Flood Legends by Chester Clark

Andrews University Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary

FLOOD LEGENDS OF ANCIENT CULTURES AS COMPARED WITH THE BIBLICAL ACCOUNT

A Research Paper Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Course THST 678 Science and Religion

by Chester Van Clark III Spring 2010

TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter I. INTRODUCTION..............................................................................................1 II. THE FLOOD STORY IN THE BIBLICAL TEXT.............................................5 III.

FLOOD TRADITIONS IN THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST ................................7

IV.

FLOOD LEGENDS IN ASIA-PACIFIC CULTURES .....................................15

V. FLOOD LEGENDS IN EUROPEAN CULTURES..........................................17 VI. FLOOD LEGENDS IN AMERICAN CULTURES..........................................19 VII. FLOOD LEGENDS IN POLYNESIAN CULTURES......................................22 VIII. CONCLUSIONS..............................................................................................26 BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................................................................30

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Purpose Statement The story of a global deluge which inundated the entire world is today considered by many to be a fictional account of Hebrew origin. Many believe its acceptance by conservative Christians to be wishful thinking by young earth creationists who are looking for an explanation for the geological column. The deluge story is not a tale unique to Judeo-Christian writings, however. It is present in many ancient cultural traditions, often with striking similarities to the biblical version. The purpose of this paper is to review some of these traditional flood â&#x20AC;&#x153;mythsâ&#x20AC;? and note similarities with the biblical account, and to consider the implications of these wide-spread and ancient cultural traditions upon the credibility of a global flood story. Methodology Most of the ancient legends have been translated and studied in some detail, and some such studies have been undertaken in light of the biblical account of the flood. Rather than repeating these efforts, this paper reviews the most credible of these studies available and attempts to synthesize the information in a short paper that will inform the reader of cogent arguments that could support the authenticity of the Genesis record.

In the first chapter an overview of the paper and an overview of similarities found between many flood stories are provided. In the second chapter a brief summary of the biblical account of the flood is provided. The following chapters examine, region by region, a number of flood legends from local cultures. The final chapter discusses the implications of these flood stories to the matter of origins and biblical veracity. Delimitations The biblical flood account found in Genesis 6-10 forms the basis of comparison to other culturesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; ancient flood legends. The author believes this account to be reliable and primary. Scriptural references are taken from the King James Version unless otherwise noted. Overview It is estimated that between 2701 and 5002 flood myths exist in ancient cultures around the world. These can be divided into the categories of the Ancient Near-East, Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Americas, and Polynesian. Of these hundreds of myths, many show significant similarities suggesting that they are accounts of the same event or come from a common oral tradition. Below is a list of more than a dozen similarities found in comparing over 200 of these legends:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Is there a favored family? 88% Were they forewarned? 66% Is the flood due to wickedness of man? 66% Is catastrophe only a flood? 95% Was the flood global? 95%

The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1982), s.v. "Flood (Genesis)." 2 H. S. Bellamy, Moons, Myths and Man; a Reinterpretation, [2d rev. and augm. ]. ed. (London: Faber and Faber, 1949).

6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14.

Is the survival due to a boat? 70% Were animals also saved? 67% Did animals play any part? 73% Did survivors land on a mountain? 57% Was the geography local? 82% Were birds sent out? 35% Was the rainbow mentioned? 7% Did survivors offer a sacrifice? 13% Were specifically eight persons saved? 9%3 Other studies have demonstrated similar correlations between the flood stories of

many different cultures (see Table 1.14 and Table 1.25).

Man in transgression Divine destruction Favored family Ark provided

X X X X

Hawaii

Fiji Islands

Leeward Islands

Peru

Aztecs (Mexico)

Papago (Mexico)

Cherokee (USA)

Cree (Canada)

X X X

X X X X X

X X X

India

China

Russia

Lithuania

Italy

Egypt

X X X

X X X X

Greece

Asia Minor

Syria

Persia

Assyrio-Babylonia 2

Assyrio-Babylonia 1

Flood Traditions â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Table 1.1

X X X X X

X X

X X X X X X

X X X X X X X X X X X X X

Humans saved

X X X X

Animals Saved

X X X X

Destruction by water

Universal destruction X X X X X \ X X X X Landing on mountain X X Birds sent out

X X

Survivors worship

X X

X X X X X X X X X X X X \

X X

X X X

Divine favor on saved X X X=Full representation of Biblical Idea

X X

\=Partial representation of Biblical idea

John D. Morris, "Why Does Nearly Every Culture Have a Tradition of Global Flood?" BTG September 2001, no. 153b (2001). 4 http://www.nwcreation.net/noahlegends.html, "Flood Legends" (accessed March 18, 2010). 5 Ibid.

