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)
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)
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.
Mu
“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. A spectacular and concise list of many more accounts from across the world may be read at Talk Origins. The ocean or sea is mentioned more than a hundred times in these accounts. Here I have reproduced the index of accounts:
- Europe
- Near East
- Africa
- Cameroon
- Masai (East Africa), Komililo Nandi, Kwaya (Lake Victoria)
- Southwest Tanzania, Pygmy, Ababua (northern Zaire), Kikuyu (Kenya), Bakongo (west Zaire), Bachokwe? (southern Zaire), Lower Congo, Basonge, Bena-Lulua (Congo River, southeast Zaire)
- Yoruba (southwest Nigeria), Efik-Ibibio (Nigeria), Ekoi (Nigeria)
- Mandingo (Ivory Coast)
- Asia
- Vogul
- Samoyed (north Siberia)
- Yenisey-Ostyak (north central Siberia), Kamchadale (northeast Siberia)
- Altaic (central Asia), Tuvinian (Soyot) (north of Mongolia)
- Mongolia, Buryat (eastern Siberia)
- Sagaiye (eastern Siberia)
- Russian
- Hindu, Bhil (central India), Kamar (Raipur District, Central India), Assam
- Tamil (southern India)
- Lepcha (Sikkim), Tibet, Singpho (Assam), Lushai (Assam), Lisu (northwest Yunnan, China), Lolo (southwestern China), Jino (southern Yunnan, China), Karen (Burma), Chingpaw (Upper Burma)
- China
- Korea
- Munda (north-central India), Santal (Bengal), Ho (southwestern Bengal)
- Bahnar (Cochin China), Kammu (northern Thailand)
- Andaman Islands (Bay of Bengal)
- Zhuang (China), Sui (southern Guizhou, China), Shan (Burma)
- Tsuwo (Formosa interior), Bunun (Formosa interior), Ami (eastern Taiwan)
- Benua-Jakun (Malay Peninsula), Kelantan (Malay Peninsula), Ifugao (Philippines), Kiangan Ifugao, Atá (Philippines), Mandaya (Philippines), Tinguian (Luzon, Philippines)
- Batak (Sumatra), Nias (an island west of Sumatra), Engano (another island west of Sumatra), Dusun (British North Borneo), Dyak (Borneo), Ot-Danom (Dutch Borneo), Toradja (central Celebes), Alfoor (between Celebes and New Guinea), Rotti (southwest of Timor), Nage (Flores)
- Australia
- Arnhem Land (northern Northern Territory)
- Maung (Goulburn Islands, Arnhem Land), Gunwinggu (northern Arnhem Land)
- Gumaidj (Arnhem Land)
- Manger (Arnhem Land)
- Fitzroy River area (Western Australia)
- Australian, Mount Elliot (coastal Queensland), Western Australia, Andingari (South Australia), Wiranggu (South Australia), Narrinyeri (South Australia), Victoria, Lake Tyres (Victoria), Kurnai (Gippsland, Victoria), southeast Australian
- Maori (New Zealand)
- Pacific Islands
- Kabadi (New Guinea), Valman (northern New Guinea), Mamberao River (Irian Jaya), Samo-Kubo (western Papua New Guinea), Papua New Guinea
- Palau Islands (Micronesia), western Carolines
- New Hebrides, Lifou (one of the Loyalty Islands), Fiji
- Samoa, Nanumanga (Tuvalu, South Pacific), Mangaia (Cook Islands), Rakaanga (Cook Islands), Raiatea (Leeward Group, French Polynesia), Tahiti, Hawaii
- North America
- Innuit, Eskimo (Orowignarak, Alaska), Norton Sound Eskimo, Central Eskimo, Tchiglit Eskimo (Arctic Ocean), Herschel Island Eskimo, Netsilik Eskimo, Greenlander
- Tlingit (southern Alaska coast), Hareskin (Alaska), Tinneh (Alaska and south), Loucheux (Dindjie) (Alaska), Dogrib and Slave (Tinneh tribes), Kaska (northern inland British Columbia), Thompson Indians (British Columbia), Sarcee (Alberta), Tsetsaut
- Haida (Queen Charlotte Is., British Columbia), Tsimshian (British Columbia)
- Kwakiutl (British Columbia)
- Kootenay (southeast British Columbia), Squamish (British Columbia), Bella Coola (British Columbia), Lillooet (Green River, British Columbia), Makah (Cape Flattery, Washington), Klallam (northwest Washington), Skokomish (Washington), Skagit (Washington), Quillayute (Washington), Nisqually (Washington), Twana (Puget Sound, Washington), Kathlamet
- Cascade Mountains
- Spokana, Nez Perce, Cayuse (eastern Washington), Yakima (Washington), Warm Springs (Oregon), Joshua (southern Oregon), Smith River (northern California coast), Wintu (north central California), Maidu (central California), Northern Miwok (central California), Tuleyome Miwok (near Clear Lake, California), Olamentko Miwok (Bodega Bay, California) Ohlone (San Francisco to Monterey, California)
- Kato (Mendocino County, California)
- Shasta (northern California interior), Pomo (north central California), Salinan (California), Yuma (western Arizona, southern California), Havasupai (lower Colorado River)
- Ashochimi (California)
- Yurok (north California coast), Blackfoot (Alberta and Montana), Cree (Canada), Timagami Ojibway (Canada), Chippewa (Ontario, Minnesota, Wisconsin), Ottawa, Menomini (Wisconsin-Michigan border), Cheyenne (Minnesota), Yellowstone, Montagnais (northern Gulf of St. Lawrence), Micmac (eastern Maritime Canada), Algonquin (upper Ottowa River), Lenape (Delaware) (Delaware to New York)
- Cherokee (Great Lakes area; eastern Tennessee)
- Mandan (North Dakota), Lakota
- Choctaw (Mississippi), Natchez (Lower Mississippi)
