How many years has there been a global flood? The Flood - a biblical story

Chapters about why the Poles survived the Flood separately from the rest of civilization...Where people were saved...When it happened...and how brunettes differ from blondes.

The legend of a global catastrophe, when water flooded the entire Earth, is found in almost all ancient books of all world religions. When it was? And was it? Or is this some kind of allegory? Today we can definitely say that such an event actually happened on our planet. This happened about 13,600 years ago, and the flood ended 11,600 years ago. That is, it lasted about 3 thousand years.

The Aryan Vedas report that Manu, the son of Vivasvat, settled with southern mountains. One day, when he was washing his hands, he caught a small fish in the water. She told him: “Save my life, and I will save you.” - “What will you save me from?” - asked the surprised Manu. The fish said: “There will be a flood for all living beings. I will save you from him." - “How can I save your life?” And she said: “We fish, while we are so small, are threatened with death from everywhere. One fish eats another. You first keep me in a jug, and when I grow out of it, dig a pond and keep me there; and when I grow even larger, take me to the sea, for then death will no longer threaten me from anywhere.” Manu did just that. Soon she became a huge jhasha fish with a horn on her head. Then she said: “In such and such a year there will be a flood. Make a ship and wait for me. And when the flood comes, board the ship and I will save you.”

And in the year that the fish indicated to him, Manu built a ship. When the flood came, he boarded the ship and the fish swam to him. The seven holy sages, the sons of Angiras, boarded the ship with him. Obeying the command of the fish, Manu took with him the seeds of various plants. Manu, the seven sages and the fish were the only living creatures in the watery chaos. Fierce winds rocked the ship. But the fish led Manu's ship to the Himalaya mountain. Then she told Manu: “Go down gradually, following the decline of the water.” Manu followed the advice of the fish. Since then, this place in the northern mountains has been called “Descent of Manu.”

And the flood washed away all living creatures. Only Manu remained to continue the human race on earth. When it was? Studying the texts of ancient books, we have already come to the unequivocal opinion that fish, birds, and animals appear in the texts for a reason. They usually indicate an astrological era. So what does a slave who saved the human race mean?
It is presented mainly according to the Vedic version (“Shatapatha-brahmana”, book I). The seven sages accompanying Manu and some details are borrowed from the flood myth in the book. III "Mahabharata". The version of the Mahabharata differs significantly from the Vedic one; the fish that saved Manu appears in the epic as the embodiment of the god Brahma. In later versions, in the Puranas, fish is one of the incarnations (“avatars”) of Vishnu.

An astrological era in astrology is a period during which the vernal equinox point is in the same zodiac constellation. The change of astrological eras is associated with the phenomenon of precession of the earth's axis. The astrological era is also named after the zodiac constellation in which the vernal equinox is located. It is assumed that we are currently living at the turn of the Age of Pisces and the Age of Aquarius. The idea of ​​the precessional year is closely intertwined with the idea of ​​the Great Year - Mahayuga. Specify exact years changing astrological eras is impossible, since there is no clarity about where exactly the boundaries of the constellations lie.

Astrologers note that as astrological eras change, changes occur in religion and cults. Thus, the dawn of Christianity corresponds approximately to the beginning of the era of Pisces, and the approximate beginning of the era of Aries accounts for the emergence in Rus' and Ancient Egypt of the cult of the god Amun, who has a ram’s head.
The astrological era influences the subtle psychological plane of humanity, determining its spiritual and moral values. An example is the change from the Age of Aries to the Age of Pisces, which occurred about two thousand years ago and approximately coincided with the birth of Jesus Christ.

Astrologers use precession as a time scale to mark periods of evolution of our civilization. For the convenience of calculations in astrology, the full circle of movement of the vernal equinox point along the ecliptic, the so-called Great Year of Plato (indus - Mahayuga), is assumed to be equal to 25920. There are 12 signs in the Zodiac, corresponding to 12 phases of development of any phenomenon. Dividing 25920 by 12, we get 2160 years - the month of the Great Year. The Earth, according to astrologers, is currently experiencing the fifth era of its life, the Cenozoic, in the fourth (Quaternary) period (epoch) of which we live.
And what astrological era are we entering, from the beginning of civilization? A question that has no answer: which stove to dance from?
How many signs of the Zodiac our civilization has already passed through is also unknown. If we count from the universal catastrophe 12-13 thousand years ago, which destroyed almost all of humanity and remained in the memory of generations in the image of the Flood, we get 6 signs, we are entering the seventh - there is still half the way ahead. But if we measure from the moment of the beginning of settlement on the planet, when after a global volcanic eruption in the Mediterranean, the ashes hid the sun for a long time? This was approximately 26-32 thousand years ago. Then the Neanderthals died, and our ancestors emerged from the pre-glacial forests for the first time. Then it turns out that we are on the threshold of the end of the Great Year.
It is interesting that the astrological periodization of history coincides well with the historical and archaeological ones. The historian L.N., far from astrology. Gumilev calculated the lifespan of the ethnos at approximately 2000 years.
After the Great Flood, the first era that we know something about is the era of Leo (9-11 thousand years BC). This is the end of the Stone Age. The man led the life of a hunter and fought with cave lions and a bear. In the rock paintings of those times there are frequent scenes of hunting and images of a lion.
In the Zodiac, in the character of any sign, the features of a countersign are visible, located diametrically opposite, which, as it were, restrains the destructive essence of the main sign at the moment. In the lifestyle of a person from the era of Leo - a lonely hunter - it is not difficult to notice elements of the sign of Aquarius. The Age of Leo was preceded by the Flood. The opposite “sign to the tamer” corresponds to the sign of Pisces (i.e. Christian era). Essentially, this myth says that Jesus Christ saved people during the Great Flood. Surprisingly, these Indian myths arose long before the coming of Jesus Christ!
This is how the astrological calendar of the East and West compare.