Flood Traditions - Table 1.2 D=Destruction by Water G=(God) Divine Cause W=Warning Given H=Humans Spared A=Animals Spared V=Preserved in a Vessel D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D 35

G G

G G G G G G G

W W W

W W W W W

G G G G

W W W

G G W W G W W W G W G

H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H

A A A

A A A A A A A

V V V V V V V V

A A A A A A A

A A A

V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V

V V V V V

01 Australia-Kurnai 02 Babylon - Berossus' account 03 Babylon - Gilgamesh epic 04 Bolivia – Chiriguano 05 Borneo - Sea Dayak 06 - Burma – Singpho 07 - Canada – Cree 08 Canada – Montagnais 09 China – Lolo 10 Cuba - original natives 11 East Africa – Masai 12 Egypt - Book of the Dead 13 Fiji - Walavu-levu tradition 14 French Polynesia – Raiatea 15 Greece - Lucian's account 16 Guyana – Macushi 17 Iceland – Eddas 18 India - Andaman Islands 19 India – Bhil 20 India – Kamar 21 Iran - Zend-Avesta 22 Italy - Ovid's poetry 23 Malay Peninsula-Jekun 24 Mexico - Codex Chimalpopoca 25 Mexico – Huichol 26 New Zealand – Maori 27 Peru - Indians of Huarochiri 28 Russia – Vogul 29 USA (Alaska) – Kolusches 30 USA (Alaska) – Tlingit 31 USA (Arizona) – Papago 32 USA (Hawaii) - Legend of Nu-u 33 Vanualu – Melanesians 34 Vietnam – Bahnar 35 Wales - Dwyfan legend Total Occurrences out of 35

CHAPTER II THE FLOOD STORY IN THE BIBLICAL TEXT In the biblical flood story, the wickedness of man became so great that God decided to destroy the earth with a flood.6 Noah, one who was found righteous,7 was instructed to build an ark to save his family and the animals. 8 The flood resulted from forty days and forty nights9 of not typical rain but “all the fountains of the great deep [were] broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.”10 Noah and his family, along with the animals, survived in the ark while all other terrestrial life was annihilated.11 The highest mountains were covered.12 After about five months13 the waters began to recede and about two and a half months later Noah’s craft rested on the mountains of Ararat.14 Forty days later Noah sent out a raven and a dove, but both returned to the ark for lack of a suitable place elsewhere to land. 15 A week later he sent out a dove again, and this time it returned with an olive leaf in its mouth.16 After another week, the dove sent out did not return, and Noah knew that the flood had ended. 17

The Bible, King James Version (Iowa City, Iowa: World Bible Publishers), Genesis 6:1-17. Ibid., Genesis 6:8-9. 8 Ibid., Genesis 6:14-21. 9 Ibid., Genesis 7:4. 10 Ibid., Genesis 7:11. 11 Ibid., Genesis 7:21. 12 Ibid., Genesis 7:19. 13 Ibid., Genesis 7:24. 14 Ibid., Genesis 8:4. 15 Ibid., Genesis 8:6-9. 16 Ibid., Genesis 8:10-11. 17 Ibid., Genesis 8:12-13. 7

Upon leaving the ark, Noah and his family offered sacrifices to God.18 God then made a promise that He would never again destroy the earth with a flood, and set a rainbow in the sky as a token and reminder of that promise. 19 The biblical account of the flood contains many details not here spelled out, such as the dimensions of the ark, the procedures for its population and disembarkation, and the justification for the destruction of humanity. The preceding summary, however, is sufficient to allow for comparisons between the biblical flood story and the deluge legends found in many ancient cultures around the world.

18 19

Ibid., Genesis 8:20. Ibid., Genesis 9:12-16.

CHAPTER III FLOOD TRADITIONS IN THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST At least eight versions of the flood story are to be found in the cultures of the Ancient Near East, and we look at the following six20 here: 1.

The Ziusudra Epic, which was written in the Sumerian language. In this account, Ziusudra was the flood hero. Fragments of one tablet, estimated to contain about one third of the original text, were discovered at the ancient Sumerian city of Nippur in what is now Iraq.

The Atrahasis Epic, which was written in the Akkadian language. About twothirds of the original text survives. The more complete of the two versions of this epic discovered is the earlier of the two, and dates back to a period of preservation and translation of the Sumerian literature by Babylonian scribes.

The Gilgamesh Epic, a series of twelve poems each written on a separate tablet. The flood story is contained on tablet eleven. It has been found in versions in the Akkadian, Middle Babylonian, Hittite, and Hurrian languages.

Genesis 6-10 in the English Bible, believed by conservative Christians to have been written by Moses prior to the Israelite exodus from Egypt.

The Berossus version. Berossus was a Babylonian priest who wrote a history of Babylonia which does not survive today. Authors such as Josephus,

Robert M. Best, Noah's Ark and the Ziusudra Epic : Sumerian Origins of the Flood Myth, 1st ed. (Fort Myers, Fla.: Enlil Press, 1999), 23.

Eusebius, and others have preserved excerpts in their writings of this flood story and its hero, Xisuthros. 6.

