]. Now that year on which the temple began to be built, was already the eleventh year of the reign of Hiram; but from the building of Tyre to the building of the temple, there had passed 240 years.
The Antiquities of the Jews, Flavius Josephus (93 A.D)
Contents
Die Flutsagen (Legends of the Flood) is a curated assemblage of mythology, geology and archaeology from a wide variety of sources. A work in progress which will be updated as additional material is translated, processed and included.
The title is taken from the 1891 book by the same name, from which much of the text here has been translated from the original German.
Sumeria
The Chaldean flood report, as far as we know so far, is the oldest. It is not, as was originally assumed, an echo or copy of the Hebrew one, but the original. This Babylonian tradition was previously only known in the form in which Alexander Polyhistor had reported it from Berossus (time of Alexander the Great). It reads as follows:
The pre-flood king Xisuthros was revealed by Cronus that on the 15th of the month Daisios, humans would perish through a great flood of water, and commanded him to bury the existing writings in Sippara, build a ship, enter with his relatives and friends, take food and drink, and also include birds and four-legged animals on board. Xisuthros built the ship 15 arrow shots long and two arrow shots wide and entered with his wife, children, and friends. The flood came, but soon receded. Xisuthros released some scouting birds, which returned because they could not find anything to eat or a resting place. After some days, he sent out birds again, which also returned, but had mud between their feet. When he sent them out for the third time, they did not return anymore. Now Xisuthros opened the roof of the ship and saw that it stood on a mountain; he then went out with his wife, daughter, and the ship’s helmsman, prayed, built an altar, and offered sacrifices to the gods; subsequently, he and the others who had come out disappeared. Those left in the ship later came out, found him nowhere, but heard him calling from heaven: They should honor the gods; he and those who came out with him were taken up into the dwelling of the gods because of their piety; the others should go back to Babylon, dig up the writings hidden in Sippara, and hand them over to the people; the land where they were located was Armenia. Now they also offered sacrifices to the gods, went to Babylon, retrieved the writings from Sippara, built cities and temples, and rebuilt Babylon. Remains of the ship can still be seen today (at the time of Berosus) on the mountain of the North farmers in Armenia, and the tar scraped off the ship serves as medicine.1
While it was earlier assumed that this flood report, which strikingly corresponds with the one from Genesis, was borrowed from it, we now know with certainty that this is not the case, but that it stems from an older original source, which in turn served as the source for the biblical narrative. The Chaldean flood report discovered by the Assyriologist G. Smith in 1872 confirms this, and the assumption that the biblical flood narrative alone has a moral background, the punishment of sinful mankind by God, becomes invalid.
Although the cuneiform tablets found by George Smith date only from the seventh century BCE, their text is undoubtedly much older and goes back to an original dating from no later than 2000 BCE.2
Several Babylonian literary works deal with the description of the flood, two of which are intertwined by the author of a large epic in twelve books that describes the adventures of a sun hero, or Gilgamesh or Jšdubar — the name is not yet exactly deciphered. Jšdubar is identical with the Nimrod of the Bible, who ruled over Babylon, Erech, Akkad, and Calneh and founded Nineveh. His grandson is Shamash-napish-tim, nicknamed Adapa or Hasisatra, the Chaldean Xisuthros. This national epic, whose eleventh book forms the Chaldean flood report, is based on an astronomical-allegorical foundation, as each book corresponds to a sign of the zodiac, the eleventh to that of the Water Bearer. The eleventh month is called the “rain month” in Sumerian-Akkadian. Xisuthros tells the story of the flood to Gilgamesh, as he came to him at the shore of the river of the dead at the mouth of the Euphrates to recover from an illness and discussed matters with him far from the world. In Haupt’s translation it reads (with some omissions) as follows:
You know the city of Surippak, which lies on the Euphrates. This city was already old when the gods decided to create a flood within it; all the great gods, their father Anu, their counselor, the fearsome Bel, their throne-bearer Abar, their leader Gunuzi. But the god Ea, the lord of incomprehensible wisdom, was with them and announced their decision to me. Man of Surippak, he said, leave your house and build a ship; they want to destroy the seed of life; therefore preserve it and bring all kinds of seed of life onto the ship you are to build. X (unclear number) cubits shall be its length and Y (unclear number) its width and height, cover it with a roof. Do not close the door behind you until I notify you. Then enter and bring food, your possessions, your family, your servants and maids, and your closest friends onto the ship. The livestock of the field, the wild animals of the field, I myself will send to you.
Then I built the ship and equipped it with provisions. I divided it into compartments, I inspected the seams and filled them. Three sar (large unit of measurement) of bitumen I poured over its outside, three sar of bitumen over its inside. Everything I owned I brought onto the ship, all my gold, silver, and seed of life of every kind, all my male and female servants, the livestock of the field, the wild animals of the field, my closest friends. When now the sun god brought the appointed time, a voice spoke: “In the evening the heavens will rain destruction, enter the ship and close the door.” With trepidation, I awaited the sunset. Fearful, yet I entered the ship and closed the door. To the Buzurkurgal, the helmsman, I entrusted the mighty structure with its cargo.
Then dark clouds rose from the depths of the sky, in the middle of which the storm god let his thunder sound. The powerful storm god unleashed the whirlwinds, the god Adar caused the canals to overflow, the gods of the great underground waters brought forth mighty floods, the earth trembled, the waves of the storm god rose to the sky, all light turned into darkness. The goddess Ishtar cried like a woman in labor and exclaimed: “Thus everything is turned into mud, just as I prophesied to the gods. But I gave birth to my people not to fill the sea like fish spawn.” Then the gods wept with her over the spirits of the great underground waters.
Six days and seven nights wind, flood, and storm held sway. On the seventh day, however, the flood subsided, the sea retreated into its bed, and the storm and flood ceased.
I, however, sailed through the sea, loudly lamenting that the sites of men were turned into mud, the corpses floated around like tree trunks. I opened a window and when I saw the light of the day, I shuddered in tears. I sailed over the lands, now a terrible sea, and there the land rose twelve units high. After steering towards the land Rizir, the ship was held fast by the mountain of the land Rizir. Thus, I waited for six days. On the seventh day, I let a dove fly, as there was no resting place, it returned. Then I let a swallow fly, as there was no resting place, it returned. Then I let a raven fly, and as it saw the receding water, it did not return. Then I let everything out. I offered a sacrifice and erected an altar on the summit of the mountain.
