Genesis flood narrative

The Genesis flood narrative is a Hebrew flood myth. It appears in Chapters 6 to 9 of the Book of Genesis in the Old Testament of the Bible.

Most of the book of Genesis was probably written around the 5th century BCE. Some parts, including the flood story, may have been written as late as the 3rd century BCE.

The myth

In the Genesis flood myth, God is unhappy with humans and wants to undo some of his creation and start over. He warns Noah to build an ark and fill it with his family and two of each animal on earth. Then he floods the earth. Nobody survives except for Noah and his family members on the ark.

Interpretations

Scientists agree that there was no global flood event that wiped out all human and animal life. The global distribution of species is one clue: species did not spread from one single place, as the story would suggest.

One branch of creationism argues that the Genesis flood narrative is based on fact, and that a global flood did occur.

The Genesis flood narrative has also been interpreted as the story of a local flood event, like the Black Sea deluge.

Some people relate the Biblical flood myth to the climate change phenomena associated with the Piora Oscillation, which triggered the collapse of the Uruk period.

Research

Academic scholars and researchers think the flood myth is very unlikely, or at least quite exaggerated. They say a flood of that size, with just a few human and animal survivors, would cause a severe genetic bottleneck. There is no evidence that this happened at the time (roughly 7000 years before the present day), either among humans or other animal species.

Scholars also state that the survivors would experience a founder effect. This happens when a very small group becomes isolated and reproduces only with each other. It means all the survivors are closely related to each other.

Some scholars propose that the flood narrative comes from a more localized event, like the Black Sea deluge, and describes a founder effect among one population of humans.

Geology

Geologists have found traces of severe floodings in remote history that were catastrophic, but limited to certain areas (not worldwide like the Genesis myth says).

The oldest geological evidence comes from the Channeled Scablands in the southeastern areas of the state of Washington. They were formed by a series of catastrophic floods caused by the collapse of glacial dams in the area's glacial lakes. The last of these floods happened between 18,200 and 14,000 years ago, according to estimates.

There was massive flooding along the Katun River (in the present-day Altai Republic) some time between 12000 BC and 9000 BC, according to geologists. Like with the Channeled Scablands, the collapse of dams in glacial lakes caused outburst floods from the Altai Mountains. Evidence comes from much of the gravel deposited along the Katun Valley. It is not arranged in clear layers, which suggests it was dropped from fast-moving water.

Another geologic feature believed to have been formed by massive catastrophic flooding is the Tsangpo Gorge in Tibet. As with the Channeled Scablands, breakthroughs of glacial ice dams probably unleashed massive and sudden torrents of water to form the gorge some time between 600 and 900 AD.

Archaeology

In 2020, archaeologists discovered evidence that a 16-meter-high tsunami hit modern-day Tel Dor, Israel, during the Neolithic period. It traveled between 1.5 to 3.5 km inland, destroying middle Pre-Pottery Neolithic B coastal settlements. Recovery in the affected areas was slow but overall, it did not significantly affect the social development of the southern Levant.

Whilst the tsunami is not identified with the Biblical flood, it is believed to contribute to the flood myths found in numerous cultures.

References

  1. ↑ Lamb 1995, p. 128
  2. ↑ Lamb, p. 128.
  3. ↑ Weber, Christopher Gregory (1980). "The Fatal Flaws of Flood Geology". Creation Evolution Journal. 1 (1): 24–37. Archived from the original on 2023-11-20. Retrieved 2024-04-13.
  4. ↑ Naturalis Historia blog. "The Great Genetic Bottleneck that Contradicts Ken Ham’s Radical Accelerated Diversification (Post-Flood Hyper-Evolution)." https://thenaturalhistorian.com/2016/03/30/the-great-genetic-bottleneck-that-contradicts-ken-hams-radical-accelerated-diversification-ie-post-flood-hyper-evolution/
  5. ↑ Bjornstad, B.; Kiver, E. (2012). On the Trail of the Ice Age Floods: The Northern Reaches: A geological field guide to northern Idaho and the Channeled Scabland. Sandpoint, Idaho: Keokee Books. ISBN 978-1879628397.
  6. ↑ Neuendorf, K.K.E., J.P. Mehl, Jr., and J.A. Jackson, eds. (2005) Glossary of Geology (5th ed.). Alexandria, Virginia, American Geological Institute. 779 pp. ISBN 0-922152-76-4
  7. ↑ Balbas, A.M., Barth, A.M., Clark, P.U., Clark, J., Caffee, M., O'Connor, J., Baker, V.R., Konrad, K. and Bjornstad, B., 2017. 10Be dating of late Pleistocene megafloods and Cordilleran Ice Sheet retreat in the northwestern United States. Geology, 45(7), pp. 583-586.
  8. ↑ "Rudoy, A.N., Baker, V. R. Sedimentary effects of cataclysmic late Pleistocene glacial outburst flooding, Altay Mountains, Siberia // Sedimentary Geology, 85 (1993) 53-62". Archived from the original on 2011-09-15. Retrieved 2011-10-14.
  9. ↑ Baker, V. R., G. Benito, A. N. Rudoy, Paleohydrology of late Pleistocene Superflooding, Altay Mountains, Siberia, Science, 1993, Vol. 259, pp. 348-352
  10. ↑ Rudoy A.N. Mountain Ice-Dammed Lakes of Southern Siberia and their Influence on the Development and Regime of the Runoff Systems of North Asia in the Late Pleistocene. Chapter 16. (P. 215—234.) — Palaeohydrology and Environmental Change / Eds: G. Benito, V.R. Baker, K.J. Gregory. — Chichester: John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 1998. 353 p.
  11. ↑ Grosswald, M.G., 1998, New approach to the ice age paleohydrology of northern Eurasia. Chapter 15. (P. 199-214)— Palaeohydrology and Environmental Change / Eds: G. Benito, V.R. Baker, K.J. Gregory. — Chichester: John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 1998. 353 p.
  12. ↑ "Rudoy, A.N., Baker, V. R. Sedimentary effects of cataclysmic late Pleistocene glacial outburst flooding, Altay Mountains, Siberia // Sedimentary Geology, 85 (1993) 53-62". Archived from the original on 2011-09-15. Retrieved 2011-10-14.
  13. ↑ Montgomery DR."Biblical-Type Floods Are Real, and They're Absolutely Enormous." Discover Magazine, 2012 August 29. https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/biblical-type-floods-are-real-and-theyre-absolutely-enormous
  14. 1 2 University of Washington. "Historic Himalayan Ice Dams Created Huge Lakes, Mammoth Floods." Science News, 2004 December 27. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/12/041220010147.htm
  15. ↑ Shtienberg, Gilad; Yasur-Landau, Assaf; Norris, Richard D.; Lazar, Michael; Rittenour, Tammy M.; Tamberino, Anthony; Gadol, Omir; Cantu, Katrina; Arkin-Shalev, Ehud; Ward, Steven N.; Levy, Thomas E. (2020). "A Neolithic mega-tsunami event in the eastern Mediterranean: Prehistoric settlement vulnerability along the Carmel coast, Israel". PLOS ONE. 15 (12) e0243619. Bibcode:2020PLoSO..1543619S. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0243619. PMC 7757801. PMID 33362214.
  16. ↑ Kiderra, Inga (December 23, 2020). "Massive Tsunami Hit the Neolithic Middle East 9,000+ Years Ago". UC San Diego Today. Archived from the original on December 15, 2023.