The Moses of Khoren version published in his history of Armenia, which describes a legend from Olympiodorus regarding “a book about Khsisuthros [Ziusudra the Sumerian Noah] and his sons, which has not survived to the present.”21 These six Near East accounts are evaluated by Best with the following similarities

pointed out:22 “Side-wall…pay attention” Ziusudra iv, 155 “Wall, listen to me.” Atrahasis III, i, 20 “Wall, pay attention” Gilgamesh XI, 22 “the decision that mankind is to be destroyed” Ziusudra iv, 157-158 “The gods commanded total destruction” Atrahasis II, viii, 34 “The great gods decided to make a flood” Gilgamesh XI, 14 “God… decided to make an end of all flesh” Genesis 6:3 RSV “Destroy your house, spurn property, save life” Atrahasis III, i, 22 “Tear down house, abandon property, save life” Gilgamesh XI, 24-26 “Enki…over the capitals the storm will sweep” Ziusudra iv, 156 “He [Enki} told him of the coming of the flood” Atrahasis III, i, 37 “God said to Noah…I will bring a flood” Genesis 6:13, 17 RSV “Kronos…said…mankind would be destroyed by a flood” Berossus “…the huge boat” Ziusudra v, 207 “Build a ship” Atrahasis III, i, 22 “Build a ship” Gilgamesh XI, 24 “Make yourself an ark” Genesis 6:14 RSV “build a boat” Berossus “who protected the seed of mankind” Ziusudra vi, 259 “Bring into the ship the seed of all life” Gilgamesh XI, 27 “to keep their seed alive” Genesis 7:3 KJV “Like the apsu you shall roof it” Atrahasis III, i, 29 21 22

Ibid., 24. Ibid., 24-27.

“Like the apsu you shall roof it” Gilgamesh XI, 31 “Make a roof for the ark” Genesis 6:16 RSV “coming of the flood on the seventh night” Atrahasis III, i, 37 “after seven days the waters of the flood came” Genesis 7:10 RSV “pitch I poured into the inside” Gilgamesh XI, 66 “cover it inside and out with pitch” Genesis 6:14 RSV “some people scrape pitch off the boat” Berossus “your family, your relatives” Atrahasis DT, 42(w), 8 “he sent his family on board” Atrahasis III, ii, 42 “into the ship all my family and relatives” Gilgamesh XI, 84 “Go into the ark, you and all your household” Genesis 7:1 RSV “he sent his wife and children and friends on board” Berossus “Animals which emerge from the earth” Ziusudra vi, 253 “all the wild creatures of the steppe” Atrahasis DT, 42(w), 9 “The cattle of the field, the beast of the plain” Gilgamesh XI, 85 “clean animals and of animals that are not clean” Genesis 7:8 RSV “and put both birds and animals on board” Berossus “Enter the boat and closer the boat’s door” Atrahasis DT, 42(w), 6 “Pitch was brought for him to close the door” Atrahasis III, ii, 51 “I entered the boat and closed the door” Gilgamesh XI, 93 “And they that entered…and the Lord shut him in” Genesis 7:16 RSV “consigned the peoples to destruction” Atrahasis III, iii, 54 “All mankind was turned to clay” Gilgamesh XI, 133 “And all flesh died…and every man” Genesis 7:21 RSV “Ziusudra made an opening in the large boat” Ziusudra vi, 207 “I opened the window” Gilgamesh XI, 135 “Noah opened the window of the ark” Genesis 8:6 RSV “he pried open a portion of the boat” Berossus “On Mount Nisir the boat grounded” Gilgamesh XI, 140 “the ark came to rest upon the mountains” Genesis 8:4 “the boat had grounded upon a mountain” Berossus “After Khsisuthros…landed…a long mountain” Moses of Khoren “The dove went out and returned” Gilgamesh XI, 147 “sent forth the dove and the dove came back to him” Genesis 8:10 RSV “let out the birds and they again returned to the ship” Berossus “The king slaughtered…bulls and sheep” Ziusudra vi, 211

“He offered [a sacrifice]” Atrahasis II, v, 31 “And offered a sacrifice” Gilgamesh XI, 155 “offered burnt offerings on the altar” Genesis 8:20 RSV “built an altar and sacrificed to the gods” Berossus “[The gods smelled] the savor” Atrahasis III, v, 34 “The gods smelled the sweet savor” Gilgamesh XI, 160 “And the Lord smelled the sweet savor…” Genesis 8:21 RSV “That I may remember it [every] day” Atrahasis III, vi, 4 “I shall remember these days and never forget” Gilgamesh XI, 165 “I shall remember my covenant…I may remember” Genesis 9:15-16 RSV “[on the criminal] impose your penalty” Atrahasis III, vi, 25 “On the criminal impose his crimes” Gilgamesh XI, 180 “Who sheds the blood of man, by man his blood be shed” Genesis 9:6 RSV “he touched our foreheads to bless us” Gilgamesh XI, 192 “And God blessed Noah” Genesis 9:1 RSV “I lived in the temple of Ea, my lord” Atrahasis RS 22.421, 7 “go down to dwell with my lord Ea” Gilgamesh XI, 42 “he had gone to dwell with the gods” Berossus “Noah walked with God.” Genesis 6:9 RSV It is clear from the above similar language that these six accounts Near Eastern accounts are describing the same story. It is even suggested that the name “Noah” has an intended meaning of “long” or “long life” – the same meaning of the name “Ziusudra”, of which “Xisuthros” and “Khsisuthros” are forms.23 When stories of actual events are passed down to later generations using oral reports that lead to conflicting versions, it is common to use the principle of triangulation to determine which of the details are likely accurate. Triangulation involves considering the views, and assuming that data reflected in at least three of the versions may be considered more reliable. Using this common historiography principle, it would appear

Ibid., 28.