Dog-Leo
Pig-Cancer
Gemini Rat (6 - 4 thousand years ago)
Ox-Taurus
Tiger-Aries
Cat-Pisces (0 - 2 thousand)
Dragon-Aquarius (modern)
Snake-Capricorn
Horse-Sagittarius
Goat-Scorpio
Monkey-Libra
Rooster-Virgo

But now let's compare with the research of modern scientists. A group from the Institute of Cell Biophysics of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Pushchino, Moscow region, Russia) studied the glaciers of Greenland. In 2009, scientists A.V. Karnaukhov and V.N. Karnaukhov published their models of glaciations in the Northern Hemisphere of the planet.

In Fig. 5A shows a map of Eurasia during the last glaciation 14,670 years ago. Due to desalination of water, the Arctic Ocean froze. This happens periodically due to interruptions in warm Atlantic currents.
This situation developed gradually. Initially, the entire West Siberian lowland was flooded by the runoff of the Ob, Yenisei and Lena rivers, after which, through the Turgai depression, the waters of these Siberian rivers poured into the Aral Sea and began flooding the Turan lowland, and then the Caspian and Black seas with the adjacent Caspian, Black Sea and Danube lowlands.

People who by this time had practically settled all over the planet had no choice but to move away from the water and gather on higher ground. The entire history of mankind in the future depicts only the descendants of people who escaped on the Central Russian and Valdai Uplands. Nothing is said anywhere about the fate of all other people who could have escaped, for example, in the Pamirs.
It is most likely that the Central Russian and Voldai Uplands during the Flood were connected to the Ural Mountains by the “Northern Uvaly” ridge, which stretched along the watershed of the Volga and Northern Dvina. It is surprising that at the western end of this ridge is Valdai, where in the Stone Age there were temples and large settlements, and at the eastern end, in the Urals, archaeologists found the famous city of Arkaim and the adjacent valley of ancient cities. Arkaim is located strictly on a watershed.
Then an ethnos of an epic people, named in the Aryan Vedas - Asuras, could arise in the Urals. When read back, it turns out - rusa. That is, white-skinned brunettes arose in the Urals (these are Asuras), and white-skinned blonds in Valdai and the Central Russian Upland (these are Rus). Later, from the Asuras and Rus, a special caste of priests emerged and settled in Valdai - they began to be called gods.
Another people is mentioned in the chronicles - Panii. They are mixed with the features of some real people. Indra, the most powerful of the 12 tribal leaders of Valdai (sons of Angiras), returned to the gods the sacred cows stolen by the Paniya tribe, which lived in unknown lands, beyond the world of gods and asuras. The Panii drove the cows to a distant country beyond the Rasa River, which flows at the edge of the world, and hid them in a mountain cave.
The gods lived in the Valdai-Baltic area, the asuras controlled the entire Volga region up to the Ural Mountains. This means that the Panii migrated from beyond the Urals after the end of the flood. But where could they have escaped? All Western Siberia was hidden by the waters of the Eurasian Ocean!
It seems that the Aryan Vedas tell of the salvation of two different groups during the Flood. In one myth about the saved Manu, from whom the human race descended, two stories merged. In that myth, where 7 wise men and Manu escape on a ship, it tells about people gathered on the Central Russian and Valdai Uplands. It is here that the traces of these seven sages (Rishis) are subsequently found. The constellation Ursa Major and Ursa Minor is named after them. In Rus' they were called Bears. As the glaciers melted, they reached the Khibiny (in India this name was distorted to the Himalayas). From them came the first world civilization after the flood, Sarmatia.
But in another version of the Aryan Vedas there were no sages on the ship and Manu was saved alone. Most likely, here we are talking about people who escaped in the upper reaches of the Yenisei. And indeed Manu followed the advice of the fish, say the Vedas, since then this place in the northern mountains where he escaped has been called “Manu’s Descent.”
Now let's take a look at the map of the surroundings of Krasnoyarsk. Twenty-five versts above Krasnoyarsk, the beautiful taiga river Mana flows into the Yenisei on the right. Its fast and clear waters come from Belogorya, in which the Manskie lakes are located at a considerable altitude, giving rise to the Manu River to the north. Well, did you convince me?
Some researchers identify these people with the ancient tribe of Polyans who lived in the Middle Don. Most likely, they returned to the original world after the end of the flood. During the World Migration of Peoples, they migrated to the West, where on this substrate, after assimilation with the Krivichi Slavs, the Poles (Pans) arose. In fact, using this plot it is possible to reconstruct the ancient history of the Polish people. The true homeland of the Poles is the outskirts of Krasnoyarsk. Here they lived isolated from the rest of civilization for almost 3 thousand years.
The names came from the name of the legendary man Manu: .

Mana is a taiga river in the Krasnoyarsk Territory;
. Mana is a small island in New Zealand;
. Mana is a reserve of magical powers.
. Semolina- coarsely ground wheat groats.
. Manna from heaven - according to the Bible, the food that God fed Moses and his fellow tribesmen during their 40-year wanderings after the exodus from Egypt.
. Manna is an ancient state on the territory of modern Iran.

