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Does An Ancient Tablet Tell the Real Story of Noah’s Ark?
Wall Street Journal ^ | 03/27/2014 | By JAVIER ESPINOZA

Posted on 03/27/2014 7:58:05 AM PDT by SeekAndFind

As Darren Aronofsky and Russell Crowe unveil “Noah” in U.S. cinemas this week, British archaeologist Irving Finkel offers a new perspective on the story with his book “The Ark Before Noah: Decoding the Story of the Flood.”

In his book, published in the U.S. by Doubleday, Finkel tells the story of how he managed to get his hands on a cuneiform tablet, which was part of the flood story. As a curator for the British Museum, he relies on members of the public bringing artifacts to him for inspection.

He was on duty one afternoon in 1985 when a man named Douglas Simmonds showed up “with a small collection of stuff. He poured it out on the table and asked me to have a look at it. It contained two or three pieces of cuneiform, lamps, coins, a few seals, a sort of miscellaneous group.”

There was also a virtually complete tablet, which Finkel assumed to be an ancient business letter. It was made of clay and about the size of a smartphone. “It turned out to be a piece of literature, which was obvious to be part of the floods story. It’s an important aspect of Mesopotamian literature and it circulates in more than one composition,” he said.

Think about it this way: Humans passing this story for hundreds of years and at some point in time an anonymous person putting it in writing and then other anonymous authors writing their own version of the story at different points in time.

“It would be something that would be copied and then recopied but the names of the contributors, the poets whose input was there was never recorded. All this literature is anonymous,” Mr. Finkel explains.

(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.wsj.com ...


TOPICS: History; Society; TV/Movies
KEYWORDS: 300manyearsoflabor; alreadyposted; ark; coracle; cuneiform; epigraphyandlanguage; flood; godsgravesglyphs; greatflood; history; irvingfinkel; noah; noahsarc; noahsark
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To: ForYourChildren
In almost every civilization there is a flood story with a boat and a family.

Genesis 11:1-9 explains how all cultures have a story of a flood, a boat and a family.

21 posted on 03/27/2014 10:17:28 AM PDT by Ol' Dan Tucker (People should not be afraid of the government. Government should be afraid of the people)
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To: Yosemitest
"remains apparently being found at Mount Ararat in Turkey"

My Goodness, how wonderful! Can you show me it? A film? A photo? Nothing? Who wrote this drivel?

22 posted on 03/27/2014 10:20:37 AM PDT by I am Richard Brandon (center)
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To: aimhigh
Nothing looks more ridiculous than a 70 year old, long hair hippy.

What's your opinon about 70 year old, long hair rednecks? ;^)>>---


23 posted on 03/27/2014 10:21:58 AM PDT by Ol' Dan Tucker (People should not be afraid of the government. Government should be afraid of the people)
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To: I am Richard Brandon
Click on the photos in commemnt #19 fior the sources.
The last one has plenty of links.
24 posted on 03/27/2014 10:25:25 AM PDT by Yosemitest (It's Simple ! Fight, ... or Die !)
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To: SeekAndFind

“how those who got destroyed by the flood CAUSED this disaster....”

Through excessive use of campfires and slash and burn farming, obviously!

The final crash came when the people we call Neanderthals left en mass in their hydrazine (N2 H4) powered space ships. The heat those ship generated when they lifted off from the glacier tops was tremendous. You should have seen them - awesome!


25 posted on 03/27/2014 10:30:48 AM PDT by PIF (They came for me and mine ... now it is your turn ...)
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To: PIF

Might want to cut back on the mushrooms, dude/dudette.


26 posted on 03/27/2014 10:36:06 AM PDT by MHGinTN (Being deceived can be cured.)
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To: I am Richard Brandon
Sure.
No problem. Also, this one:
27 posted on 03/27/2014 10:58:08 AM PDT by Yosemitest (It's Simple ! Fight, ... or Die !)
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To: Yosemitest

I don’t care. I do not dispute the story of the Ark, but I strongly dispute that it has been found on Mount Ararat. Pieces retrieved? Film? Photo? The photo I saw in the article could have been anything, anywhere, except that boat-shaped rock formation which I have seen many times before from many angles.