that certain parts of the flood story could be considered factual even having only considered the biblical and Near Eastern versions of the deluge “myth.” While many lucid readers would have to agree that the various accounts are describing the same story, some may undoubtedly draw different conclusions as to the validity of an actual flood event or the credibility of any one source. Some have concluded that the Genesis account is derived from the previously existing Near Eastern legends. The conservative Christian need not deny the existence of these legends in various cultures and languages prior to the believed time of the writing of Genesis, as it is commonly agreed that such stories as a Noachian flood would have had to have been handed down in oral traditions until the time of Moses, and would undoubtedly suffered a variety of alterations, perhaps particularly as a result of the confusing of the languages at the tower of Babel. It matters little, therefore, which was written down first. What matters is whether Genesis depends upon these legends for its facts, or whether another of the versions, being the source of the Genesis account, is more cohesive and reliable. Nozomi Osanai, in her thesis “A Comparative Study of the Flood Accounts in the Gilgamesh Epic and Genesis” argues for the greater credibility of the Genesis account over the Gilgamesh Epic from a variety of observations. 24 First of all, the consistency of the ethics of the biblical account of the flood is simply unparalleled in the competing Near Eastern versions. In the Genesis story, mankind is destroyed by the flood because of his great wickedness and immorality. God is shown to be both just and merciful in providing an ark to save the lives of the righteous

Nozomi Osanai, “A Comparative Study of the Flood Accounts in the Gilgamesh Epic and Genesis ” (Wesley Biblical Seminary, 2004).

Noah and all else who will enter. Upon the completion of the earthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s destruction, God does not have second thoughts or regrets or consider the act to have been a mistake. In the other accounts, however, while there is express indication that the gods decree the destruction, there is no indication of it being on moral grounds. In fact, the hero of the story seems more likely to have been saved on the boat because he was wealthy or wise. The gods themselves are conflicted, with one bringing the destruction and another working to save the apparently arbitrarily decided upon survivors. There are also regrets and recriminations expressed by the gods afterwards. Secondly, the Gilgamesh Epic and other Near Eastern flood stories are clearly written assuming polytheism, while the biblical account is monotheistic. This does not provide internal evidence for or against consistency of either type of story, but it does raise doubts as to the ability of the monotheistic version to have been derived from a version which is so thoroughly polytheistic. Thirdly, to take the Gilgamesh Epic literally would be to believe in the entire destruction of the human race aside from those saved on the boat. But in the Epic version there is no provision for the repopulation of the earth, since the survivors are made immortal and ceased to live human lives. Berossus states that they were removed to the realm of the gods.25 The Genesis account, however, provides for the repopulation of the earth, which Osanai shows is mathematically and genetically possible from the four couples of Noahâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s family. Fourthly, the source of water in the Gilgamesh Epic (as well as other Near Eastern accounts) is simply insufficient to cover the entire earth in the time (six days and six

Alexander Heidel, The Gilgamesh Epic and Old Testament Parallels, 2d ed. (Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1949), 258.

nights) that the rain was supposedly falling. The Genesis account, on the other hand, provides for not only rainfall but for the “fountains of the deep” to be broken up and subterranean water sources utilized over a period of forty days, with seven months of drying required to complete the inundation of the globe. This is much more reasonable. Fifthly, Osanai points out that the Gilgamesh Epic dimensions of the boat was quite clearly a cube – which would be an extremely unstable design for a craft even in still water. On the other hand, the design provided by the God of the Genesis account is agreed by modern designers who studied it to be very stable: In this study, the safety of Noah’s Ark in the severe environments imposed by waves and winds during the Genesis Flood was investigated. Three major safety parameters—structural safety, overturning stability, and seakeeping quality—were evaluated altogether to assess the safety of the whole system. The concept of “relative safety”, which is defined as the relative superiority in safety compared to other hull forms, was introduced and 12 different hull forms with the same displacement were generated for this purpose. Evaluation of these three safety parameters was performed using analytical tools. Model tests using 1/50 scaled models of a prototype were performed for three typical hull forms in order to validate the theoretical analysis. Total safety index, defined as the weighted average of three relative safety performances, showed that the Ark had a superior level of safety in high winds and waves compared with the other hull forms studied. The voyage limit of the Ark, estimated on the basis of modern passenger ships, criteria, revealed that it could have navigated through waves higher than 30 metres.26 Because of the greater consistency and scientific plausibility of the Genesis account over the Near Eastern stories, it is highly unlikely that it was derived from one or all of those sources. One would at least have to agree that if the author of Genesis gleaned his information from the Gilgamesh Epic and related sources, a tremendous effort was made to make their stories more plausible by somebody with a wealth of

S.S. Na S.W. Hong, B.S. Hyun, S.Y. Hong, D.S. Gong, K.J. Kang, S.H. Suh, K.H. Lee, and Y.G. Je, "Safety Investigation of Noah’s Ark in a Seaway," in International Conference on Creation Research (Korea Association of Creation Research, 1994), 26.

zoological, biological, and engineering knowledge. Skeptics, who deny the divine revelation possibility, can only assume that a great period of time must intervene between the two: “If a man such as our narrator became acquainted with the Babylonian material, filled with the most crass mythology, he would have only felt disgust. Furthermore, a comparison of the Babylonian and the very different Israelite narratives teaches that a long history must lie between the two.”27 It seems much more believable that both the biblical account and the other Near Eastern versions are derivatives from a common origin. It is the author’s view that the Genesis account is more internally coherent and scientifically plausible because Divine inspiration led the accountant to record the accurate aspects of a long oral tradition.