If the flood approached gradually and people, for the most part, managed to escape to higher ground, then it ended almost instantly.
The Bosphorus Strait did not yet exist, but it was here that the water broke into the shallow Mediterranean lake. Sweeping away everything in its path, it burst into the lowland, the water rose several hundred meters and poured, widening and deepening, into the strait between the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula and the northwestern coast of Africa. The Eurasian Ocean flowed into the Atlantic. Vast areas of Eurasia were freed from water, and the level of the World Ocean rose sharply by a hundred meters, flooding vast coastal areas. If for the inhabitants of primitive Rus' these events of the end of the flood passed without consequences. Then in the rest of the world, many people died, usually settling along the coast. Perhaps there remained some closed enclaves of people in the mountains, which later became the basis for the birth of Negroids and Mongoloids.
The Caspian and Aral Seas probably separated only 2-3 thousand years ago.
The main catastrophic events associated with the end of the last ice age occurred between 12,000-11,640 years ago. Mentions of the “great flood” are found in Sumerian and Greek myths and ancient Slavic legends. Written sources - Vedic and biblical texts - have the same basis.
Greek scientists wrote about the breakthrough of the Bosphorus and Dardanelles. In the 3rd century BC, the physicist Strato from Lampsacus wrote: “The Euxine Pontus (Black Sea) previously had no outlet from Byzantium, but the rivers flowing into the Pontus broke through and opened a passage and the water rushed into the Propontis (Sea of ​​Marmara) and the Hellespont (Dardanelles) ".
Another Greek scientist Plato, who reported with reference to Solon, who in turn referred to information received from Egyptian priests, that 11,600 years ago, as a result of a catastrophic flood, the Athenian army (probably in the Aegean Sea) and Atlantis, located in the Atlantic Sea, perished .

The above date of 11,600 years ago consists of the time of Solon’s life (6th century BC), the information of the Egyptian priests that the catastrophe occurred 9,000 thousand years before the time this information was reported to Solon, and 2,000 years that have passed since the beginning of the new era.
In modern science, the prevailing opinion is that Plato invented Atlantis to illustrate his ideal polity and there is no objective evidence that Atlantis could have existed. It is useful, however, to compare the date of the death of Plato’s Atlantis (11,600 years ago) and the date of catastrophically rapid climate change in the Northern Hemisphere (11,640 years ago), determined by changes in the thickness of ice layers in Greenland, which scientists associate with the moment of rapid flooding of the Mediterranean shelf by the waters of the Eurasian Ocean after the breakthrough of the Bosporus and Dardanelles. At this time, the level of the world's oceans rises sharply, waters again flood coastal areas and break through into the lowlands on the site of today's White and Baltic seas. This is how modern world geography arose.

Scientists predict that by 2050, many coastal places on Earth will be destroyed by a new global water apocalypse.

The legend of the Great Flood is told not only in the Bible, but is also present in the mythology of many civilizations that did not intersect with each other in ancient times. The plot is the same: sinners angered God, who warned several righteous people about the impending catastrophe and that all the unworthy would die in it. The Almighty gave them time to build an ark, take with them loved ones and “a pair of each creature” in order to be saved and start a new life in a new place.

Legends about this were preserved among the Greeks, Japanese, Indians, Australians, and Indian tribes of Central and South America. The most early mention about the Flood was found during excavations of the ancient city of Nineveh on a fragment of a clay tablet (3rd millennium BC) with an excerpt from the Sumerian epic about Gilgamesh. According to the text, it is as close as possible to the biblical one, but is already 700 years older than it. On December 3, 1872, the world learned about this sensation. Researchers from around the world are inclined to believe that the Great Flood is not a myth, and they are looking for evidence all over the world, putting forward various hypotheses.

The ice between us is melting

In the late 1970s, American writer and researcher Zecharia Sitchin published a series of books “Chronicles of the Earth”, in which he spoke about the alien race – the Anunnaki. The author claimed that this was not fiction. He found all the information about the aliens by deciphering Sumerian texts. The Anunnaki on Earth mined gold using humans as slaves. They knew about the Flood, but only warned their favorite Enlil about it.

Perhaps astronauts from another planet, using technologies unknown to earthlings, themselves built an ark - a unique object for collecting the DNA of every living earthly species - and ultimately helped the inhabitants of a planet alien to them to survive. And the Flood itself was caused by tons of Antarctic ice, which, melting, began to slide into the water and caused enormous power waves in the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans. With warming came storms with rain, which led to the disaster.

Salt of the earth

In 1996, American geologists William Ryan And Walter Pitman put forward their version of a local Black Sea flood, which was reflected in the legends of the World Flood. According to them, around 5600 BC. e. A powerful earthquake occurred and cracks formed in a single mountain range connecting Europe and Asia. Along them, giant waterfalls poured from the Mediterranean basin to the site of the present Black Sea. In those days there was a slightly salted or even freshwater lake. Then 155 thousand square meters were flooded. km of land, some civilizations perished, and some were lucky enough to escape.

Water volcano

In 2007, Professor of Seismology at the University of Washington Michael Vicesion spoke about his discovery. The researcher and his assistant studied data collected over many years from seismographs around the world. It turned out that under the eastern part of Eurasia and under North America, at a depth of 1200-1400 kilometers, there are huge reservoirs of water. Most likely, its reserves were formed along with the planet. It is possible that in ancient times, due to movements of the earth’s crust, the solid ground broke through and water poured out. The level of the World Ocean rose sharply, and the Great Flood occurred.

In 2006, the same version was considered by English scientists from the University of Manchester, who discovered sea water at a depth of about 1,500 kilometers. Traces of it were found in the carbon dioxide escaping.

Fatal Moon

The now deceased Russian mathematician Andrey Sklyarov made his own calculations and argued that 13 thousand years ago the Flood caused the fall of a celestial body. Debris of the destroyed moon Fatta fell into Pacific Ocean in the Philippines region. A huge wave swept away everything in its path, destroying entire nations.

An American geologist Gregory Riskin believed that 250 million years ago the aquatic apocalypse was caused by an explosion of methane accumulated in large quantities, released from the waters of the World Ocean. It was caused by a meteorite falling or an earthquake. The water “boiled” and a terrible tsunami flooded the entire land.

