I served in Babylon for years recently in Iraq...and from that - I drove into the local history and studied several text - as well as speaking to a prominent Jewish Rabi -
basically the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers both flooded during the Babylonian time and merged to make it appear that the “known world” was flooded. This world flood could have occurred as the ice age was ending and other world water levels started to rise as well...at any point it was recorded on clay tablets - which today can still be found buried in Babylon and the surrounding area.
That story was picked up by the Israelites during their enslavement at Babylon and brought back to them - which ended up in the Old Testament...
Understand I’m Catholic - but a story that teaches a lesson - is just that - it teaches us what we should be and what we should not do...I’ll leave it at that...
You said — “I drove into the local history...”
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Curious minds would like to know what vehicle you were using? :-)
Maybe Jesus is just a story there is no historical records of Him.