Hermann Carruth and William Herbert Gunkel tr, The Legends of Genesis, the Biblical Saga and History. Uniform Title: Sagen Der Genesis. English (New York: Schocken Books, 1964), 73.

CHAPTER IV FLOOD LEGENDS IN ASIA-PACIFIC CULTURES So many flood legends are found in Asia-Pacific cultures that it would be impossible to even briefly overview them here. They are found in folk lore from China, Loas, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, and New Zealand. In one of the earliest Chinese historical documents, the Shu King, the Emperor Yao is faced with rising floodwaters: “The Emperor said: President of the Four Mountains, the ever-increasing flood is disastrous; spreading abroad it encompasses the hills, and overtops the earthworks; vast and extensive it rises to heaven, the lower people sorrowing greatly.”28 Interestingly enough, the translator of the 1904 edition calculated that this flood, according to the Shu King, occurred about the 2348 B.C. – or approximately the same time that biblical chronology would date the Noachian flood!29 In another Chinese history dated 2,200 years old, the Shanhaijing, the same Chinese Emperor who controls the flood in the Shu King spends ten years on a similar task with a flood whose “floodwaters overflowed heaven.”30 Many other Chinese legends include a female goddess named Nüwa, who was responsible for repairing the broken heavens after a flood or catastrophe. 31 28

Confucius and others, The Shu King; or, the Chinese Historical Classic, Being an Authentic Record of the Religion, Philosophy, Customs and Government of the Chinese from the Earliest Times (London and Benares: Theosophical Pub. Society; New York, John Lane, 1904), 3. 29 Ibid., 28. 30 Anne Birrell, The Classic of Mountains and Seas, Penguin Classics; (London : Penguin Books: New York, N.Y., 1999).

According to Hindu tradition the Matsya Purana, the oldest of the Hindu Scriptures (which begin with a story of Vishnu creating the world out of nothing except darkness), came about during the great flood. Vishnu then revealed that it was indeed he who had adopted the form of a fish. He told Manu that the earth would soon be flooded with water. Vishnu had a boat built by the gods. When the earth was flooded, Manu was to place all living beings in the boat and thus save them. Vishnu would himself arrive in his form of the fish and Manu was to tie the boat to the fish’s horn. Thus the living beings would be saved. And when the waters of the flood receded, Manu could populate the world and rule over it. Vishnu disappeared, and for a hundred years there was a terrible drought on earth. The drought led to famine and people died of starvation. Meanwhile, the sun blazed in fury and burnt up the entire world. When everything had burnt to ashes, dark clouds loomed in the sky. These are the clouds that appear at the time of destruction and there are seven classes of such clouds, known as samvarta, bhimananda, drona, chanda, valahaka, vidyutapataka and kona. From the clouds, rain began to pour and soon, water engulfed the entire earth. The land mass was flooded. As instructed by Vishnu, Manu gathered together living beings inside the boat. And when the fish appeared, he tied the boat to the fish’s horn. While the boat was being dragged around by the fish, Manu asked Vishnu several questions. The answers that Vishnu provided form the text of the Matsya Purana. 32 While obviously containing mythological elements, the story also contains similarities to the biblical flood. As in other widely disparate cultures around the world, the Asian-Pacific cultures somehow managed to collect deluge myths which, though containing differences and unique cultural reflections, also possessed similarities that are not easily explained if they are not understood to have originated from a common event, or at least to have been derived from a common source or story.

Barrett, T.H. "Lieh tzu 列子". In Michael Loewe, ed., Early Chinese Texts: A Bibliographical Guide, pp. 298-308. Berkeley: The Society for the Study of Early China. 1993. 32 http://www.dharmakshetra.com/avatars/Matsya%20Purans.html, "Matsay Purana Complete" (accessed March 22, 2010).

CHAPTER V FLOOD LEGENDS IN EUROPEAN CULTURES While there are flood stories in Irish, German (Norse), and Finnish lore, perhaps the most extensive and widespread are three deluge legends in Greek culture. The first of these three floods, the flood of Ogyges, supposedly dates back to the earliest history of the world. Ogyges is somewhat synonymous with primitive, primal, and “earliest dawn.”33 In many legends the flood of Ogyges is said to have been so devastating that it covered the whole world.34 He escaped with some companions in a vessel. 35 In Norse legend the flood story also contains Noachian similarities, though mingled with mythical causation. Supposedly this flood, at the very beginning of time, was caused by the bleeding of a slain giant: “The sons of Borr slew Ymir the giant; lo, where he fell there gushed forth so much blood out of his wounds that with it they drowned all the race of the Rime-Giants, save that one, whom giants call Bergelmir, escaped with his household; he went upon his ship, and his wife with him, and the were safe there. And from there are come the races of the Rime-Giants, as is said here: Untold ages Ere earth was shapen, Then was Bergelmir born; That first I recall,