By the way: UProfessor Weission, mentioned above, warns that there is still a lot of water in the as yet unexplored areas of the earth’s mantle. Its volume is five times greater than the capacity of all the outer oceans, so the Flood is simply inevitable. British scientist James Lovelock is confident that the ice at the poles will melt by 2050 or earlier, and London will be completely flooded. Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Yuri Israel also agreed with him, who also prophesied a serious rise in ocean levels. And then 14 of the 20 world capitals will simply disappear under water. Apparently, it’s high time to build a new ark, and not look for the old one.

In Western civilization and culture, the phrase “World Flood” does not need detailed explanation and decoding. Here a strong association has developed with the events described in the Old Testament, which resulted in the flooding of the entire land and the death of almost all living things, with the exception of those who escaped on the ark of righteous Noah and his family. However, the biblical story of the flood is far from the only one - it has both predecessors and analogies around the world.

About the flood - before the Old Testament

The fact that the biblical narrative did not arise out of nowhere, but in line with a certain tradition, is already obvious to specialists. To be convinced of this, it is enough to familiarize yourself with the versions of legends about the flood that existed before the Jewish sacred texts were written down, in the region of the most ancient civilizations of the Middle East - Sumer, Akkad, Babylon.

The Sumerian version of the flood story is presented in the form of a poem about Ziusidra, a pious king of one of the Sumerian cities, who was also a priest of the god Enki. It was in the temple that Ziusidra heard from Enki, who decided to save his faithful servant, that the gods, at their council, decided to make a great flood and destroy all of humanity. Full text The poem about Ziusidra has not survived, so there are no details of how exactly the hero prepared for his salvation. However, judging by the fact that at the end of the story, Ziusidra, after a flood that lasted seven days and nights, left the ship and made sacrifices to the gods, he was given instructions on the construction of a saving ship.

In general terms, this story is repeated in the Akkadian and Babylonian versions of the flood story. The Akkadian hero Atrahasis did his best to save humanity from disasters sent by the gods (the proliferating people began to disturb the gods with their noise), but he had no opposition to the flood. One of the gods, friendly to the wise Atrahasis, warned him about the flood and ordered him to build a ship where he could take his family, assistants and all kinds of animals. Similar events occur with the hero of the Babylonian version, the wise king Utnapishtim. True, in the Babylonian poem there appears a detail that later became characteristic - how during the flood Utnapishtima sent out the birds one by one and they all returned, and only when the raven did not return did it become clear that the water was leaving.

Biblical flood: it’s not the effects that matter, it’s the causes that matter

Actually, everyone who has become familiar with the biblical account of the Flood will recognize that the above-mentioned Sumerian, Akkadian and Babylonian tales are very similar to this part of the Old Testament. The Bible tells how God ordered the righteous Noah to build a huge ark, and gave him detailed technical and engineering instructions. Noah and his family built the ark for 120 years (according to the Bible, in ancient times people lived for hundreds, sometimes even over a thousand years), while everyone around them laughed at him. But then the flood began, when the water rose for forty days and nights - only Noah and his family on the ark, as well as all the creatures that the prophet was also ordered to take with him, were saved. After long swims, Noah released the birds several times, until one day, without waiting for one of them, he realized that he could look for land.

The “factual” coincidences of the biblical legend with the legends of the neighbors of the Israeli people are undoubted, which, coupled with the earlier dates of the emergence of the theme of the flood in the culture of Sumer, Akkad and Babylon, gave rise to a number of scientists to talk about direct borrowing. However, there are many supporters of the version that one cannot talk about simply transferring already existing legends about the flood into sacred Hebrew texts. The point of view is defended that the legends about the flood are of a universal human nature. And there is reason for this opinion: since scientists have counted about 250 versions of legends about the flood throughout the world among various ethnic groups and religious groups.

In addition, even skeptics admit that in the biblical account the story of the flood and the salvation of Noah has a much deeper, universal character, thanks to which it has become one of the fundamental ones for modern civilization. In previous versions of the legend, the flood was the result of the whim of the gods, who either did not motivate their desire to wipe out the human race at all, or “nitpicked” about such reasons as excessive noise from human activity and the like. The Bible put the moral problem at the forefront: in the Book of Genesis, the flood itself is of little significance; what led to it is much more important. And what led to it were numerous human sins and such blind indifference of people to all the attempts of the Creator to guide them on the true path that God even repented of having created man. Thus, the biblical account of the flood is, first of all, not literary or catastrophic, but edifying in nature.

Time

Time of the Flood: there are options...

The time has passed when the entire biblical narrative was considered a collection of legends, myths and simply fantasies. At the moment, scientists are discovering in the Bible references and indications of many historical events, personalities and phenomena that actually took place. One of these is the Great Flood - experts for the most part agreed that the natural disasters that became the basis for the legends about the Flood actually happened. The only question is when...

Was there really a global flood?

If we do not touch upon the problem of whether the flood described in the Old Testament, which Noah with his family and pairs of all kinds of creatures survived on the ark, was truly global or local, then it is noteworthy that in the history of the Earth there were cataclysms that have every reason to claim the title of universal flood Scientists call one of these a giant tsunami that covered almost the entire land approximately 200 million years ago. True, in those distant times, on the border of the Triassic and Jurassic periods, the continents looked completely different than they do now, but this does not change the essence - land already existed, and it was flooded.

Evidence of the flood was found relatively recently, they were limestone rocks discovered in Germany, forming a layer approximately 20 centimeters thick. This layer, according to experts, was formed as a result of a tidal wave of enormous force, which washed away from the bottom the simplest marine animals of that time, the fossilized remains of which were found in large numbers in the layer. According to scientists’ calculations, the waves reached a height of hundreds of meters, that is, tens of times higher than the maximum tsunamis recorded in our time (the highest of which are 50-60 meters). Such a wave was enough to flood most of the land around the Earth, with the exception of high mountain ranges. The cause of such a catastrophic tsunami and flood could be a catastrophe on a global scale, for example, the fall of a large meteorite or comet.

