Before Noah: Myths of the Flood Are Far Older Than the Bible

TIME ^ | 04/05/2014 | Ishaan Tharoor

[SeekAndFind]

Darren Aronofsky

[SeekAndFind]

AUTHOR CLAIMS:

The Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh dates back nearly 5,000 years and is thought to be perhaps the oldest written tale on the planet. In it, there is an account of the great sage Utnapishtim, who is warned of an imminent flood to be unleashed by wrathful gods. He builds a vast circular-shaped boat, reinforced with tar and pitch, that carries his relatives, grains and animals. After enduring days of storms, Utnapishtim, like Noah in Genesis, releases a bird in search of dry land.

IMPLICATION: The story of Genesis BORROWED from Gilgamesh.

[lurk]

Two flood stories.

Okay. So, that makes one of them untrue?

[Tulane]

1) Doesn’t this back up the story of Noah as historically accurate and not a myth at all?

2) The director of the movie Noah is an atheist? Figures...

[cuban leaf]

I think anyone that actually understands the bible knows that the stories in Genesis predate the book itself by many, many years.

I also see the stories of a great flood in other cultures as supporting evidence of the truth of the great flood story.

[Jewbacca]

“IMPLICATION: The story of Genesis BORROWED from Gilgamesh.”

Or “IMPLICATION: The story of Genesis shares a common source as Gilgamesh, which is consistent with the geographical record of a flood effectively destroying Mesopotamia, which more-or-less encompassed “the entire human world” back then, and consistent with the Torah.

[Pharmboy]

The Black Sea Flood Hypothesis

[Secret Agent Man]

it doesn’t. all the flood stories are passed down from the REAL flood event described in the bible.

[Tallguy]

Don’t you just love the way that “Time” lumps complaints from Christians with “I kill you where you stand” threats from Muslims and outright “bans” of screenings in Muslim countries?

[Focault's Pendulum]

Flood myths are so universal that the Hungarian psychoanalyst Geza Roheim thought their origins were physiological, not historical — hypothesizing that dreams of the Flood came when humans were asleep with full bladders.

Last night I was dreaming of Mount Everest. Turned out I had to get up and take a dump.

[babble-on]

There’s been interesting speculation about the flood stories being related the influx of water from the Mediterranean through the Bosporus into the Black Sea at the end of the last ice age, inundating many cities along the Black Sea’s shores. People have also speculated the Atlantis legend may have been related to the same events.

Anyway, there are so many flood stories in the region, there must have been a major major flood. Why not?

[Heartlander]

While the Hollywood blockbuster has been a hit, it has also faced opposition from Christians and Muslims angry with its supposed misrepresentation of their scriptures.

Christians and Muslims - but no mention of the Jewish... Hmmm...

[wonkowasright]

Ditto. But I also think many Christians don’t truly understand that.

[SeekAndFind]

RE: Two flood stories.

Okay. So, that makes one of them untrue?

________________________________

Or it makes both not exactly true in their details.

Or one is true the other less true.

Or both are false.

[1010RD]

Noah’s just another chance to kick God. Every Secular Humanist can’t wait to “critique” the story.

[Zionist Conspirator]

Unfortunately, no one but Fundamentalist Protestants and Orthodox Jews acknowledge the historical truth of all of Genesis. And most people think that only Fundamentalist Protestants do.

I've been trying for almost fifteen years on this forum to disabuse people, but the message never gets over for some reason.

[DonaldC]

Nearly all the bible has been borrowed from previous cultures. That should be no surprise to anyone.

[Vendome]

Anything to discount the Bible or marginalize it.

I hear this crap at least once a month from the people struggling with their relationship with God, The Creator.