In the Chaldean report, the gods now appear due to the sacrifice and get into a dispute with each other about the flood and its consequences. Bel is angry and wants to let no soul escape, he even wants to destroy the saved; but Ea calms him and demands that no flood should happen again. Bel is satisfied and elevates the pious and wise Xisuthros among the gods.
The criticism generally assumes now that we have to search for the original source of the biblical account in this Babylonian flood report. Both refer to the same event, and the similarities, which are obvious (especially with the second, Jehovistic tradition of the Bible), are so striking that they hardly need to be highlighted. As for the differences, the polytheistic coloring stands out against the monotheistic one of the Bible. Sifuthros (=Hafisabra or Adrahafis, that is, the Wise and Pious) is not only rescued from the water but also deified. The duration of the flood in the Bible and in the Chaldean report differs. However, a significant and characteristic difference lies in the fact that the Babylonian report shows the habits of a seafaring people, while the biblical one has an inland coloring, as Lenorman has pointed out.
The biblical narrative bears the stamp of a people living in the heart of the land and ignorant of the matters of navigation. In Genesis, the name of the ark, tebah, means “chest,” and not “ship”; there is no mention of launching the ark; no reference to the sea or navigation; no pilot. On the contrary, in the epic of Ouk, everything indicates that it was composed among a seafaring people; each circumstance reflects the customs and traditions of the Persian Gulf coast dwellers.
The land of Nizir, where Sifuthros’s vessel came to rest, belonged to the mountainous regions of Pir Mam in northeastern Babylonia; the mountain of Nizir may correspond to Rowandiz, the highest peak of this part of Asia; it represented in ancient Adic mythology the Olympus, the dwelling place of the gods. Ararat denotes Armenia in the cuneiform texts.
In both accounts, the Babylonian and the biblical, the flood is understood as divine punishment; in both, the construction of the vessel is precisely commanded, a seven-day grace period is granted, and the thanksgiving sacrifice after the flood is well-received.
One story has flowed from the other. “Now, through the high age of the Babylonian account, which was at least already in existence in writing around 2000 BC, a borrowing by the Hebrews can be assumed. Therefore, only the possibility remains that the Hebrews had already taken the legend with them during their emigration from Ur in Chaldea, or first learned it during the exile in Babylon.” The latter was shown by Delitzsch.
1. Berosus was a Babylonian priest around 260 BC. The fragments preserved by him, which we received second-hand, were published by Richter. Berosus Fragments of the Chaldeans. Leipzig 1825.
2. A.D. 12 to 18.
Translated from Die Flutsagen (1891)
Kish
In Western Asia the legend of the Flood is of Sumerian origin, and is now known from the excavations at Kish and Ur to have been based upon an historical catastrophe.1 [The] Flood stratum which passes through the ruins of the temple of Ninhursag at Kish, just below plain level, and below this stratum have been found early Sumerian antiquities of the best period of their civilization. Nineteen feet below this great Flood stratum are traces of another Flood, apparently identical with a thick Flood stratum found also at Ur. The great Flood stratum at Kish is dated by inscriptions above and below it at about 3300 B.C., whereas the traces of the earlier Flood may be placed shortly after 4000 B.C. It was certainly the earlier Flood which provided the Sumerian chroniclers with their scheme of dividing the history of Sumer and Accad into the antediluvian and post-diluvian periods. Their dynastic lists begin the post-diluvian period with the first dynasty of Kish, founded by Ga-ur, preserved as Euechoros by the Greeks.2 By no possible reduction can the founding of the first dynasty of Kish be reduced lower than 4000 B.C.
“The Flood swept over everything. After the Flood swept over everything, and kingship had (once again) descended from Heaven, Kish became the seat of kingship.” – Sumerian King List
Babylonian and Assyrian scribes frequently refer to the age “before the Flood” as the lam abubi, abubu being the Accadian original of the Hebrew word for the Flood, mabbûl, and the Aramaic mãmôlã. A king praises himself as one “[who loved to read] the writings of the age before the Flood.”3 Enmenduranna, or Enmenduranki, preserved as Euedôrachos by Berossus, was one of the legendary kings before the Flood whom the Babylonians regarded as the founder of divination and apparently also of medicine and magic rituals of expiation.4 These rituals had been handed down as secret instructions from the “ancient sages before the Flood.” The Sumerians located the principal event of the Flood at Shuruppak, the modern ruins of which are named Fara, and one of these rituals was said to have been copied there by a sage of Nippur in the reign of Enlilbani of Isin (2144-2121 B.C.). Ashurbanipal learned to read the monumental inscriptions before the Flood. Berossus preserved this tradition in his account of the Flood. Xisuthrus, as he rendered the name Ziûsudra, last of the Sumerian antediluvian kings, warned of the Flood by Cronus, was ordered to write down all history from the beginning to the end, and to deposit the tablets at Sippar, city of the Sun-god. After his escape in a boat Xisuthrus, when the waters had dried up, found that it had stranded on a mountain in Armenia. He, therefore, descended with his wife, daughter, and pilot, bowed to the earth and offered sacrifices to the gods these four all disappeared, and in the Babylonian account they received eternal life on an island beyond the Western Sea. When the others who had been saved in the boat descended they called for Xisuthrus, and heard his voice from the air admonishing them to be pious j for because of his own piety he had been translated to dwell with the gods. He ordered them to return to Babylonia, to search for the writings at Sippar and make them known to all men. This they did, and the Babylonians and Assyrians believed that all revealed knowledge, “the mysteries” of the expiation rituals and all true rules of conduct, had been thus preserved for them directly from the hands of the sages who lived before the deluge.5
– The Mythology of All Races, Volume 5, Langdon (1931)
The Biblical Deluge an Ascertained Fact, Illustrated London News, Langdon (1930).
Ur
The key figure in the archaeological Flood debate, the excavator who staked first claim to the discovery and identification of a Flood stratum is Leonard Woolley. In 1929, after he had completed excavating the Royal Cemetery of Ur with its extraordinary and dazzling finds, he sank a small shaft, not more than five feet square at the top, into the underlying soil. For about three feet, this shaft penetrated a layer of mixed rubbish typical of inhabited sites—decomposed mud-brick, ashes, and broken pottery. But then, to use the excavator’s own words:
it all stopped—there were no more pot—sherds, no ashes, only clean, water-laid mud, and the Arab workman at the bottom of the shaft told me that he had reached virgin soil; there was nothing more to be found, and he had better go elsewhere (Leonard Woolley, Excavations at Ur, page 26).