La Michael, The Principles of Existence & Beyond (Gardners Books, 2007), 158. Theodor Herzl Frazer James George Gaster, Sir, and Testament Folk-lore in the Old, Myth, Legend, and Custom in the Old Testament : A Comparative Study with Chapters from Sir James G. Frazer's Folklore in the Old Testament, [1st ]. ed. (New York: Harper & Row, 1969). 35 Francois Lenormant, "The Deluge: Its Traditions in Ancient Nations," The Contemporary Review September-December 1879, no. 36 (1879): 481. 34

How the famous wise giant On the deck of the ship was laid down.”36 The Irish legends are largely discredited by critics by the actual use of Noah’s name in the story, thus leading critics to assume that early Christian missionaries likely inserted this title into the story and calling its credibility into question. In the Finnish version, like the Norse, the medium of flooding is blood caused by a wound incurred while attempting a heroic feat. One version of the legend records the following: The blood came forth like a flood the gore ran like a river: there was no hummock and no high mountain that was not flooded all from Väinämöinen's toe from the holy hero's knee.37 While European deluge legends differ widely from the biblical flood, perhaps more widely than those of other cultures, it still must be noted that the common themes of universal destruction, the saving of a few, and the use of a boat for the survivors’ salvation are all commonalities that are found to be similar to the Genesis account.

Snorri Sturluson, Prose Edda, trans., Arthur Brodeur (New York: The American-Scandinavian Foundation, 1916), 19. 37 M. Kuusi, Bosley, K., and Branch, M., editors and translators, Finnish Folk Poetry: Epic: An Anthology in Finnish and English (Helsinki: Helsinki, 1977), 94.

CHAPTER VI FLOOD LEGENDS IN AMERICAN CULTURES Even rationalists who deny the biblical account of origins and the Genesis flood have been puzzled by the remarkable similarities between American cultural flood stories and the Bible’s record: “It is a very remarkable fact,” says M. Alfred Maury, “that we find in America traditions of the Deluge coming infinitely nearer to that of the Bible and the Chaldean religion than among any people of the Old World. It is difficult to suppose that the emigration that certainly took place from Asia into North America by the Kourile and Aleutian islands, and still does so in our day, should have brought in these memories, since no trace is found of them among those Mongol or Siberian populations, which were fused with the natives of the New World…. No doubt certain American nations, the Mexican and Peruvians, had reached a very advanced social condition at the time of the Spanish conquest, but this civilization had a special character, and seems to have been developed on the soil where it flourished. Many very simple inventions, such as the use of weights, were unknown to these people, and this shows that their knowledge was not derived from India or Japan. The attempts that have been made to trace the origin of Mexican civilization to Asia have not as yet led to any sufficiently conclusive facts. Besides, had Buddhism, which we doubt, made its way into America, it could not have introduced a myth not found in its own Scriptures. The cause of these similarities between the diluvian traditions of the nations of the New World and that of the Bible remains therefore unexplained.” 38 The most impressive and highly detailed of these flood legends are to be found in Mexico, where “Noah” was known as Coxcox, Teocipactli, or Tezpi. In the tradition of the Mechoacaneses, Tezpi embarked in a spacious vessel with his wife, his children, and several animals, and grain, whose preservation was essential to the subsistence of the human race. When the great god Tezcatlipoca decreed that the waters should retire, Tezpi sent a vulture 38

Lenormant: 488-489.

from the bark. The bird, feeding on the carcasses with which the earth was laden, did not return. Tezpi sent out other birds, of which the hummingbird only came back with a leafy branch in its beak. Then Tezpi, seeing that the country began to vegetate, left his bark on the mountain of Colhuacan. 39 In the many South and Central American flood legends many of the same details are presented, and detailed analysis of the paintings and other documents they are based upon (such as some discovered less than fifty years after the time of Cortez which describe four symbolic ages of the world) leads to the conclusion that they are in actuality indigenous to Mexico and not the invention of missionaries who first arrived there, as they are fundamentally based upon concepts (such as the three ages which preceded that of the flood) which are not in any way biblical. 40 The Toltec natives in Mexico have a legend which records that the original creation lasted for 1716 years (or about the same as would be indicated by Ussherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s biblical chronology) before being destroyed by a flood through which only one family survived.41 In North America many legends were also present. The following is recited as the lore of an unknown tribe: At one time there was a flood that covered the earth, and most of the people were drowned. When the waters rose, the people fled to the mountains; but some were overtaken and drowned on the way, and others were drowned on the tops of the lower mountains. All the land was flooded except the tops of a few very high mountains. XĂ¤ls and his wife and daughters escaped in a large canoe. They were chiefs. After paddling about for many days and nights, they became very tired. They drifted against the top of Qotse'lis Mountain, and there they made a hole through a stone, and moored their canoe by passing a heavy cedar-bark cable through the hole. Here they stayed and gauged the increase and decrease of the water with stakes as marks. After flowing and receding several times, the water at last receded, and they cast off their canoe. The flood now subsided rapidly, and they found themselves in the Lower Fraser Valley. 39

Ibid.: 489. Ibid.: 493. 41 http://www.nwcreation.net/noahlegends.html, (accessed March 22, 2010). 40

Some say they had drifted there from the south. Now all the water was gone, excepting some that remained in the form of lakes and ponds, filling up the hollows and depressions. After this X채ls traveled over the world, and taught the survivors of the flood how to act and how to work. He was very wise, and taught the people how to pray, and do every kind of work. He traveled among all the neighboring coast tribes. 42 Once again, the observation of such legends in many of the indigenous cultures of the Americas presents a real problem to those who would conclude that they brought them with them in the process of immigration from Northern Asia, for the indigenous groups in the region of Sibera are tellingly lacking such flood stories.

http://www.firstpeople.us/FP-Html-Legends/The_Deluge-Unknown.html, (accessed March 22 2010).