Calculating the date of the biblical flood “on paper”

If we talk about the time when the flood was supposed to occur, which is described in the Book of Genesis and therefore became the most famous in history and culture, then, first of all, we need to resort to calculations based on sources. In the end, this flood became known from documents, therefore, the initial determination of its time must be based on written sources. And here they are observed different variants. If we proceed from the data given regarding the time of the flood in the Septuagint (the oldest translation of the books of the Old Testament into ancient Greek, dating back to the 3rd-2nd centuries BC), then the calculations result in 3183 BC.

But most experts prefer to focus on the Masoretic texts, that is, on the texts of the Old Testament, which are considered canonical in the Jewish tradition. Here the date of the flood will be different, since this chronology will have to be traced in reverse order. In the Old Testament, special attention is paid to a joyful event for the Jews, when the Persian king Cyrus, who defeated Babylon, where the Jews were in captivity, allowed this people to return to their homeland. From historical sources it is known that it was 537 BC. Applying biblical chronology based on periods, the date is 1513 BC. Then, according to the biblical text, the date of God’s Covenant with Abraham is counted (1943 BC), and knowing the life expectancy of the biblical characters up to Arphaxad, who, according to the Bible, was born two years after the flood, the time of the catastrophe itself becomes 2370 BC.

Scientific research on the date of the Flood

However, as soon as serious scientific study of the problem of the exact dating of the flood described in the Bible began, the date of 2370 BC was one of the first to be rejected. No evidence, neither archaeological nor geological, confirmed the fact that at least in the Middle East region there was a large-scale flood during this period. However, data was discovered that made it possible to formulate several theories about when the events actually occurred that gave real grounds for the emergence of the narrative of the Flood.

The most acceptable hypothesis for academic science is the hypothesis according to which the tales of the Flood among the peoples of the Middle East, later reflected in the Old Testament, are memories of a cataclysm dating back to approximately 5500 BC. It was during that period that, due to a huge earthquake, the Black Sea ceased to be a closed sea (which, for example, the Caspian Sea is today). The water level rose by 140 meters, the Mediterranean Sea was connected to the Black Sea through the straits, and the coastline doubled in size, flooding areas that at that time were among the most densely populated areas. The memory of this natural disaster, which destroyed a huge number of people at that time, according to this theory, was then transformed into legends about the Great Flood.

Bible version

The Bible about the Flood: the rebirth of humanity

Currently, scientists (historians, linguists, religious scholars, archaeologists and representatives of a number of other humanities) are inclined to believe that the legends and tales of the Flood, widespread throughout the world, are manifestations of the collective memory of humanity about a distant global natural disaster. But the most famous, of course, is the biblical account of the flood, which poses, first of all, moral problems.

When the Creator's patience is overflowing

The Book of Genesis, an integral part of the Old Testament, talks in some detail about the Flood, about the “motives” of the Lord to take such a step, about the flood itself and about the events that followed it and were directly related to it. According to the logic of the biblical narrative, the Flood was caused not only by the lives of Noah’s contemporaries, but by the entire history of mankind, starting with the fall of Adam and Eve, their expulsion from paradise and the further division of people into the descendants of the fratricide Cain and the descendants of Seth, the third son of Adam and Eve. From generation to generation, man moved further and further from God and brought more and more evil into the world created by the Creator as ideal.

As a result, at a certain moment a situation arose that, as the Book of Genesis says, the Lord repented of having created man in the first place, since he not only fell into evil himself, but also contributed to changing the ideal order throughout the world, including nature. In addition, there is still a mystery regarding certain giants mentioned in the Bible, born from the “sons of God” and “women of men.” There is still debate about who these giants were and what role they played in the world, but their involvement in the divine decision to organize the Flood is clearly stated in the Bible. Humanity was given one last chance, a period of one hundred and twenty years when it could correct its life, but it did not take advantage of this chance.

There's a pair of each creature...

The only righteous family, that is, the family that lived in accordance with moral concepts pleasing to God, was the family of Noah. It was to him and his relatives that God decided to grant salvation (many Christian theologians point out that the existence of at least a few righteous people convinced the Lord that humanity is not hopeless). Therefore, He ordered Noah to build a huge ark, where he and his family could fit, every living creature in pairs, in order to repopulate the earth after the flood, and enough supplies for many days of sailing.

The so-called universal or great flood is a colossal catastrophe. This event is described in many religions, legends and myths. The essence of the cataclysm that occurred is that the entire Earth was flooded with water, and all life on it died.

We can find out what the Bible tells about such an event as the global flood. Perhaps this source is by far the most accessible for wide study. The Bible, chapter six, says that Planet Earth at that time was filled with atrocities. It is literally written that she was corrupted before the face of God.

At the same time, the creator of the sky from the earth decided to exterminate all living things. We are talking not only about people, but also about animals and birds. However, a certain person in those distant times stood out from everyone else because he lived righteously. It was for this reason that God decided to spare the lives of him and his family. This man's name was Noah. Before bringing a global flood to the earth, God commanded Noah to build a huge structure, which, in addition to Noah’s family, was supposed to accommodate animals.

All living creatures had to be collected in pairs. The Bible says that God made a covenant with Noah. After the people and other living beings destined for salvation were out of danger, the global flood began. This disaster continued for 40 days and the same number of nights. At the same time, it seems that water poured out not only from heaven, but also from the bowels of the earth.

How is this known? From the Bible. The seventh chapter of the first biblical book, called Genesis, tells that after those being saved entered the ark, all the sources of the great deep opened up, and the windows of heaven were also opened. It turns out that water poured not only from the windows of heaven, but also from some kind of abyss.