Woolley, however, noted that this so-called virgin soil was not nearly as deep down as he had expected, and he told the worker to keep on digging. He did so rather grudgingly, and went through eight feet of absolutely clean soil, without any sign of human activity. Suddenly, immediately below this “empty” stratum, there appeared pottery vessels and stone implements readily recognizable as belonging to the prehistoric Ubaid period of occupation. Woolley was convinced then and there that he had the “Flood.” But since he could scarcely argue convincingly for the Deluge on the strength of a pit a yard square, he dug the following season a rectangle some seventy-five feet by sixty and went down sixty-four feet deep. And here, too, above the Ubaid remains, he found a deposit of clean, water-laid soil, this time eleven feet thick. All in all Woolley sank fourteen pits at various points down to sea-level, or approximately so, and in virtually every case he encountered some clean water-laid soil overlying Ubaid remains. He therefore concluded that he had found the Flood-myth archaeologically verified at Ur.
Unfortunately that matter was not so simple and clear-cut as Woolley assumed; his Flood deposits at Ur go back to at least 3500 B.C., and this is far too early for the Ziusudra Deluge. Moreover, the year before Woolley staked his claim for Ur, Stephen Langdon and L. Watelen, the excavators of Kish, had discovered a Flood layer that was chronologically in closer agreement with Ziusudra’s date; it lay directly above a stratum of “Jemdet Nasr” remains, that is an archaeological horizon ranging from about 3200 to 3000 B.C. first identified in Jemdet Nasr, a small mound not far from Kish. Even more intriguing and apropos was a similar discovery in 1931 by Eric Schmidt of a Flood level immediately above Jemdet Nasr remains in Ziusudra’s own city, Shuruppak.
Fara
We found an alluvial layer at a depth between four and five metres below the mound surface. Koldewey’s excavation party noticed apparently the same layer at the tell margin. There need, therefore, be no doubt about the character of the nearly sterile deposit; but we have to leave it to the imagination of the reader, whether “the flood stratum” of Fara accumulated during one or several catastrophic inundations caused by the rising of the sea or the Two Rivers, or both combined with extensive precipitations. The shore of the Persian Gulf was then only sixty miles from Fara while today the mouth of the Shatt el Arab is more than two hundred miles away.
Mythology, even, seems to fall in line. Shuruppak is mentioned as one of the “pre-diluvial cities” of Mesopotamia, and mythology lets the city play an important role in the disaster by considering Shuruppak the home of Ut-Napishtim, the Sumerian Noah. Let us try to interpret the legend rationally and correlate it with our experiences. The tradition means to say that Shuruppak has been inhabited in remote antiquity prior to the memory of man (namely that of the Sumerians). Our archaeological evidences concerning the Jemdet Nasr stratum, together with the philological considerations showing that the city name is Elamite, prove the high antiquity of the site, and suggest definitely that the occupation of the site reached “beyond the memory of the Sumerians.” Further, the Mesopotamian Flood story and, going a step farther, that of the Bible, seems to be based on a very real event or a series of such, as suggested by the existence at Ur, at Kish, and now at Fara, of inundation deposits, which accumulated on top of human inhabitation. There is finally “the Noah story,” which may possibly symbolize the survival of the Sumerian culture and the end of the Elamite Jemdet Nasr culture.
Asia
Our task now is, advancing geographically, to introduce and examine flood legends of other countries and how far these are originally or influenced by the Babylonian-Hebrew account. Among the nearest neighbors of the Babylonians and Hebrews, the Egyptians and Arabs, there is no flood legend, which we will return to later. On the other hand, it appears in Persia, where we, in a land lacking streams and rain, unfamiliar with floods, would scarcely expect to encounter it. Not in the oldest parts of the Zendavesta, but in a much younger offshoot of the sacred literature of the Persians, in the Bundehesh, we find a flood legend that, however, offers no analogy to the biblical report*). According to Chapter Seven of the aforementioned book, during the early times of the world, during the war with Ahriman, the star Tistar appeared in three forms: in the body of a man, a horse, and an ox, in the world to send rain into it. The earth was then filled with harmful creatures which the evil principle had created. Tistar rained for ten days with each of his bodies, thus for a total of 30 days. When he had rained in his first form with drops the size of a small bowl, the water rose to the height of a man on the earth and all the harmful creatures had to die. Then a heavenly wind carried the water away, but the seed of the destroyed harmful creatures remained on the earth and caused poison and decay. For the second time, Tistar descended onto the earth in the form of a white horse to rain anew. But the demon Apaosha met him in the form of a black horse to prevent him from carrying out his plan. For a long time, the battle swayed, and only through the supernatural aid that Ormazd sends to Tistar is victory finally awarded to him; he strikes Apaosha with the help of lightning fire, which he uses as his weapon, just as the demon Cpendschaghra, who accompanies him. The struck demon emits a terrible cry, which we still hear during storms today. Tistar then rained again, and the poison of the harmful animals remaining on the earth mixed into this water, which became salty because of it. Again, a great wind lifted this water in three days to the ends of the earth; from this, three large and 23 small seas emerged.
These reports of the Bundehesh are confirmed mainly in the Avesta; they are an ancient Indo-Germanic myth, as Spiegel emphasizes. The main point here is the explanation of the storm, the flood is secondary; this representation cannot be traced back to the biblical flood. “There is no relation to the human race; it even seems as though the latter was not yet thought to exist at this great rain. Furthermore, nothing is said about how the human race was saved through one of its representatives from the great flood; these seem to me to be important points that should not be missing, and therefore I do not believe that we can see this myth in connection with the flood in an early relationship”
Translated from Die Flutsagen (1891)
India
The Vedic literature of India contains narratives of a flood in the prose writings belonging to the second, so-called Brahmanic period; in contrast, the older hymns lack them, while detailed flood reports are found again in the later epic poems and in the even later Puranas, where they form a well-known subject in the religious traditions of the Indian people. Three of Vishnu’s avatars or incarnations are linked with a flood, those of the fish, the turtle, and the boar. Vishnu saves mankind from destruction by water in all three cases by assuming the form of a fish, a turtle, or a boar.