CHAPTER VII FLOOD LEGENDS IN POLYNESIAN CULTURES Legends of tremendous floods abound in Polynesian and Oceana cultures. Many historians have concluded that these legends could have originated from the survivors of actual large floods. Since the South Pacific is subject to earthquakes and their subsequent tsunamis, the primitive Polynesiansâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; island homes could have been largely inundated or destroyed by such events. It is worth noticing, however, that even though the various accounts vary and have less in common with the biblical story than other culturesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; accounts, Polynesian flood legends do possess similarities with those found elsewhere around the globe. Nearly universal destruction, the cause being the angering of a god, the saving of only a few humans by following instructions, and other similarities are to be found in these stories as well. Some of these similarities, especially those which tend to corroborate the biblical account, are currently being downplayed by modern historians who assert that Polynesians were so anxious to please Western missionaries that they invented details of traditional stories to provide what they thought the newcomers wanted to hear.43 With such rationale, however, one could begin to doubt nearly any account of any ancient

Robert D. Craig, "Handbook of Polynesian Mythology," in Handbooks of World Mythology; (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2004).

culture since all were undoubtedly discovered or recorded by a person with bias. It also seems unlikely that such an attempted fabrication to please Christian missionaries would not match more closely the biblical account – which none of the legends even approach to matching. One account comes from the island of Ra-iatea, and while various versions exist the following contains the pertinent elements: Two men had gone to sea to fish with the line, Roo and Teahoroa by name. They threw their hooks into the sea, which caught in the hair of the god Ruahatu. They exclaimed, “A fish!” They drew up the line and saw that it was a man they had caught. At sight of the god they bounded to the other end of their bark, and were half dead with fear. Ruahatu asked them, “What is this?” The two fishermen replied, “We came to fish, and we did not know that our hooks would catch thee.” The god then said, “Unfasten my hair;” and they did so. Then Ruahatu asked, “What are your names?” They replied, “Roo and Teahoroa.” Ruahatu next said, “Return to the shore, and tell men that the earth will be covered with water, and all the world will perish. Tomorrow morning repair to the islet called Toa-mamara; it will be a place of safety for you and your children.” Ruahatu caused the sea to cover the lands. All were covered, and all men perished except Roo, Teahoroa, and their families.44 In one version of this story the two fishermen fled in obedience to the god’s instructions with not only their families but also their animals. 45 In another version the two men hurry home and attempt to warn everyone of the impending danger, but no one believes them except for the Royal family and some of their own families; the animals are caught up to the heavens for preservation by their respective gods.46 One cannot help but notice the distinctive characteristics which are similar to the biblical flood account, including the causation (displeasure of a god), universal destruction of those who did not follow the god’s instructions, the warning of the rest of

Lenormant: 499. Ibid. 46 Craig. 45

the population, the rejection of the warning, three families being saved, and the preservation of animal life. And this is only one of the Polynesian flood legends. In Tahiti the legend of the flood provides no cause, but records that the islands were submerged underwater. The only survivors were a human couple and their animals. The husband proposed to escape to safety to Tahiti’s highest mountain, ‘Orohena, but his wife insisted on Pitohiti, a companion summit next to ‘Orohena. Once they reached Mount Pitohiti, the ocean rose and flooded all the land below them. After ten days, the flood subsided and dry land began to appear, but destruction and death occurred everywhere. Nothing had survived. The water-soaked mountains began to give way, and landslides threatened the couple. Immediately, the husband dug a cave into the mountain in which they took shelter. For several days, all they could hear were the sounds of landslides and rocks falling all about them. Finally, nothing more was heard, so they opened the entrance and walked out. The earth was dry, but there were no trees, grass, flowers, food plants, or animals. For years they survived only on red clay and fish during which time the couple gave birth to many children, who grew to maturity. The land flourished and was populated once again. A new nation had been born from one couple, but the land today is still scarred from the landslides, and boulders still cover the landscape. 47 Another Polynesian deluge legend may be found from the island of Fiji, where accounts tell of canoes being kept on hand for many years after the event in case it should be repeated.48 But perhaps the legend with the most striking similarities to the biblical flood comes from the Maori story known as “The Deluge of Para-whenua-mea.” …The creator god Tane commissions two representatives, Para-whenua-mea and Tup-nui-a-uta, to visit mortals on earth and preach his true doctrines, which earthlings have forgotten. The two “evangelists” are mocked and threatened by the people, and after a while, they build a raft with a wooden house upon it with their stone axes. After loading appropriate food and supplies, they pray for rain, which falls until all the land has been covered. Every living creature dies, and the only human survivors are the two “evangelists” and the few men and women who are aboard with them. After eight months adrift, signs appear above their altar aboard to indicate that the flood is subsiding. The raft finally lands on a mountain in Hawaiki (ancestral homeland of the Polynesians), and the people go ashore, where they build an altar to