Ethnologists know hundreds of legends telling about the global flood. As for modern Christianity, the ark, in which chosen souls are saved from the great catastrophe, is nothing more than a symbol of the savior of the world, Jesus Christ. The Gospel records the words of Christ, who says that only those who come to Him and believe in Him will be saved on earth. Moreover, He says that whoever believes in Him will be in Him.

Historians have established that the myth of the flood is reflected in more ancient sources than the Bible. Such a legend was discovered in an Assyrian legend recorded on clay tablets, kept in the library of the Assyrian king named Ashurbanipal. The age of the tablets dates back to the 7th century BC. There is also a Sumerian myth that mentions a global flood. This is part of the well-known Tale of Gilgamesh.

It is noteworthy that in the early 90s of the last century, the ancient Sumerian city of Ur was found during excavations. The results of the excavations allowed archaeologists to assume that in the found city there are signs of the catastrophe described in the Bible and myths, called the global flood. In particular, this could be determined by the river sediments available here.

Subsequently, in these excavations that took place in Mesopotamia, other cities were found in which the same river layer was discovered. The Sumerian flood story is believed to date back six thousand years. Everything is described here in the same way as in the Bible, right down to the released dove, which returned, but the next dove did not return, but found dry land. The difference is that in the Sumerian legend the swallow was released for the second time.

As for the scientific point of view regarding this global catastrophe, opinions are radically divided. Some scientists argue convincingly that the global flood is just a myth. Others provide evidence of this phenomenon on earth. The author of the article saw a film created that provides evidence of the flood. The arguments seemed convincing to me, and I believe the Bible, but let everyone decide for themselves how and what to believe.

The impetus for this work was publications about the discovery of the Global “Flood” in the Black Sea, primarily books and articles by Bill Ryan, Walter Pittman (1997), Petko Dimitrov (2003) and Dr. Ballard.
This material is considered by the authors in a new direction in the development of geographical knowledge - “Geomythology”, proposed by academicians Leonov and Khain (2008).

The purpose of this work is the search and detailed study of events close in scale and time to the Biblical Flood and similar events reflected in the memory of mankind. If the Flood really took place, then in addition to myths and legends, traces of it should have been preserved: bottom sediments of basins, paleontological remains, landforms, traces of coastlines, etc.

As a result of our research, we were able to discover traces of a massive flood in the Ponto-Caspian region and its drainage basin during the deglaciation era of the last (Valdai) glaciation in the range of 16-10 thousand years ago. This watering manifested itself in various landscapes: coastal plains, river valleys, interfluves and even on slopes.

Research materials were obtained as a result of projects under RFBR grants No. 08-06-00061, 05-05-64929, 02-05-64428

Geological evidence of the “Flood” can be considered bottom and coastal sediments of flood basins, as well as paleontological remains in them. Their detailed analysis, including lithological, mineralogical, geochemical indicators, as well as the isotopic composition of sediments and fossil remains, makes it possible to reconstruct the conditions of sedimentation, the composition of flood waters and the sequence of flood events.

In the epicenter of the “Flood”—the Caspian Basin—bottom sediments are represented by sediments of the Khvalynian (more precisely, early Khvalynian for the maximum of the “Flood”) basin. They differ from the overlying and underlying sediments in many ways. The most characteristic are the so-called. "chocolate clays", named for their distinctive reddish-brown color. In places they are interbedded with greenish-gray and dark gray clays, forming a thin (1-2 cm) ribbon layering. Chocolate clays are also interbedded and faciesally transform into silts, sandy loams, and rarely sands with high content clayey matter and shells of marine mollusks of the Caspian type. The thickness of chocolate clays and associated Khvalyn sediments usually does not exceed several meters (3-5 m), sometimes reaching 20-25 m or more. The main area of ​​these deposits is the Caspian lowland from the modern shore of the Caspian Sea to the foothills of the surrounding hills (Ergeni, General Syrt, Privolzhskaya, Stavropol), as well as in the estuaries of the Volga and Ural. The area of ​​Khvalynian sediments exposed directly to the surface here reaches 0.5 million km2, and the total area of ​​development of Khvalynian sediments is up to 1 million km2.

The characteristic reddish-brown color of chocolate clays is not due to free iron oxides, but to clay minerals including Fe oxides. Low content or the absence of carbonates in clays indicates a cold climate, because at low temperatures The solubility of carbonates increases and they are retained in solution. On the other hand, the abundance of chemogenic dispersed carbonate and the absence of secondary changes in terrigenous pelitomorphic clay matter indicate that sedimentation took place under dry climate conditions. The beginning and peak of this transgression occurs in arid environments with increased evaporation processes. The geochemistry of sediments and the composition of authigenic minerals allow us to conclude that the Khvalynsk transgression was formed not under humidifying conditions, but under rather arid conditions (Chistyakova, 2001).

In a series of marine layers of the Caspian basin, the Khvalynian deposits lie above the Late Khazar (last interglacial) and below the New Caspian (Holocene) sediments. They are separated from the lower Khazars by continental freshwater Atelian layers, synchronous in deep-sea trench sediments of the Atel regressive basin, the level of which was 110-120 m below the modern level of the Caspian Sea, i.e. at around -140 -150 m abs. (Lokhin, Mayev, 1986; Chepalyga, 2002).

In the Manych depression, an analogue of chocolate clays are clayey-silty reddish-brown ones - the Abeskun layers of G.I. Popova (1980) - lie on the surface of the depression and are not covered by anything, but contain a fauna of Caspian-type mollusks with Didacna Monodacna, Adacna, Hipanis, Dreissena, Micromelania. They make up the accumulative swells of the Manych Strait and correspond only to the Early Khvalynian deposits of the Caspian Sea and the main episode of flood events 16-14 thousand years ago.