- Chitimacha (Southern Louisiana)
- Caddo (Oklahoma, Arkansas), Pawnee (Nebraska)
- Navajo (Four Corners area), Jicarilla Apache (northeastern New Mexico)
- Sia (northeast Arizona)
- Acagchemem (near San Juan Capistrano, California), Luiseño (Southern California), Pima (southwest Arizona), Papago (Arizona), Hopi (northeast Arizona), Zuni (New Mexico)
- Central America
- Tarascan (northern Michoacan, Mexico), Michoacan (Mexico)
- Yaqui (Sonoran, Northern Mexico), Tarahumara (Northern Mexico), Huichol (western Mexico), Cora (east of the Huichols), Tepecano (southeast of the Huichols), Tepehua (eastern Mexico), Toltec (Mexico), Nahua (central Mexico), Tlaxcalan (central Mexico)
- Tlapanec (south central Mexico), Mixtec (northern Oaxaca, Mexico), Zapotec (Oaxaca, southern Mexico), Trique (Oaxaca, southern Mexico)
- Totonac (eastern Mexico)
- Chol (southern Mexico), Tzeltal (Chiapas, southern Mexico), Quiché (Guatemala), Maya (southern Mexico and Guatemala)
- Popoluca (Veracruz, Mexico)
- Nicaragua, Panama
- Carib (Antilles)
- South America
- Acawai (Orinoco), Arekuna (Guyana), Makiritare (Venezuela), Macusi (British Guyana)
- Muysca (Colombia), Yaruro (southern Venezuela)
- Yanomamö (southern Venezuela)
- Tamanaque (Orinoco), Arawak (Guyana), Pamary, Abedery, and Kataushy (Purus R., Brazil), Ipurina (Upper Amazon)
- Jivaro (eastern Ecuador), Shuar (Andes)
- Murato (eastern Ecuador)
- Cañari (Quito, Ecuador)
- Guanca and Chiquito (Peru)
- Ancasmarca (near Cuzco, Peru), Canelos Quechua, Quechua, Inca (Peru), Colla (high Andes)
- Chiriguano (southeast Bolivia)
- Chorote (Eastern Paraguay)
- Eastern Brazil (Rio de Janiero region), Eastern Brazil (Cape Frio region), Caraya (Araguaia River, central Brazil), Coroado (south Brazil)
- Araucania (coastal Chile)
- Toba (northern Argentina)
- Selk’nam (southern tip of Argentina)
- Yamana (Tierra del Fuego)
- References
“Jutting out of the canyon wall, almost immediately overhead, was the forward portion of a large and very ancient vessel. A curved stem head swept up from its prow. Along both sides of the vessel were clearly discernible circular marks in the wood, quite possibly left by shields which at one time had been attached to the vessel. Mrs. Botts is not sure what kind of an ancient ship she and her husband, and an old prospector, saw in the desert canyon. It could have been
Phoenician, or it could have been Roman, but she feels that it was Viking.”
“When, therefore, the earth, covered with mud from the recent flood, became heated up by the hot and genial rays of the sun, she brought forth innumerable forms of life, in part of ancient shapes, and – in part creatures new and strange.” – Ovid, Metamorphoses
In July 1947 a Swedish deep-sea expedition left Göteborg on the Albatross for a fifteen-month journey around the world to investigate the bottom of the seas on the seventeen thousand miles of the ship’s course with the help of a newly constructed vacuum core sampler. In the sediment that covers the rocky bottom of the oceans the expedition found, in the words of its leader, H.Pettersson, director of the Oceanographic Institute at Göteborg, “evidence of great catastrophes that have altered the face of the earth.”
“The end of Bretton Woods allowed for an unprecedented ability to manage systemic shocks, including those potentially arising from geomagnetic and planetary cycles. While this connection remains speculative, the timing of the dollar’s decoupling and the NMDP’s acceleration suggests a deeper interrelation between human systems and Earth’s dynamic processes. Could this flexibility be a necessary adaptation for navigating a period of intensified geophysical upheaval?”
“It is accepted that the geomagnetic field resembles that of a dipole (or bar magnet) located at the earth’s center. This theoretical representation accounts for about 90% of the geomagnetic field and provides geophysicists with the familiar diagram showing magnetic lines of force exiting one polar region and entering the other. This neat portrait of the geomagnetic field is marred in practice by several important anomalies that cast doubt upon the almost universally accepted view that the geomagnetic field is a product of dynamo action.”
“When the fated day of deluge comes, after what fashion will the earth for the most part be over whelmed by the waves? Will it be by the strength of Ocean and the rise of the outer sea against us? Or will the rain descend uninterruptedly, and will summer be cut out of the year while persistent winter bursts its clouds and pours down endless masses of water? Or will earth herself open new reservoirs and shed forth rivers more abundantly? Or will a single cause be insufficient to produce such a catastrophe, and all the methods conspire together, the rains descending and the river floods rising, and the seas hurrying in hot haste from their place all agencies in concert bent upon the one aim, the destruction of the human race? The last is the truth.” – Seneca (65 AD)
Leave a Reply
Want to join the discussion?Feel free to contribute!