The oldest report, found in the Satapatha-Brahmana, reads in Max Müller’s translation as follows:
In the morning, they brought water to Manu, as is still done today for washing hands. While he washed himself, a fish came into his hands. The fish spoke to him: Hold me, and I will save you. Manu asked: From what do you want to save me? The fish replied: A flood will carry away all these creatures, and I will save you from it. Manu asked: How can I hold you? The fish replied: While we are small, there is much destruction for us, for the fish eats the fish. Therefore, hold me first in a pot. When I grow out of it, dig a hole and hold me there. When I grow out of that, transfer me to the sea; then I will be safe from destruction. He soon became a large fish, for such a fish grows very large. He said: In this and that year, the flood will come. So when you have built a ship, think of me. And when the flood rises, step into the ship, and I will save you from it. After Manu had kept him like this, he transferred him to the sea. In the same year, however, which the fish had foretold, Manu built a ship and remembered him. And as the flood rose, he stepped into the ship. Then the fish swam towards Manu, and he tied the rope of the ship to its horn and rushed towards the northern mountain. The fish said: I have saved you; now tie the ship to a tree. May the water not cut you off while you stay on the mountain. As soon as the water recedes, go down slowly with it; hence this place on the northern mountain is called “Manu’s Descent.” The flood had carried away all these creatures, and Manu alone remained.
The subsequent new creation of the human race from a daughter of Manu, born from a sacrificial offering, does not belong here and has no relation to the Genesis narrative, while the actual Indian flood report indeed shows, as is immediately apparent, agreement with that of the Bible.
Translated from Die Flutsagen (1891)
Kols
The Mundaris, a tribe of the Kols in East India, tell: Singbonga, the highest being, created humans from earth. However, the humans created for good soon became bad; they did not want to wash or work but always dance and drink. Therefore, he became very angry and sent a great flood. Sengle-Daa, i.e., Firewater, he let flow from heaven, which killed all humans. Only two, a brother and a sister, hid themselves under a Tiriba tree and were rescued. The wood of this tree looks very dark, as if burned. This, people say, is the result of that firewater. But God did not want the world to sink again. Therefore, he created the snake Lurbing to end the floods. It blows its soul up to the sky and becomes a rainbow, stopping the rain showers. While the rainbow stands in the sky, the snake is dead; only after its disappearance does it come back to life. Hence, the saying of the Mundaris when they see the rainbow: Lurbing has fallen to the ground, or: it will not rain anymore because Lurbing has destroyed the rain. The Uraons, another tribal group, tell differently: The flood had destroyed all humans, except a brother and a sister who hid in the rice fields of the village Verafita in Chotia Nagpur in the cave of a large crab.
The beginnings of missionary work among the Kols date back to the thirties; whether the biblical echoes in the later recorded story came through these remains to be seen. Despite the secret precautions, it does not appear untouched, as shown by the beginning strongly leaning on the biblical creation story. The anger over the humans he created who had become sinful, the Singbonga destroying all but two, the very suspicious rainbow, the repopulating of the earth after the flood — all these are biblical traits.
Translated from Die Flutsagen (1891)
Transylvania
Among the tent Gypsies of Transylvania, H.V. Wlislocki found the following flood story: There was a time when people lived forever and no sorrow, no illness tormented them. Meat, fruits were abundant, milk and wine flowed in the rivers. People and animals lived happily and without fear of death. Once, an old man came to the country and asked for lodging at a man’s house. He stayed in the hut and was well entertained by the man’s wife. When the man left the next day, he gave the host a small fish in a small vessel and said, “Keep this fish and do not eat it! If I return after nine days and you give me back the fish, I will reward you.” Then he left. The woman of the house took the little fish and spoke to her husband, “Dear man! What if we were to fry the fish?” The man replied, “I promised the old man to return the little fish to him! You must also swear to me to spare the little fish and keep it until the old man returns!” The woman swore and said, “I will not kill the little fish, I will keep it, God willing.” Two days passed, and the woman thought about how the little fish might taste. It must have a wonderful flavor, since the old man values it so highly and does not let it be fried but drags it around with him in the world. She thought back and forth until she finally took the little fish out of the vessel and threw it onto the coals, but barely had she done this when the first lightning struck the earth and killed the woman. It began to rain, the rivers rose out of their beds and flooded the entire land. On the ninth day, the old man appeared at his host’s and shouted, “You kept your promise and did not kill the little fish. Take a wife, gather your relatives, and build a boat in which you will be saved. All beings and all humans will now drown in the water, and you will survive. Also take animals and seeds from the trees and herbs so that you can repopulate the earth later.” Then the old man disappeared, and the man did as he was commanded. It rained for a year, and nothing could be seen but water and sky. After a year, the water receded, and the man climbed ashore with his second wife and relatives along with the animals. They now had to work, build, and sow to live. Hardship and toil were now their lives; added to this were illness and death, so that they only slowly increased, and many, many thousand years have passed since then until the people were as numerous as they once were and still are today. I have attached these flood stories of the Transylvanian tent Gypsies here because of the Indian origin of this people, without expressing my agreement with Wlislocki’s view, who assumes that it has sprung from ancient Indian tradition. I can only discover in this Gypsy story a mixture of the biblical Fall of Man with the biblical Flood, a mixture that repeats itself often. The apple of Eve is simply replaced by a fish. The Gypsy Eve appears as the greedy and tempting one, the fish is secondary. The latter does not play any role like in the Indian flood report; it does not grow out of anything nor does it pull the saving ship through the floods. If one compares the younger Indian version in the Mahabharata, the fish in the Gypsy story is again not—Brahma to bless; in the Indian story, people and animals are only created after the flood, while among the Gypsies, they are already present beforehand and are only replanted after being destroyed by the flood. Some features of the Gypsy version, such as the killing of the woman by lightning, are later additions.
Geographically connected to this are still circulating flood stories in the border and hinterland of India, whose connection with the old Indian flood stories cannot be proven, and which often have a distinctly local character and point to the breakthrough of frozen lakes and mountains.