In the Black Sea depression, the “Flood” deposits lie within the New Euxinian deposits (Karkinite layers). On the continental slope and in the deep-sea basin they are represented by peculiar light reddish-brown and fawn silts up to 0.5-1.0 m thick. Their color resembles the chocolate clays of the Caspian basin, their age is also close (15 thousand years).

The main indicator of the marine “Flood” is specific brackish-water mollusks, represented by species close to modern North Caspian ones. Among them, the Caspian endemics from the family Limnocardiidae stand out: the genus Didacna Eichwald, now found nowhere outside the Caspian Sea, but widely represented in the Pleistocene of the Azov-Black Sea basin up to and including the Karangat basin. Didacnas are represented by Didacna praetrigonoides (dominant), D. paralella, D. delenda, D. supcatillus, D. ebersini, D. pallasi, as well as relatively deep-sea (>25 m) D. (Protodidacna) protracta. Other endemic limnocardiids include Monodacna caspia, M. laeviscula, Adacna vitrea, and Hypnanis pklicata. The most widespread elements of the Early Khvalynian fauna outside the Caspian Sea are the subgenus Dreissena (Pontodreissena (D. rostriformis), and in desalinated areas D. polymorpha. Among the gastropods, representatives of the Caspian endemic genera Caspia and Micromelania are often found. The shells of the Early Khvalynian complex are distinguished by their small sizes ( 2-3 times smaller than modern ones) and a thin-walled shell. These deposits are usually associated with a cold climate and low salinity. However, in cold conditions larger individuals usually develop (Cope's law), and the conclusion about low salinity is untenable, because the species is rich the composition indicates a salinity close to the Northern Caspian - up to 10‰ or more. A more realistic explanation is significant turbidity of the water and lack of oxygen at the bottom of the basin. The cause of the increased turbidity could be solifluction processes accompanying the thawing of permafrost.

New euxinian deposits contain a fauna of Caspian-type mollusks; Moreover, the zebra mussels Dreissena rostriformis dominate here, less often Dr. polymorpha and limnocardiids Monodacna Caspia, M. colorata, Adacna, Hipanis and gastropods Caspia, Micromelania.

In the Black Sea, didacnae of the genus Didacna are completely absent; they are traced along the Manych valley down to the lower reaches of the river. Zap. Manych (village Manych-Balabinka). This may be an indicator of lower salinity (up to 5-6‰) in the New Equina basin.

A fauna of the Caspian type, similar in composition, was discovered by us (Algan et al., 2001, 2003) in the bottom sediments of the Bosphorus in well 14 at levels of 80-100 m with a dating of 16-10 ka. Its composition is dominated by Caspian Dreissena rostriformis.

The sediments of the Early Khvalynsk Sea also contain microfauna: foraminifera, ostracods, and diatoms.

The waters of the “Flood” left clear traces of their dynamics in the morphology of the relief: marine terraces, specific coastlines, leveled flat bottom topography, as well as erosion-accumulative landforms of the flood water discharge channels: the Manych-Kerch Strait, the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles.

Flood water discharge valleys. The Manych-Kerch Strait is a giant erosive drainage basin that connected the Caspian Sea with the Black Sea basin. The total length of the strait reached 950-1000 km and varied depending on sea level; the maximum width is 50-55 km, the minimum is 10 km. Depth - up to 30-50 m. The slope of the strait bottom was 0.0001, and the difference in water level from the Caspian Sea (+50 m abs.) to the Black Sea (-80 -100 m) reached 150 m at the beginning of the drainage and 100 m at the end plum. Water consumption reached 50 thousand km3

Coastline. The Early Khvalynsk basin was fundamentally different from the modern one, because at a higher sea level, it rested on the foothills of the hills surrounding the Caspian basin (Ergeni, General Syrt, Volga). Instead of accumulative shores intricately indented by shallow bays, abrasion shores with deep bays—fiord-type estuaries—appeared on the flat surface of the Caspian lowland and large deltas of the Volga and Ural. An example would be the bay we studied along the river valley. Yashkul, which penetrated 50 km deep into Ergenei and was filled with a layer of chocolate clays with marine Khvalyn fauna.

Marine terraces record the position of sea level and coastline at each oscillation during the decline phase of the Khvalynsk Sea. Due to the unusually high rise in the level of the Flood Basin, its deposits overlap much older terraces and form up to 9 marine terraces with the following levels in tectonically stable areas (Dagestan): 48, +35, +22, +16, +6, -5, 0, -6, -12 m (Rychagov 2001, ....; Svitoch 2000, ....). These terraces record the standing of the levels during the phase of the general decline of the basin, and these oscillations were interrupted by a significant decrease in the level of tens of meters. The most significant of them are 2 regressions: Eltonskaya (up to -50 m abs.) and Enotaevskaya (up to -100 m abs.). These data allow us to reconstruct
fluctuations in the level of the Khvalynsky basin during the decline phase.

The chronology of the Khvalynsk transgression of the Caspian Sea has been studied in particular detail, for which there are more than fifty radiocarbon dates (Rychagov, 1997; Svitoch 2002; Leonov et al., 2003). Most of the dating falls within the range of 16-10 thousand years.