47 48

Ibid. Lenormant: 499.

offer up their prayers and sacrificies. While they are so engaged, a rainbow (the god Kahukura) appears in the sky. 49 While one may argue that these legends were cultural results of so many local catastrophes, it would be unusual for so many similarities to exist in so many cultures so widely-spread geographically. No â&#x20AC;&#x153;proofâ&#x20AC;? of a universal deluge is here found, but it is certainly possible, should such a global flood to have occurred as the biblical account contends, that the common threads in these legends are traceable to that one story which was handed down through oral traditions.

Craig.

CHAPTER VIII CONCLUSIONS As summarized by Tables 1.1 and 1.2 in Chapter I, and as illustrated by the sampling of deluge stories found in cultures throughout the world, there are many commonalities that can be observed between these ancient flood stories and the Genesis account of the Noachian flood. A number of explanations for these similarities have been proposed, especially by those who doubt the veracity of the biblical account of a worldwide catastrophic flood. We will consider several and evaluate them in view of the information already reviewed in this paper. Some historians assert that Christian missionaries who first entered cultures where oral traditions were recited influenced the content of the flood stories we now associate with those cultures. This was through their own bias as they perhaps read or “imagined” more into the story than they rightfully should have, or recorded mostly the details that seemingly corresponded to their ideas; alternately, this was through the natives’ perception of the missionaries’ bias which led them to alter their legends more towards what they knew the missionaries wanted to hear. The problem with this explanation is that it can only apply to a few of the cultural legends which did not exist in written form before the presence of Christian missionaries. Near Eastern, American (Mexican), and other cultural legends must clearly be excluded

from this possibility. Also, it seems unlikely that natives who wanted to speak to the missionariesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; bias would create stories which differed from the Christian flood beliefs in strikingly fundamental ways, such as assuming polytheism. It would appear that if such efforts were being made, such primary elements of Christian faith would find their way into the legends more consistently than the more minor details of the flood story. Another explanation of the many cultural legends is that they all simply are accounts of local floods which undoubtedly at some time in earthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s history have occurred nearly everywhere. The stories of the floods became exaggerated over time until they were recounted as being much more destructive and universal than they likely were. The most obvious problem with this rationalization is found in the many elements that the flood stories hold in common. It seems highly improbably that so many local floods would not only be related with so many minor details identical or similar, but with the same or similar exaggerations in place as well. Yet another interpretation drawn from cultural flood legend similarities is that they all came from one original myth that predated the others. This flood legend, retold by many cultures, came to assimilate those culturesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; characteristics and assumed a unique cultural identity. It is reasonable to conclude that oral transmission would over time incorporate local cultural and geographical data, but this is about the extent of the reasonableness of this explanation. It would only make sense if one accepts as fact that the various cultures within humanity came from common parents in the fairly recent past as in the biblical account of origins. If, as long-age evolutionists believe, the cultures and races of humanity are the result of many millions of years of primate evolution, with

progressively complex stages of communication and eventually written language only occurring relatively recently, it seems highly unlikely that so many highly detailed flood legends could exist with so many striking similarities in so many cultures around the entire world. Many of the legends purport to explain the origin of their specific culture â&#x20AC;&#x201C; yet it if evolution is factual these cultures would have almost certainly been subcultures of an earlier culture, and becoming disassociated by natural disasters, or war and dissension, could hardly have been expected to have originated legends which presumed themselves to be the only survivors of the same type of catastrophe such as a global flood rather than legends that would record the various events or schisms that brought a separation about. In view of the plethora of inundation legends, Dr. Ariel A. Roth observes the following: Whether one is a flood geologist, a no-flood geologist, or otherwise, the flood cannot be readily discarded as an incidental historical event. Furthermore, questions concerning this event are the bases of much of the controversy between creation and evolution. Creationists use this event to explain much of the data for which mainstream geologists propose geologic time and evolutionary trends in fossils. It turns out that this event has rather impressive non-biblical authentication. Any system of explanation for origins can ill afford to deny the deluge. 50 While not proving that a global flood did indeed occur, the many cultural legends certainly do not discredit such a record, and in fact seem more compatible with that account. The most reasonable explanation in this authorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s view, is that intelligent humanity was created by God in the recent past, complete with the capacities of language and communication. As a result of manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sin, the world was destroyed in a massive, global, catastrophic deluge, as recounted in the Genesis record. God informed Noah of

Ariel Roth, "Flood Stories - Can They Be Ignored?" Origins, vol. 17, no. 2 (1990): 55.

his plans and instructed his building of a boat, in which his family and animals were saved to repopulate the earth. This significant event was so central an explanation to the existence of humans that in every culture, even after the languages were confused at Babel, the story of the flood was recounted to successive generations. Though variants appeared and new ideas with pagan, mythological beliefs came to be incorporated, sufficient details were retained to point to not only a common ancient story but a common, factual event that was significant enough to be memorialized down to our time.

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