Translated from Die Flutsagen (1891)
China
Emperor Yao’s Great Flood
The history of China is commonly supposed to extend back to gray antiquity. But in reality the sources of the ancient period of the Chinese past are very scanty, for they were destroyed by the Emperor Tsinchi-hoang (246 – 209 before the present era). He ordered all books on history and astronomy, as well as works of classic literature, to be burned. Search for these books was made throughout the empire for this purpose. The story persists that a few remnants of the old literature were again put into writing from the memory of an old man; some were said to have been found hidden in the sepulcher of Confucius, and are ascribed to his pen.
Of these few remains of the old lore, the most cherished are those which tell of the Emperor Yahou and his times. His personality and his period are considered as “the most auspicious in the Chinese annals. The history of China preceding his reign is ascribed to the mythical period of the Chinese past. In the days of Yahou the event occurred which separates the almost obliterated and very dim past of China from the period that is considered historical: China was overwhelmed by an immense catastrophe.
“At that time the miracle is said to have happened that the sun during a span of ten days did not set, the forests were ignited, and a multitude of abominable vermin was brought forth.”
“In the lifetime of Yao [Yahou] the sun did not set for ten full days and the entire land was flooded.” An immense wave “that reached the sky” fell down on the land of China.
“The water was well up on the high mountains, and the foothills could not be seen at all.” (This recalls Psalm 104: “The waters stood above the mountains … they go up by the mountains” and Psalm 107: “The waves mount up to the heaven.”)
“Destructive in their overflow are the waters of the inundation,” said the emperor. “In their vast extent they embrace the hills and overtop the great heights, threatening the heavens with their floods.” The emperor ordered that all efforts be made to open outlets for the waters that were caught in the valleys between the mountains. For many years the population labored, trying to free the plains and valleys of the waters of the flood by digging channels and draining the fields. For a considerable number of years all efforts were in vain. The minister who was in charge of this urgent and immense work, Khwan, was sentenced to death because of his failure – “For nine years he labored, but the work was unaccomplished” – and only his son Yu succeeded in draining the land. This achievementwas so highly rated that Yu became emperor of China after King Shun, first successor to Yahou. This Yu was the founder of the new and notable dynasty called by his name.
The chronicles of modern China preserve records of one million lives lost in a single overflow of the Yellow River. Another natural catastrophe – the earthquake – also caused great devastation in China at various times: it is estimated that in the year 1556 the quaking earth took 830,000 lives and 3,000,000 in 1662. Was not the catastrophe of the time of Yahou one of the major inundations of rivers, as modern scholars suppose it to have been? But the fact that this catastrophe has been vivid in traditions for thousands of years, while neither the overflow of the Yellow River, when a million people perished, nor the great earthquakes, play a conspicuous part in the recollections of the nation, is an argument against the established interpretation.
Rivers do not overflow in the form of a sky-high wave. The overflowing rivers of China subside in a few weeks, and the water does not remain in the plains until the following spring, but flows away, and the ground dries in a few more weeks. The flood of Yahou required draining for many years, and during all this period water covered the lower part of the country.
Yahou’s reign is remembered for the following undertaking: This emperor sent scholars to different parts of China, and even to Indo-China, to find out the location of north, west, east, and south by observing the direction of the sun’s rising and setting and the motion of the stars. He also charged his astronomers to find out the duration of seasons, and to draw up a new calendar. The Shu King is called the oldest book of Chinese chronicles, rewritten from memory or from some hidden manuscript after the burning of books by Tsin-chi-hoang. In its oldest section, the canon of Yaou [Yahou], it is written: “Thereupon Yaou [Yahou] commanded He and Ho, in reverent accordance with the wide heavens, to calculate and delineate the movements and appearances of the sun, the moon, the stars, and the zodiacal spaces; and to deliver respectfully the seasons to the people.”
The necessity, soon after the flood, of finding anew the four directions and learning anew the movements of the sun and the moon, of delineating the zodiacal signs, of compiling the calendar, of informing the population of China of the sequence of the seasons, creates the impression that during the catastrophe the orbit of the earth and the year, the inclination of the axis and the seasons, the orbit of the moon and the month, changed. We are not told what caused the cataclysm, but it is written in ancient annals that during the reign of Yahou “a brilliant star issued from the constellation Yin.
Worlds in Collision, Immanuel Velikovsky (1955)
Tibet
According to the old Tibetan traditions, the highlands of Tibet, too, were flooded in a great cataclysm. The traditions of the Tibetans speak also of terrifying comets that caused great upheavals.
Samuel Turner heard the natives tell at the border of Bhutan and Tibet: Tibet had been completely flooded in earlier times. The distance of the water covering the entire surface was attributed to the wrath of God Gya. Out of pity for the few natives that Tibet had at that time, who were not much better than monkeys, Gya let the water drain into Bengal and made the poor mass that populated the land afterwards human through teachers that he sent to them.
Erhai Lake
We find a geological record of a “large event” in cores from Erhai Lake in southeastern Tibet occurring sometime around 3.5-4.2ka; a transition from leafy/wooded conditions to aquatic shells accompanying the onset of a 1m-thick sedimentation event. Significant geomagnetic field strength variations are seen in these cores during the period when the sediment layer was deposited. The 2510 BP dating just above the shell deposit suggests that this may be a record of the Sterno-Etrussian Excursion ±2.7ka. Erhai is a freshwater lake with inflows and outflows to the ocean. Any saltwater incursion would likely have been flushed in a relatively short space of time.
Kashmir
In Kashmir, the whole land was originally covered with water, and an evil spirit caused constant damage to the fruits, animals, and humans there. Then Kashyapa, a grandson of Brahma, noticed that the waters covering the valley were flowing away. Here, Vishnu was helpful, opening the mountains near Baramulla to provide drainage for the water. Kashyapa repopulated the dried land again.