In total, during the Khvalynian time (5-6 thousand years), up to 10 cycles of level fluctuations are observed with a periodicity of 500-600 years. They are combined into 3 groups with a duration of 2 thousand years. Fluctuations in the level of the Khvalynsky basin, as well as movements of the coastline over hundreds and thousands of kilometers, as well as large-scale flooding and drying of sea basins, can be considered as waves of the “Flood”, stretched over 5-6 thousand years. The first wave of the “Flood”, early Khvalynian, began 14-15 thousand years ago and lasted about 2 thousand years; it was complicated by three oscillations with sea levels +40, +50, +35 m abs. Because The runoff threshold in the Manych Strait at that time was only +20 m, then all these three basins overflowed into the Black Sea through the Manych-Kerch Strait. It is this first wave and especially its ascending phase that can be considered as the actual Global Flood in the Ponto-Caspian Sea. The second wave of the “Flood”, the middle Khvalynsk one, at the peaks of oscillations no longer exceeded marks of +22, +16 and +6 m and the Caspian waters did not overflow into the Black Sea, the strait probably did not function. The third wave of the “Flood”, the late Khvalynian one, no longer rose above the current sea level and all its 4 oscillations (-5, 0, -5, -12 abs.) were below it, but above the Holocene level of the Caspian Sea.

Sea pools.
The most significant in scale and most suitable for comparison with the ancient mythical floods unfolded in the inland marine and lake-sea basins of Eurasia, known as the Ponto-Caspian Sea.

Khvalynskoe Sea. The epicenter of the “Flood” and the most sensitive indicator of its events (rising sea levels, moving coastlines and flooding of coastal areas) turned out to be the Khvalynsky basin of the Caspian Sea, especially at the peak of transgression. It was in it that the bulk of the waters of the “Flood” were concentrated, their composition and habitat were transformed, and the excess water was drained into the Black Sea. As a result of the development of the Flood, the Khvalynsk Sea overflowed over an area of ​​about a million square meters. km, and together with the Aral-Sarykamysh basin its water area exceeded 1.1 million km 2, which is 3 times larger than the modern Caspian Sea. The volume of accumulated water masses (130 thousand km 3) exceeded the modern one by 2 times. As for the events of the “Flood” itself, almost a million km 2 of low-lying areas were flooded to elevations of +48 +50 m abs. g.o. in the Caspian Plain. The type of basin also changed: an isolated endorheic lake (Atelsky basin) turned as a result of the “Flood” into a giant flowing lake-sea with a one-way discharge of water into the neighboring basin. Despite repeated washing of the pool with fresh water, chemical composition and water salinity changed little (within 10-12‰), because the main environmental indicator - the composition of the fauna of mollusks and other organisms - has not changed significantly. Perhaps this indicates the short-term existence of the flowing pool. And yet, the water of the Khvalyn Sea differed from the Caspian Sea in its low temperature (4 ° C in the north and up to 14 ° C in the south), which is confirmed by the isotopic composition of oxygen (18 O = 10‰). It can also be assumed that the Khvalyn waters are highly turbid, which was reflected in the composition of sediments and the small size of mollusk shells. This is due to the powerful influence of solifluction processes and an increase in solid runoff from river basins (Leonov et al., 2002).

New Euxinian Sea. In the Black Sea depression during the “Flood” there was the New Euxinian lake-sea, the level of which was very low and initially did not exceed -80 -100 m. As a result of the drainage of flood waters from the Caspian Sea, the level very quickly rose to -50 -40 m abs. The water area increased from 350 to 400 thousand km 2, so the area of ​​shelf flooding by the waters of the “Flood” did not exceed 20-30 thousand km 2. The volume of water masses in the New Euxinian basin reached 545 thousand km 3 (slightly less than the Black Sea), but these were waters of a completely different origin.

River flooding were caused by a multiple increase in river flow, especially during enormous spring floods - super floods (super foods) in river valleys with flooding of all floodplains and low river terraces. These processes caused the formation of large river channels, significantly larger in size than the modern channels of the corresponding rivers. They are known as latitudinal valleys, macromeanders, and large bends (Dyry 1964, Panin, Sedarchuk 2005). River flow passed through these paleochannels, serving as the main source for marine flooding - transgressions of internal lake-sea basins.

Slope flooding covered almost all slopes of valleys and other relief elements and manifested themselves especially actively in the spring-summer season during intensive thawing of permafrost, increased solifluction flows down the slopes, their moistening, planar water flow, accumulation of fine-earth sediments at the bends of the slopes. Thawing permafrost and slope flooding were additional sources of water for the formation of river superfloods. These processes are best studied through detailed studies at Paleolithic sites.

Interfluve flooding covered vast areas of plateaus and interfluves with relatively flat relief. As a result of uneven thawing of permafrost, thermokarst processes have intensified and the area of ​​thermokarst lakes - paleoalasses - has increased significantly. The lakeization of interfluves has led to an increase in water areas and a reduction in the area of ​​territories.

Cascade of Eurasian basins (Vorukasha Sea). As a result of the events of the Great Flood, a system of interconnected basins was formed in inner Eurasia. They are traced from the Caspian Sea to the Sea of ​​Marmara, which allows us to reconstruct the Cascade of the Eurasian basins, including the Aral-Sarykamysh basin, Uzboy, Khvalynsk Sea, Manych-Kerch Strait, New Euxinian Sea, Bosphorus, and the ancient Sea of ​​Marmara. Further, through the Dardanelles Strait, the waters of this Cascade merged into the Mediterranean Sea. In terms of the scale of the water area, the lake-sea system of the Eurasian cascade has no analogues. Of the modern inland basins, the largest lake system in the world - the Great Lakes of North America - is significantly inferior to the flood basin in all respects: in area (245 thousand km 2) - 6 times, in volume of water masses (227 thousand km 3) - in 30 times, in terms of flow rate discharged under (14 thousand m 3 /sec) - more than 4 times, in terms of area drainage basin- more than 3 times.

The cascade of the Eurasian basins made an impression on ancient man and could be reflected in ancient epics and mythology. In particular, a description of a similar basin is given in the Avesta - the Vorukasha Sea.

Sources of water for the flood: