In the Mediterranean, Killer Tsunamis From an Ancient Eruption

The New York Times ^ | 02 Nov 2009 | WILLIAM J. BROAD

[BGHater]

The massive eruption of the Thera volcano in the Aegean Sea more than 3,000 years ago produced killer waves that raced across hundreds of miles of the Eastern Mediterranean to inundate the area that is now Israel and probably other coastal sites, a team of scientists has found.

The team, writing in the October issue of Geology, said the new evidence suggested that giant tsunamis from the catastrophic eruption hit “coastal sites across the Eastern Mediterranean littoral.” Tsunamis are giant waves that can crash into shore, rearrange the seabed, inundate vast areas of land and carry terrestrial material out to sea.

The region at the time was home to rising civilizations in Crete, Cyprus, Egypt, Phoenicia and Turkey.

For decades, scholars have suggested that the giant eruption, just 70 miles from Crete, might have brought about the mysterious collapse of Minoan civilization at the peak of its glory. The remnants of Thera’s eruption today make up a circular archipelago of volcanic Greek isles known as Santorini.

Thera is thought to have erupted between 1630 and 1550 B.C., or the Late Bronze Age, a time when many human cultures made tools and weapons of bronze. Scholars say the tsunamis and dense clouds of volcanic ash from the eruption had cultural repercussions that rippled across the Eastern Mediterranean for decades, even centuries. The fall of Minoan civilization is usually dated to around 1450 B.C. Geologists judge the eruption as far more violent than the 1883 eruption of the volcanic island of Krakatoa in Indonesia, which killed more than 36,000.

The five tsunami researchers came from Haifa University, in Israel; Hunter College, in New York City; McMaster University, in Canada; and the University of Hawaii.

[BGHater]

'Thera is thought to have erupted between 1630 and 1550 B.C.,'

It would be interesting to put this over the Biblical timeline. ie Plagues of Egypt, Exodus, etc.

[BGHater]

ping

[US Navy Vet]

Yeah how about 4400 years ago after a BIG,BIG, BIG flood!

[SunkenCiv]

Tsunami Waves Reasonably Likely To Strike Israel,
Geo-archaeological Research Suggests
Science Daily | Oct. 26, 2009
Posted on 10/26/2009 7:24:23 PM PDT by rdl6989
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2371590/posts

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks BGHater. No ping to the Catastrophism list, because this is a duplicate. Link is posted up there. Okay, so, I've changed my mind now, and I *am* going to ping it. You'll never take me alive, copper!

· join · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post new topic · subscribe ·

[SunkenCiv]

· join list or digest · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post a topic · subscribe ·
	Gods Graves Glyphs	Thanks BGHater. Duplicate, more or less, so I'm pinging the older one. :') Just adding to the catalog, not sending a general distribution. To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother, and Ernest_at_the_Beach
·Dogpile · Archaeologica · ArchaeoBlog · Archaeology · Biblical Archaeology Society · · Discover · Nat Geographic · Texas AM Anthro News · Yahoo Anthro & Archaeo · Google · · The Archaeology Channel · Excerpt, or Link only? · cgk's list of ping lists ·