28 posted on 03/27/2014 11:04:22 AM PDT by I am Richard Brandon (center)
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To: I am Richard Brandon
I answered your question.
But I am NOT concerned as to whether you believe it or not.
29 posted on 03/27/2014 11:06:32 AM PDT by Yosemitest (It's Simple ! Fight, ... or Die !)
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To: I am Richard Brandon

You obviously did not watch what I liked to, because your response did not allow enough time for you to have watched them.


30 posted on 03/27/2014 11:07:42 AM PDT by Yosemitest (It's Simple ! Fight, ... or Die !)
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To: I am Richard Brandon
CORRECTION:
31 posted on 03/27/2014 11:08:31 AM PDT by Yosemitest (It's Simple ! Fight, ... or Die !)
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To: SeekAndFind

nope, the bible sure does though.


32 posted on 03/27/2014 11:40:08 AM PDT by Secret Agent Man (Gone Galt; Not averse to Going Bronson.)
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To: aimhigh

33 posted on 03/27/2014 11:40:44 AM PDT by Yosemitest (It's Simple ! Fight, ... or Die !)
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To: Ol' Dan Tucker
What's your opinon about 70 year old, long hair rednecks?

The beard looks great. The long hair looks ridiculous.

34 posted on 03/27/2014 11:46:17 AM PDT by aimhigh (John 14:21)
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To: US Navy Vet
Sure does! It’s CALLED the KING JAMES HOLY BIBLE! See KJV Genesis Chap 5 through 11.

God dictated the story to King James in Elizabethan English?

35 posted on 03/27/2014 11:48:23 AM PDT by PapaBear3625 (You don't notice it's a police state until the police come for you.)
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To: aimhigh

A lot of “old hippies” are on blood thinners and don’t like the daily bloodletting of shaving. Many of them are your friendly FReepers.
One of the privileges of being old is the ability to say what you want to say and look like you want.


36 posted on 03/27/2014 12:16:57 PM PDT by namvolunteer (Obama says the US is subservient to the UN and the Constitution does not apply. That is treason.r)
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To: Yosemitest

That is true. I am currently engaged in the fourth day of a life or death struggle with AT&T and you are scheduled down the to do list. If they keep this up, I may never get to you.


37 posted on 03/27/2014 12:30:50 PM PDT by I am Richard Brandon (center)
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To: I am Richard Brandon
I guess you don't believe the Hagopian-Lee to Simmons-Arslan 1989 Photo Near Mt. Ararat Strato-Volcano Summit or the old Armenian, George Hagopian's story on pages 73 through 92 of Secrets of the Lost Races: New Discoveries of Advanced Technology in Ancient Civilizations ?
38 posted on 03/27/2014 12:47:13 PM PDT by Yosemitest (It's Simple ! Fight, ... or Die !)
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To: SeekAndFind

Aside from the impossible logistics of gathering two of every animal on earth and all the requisite food to keep them alive, what about the myriad fishermen alive during that time? Surely their boats could survive during this time and they could drink the rain water and catch fish for sustenance, right? So why would Noah’s boat be the only one to survive? And did he have two white people and two Asians and two Africans and two Indians and two people of every race? Did they then all commit incest to grow their numbers sufficient to repopulate the planet?

This particular story has always bothered me. And when one calculates the sheer volume of water to accomplish what the story says, it’s simply preposterous on its face. Even if every bit of ice melted the sea level change wouldn’t even come close to covering the whole earth up to the mountaintops. Sure, it would swamp the low-lying areas and all the coastal towns would be inundated, but the people and animals could simply move to higher ground and survive.

I think the Noah story was about a regional flood and as it was retold numerous times the size and impact of the flooding got exaggerated and when it was finally written down it wasn’t even remotely accurate any more.

But that’s just my two cents. Your mileage may differ.


39 posted on 03/27/2014 12:51:28 PM PDT by Two Kids' Dad (((( ))))
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To: SeekAndFind

Roughly translated it means: “What’s a cubit?”


40 posted on 03/27/2014 2:47:11 PM PDT by Only1choice____Freedom (As long as America's tolerence of failure is not overwhelmed by a desire to succeed, we will fail.)
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