Translated from Die Flutsagen (1891)
Andaman Islands
Pulugu, the creator in the mythology of the Andamanese (Mincopi), had created a man named Tomo and his wife Elewadi. These first humans drowned in the sea and were transformed into a whale and a crab. Thus, the land (Botaemi) passed to their grandchildren and descendants, known as Tomola, who, however, disregarded the commandments imposed upon humans by Pulugu at the time of creation, causing Pulugu to become angry and send a great flood without warning, covering the entire land and destroying all living things. Only four persons, two men and two women, whose names are given, survived because they happened to be in a boat at the time of the catastrophe. When the waters receded, they found themselves near Botaemi, where they landed and discovered that all living creatures had perished. However, Pulugu created the animals and birds anew. The four surviving humans suffered particularly from not having fire. Then the bird Luaratut, an icebird, appeared and stole fire from the heavens for them*). It is noted (p. 157) that it is extremely unlikely that their legends resulted from the teaching of missionaries or others who might have been supposed to have landed on their shores in bygone years. This is explained further, adding that the islanders attribute all their superstitious beliefs and customs to the “time before the flood.” However, I will not assert the authenticity and rather consider the story influenced; a pair of humans, as in the biblical creation, appears, their descendants disregard divine commandments, and thus, as punishment, the destructive flood, etc.
Translated from Die Flutsagen (1891)
Celebes (Sulawesi)
The half-island of Celebes, formed by a flood, as the natives told it:
Once some Dayak women (in Borneo) went out to gather young bamboo shoots for food. When they found the shoots, they walked through the jungle and came upon a long fallen tree, as they believed. They sat on it and began peeling the bamboo shoots, when to their greatest surprise, the tree began to bleed. Just then some men appeared, who immediately noticed that what the women were sitting on was not a tree, but a large boa constrictor lying motionless. The men killed the animal, cut it up, and took the meat home to eat. When they now roasted the snake pieces, there arose a peculiar noise in the pan and simultaneously it began to rain heavily. The rain continued until all the mountains, except the highest, were under water, and the whole world was flooded because those men had killed and roasted the snake. All people perished, except one woman who fled to a very high mountain. There she found a dog at the foot of a liana and when she noticed that the root of the liana was warm, she thought perhaps fire could be obtained from it. So she took two pieces of this wood, rubbed them together, and thus obtained fire. Thus fire-drilling and the first fire after the great flood were created. The woman and the fire-driller, whom the Dayaks give the attributes of a living being, produced the Sim pang – impang, a half-body with an eye, an ear, an arm, a leg (which later became a whole man).
Translated from Die Flutsagen (1891)
Kamchatkans
The Itelmens (Kamchatkans) also know of a deluge and a powerful flooding of the entire land, which occurred not long after Kutka (the creator) had disappeared from them, and many people would have been lost at that time, some would have wanted to save themselves in ravens, but the waves became too big: those who remained made large rafts, tied the trees together, and retired on them with their provisions and all their wealth; so that they would not drift into the sea, they prevented it with large stones, which they attached to ropes and let fall into the depths instead of anchors; after the water had subsided, they remained on their rafts on top of the high mountains.
Translated from Die Flutsagen (1891)
North America
Pawnee
“My grandchild, many years ago, before we lived upon this earth, Tirawa placed wonderful human beings upon the earth. We knew of them as the wonderful beings or the large people. These people lived where the Swimming Mound is in Kansas. The bones of these large people were found upon the sides of the hill of the Swimming Mound. The old people told us that at this place the rain poured down from the heavens, and the water came from the northwest upon the earth so that it became deep and killed these wonderful beings. When these people were killed by the flood, Tirawa placed an old buffalo bull in the northwest, where the water had come in from the big water so that it overflowed the land. The buffalo bull was put at this place to hold the water back, so that it would not overflow the land any more. This buffalo was to remain at this place for many years. Each year this buffalo was to drop one hair. When all the hairs of the buffalo had come off then the people would not live upon the earth any more.
The Morning-Star also said that in the beginning of all things they gave power to the South Star for it to move up close, once in a while, to look at the North Star to see if it were still standing in the north. If it were still standing there it was to move back to its place.
The old people knew also that when the world was to come to an end there were to be many signs. Among the stars would be many signs. Meteors would fly through the sky. The Moon would change its color once in a while. The Sun would also show different colors, but the sign which was to be nearest to the people was that the rivers and the creeks were to rise.
When the time comes for the ending of the world the stars will again fall to the earth. They will mix among the people, for it will bea message to the people to get ready to be turned into stars.”
– Excerpts from The Pawnee Mythology, Dorsey (1906)
Makah
“A long time ago, but not at a very remote period, the waters of the Pacific flowed through what is now the swamp and prairie between Waatch village and Neah Bay, making an island of Cape Flattery. The water suddenly receded, leaving Neah Bay perfectly dry. It was four days reaching its lowest ebb, and then rose again without any waves or breakers till it had submerged the Cape, and in fact the whole country except the “tops of the mountains at Clyoquot. The water on its rise became very warm, and as it came up to the houses, those who had canoes put their effects in them, and floated off with the current, “which set very strongly to the north. Some drifted one way, some another; and when the waters assumed their accustomed level, a portion of the tribe found themselves beyond Nootka, where their descendants now reside, and are known by the same name as the Makahs in Classet, or Kwemaitchechat. Many canoes came down in the trees and were destroyed, and numerous “lives were lost. The water was four days in gaining its accustomed level.”
– Traditions of the “Deluge” Among the Tribes of the North-West, Eells, published in The American Antiquarian Vol 1:2 (1878)
The Date of the Flood
The Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus (93 AD) places the Noahic deluge around 2152 BC, or ±4.2ka BP, the Adam and Eve event at 4114 BC or ±6.2ka, and the Exodus at or around 1604 BC (2-4 centuries earlier than widely accepted by modern archaeology). This also aligns very well with the alternate proposed Jericho destruction date of 1600 BC.
It is common knowledge that the biblical genealogies cannot be used for chronological purposes because names may have been left out of them. One can, however, still make a rough chronological estimate for the date of the Flood by employing the two ten-name genealogies in Gen 5 and 11. The genealogy in Gen 5 begins with Adam, who is clearly described as a farmer in a garden (Gen 2:15) and who after his expulsion from the garden continues to do the very same kind of work (Gen 3:23 and 2:5,15). Genesis 4:1,2 in die light of 4:25 imply that Cain and Abel were contemporaries of Adam. Since Adam and Cain were farmers and Abel a shepherd, and neither domesticated crops nor domesticated sheep or goats appear in the archaeological record until c. 9000 B.C., Adam’s earliest possible date is c. 9000 B.C.’
Adam’s probable date, however, appears to be later. Genesis 2:8 tells us that God planted a garden (see 9:20; 21:33; Lev 9:23) that had fruit trees (2:9, 16; 3:2, 7). The implication of the words “plant” and “garden” are that the fruit trees are domesticated fruit trees. Adam has to “work” the garden (2:15), but he does not have to domesticate wild trees. The context suggests that even after his expulsion from the garden, he still had domesticated fruit trees. After he is expelled from the garden his work is harder, but the crops he is raising do not turn wild, thus necessitating their re-domestication. He raises domesticated grasses immediately, and Abel raises domesticated sheep. The picture painted suggests that domesticated fruit trees were just as available after Adam’s fall as domesticated grasses. It would be contrary to the thrust of the context to suppose otherwise. We must therefore ask. When did domesticated fruit trees first appear in the archaeological record? The answer is in the fourth millennium B.C. Adam should probably, therefore, be dated c. 4000 B.C., possibly earlier but probably not earlier than 5000 B.C.
At the other end of the two genealogies in Gen 5 and 11, we find Abraham (Gen 11:27) who can be dated to approximately 2000 B.C. The time from Adam to Abraham thus covers approximately 3000 years, or if Adam’s earliest possible date (9000 B.C.) is employed, 7000 years at most. Since Noah and his sons are the last people in the first genealogy and Shem is the first in the second, both genealogies are placing the Flood in the middle of the two-genealogy time span of 3000 (7000 at most) years. If the two genealogies each cover the same amount of time, the Flood would be dated at c. 3500 B.C. (5500 B.C. at most). The earlier genealogy, however, may well have more names missing from it than the later one, because over time it is the earlier persons named who lose their importance and are forgotten or become socially irrelevant and hence are dropped from the genealogy. Accordingly, more time probably elapsed from Adam to the Flood than from the Flood to Abraham. So, the time from the Flood to Abraham is probably less than 1500 years (or 3500 years). One cannot say how much less, but at least 500 years would seem to be in order, making the earliest probable date for the Flood c. 3000 B.C. and the earliest possible date c.5000 B.C.
One must also consider the tools and technological skills available for building an ark. It is possible that the ark could have been built with Neolithic stone axes; but considering the precision of shaping necessary for its decks and door, the extensive internal bracing, and the need for strong fittings and fasteners to hold a three-story boat together, it is more probable that metal axes and other metal tools along with some metal fittings were used. This also fits more smoothly with the “cutting instruments of brass and iron” of Gen 4:22 than does a Neolithic scenario.
When then do metal axes and other metal tools appear in the archaeological record? The answer is that, although very small copper objects such as awls and beads have been found as early as the eighth millennium B.C., copper mining and tool-making do not seem to begin before c. 5000 B.C.* Thus, the probable use of copper (copper-alloy) tools to build the ark indicates that the earliest date for the Flood is c. 5000 B.C.
This brings us to the clearest and most sure indication of the date of the Flood. Soon after the Flood, Noah “planted a vineyard” (Gen 9:20).5 This action cannot antedate the beginning of cultivated grapes. By looking for large quantities of grape seeds on archaeological sites, the charred remains of the vine, and particularly the thinner pear-shaped grape seeds that distinguish cultivated grapes from wild ones, paleobotanists have been able to trace the beginning of viticulture to the fourth millennium B.C., with the possibility of its being a few centuries earlier.^ This dating is confirmed by the fact that although evidence of various cereals and vegetables have often been found at sites dated to the ninth through the fifth millennia, evidence of grapes is scant on these earlier sites and never clearly indicates domesticated grapes. On the other hand, evidence of domesticated grapes is found abundantly and widespread at sites after 4000 B.C. and especially after 3000 B.C.
We can see then from the above evidence that, even if we dated Adam around 9000 B.C., the Flood as it is described in Gen 6-9 does not antedate 5000 B.C., and the probable use of metal tools indicates this same upper limit for the date of the Flood. Noah’s vineyard strongly indicates that the Flood probably does not antedate c. 4000 B.C. Since Adam should probably be dated no earlier than c. 5000 B.C., the combined genealogies of Gen 5 and 11 with the Flood at a midpoint between Adam and Abraham suggest a date c. 3500 to 3000 B.C. for the Flood.
This dating seems to be confirmed by the fact that nothing approaching the size of the ark, whether buildings or boats, appears in the archaeological record before c. 3500 B.C. Since the Flood must occur before the Tower of Babel, and the Tower of Babel cannot be later than c. 2300 B.C., this is the latest possible date for the Flood.’ Taken together, the biblical and archaeological evidence indicate that the Flood most probably occurred between c. 4000 B.C. (5000 B.C. at the earliest) and 2300 B.C.
– Noah’s Flood, Paul H. Seely (2004)
My own collation of more than 300 events from proxies suggests possible periods during which previous deluge(s) may have occurred.
Unveiled Mysteries
“Unveiled Mysteries” by Godfrey Ray King (pseudonym of Guy Ballard) was published in 1934 as part of the “I AM” religious movement. The book claims to document the author’s encounters with the ascended master Saint Germain on Mount Shasta. It describes spiritual teachings about “I AM” consciousness, past civilizations like Atlantis and Lemuria, and the use of divine light for personal transformation. The text combines elements of Theosophy, Western esotericism, and American New Thought philosophy.
Since this book deals with esoteric claims about ancient civilizations and religious experiences, it’s important to note that its contents represent personal spiritual beliefs rather than historically verified accounts.
Sahara
“This is the Sahara Desert,” he said, “when it was fertile country having a semi-tropical climate.”There were many streams of water carrying abundant moisture everywhere in the land. In the midst of this empire lay the capital, famous throughout the world for its splendor. The executive buildings were placed in the center upon a slight elevation, and from these, the city itself extended equally in every direction. “This civilization,” he went on, “rose to its apex seventy thousand years ago.”
Two thousand years later—most of that empire had become barren land, the streams dried up, and desolation stretched everywhere—all the result of the discord and selfishness of mankind and the blight it becomes upon the growth of plant life in nature. This kingdom had extended the entire width of Africa on east—until it reached the Himalayan Mountains.
There followed a great cataclysm—submerging all the land. Through that change, an inland sea was formed where the Sahara Desert now lies. Another earth change, which took place about twelve thousand years ago—drained this sea—and a part of it later became the present Sahara Desert. The River Nile, as it is today, most nearly resembles the beautiful streams—of that long forgotten period.
Atlantis
The first scenes portrayed the continent of “Mu” — the activity and accomplishment of its people, and the height to which that civilization attained. This covered a period of thousands of years. Then came events that surely must have been — a reign of terror — to the inhabitants of that land. A cataclysm occurred which tore the surface of the earth — until all collapsed within itself. The ancient land of Mu sank beneath the waves—of what is now the Pacific Ocean—where it still rests wrapped in its mantle of water. Again — it will rise — and once more absorb the Life and Light of the physical sun.
Next, came the growth to beauty, wisdom, and power of Atlantis, a great continent covering a large part of what is now the Atlantic Ocean. At that time, there existed solid land between Central America and what today is Europe. The things accomplished in that age — were tremendous — but again the people’s misuse of the Mighty God Energy — overwhelmed them and, as things were thrown more and more out of balance — the tearing apart of the earth’s surface by cataclysmic action was re-experienced.It left but a small remnant of Atlantis — merely an island in mid-ocean — cut off from close contact with the rest of the civilized world. The east and west portions of the land had sunk beneath the Atlantic Ocean leaving only the island called Poseidonis. It had been the heart of the then known civilized world, and preparation was made — to protect and preserve — its most important activities — as a central focus — to carry forward certain unfinished work. In that period very great attainment was reached both — spiritually and materially.
The mechanical development of this cycle reached a very high state of achievement, and one of its most remarkable expressions was the perfection of their aerial navigation. The air-transportation of our modern life is—as yet—very crude and primitive — compared to what was then on Atlantis. The Great Masters of Light and Wisdom — made this possible — for the people of Poseidonis because they inspired, instructed, protected, and revealed knowledge of great advancement — in every phase of human activity.
A large portion of these people became aware of the — Great Inner God Power — within the individual but as before — the human side of their nature or outer activities again usurped — the Great Energy. Selfishness and misuse of this transcendent wisdom and power gained the ascendency to even greater height than before. The Masters of the Ancient Wisdom — saw the people were building another destructive momentum — and that a third cataclysm was threatening. They warned the inhabitants — again and again as previously — but only those who served the “Light” gave heed.
Great buildings were constructed — of imperishable material — where records were placed — that have been preserved through the centuries. These remain in a state of perfect preservation — now — on the bed of the Atlantic Ocean — hermetically sealed. They will be brought to the light of day — by the Great Ones — who directed their preparation — and control their protection.
In them are recorded humanity’s advance and accomplishment of that period, so there has been no permanent loss to mankind of the activities of the Atlantean civilization. Beside the preserving of such records, great wealth, principally gold and jewels, was transferred at that time to other points of safety. This has been and will continue to be guarded over the centuries—and used at a future time for the uplift and advancement of generations—yet unborn.
The final cataclysm spent its momentum, and the last remaining fragment of a once world-empire sank to rest — for purification through the centuries — beneath the present Atlantic Ocean. The remembrance of Atlantis and her people, unlike the lost continent of Mu, has not been entirely forgotten or obliterated in the history of mankind — for it has been recorded in many ways through the centuries. Even though twelve thousand years have elapsed since the sinking, fragments of information concerning it — still drift to us from most unexpected channels. Myths and legends abound in reference to Atlantis and — these are two avenues — which preserve to mankind — certain actual conditions — that have been upon the earth — in one age or another. As time goes on indisputable proof — of its existence and the height of its attainment — will be revealed by oceanography, geology, and other scientific data.
More Flood Accounts
We have barely scratched the surface here. Mark Isaak compiled a list of more than 250 flood stories in which the ocean or sea is mentioned more than a hundred times.
Entropy, under Vernadsky’s lens, emerges not as the destroyer other frameworks assume but as the experiential gradient through which consciousness innovates. This synthesis reveals entropy only as the creative tax of universal becoming. By collapsing possibilities into actualities, humanity transforms entropy into a tool of meaning-making, reshaping the lithosphere into a logosphere where matter becomes information, and existence becomes novelty.
Entropy, far from being purely destructive, is a creative force that drives systems to optimize energy dissipation through resonance. This insight suggests that periodic reorganizations—whether in Earth’s systems or in the cosmos—are not anomalies but essential aspects of a self-regulating universe.
“This paper introduces The Pyramid as a potential countermeasure to the catastrophic event known as Exothermic Core-Mantle Decoupling and Dzhanibekov Oscillation (ECDO). The theory posits that the Earth’s core could undergo a significant decoupling event, leading to dramatic shifts in magnetic and rotational axes, which might result in global geological disruptions and major catastrophe. The proposed Pyramid solution leverages electromagnetic principles based on Energy Wave Theory (EWT) and modern geophysical understanding to mitigate or prevent the impacts of an ECDO event.” – P.S. Hernandez
“The Great Pyramid of Giza and its potential to manipulate energy has historically, been relegated to the realm of speculative mystery. Multiple “conspiracy theories”, sometimes illogical, sometimes eerily consistent but still, relegated to near oblivion, have been developed around it. Yet, in 2025, a dawn of an era when human understanding now rapidly begins to evolve in rebellion, one must ask: Why has the serious exploration of the Pyramid’s potential to interact with electromagnetic fields been so remarkably overlooked?” – P.S.Hernandez
The JUNS Orbital Cycle (Jupiter-Uranus-Neptune-Saturn) has a grand period of ~4627 years before all four repeat their dance. The 4/5 harmonic of this period is ~3702 years. If we look back through time, we find something quite remarkable every 3.7ka, going back not to the YDB, but one more cycle to the start of the Bølling–Allerød Interstadial 14.8ky before the present.
“This Manifesto is not an attack but a counterblast. We, persons who have understood that we are born on a highly dynamic planet that tumbles and gyrates and spirals through a highly dynamic universe, have been calumniated, cold-shouldered, blacklisted, denied research funding, refused publication space, and chased out of jobs by sectarians who took power at the universities around 1860, sectarians as dogmatic and repressive as their christian predecessors, and who tried – and continue trying – to describe the world as static as they can. And to enforce consensus, they continue using ad-hominem arguments, their “common sense”, the anonymous peer-review censorship system, and the medieval Occam’s razor, long since rusted and blunt.” – Han Kloosterman
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