The emergence of the myth of the flood. Flood - myth or reality? Flood from the point of view of scientists
The Flood is, first of all, the biblical story described in - the first of the books and the entire Bible. However, legends or tales of the global flood are in a number of mythological and religious texts of various peoples of the world.
In this article we will consider Bible Flood or, as it is often called, Noah's Flood, because it is a key figure in the events connected with the Great Flood in the Bible.
According to Genesis, the Flood is God's punishment for the sinfulness of mankind.
And the Lord said: I will destroy from the face of the earth the people whom I created, from man to cattle, and I will destroy the reptiles and birds of the air, for I have repented that I created them. (Genesis. Chapter 6)
The Flood is God's way of exterminating sin in man. God left only Noah and his family alive, commanding Noah to build an ark in which Noah took refuge with his family, as well as a couple of different animals and birds. We will not dwell on the history of the construction of the ark and on its sailing, as there is already an article on the site that you can read about. Let’s talk in more detail about the Flood, its symbolism and possible scientific interpretation.
Flood in the Bible.
As we said, the biblical story of the Flood is told in Genesis.
The Flood is a monstrous catastrophe of biblical history, the consequence of which was the flooding of the entire planet and the death of almost all life. Water during the flood arrived not only due to the incessant 40 days of rain, but also due to the discovery of gigantic underground sources.
In God's plan, perfection and universal harmony were assumed. Everything changed after. Evil and sin settled on Earth. The first result was committed by his blood brother out of jealousy. Some lived according to God, others lived in sin. Over time, there were so many sinners and unbelievers that the Lord decided to cleanse the Earth by sending the Flood.
All opened “Sources of the abyss”and opened “Windows of heaven”. It was raining. unprecedented strength, and he walked 40 days. Water oozed from the bowels of the Earth for 150 days. After that, the water began to decrease. It took seven months for the peak of Ararat to emerge from the water. Noah went out of the ark and built an altar to the Lord and performed a sacrifice. The Lord, having seen the grateful heart of Noah, decided to never repeat the Flood.
... I will no longer curse the earth for man, because the thought of the human heart is evil from his youth; and I will no longer amaze all living things, as I did. (Genesis chapter 8)
Flood in the Apocrypha.
In addition to the canonical books of the Bible, the story of the Flood can be found in, for example, (chapter 5), as well as in the Book of Enoch. In general, the apocryphal tales of the Great Flood do not contradict the canonical text of Genesis, but the cause of the flood in the apocrypha is the relationship of angels with women, which led to the appearance of magic and witchcraft, as well as to a general decline in morals.
The Flood divided biblical history into two eras: the antediluvian and the post-flood times.
The origins of the biblical story of the Great Flood.
The biblical story of the Great Flood has its source - the Assyrian myth of Gilgamesh, which is preserved on clay tablets. These cuneiform writings are dated to the 21st century. BC e. the story tells of the miraculous salvation of the Assyrian Utnapishta with all his belongings and animals in the ark during the Flood. On the seventh day of sailing, Utkapishty's ark stopped, catching on the top of Mount Nycyr.
The biblical story differs significantly from the legend of the salvation of Utnapishta only by the duration of the flood: according to the Bible, the flood lasted almost a year, and according to Assyrian sources - seven days.
The description of the construction of the ark, as well as the method for determining the water level using birds, are the same. Utnapishty let out a dove and a swallow, and Noah a crow and a dove. The amazing similarity between the Assyrian and the biblical narrative seems even more wonderful if we mention that sometimes these versions are absolutely identical in expression. The Assyrian story of the Flood reduces the flood to a small and plausible size - the flood lasts seven days, the water does not cover the top of Mount Nitsir (its height is about 400 meters).
But is the Assyrian legend the ultimate source? Not. Archaeologists often call the land of Mesopotamia "a large puff cake." Civilizations here replaced one another. The Assyrians, who conquered the valley of two rivers, were a very young nation compared to the Babylonians, who lived in this area long before the Assyrians arrived. The Assyrians, of course, borrowed the story of Gilgamesh from the older inhabitants of the Tigris and Euphrates Valley - the Babylonians. After a number of Sumerian monuments were found in the XX century, it became clear that the story of the flood migrated to the Babylonians from an even more ancient people - sumerians. However, here we will not find the final point of our journey to the source of the story about the Flood.
Leonard Woolley, a famous archaeologist and researcher, excavating Ur, discovered that the culture of the Sumerians was preceded by another, even more ancient, it is called El Obeida culture by the name of the hill where its traces were first found. Among other values, people of the El Obeid period conveyed the history of the Flood to the Sumerians.
The Sumerians were very ancient nomads who, coming from outside, learned the achievements of the settled people. An analysis of the words of the Ubaidic language that have come down to us shows that it has much in common with the language of the Dravids living in South India. The Dravidian peoples also have a legend about the global flood.
Was there a Flood? Scientific point of view.
The history of the Flood described in the Bible has analogues among different peoples, far from the Old Testament concepts. This suggests that such a cataclysm took place and its consequences were, indeed, difficult, since the legends about the Great Flood were preserved in the memory of the peoples of all continents of the Earth.
To date, scholars have rejected the version that in the times described by the Bible there really was a World Sweat. A large number of traditions, including biblical, most likely describe various disasters related to water and flooding, which occurred at different time intervals and were local in nature.
Thus, the World Flood is, most likely, a huge number of local disasters in different regions, to which the inhabitants of the affected areas attributed the global character. The likely causes of local sweats were:
- tsunamis due to earthquakes or meteorites,
- a rise in water level for one reason or another,
- breakthroughs of water from enclosed bodies of water due to karst processes,
- typhoons.
What are we dealing with when we speak of the Bible Flood?
Flood questions worried Austrian geologist E. Suess, who studied the biblical text, as well as the original source of the biblical legend - the Assyrian myth of Gilgamesh, concluded that Noah's Flood is nothing more than a devastating flood of the Mesopotamian lowlands in the lower Euphrates. E. Suess considered the main cause of the Biblical Flood to be the tsunami that arose as a result of a strong earthquake in the Persian Gulf. Scientists - followers of Suess - found that the likely cause of the Noah Flood was not a tsunami - tsunamis of a similar strength were not typical for this region, but a devastating flood that occurred as a result of prolonged heavy rains and strong winds blowing towards the flow of rivers. Similar floods have been observed more than once in the Bengal region. Water levels during such floods rose rapidly by 16 meters. Hundreds of thousands of people perished. It is likely that a similar flood of 4000-5000 years ago was described in the Bible as a Flood.
However, there is another opinion among scientists, according to which the World Flood took place in the form of a global catastrophe, when the Black Sea ceased to be closed. Due to a severe earthquake, the water level rose 140 meters, the Black Sea connected with the Mediterranean, causing flooding of vast regions and the death of a huge number of people.
Flood time
When was the Flood? At what year?The Bible contains enough chronological information to answer these questions. In Genesis, the genealogy from the creation of the first man Adam to the birth of Noah is very accurately recorded. The flood, according to biblical tradition, began
in the six hundredth year of Noah's life (Genesis chapter 7).
If we take 537 BC as a starting point e., when the remainder of the Jews left Babylon and returned to their homeland, then by subtracting the periods of the reign of judges and kings of Israel, as well as the years of the life of the after-flood patriarchs indicated in the Old Testament, we get that the Great Flood occurred in 2370 BC uh.
It should be remembered that the biblical story was borrowed from the Assyrians. Assyrian legend describes a natural cataclysm that occurred approximately in 5500 BC.
There are alternative versions. Based on the chronological system of the English archbishop Usher, the flood can be dated 2349 BC e. According to the chronological data of the Septuagint, the Flood occurred in 3213 BC e.
Briefly about the article: The onset of the apocalyptic 2012 excited the imagination of writers and directors writing scenarios of the end of the world. One of the most curious, undeservedly underrepresented in art, is the Flood and, possibly, the subsequent survival in a flooded world. The World of Fantasy is sure: the new life of the old legend is yet to come!
Water around
GLOBAL FLOOD
To make it clear to you, in vain we do not argue so that
Think of the terrible flood of the world.
A terrible terrible rain all flooded then ...
It’s not beer that kills people - water kills people!
Song from the movie “It Can’t Be”
2012 has come, and fans of fatal dates and numbers froze in anticipation: is the Apocalypse coming? And if it is coming, then what will it be? Among all possible versions of the end of the world, one of the most plausible (in the light of data on global warming) is the flooding of all land, or at least part of it. That is, the Flood, which, according to legend, has already been. Let's remember what we know about him and how true these legends are.
From Sumerians to Indians
The Flood Myth is a stray plot found in a wide variety of cultures almost unchanged. Once a god (or gods) is angry with humanity, opens the abyss of heaven, and all life perishes under water. In addition to a handful of those who are destined to revive the human race, because the god (or gods) is angry, but easygoing. In many versions of the myth, these saved ones help restore the lost flora and fauna, as they took representatives of all biological species with them to the ship or other shelter. It ends with the universal reconciliation of the divine and the human. With a warning: if people behave badly - the repetition of a water show is inevitable.
This was told by the ancient Sumerians and their heirs - Akkadians and Babylonians, residents of Syria and Palestine, India and Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines, Australia and Polynesia. Even the myths of the Indian tribes, from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, narrate the same thing. At the same time, there are no legends about the flood in the folklore of Europe (except Greece, Wales, Lithuania and some gypsy tribes), most of Asia and Africa. Why so - a separate story, which we will return to when we talk about the hypotheses of the origin of the myth.
Its oldest variation is the Sumerian one, known from the epic about Gilgamesh, one of the earliest literary works in the history of mankind. The protagonist of the poem sets off to wander the world in search of the grass of immortality. On the edge of the earth Gilgamesh meets King Utnapishtim (his name means "who has found the life of long days"), the same "antediluvian" hero who escaped from the wrath of the gods. Those for unknown reasons have vowed to destroy humanity. Only the god Ea, bypassing this oath, warned Utnapishtim about the impending catastrophe and showed him the drawings of the ship that needs to be built in order to be saved. Our hero loaded his family, property, animals and birds, as well as craftsmen to the ship, in order to preserve crafts after the flood. The gods sent a storm that raged for seven nights and six days, and only on the seventh day it calmed down, allowing the ship of Utnapishtim to dock at the top of the mountain. Three times he let out various birds, so that they would find out if the water had come down, and only the third bird, the raven, did not return, because it had found dry land. After the flood, Utnapishtim made sacrifices to the gods, and they gave him and his wife immortality.
It is believed that Utnapishtim's story is an insertion of an early, independent work into a later and large-scale one. This hypothesis is confirmed by the texts of the Sumerian and Akkadian flood stories, discovered later than the epic of Gilgamesh. The main character in them is called Ziusudra or Atrahasis, respectively (these intricate names mean the same as Utnapishtim). The records of the second legend are better preserved, and from it it became known why the gods decided to destroy people. It turns out that there were too many people and they ... were too noisy, annoying the gods in heaven! Here is such a demographic crisis in Akkadian. If the ancient gods really existed, by the beginning of the third millennium they should have completely gone deaf, so supporters of the version of the Second World Flood may not be so wrong.
A similar legend was told in Babylon. And the biblical story of Noah with his ark generally repeats her word for word. There is only one difference: a moral motive appears in the legend. According to the Old Testament, the god Yahweh (Elohim) decided to destroy humanity because it committed too many sins, and Noah was the only righteous person. It was this version of the legend that became canonical, leaving in our language the expression “every creature in pairs” (exactly so many animals Noah took on his ark) and the word “antediluvian”.
| MOVING FROG | |
| Flood legends from different nations diverge in small details - and in the degree of their exoticism. The cause of the flood is often called a violation of one taboo or another - for example, the ban on eating snakes or a certain type of fish. The funniest version of the legend is with an Australian tribe. Aborigines say that once a certain frog swallowed all the drinking water on earth. To make her give everything back, the other animals decided to make her laugh - and somewhat overdid it. There are different versions of where such an amount of water came from. Among the reasons are indicated not only rainfall, as in Middle Eastern legends, or heavy snow, like some North American Indians, but also the spill of the sea, and groundwater that burst to the surface. The number of surviving people is also different: it’s one couple, then several, then a family or a whole tribe, and sometimes even one person. Natives of the island of Borneo, for example, say that only one woman survived the flood, who began to give birth to children from ... a drill for making fire. |
The curious details of the fall are given by the apocryphal Book of Enoch. According to her, mankind was seduced from the true path by giants - the descendants of the marriage of angels with mortal women. It is they who are guilty of wars, social inequality, the appearance of black magic and other indecent acts.
The ancient Greeks had their flood, and not even one: in different sources, from two to “many” are mentioned. The most famous is the Deucalion flood, from which only the son of the rebellious titan Prometheus Deucalion and his wife Pyrrh were saved. They were not helped by the gods, but by Prometheus himself, who told his son how to build a ship. After the water subsided, they, on the advice of the river goddess Thetis, restored humanity in a very original way: throwing stones behind themselves. Those thrown by Deucalion became men, and those abandoned by Pyrrha became women. Another legend says that not only they were saved, but also the inhabitants of the whole city of Parnassus, because its founder, the son of Poseidon Parnassus, knew the art of prediction. It is believed that the wrath of the ancient Greek gods caused human sacrifices, which Zeus did not want to accept.
In Hindu mythology, not a couple of people were saved during the flood, but only one - Vaivasvata, one of Manu (the ancestors of the human race). His wife was born from the sacrifice he made. But the Zoroastrians believe that in a flood (which was either a long time ago, or still will be) it is best to save themselves not on a ship, but in a specially constructed shelter where people, animals and plants should be gathered.
Many peoples familiar with the flood myth believe that disaster will recur sooner or later and again only a few will be saved. In one Polynesian tribe they even kept special rescue boats "in case of a flood." In a word, the idea of \u200b\u200bthe death and subsequent revival of mankind due to the large amount of water seems to be firmly established in our collective unconscious. Where did she come from?
GREAT LITTLE FLOOD
There is a great temptation to bring all the stories about the flood to one denominator and declare that such a catastrophe really happened in the history of mankind, and so global that it is remembered throughout the world. Such interpretations, similar to the Hollywood blockbuster scenario, are no less exotic than some flood myths. One of them, actively circulated by books and websites like The Great Secrets and Mysteries of the Earth, says that the Flood was caused by the collision of the Earth with the Moon. Allegedly, our satellite was originally the core of the dead planet Phaeton, captured by the Earth’s gravitational field. The collision of two cosmic bodies caused tsunamis and floods all over the planet, and along the way - the death of either dinosaurs or Atlantis; here the authors of the hypothesis are confused in the evidence. The idea, of course, is gorgeous, sorry - not confirmed by any scientific data.
The hypothesis also seems fantastic that the water that flooded the planet came from its bowels - from the mysterious oceans enclosed in the depths of the earth's mantle. The very existence of such oceans is only a version, although based on data from seismographs from around the world. Nominated by her American researcher Michael Wayshashn. In this case, a global flood could look like an unexpected breakthrough of hot waters from under the earth's crust. Ocean level rose, and water vapor condensed in the atmosphere, and showers completed the job.
More plausible is the hypothesis of William Ryan and Walter Pitman of Columbia University. According to them, the legend of the Flood reflected the global rise in sea level due to melting glaciers. At the same time, people who lived on the shores of the seas and in the deltas of large rivers suffered mainly, namely in such places myths about the flood were usually told. This version is confirmed by studies of the Black Sea coast: around 5500 BC, its level rose fairly quickly by about 50 meters, and the area increased by about one and a half times.
According to another version, everything is much simpler. Since the flood is not told all over the world, it means that these floods were not everywhere and not at the same time. At least about the ancient Sumerian flood, we can say for sure that it was local. During the excavation of the ancient city of Ur in 1927, a 20-meter layer of obviously alluvial clay was discovered without any signs of human presence, which can indicate a massive flood caused by a multi-day rainfall. Archaeologist Leonard Woolley, who led the excavation, made a bold assumption that Utnapishtip, aka Noah, could be a historical person who took timely measures to save his tribe from the flood. In general, the Tigris and Euphrates spills are not uncommon: their tracks were more than once found during excavations. True, they occurred at different times. But mythological thinking does not know the historical reckoning of years, and the native city with its environs was indeed the whole world for an ancient person. So the myths of different nations could reflect the floods or tsunamis that actually happened in the area. It is not clear why, in this case, the myth of the flood is not in Japan, where the tsunami is in the order of things.
Finally, legends may not reflect any real history at all, but be a kind of “scientific hypothesis”. The folklorists who collected the tales of Polynesia noticed that the natives showed them, as evidence of the reality of the flood, the prints of sea mollusks found on the tops of the mountains. The ancient Roman author Tertullian also considered such finds as confirmation of the biblical myth. Now we know that the geological transformations of the earth's crust are a slow process. But back in the 19th century, before Darwin, one of the leading scientific theories was the “catastrophe theory”, which explains all the changes in nature by global cataclysms. It seems that ancient people also had their “catastrophism”: a gradual, evolutionary change in their heads did not fit, therefore they composed colorful legends. And morality was often added to legends about the inadmissibility of violating taboos and ethical standards, because they were established by god (or gods) and their non-observance could cause anger in heaven.
FURNITURE AROUND THE ARK
Spectacular, visual and with accessible morality, the legend of the Noah's Ark has always been in the top five of the most popular Old Testament stories. Artists liked to portray her, but the writers weren’t very happy: after all, little can be added to this plot. Is that just a little mock at him - already in the twentieth century, when it became possible.
| WHAT DOES THE ARK NEED TO BUILD? | |||
| The Akkadian legend of Atrahasis, the prototype of Noah, describes a round vessel woven from reeds - in fact, a huge basket. The very word "ark" means "box", not "ship". So, apparently, it was not intended for purposeful swimming. He was needed to wait out the flood, uncontrollably hanging out in the waves. It is precisely such an ark that Utnapishtim's story also describes: something like a huge six-story box. The fact that the artists who portrayed Noah’s ark as a ship were wrong, wrote Mark Twain (incidentally, a pilot by profession): “Of course, such an ark could not sail anywhere. It had no steering wheel, no sails, no compass, no pumps, no maps. Nowhere are there any mention of mullins, anchors, logs or any other equipment so necessary for every ship. ” But how was it built? The Bible contains all the necessary information transmitted by Noah personally to the god Yahweh, and it was not difficult for modern scholars to calculate this. The ark was supposed to be three-tiered, 133.5 meters long, 22.25 meters wide, 13.35 meters high, and had a carrying capacity of 15-20 thousand tons. The construction required 37,200 cubic meters of wood of the mysterious gopher tree (either cypress or cedar), which still had to be prepared and brought, although the tree was worth its weight in gold in Mesopotamia. How did the prophet deal with all this? The readers of the Bible did not have any questions: with God's help, of course. In one of the chapters of the novel by Julian Barnes, “History of the world at 10? chapters ”the narration is conducted on behalf of the larva of a woodworm worm. This species of insects was not taken into the ark, considering it to be pests. But a few heroic worms nevertheless made their way aboard to poison people's lives in the beautiful new "post-flood" world. The theme of the Flood, the elements and salvation from it goes through the whole book: here, and the search for the ark on Mount Ararat, and pirate terrorists, and a journey into the depths of the jungle along the tropical river, and the story of the infamous raft “Medusa”. And in the last novel by Jose Saramago “Cain”, the protagonist of the same name falls on Noah's ark, in the end to cause the death of the last people on earth - Saramago is merciless to humanity. The scenario of the story about Noah's Ark follows Roland Emmerich in the large-scale disaster film "2012". He interprets the biblical hyperbole that water covered the earth "above the highest mountains" literally - a giant tsunami sweeps over the Himalayas. There are giant ark ships in this story that manage to save more people than the biblical. There is even a character named Noah (Noah) - the son of the main character. The creators of the comedy Evan Almighty cannot be blamed for emmerich’s pathos. However, they literally follow the biblical legend: God appears to Congressman Evan and tells him to build an ark. All those around us mock at the "new Noah." Mocking is also facilitated by the fact that God insisted on the "authentic" form of the builder: an ancient hoodie and a long beard. Fortunately, instead of a global flood, there is a local, albeit potentially very dangerous, here.
Writers and directors especially love to stoke and destroy Japan, which in reality is constantly suffering from earthquakes and tsunamis. Sake Komatsu in the novel "Death of the Dragon" described how his homeland goes under water as a result of volcanic activity. Based on his novel, a catastrophe film “Japan is drowning” was shot, as well as a parody film “The whole world, except Japan, is drowning”, in which all other countries of the world die, which leads to the invasion of the not so beloved “gayzin” in the Land of the Rising Sun (foreigners). The final of Steven Spielberg's “Artificial Intelligence” film shows the world that has already survived the Flood: humanity is destroyed, the earth is covered in water, and other robots save the “little alive” robot. But in the comic book and the film “Sky Captain and the World of the Future” there was no trace of the flood at all. But there is a spaceship playing the role of an ark with animals and scientists, after which the Earth must be destroyed. This, thanks to the main characters, does not happen. The image of Noah’s ark became the starting point for a whole fantastic subgenre under the code name "star ark". The action of such works takes place inside huge spaceships that have been flying to distant stars for many centuries, so their own culture managed to form inside them. One of the most famous examples is Robert Heinlein’s novel “Stepsons of the Universe”. The legend of the Flood, due to its fame, has long crumbled into small details and hints, the meaning of which is well understood by everyone who is familiar with the Bible, even in a retelling. So, the rain lasting many days in the novel “One Hundred Years of Solitude” by Gabriel García Márquez should remind that natural disaster from which the flood began. And the city of the ugly swans of the Strugatsky brothers, in which it rains all the time, also makes an apocalyptic impression. Indeed, the city in the final will be literally washed away by this rain. ISLANDS IN THE OCEANBut if you still be optimistic and imagine that even the Flood did not become a hindrance to humanity to live on? Just think, instead of land, water is now - what little things! We will live on ships, each of which is practically an ark. Yes, and on the few remaining islands of land, you can also settle in quite well. Fans of water open spaces will certainly find this option of post-apocalypse very romantic. Such a kind of world after the disaster would probably be very popular if it were not for the commercial failure of the film, which became the standard of the Earth after the flood. This, of course, is about the infamous and iconic “Water World”. The picture of the world plunged under water after the melting of the polar ice is impressive in scope. People live on ships and in floating villages in the middle of the ocean, and most of all here plants, soil and fresh water are valued. As for the legendary land, its search is something like the search for the Holy Grail. With its “dirty” style and brutal plot, “Water World” resembles “Mad Max”. However, he was less fortunate at the box office: the film collected a very small box office in the United States (although very decent - around the world, and also sold well on video media), was nominated for four Golden Raspberries (even went to Kevin Kostner) and received unimportant reviews critics. Apparently, therefore, the water saga was never continued, and the producers did not want to invest in a similar movie. Sorry, the idea was promising. "Water World" was far from the first representative of the "water post-apocalypse." In James Ballard’s surreal novel The Sunken World, the end of the world comes gradually: glaciers melt slowly, cities sink into the water one after another, forcing people to move deep into the continents into the hot, humid jungle. Julia Bertagna's teenage novel Water World has nothing to do with the film, although it also tells of the survival of mankind in the era of melting ice. Humanity is divided into inhabitants of the dying islands and wealthy residents of the high-tech floating cities of the Upper World, in which totalitarianism reigns. Of course, the "lucky ones" do not want to let strangers in. And of course, just one little brave girl (I recall, a teenage book) is enough to give humanity a new hope. What will the world be like after a water apocalypse? Fiction gives two opposite answers to this question. For example, in Vadim Elovenko’s book “We Are Forces”, people of the flooded world enter a deadly battle for the remaining resources, and society is plunged into chaos. But Yana Dubinyanskaya in "Global warming" nothing catastrophic happens. Yes, terrible heat reigns in the territory of the former USSR due to global warming, Solovki is now a fashionable resort, and Ukraine is half flooded. But the war will not begin because of this, but because of the mysterious “capsule of universal happiness” discovered somewhere in the Black Sea. The legend of the Flood has been dissolved in our culture to such an extent that it seems that writers and directors themselves are almost not interested in it. Perhaps the fashion for post-apocalypse will force them, having rubbed all possible variations of fantastic worlds to holes, return to the water one. Indeed, in this story, in addition to death and horror, there is also a kind of eerie beauty. It is no accident that one of the best "Floods" in painting belongs to the great marine painter Aivazovsky. |
Unfortunately, the tablet on which the myth was recorded was not completely preserved, and the beginning of the myth was repelled. We can make up for the meaning of the missing fragments from its later Babylonian version. It is inserted, like a story, in the epic about Gilgamesh "About all who saw ...". The first lines read tell of the creation of man, of the divine origin of royal power and the founding of the five oldest cities.
Further, the matter is that at the council of the gods it was decided to send a flood to the earth and destroy all of humanity, but many gods are saddened by this. Ziusudra, the ruler of Shuruppak, appears to be a devout and god-fearing king who is constantly awaiting divine dreams and revelations. He hears the voice of God, most likely Enki, informing him of the intention of the gods to "destroy the human seed."
The further text was not preserved due to a large crack, but judging by the Babylonian counterpart, Ziusudra receives detailed instructions on building a huge boat in order to escape from an imminent disaster.
The text resumes with a vivid description of the flood. For seven days and seven nights on earth a storm rages so strong that even the gods are afraid of it. Finally, the sun god Utu appeared in heaven, who lit and warmed the earth. Ziusudra prostrated himself before him and sacrificed oxen and sheep.
The last lines of the myth describe the deification of Ziusudra. He received the gift of "life like a god," that is, immortality and, together with his wife, was transferred to the divine heavenly country of Dilmun.
The Babylonian version of the flood myth exists in the form of an independent legend about Atrachasis and in the form mentioned above in the epic of Gilgamesh. In the last story, the name of the hero sounds like Utnapishti. It is almost a literal translation into the Akkadian language of the name Ziusudra - noise. "Finding the life of long days." In Akkadian, Utnapishti means "found breath."
The flood myth is preserved in the form of the well-known biblical tradition of Noah, and in the writings of the historian Beros, who wrote in Greek. Only at Beros Ziusudra is called Xisuthros, and the god who warned him of the danger was Kronos.
The first 37 lines are broken.
The extermination of my people ...
I created the goddess Nintu ...
Verily I will return to her.
I will return the people to their places of habitation.
May their city be built, may their troubles be dispelled.
Bricks in all their cities to sacred places
Truly let them set.
In holy places let them be gathered.
The sanctity of water - fire extinguishing - may it
In righteousness is established.
The rites, the mighty Essences will be truly perfect,
Let the water irrigate the earth, I will give them a gracious peace. "
When An, Enlil, Enki, Ninhursag
Blackhead people created
The living creatures in the earth began to multiply wildly,
All four-legged creatures
worthy pattern covered the valleys.
More than 30 lines destroyed.
"I want to direct the efforts of their efforts.
The builder of the country may dig the earth and lay the foundations. "
When the essence of the kingdom descended from heaven,
The mighty crown and royalties lowered the throne from heaven,
He performed their rites, he is the mighty Essence
Perfect made.
He founded villages and towns.
He named them, shares he distributed to them.
The first of them is Eredug; he gave it to the leader Nudimmud.
The second - to the priestess of heaven - he gave Badtiber to her.
The third is Larag, he gave it to Pabilsag.
The fourth - Sippar, to the hero of Utu he gave it.
Fifth - Shuruppak, the Court he gave it.
He gave names to these cities, he appointed them capitals.
He didn’t stop the spills, he dug the ground,
He brought them water.
He cleaned small rivers, conducted irrigation ducts.
40 lines destroyed
In those days, Nintu ... his creations ...
Bright Inanna starts crying for her people.
Enki consults with himself.
En, Enlil, Enki, Ninhursag,
The gods of the universe swore by the name of Ana,
Enlil swore.
In those days, Ziusudra, the anointed of God ...
Built an oval canopy for myself ...
In humility, reverently, with the humble,
In righteous words ...
Every day he stood bowing ...
This is not a dream, then the output of his utterances ...
In order to swear heaven and earth.
In kiur god ... the wall ...
Ziusudra, standing at the edge, hears ...
"Edge of the wall on the left, come on, listen!
Edge of the wall, I’ll tell you a word, take my word!
Be attentive to my instructions!
The flood will fly over the whole world
In order to destroy the seed of humanity.
The final decision, the word of God's congregation ...
The decision made by An, Enlil, Ninhursag,
Regency, its interruption ... "
About 40 lines, destroyed
All the evil storms, all the hurricanes, they all came together.
The flood rages over the whole world.
Seven days. Seven nights.
When the flood raged over the Country,
Evil wind high wave
Threw a huge ship
The sun has risen, lit the sky and the earth,
Ziusudra made a hole in his huge ship,
And a ray of sunshine penetrated a huge ship.
King Ziusudra
Prostrated before the sun-Utu.
The king of the bulls stabbed, killed many sheep.
About 40 lines destroyed.
By the life of heaven and the life of the earth they swore
An and Enlil swore that with the life of heaven and earth.
Who hid
So that the living from the earth rises,
So that it came out for them.
King Ziusudra
Before Anom, Enlil prostrated himself humbly.
Enlil and Ziusudra spoke affectionately.
When life, like God, was condemned to him,
Long life, as if to God, they had spoken to him,
Then they are King Ziusudra,
Who saved the name of life, saved the seed of mankind,
We settled him in the country of transition, in the country of Dilmun, there,
Where the sun-Utu rises ...
"You..."
The end is ruined.
Translation by V. K. Afanasyeva
The official historical science practically does not take into account the overwhelming majority of legends and traditions, having imposed on them the stamp of “myth” and equating it to fiction and imagination of ancient peoples.
Of course, the cataclysm myths can be declared a consequence of the harsh living conditions of people who are extremely dependent on the vagaries of nature and local natural disasters. However, “it is much more difficult to explain the specific, but distinguishable imprint of the mind in the myths of cataclysms. The reliability of the mythology data is at a very high level when checking them on the basis of objective analysis. Myths appear before us not as fantasies of any ancient authors or folk tales, but acquire the status of a peculiar description of events and phenomena that actually took place.
The author himself has repeatedly been convinced that modern science for the most part is a false science that distorts the real picture of the world.
One of these myths, known to everyone and everyone, is the myth of the great, "Universal Flood." One way or another, we learn about this event from the Old Testament, which describes the creation of the world and the annihilation of mankind, which was steeped in sins, but did you know that there are 500 legends in the world that describe the global flood?
Dr. Richard Andre, at one time studied 86 of them (20 Asian, 3 European, 7 African, 46 American and 10 Australian), and concluded that 62 are completely independent of Mesopotamian, (most ancient) and Jewish (most popular) options
The displacement of the Earth’s core is confirmed by numerous myths and legends of various peoples, and the same characteristic feature appears in all sources - this cataclysm was accompanied by an underground rumble and the rapid disappearance of the Sun beyond the horizon. The myth recorded on the islands of Micronesia says that a catastrophe was preceded by a sudden onset of darkness (when the axis of the planet were shifted, the Sun went beyond the horizon). Then the flood began.
The Earth itself testifies to the reality of the Flood.
A number of traditions were included in this book, which spoke about the consequences of how “people rebelled against the gods and the system of the universe became disordered”: “Planets changed their path. The sky moved north. The sun, moon and stars began to move "The earth fell to pieces, water poured from its bowels and flooded the land."
The Jesuit missionary Martinius, who lived for many years in China and studied the ancient Chinese annals, wrote the book "History of China", which talks about the displacement of the axis of the Earth and the flood, as a consequence of this cataclysm:
The support of the sky collapsed. The earth was shaken to the ground. The sky began to fall to the north. The sun, moon and stars have changed the way they move. The whole system of the universe has become disordered. The sun was in an eclipse, and the planets changed their paths. The Karelian-Finnish epos "Kalevala" narrates: terrible shadows covered the Earth, and the sun sometimes left its usual path. In the Icelandic Voluspe there are such lines:
She did not know (Earth) where her house should be, the Moon did not know what her house was, the Stars did not know where to stand. Then the gods restore order among the celestial bodies.
In the jungles of Malaysia, the Chevong people seriously believe that from time to time their world, which they call Earth-Seven, turns upside down, so that everything drowns and collapses. However, with the help of the creator god Tohan, new mountains, valleys and plains appear on the plane that used to be on the lower side of the Earth-Seven. New trees grow, new people are born. That is, the world is completely updated.
In the flood myths that exist in Laos and northern Thailand, it is said that many centuries ago shadow creatures lived in the upper kingdom, and the rulers of the lower world were three great people: Pu Len Sung, Hong Kang and Hong Ket. One day the ten announced that before eating anything, people should share their food with them as a sign of respect. People refused, and the shadows in rage staged a flood that devastated the Earth. Three great men built a raft with a house where a number of women and children were put. In this way, they and their descendants managed to survive the flood.
A similar tradition of the flood, from which two brothers escaped on a raft, exists among the Karen in Burma. Such a flood is an integral part of Vietnamese mythology; there, brother and sister escaped in a large wooden chest with pairs of animals of all breeds. This story could after some time grow up with non-existent facts, such as the salvation of all animals.
Australia and Oceania
A number of Australian Aboriginal tribes, especially those that traditionally live along the northern tropical coast, have a belief that their origin is due to the great flood, which boldly pre-existing landscape with the inhabitants.
According to the myths about the origin of a number of other tribes, the responsibility for the flood lies with the space snake Yurlungur, whose symbol is the rainbow.
There are Japanese legends, according to which the islands of Oceania appeared after the waves of the great flood receded. In Oceania itself, the myth of the indigenous inhabitants of the Hawaiian Islands tells how the world was destroyed by a flood and then recreated by the god Tangaloa.
Samoans believe in a flood that once wiped out all of humanity. He was survived by only two people who sailed into the sea in a boat, which then docked to the Samoa archipelago.
Egypt
Ancient Egyptian traditions also mention the great flood. For example, a funerary text found in the tomb of Pharaoh Seti I, speaks of the destruction by a flood of sinning humanity.
From space you can clearly see these very traces of the retreat of water into the Red Sea.
Cairo, Egypt, traces of powerful currents
The specific causes of this catastrophe are outlined in Chapter 175 of the Book of the Dead, which attributes the following speech to the moon god Thoth:
"They fought, they wallowed in strife, they caused evil, they aroused enmity, they committed murder, they did grief and oppression ... [That's why] I'm going to wash away everything that I have done. The earth should be washed in the abyss by the fury of a flood and become clean again, as in primitive times. "
India
A similar figure was revered in Vedic India over 3,000 years ago. One day, the legend says, “a sage named Manu took a bath and found a small fish in his palm that asked her to save her life. Having pityed her, he launched the fish into a jug. However, the next day it grew so big that he had to take it it was soon to be in the lake. "Throw me into the sea," said the fish, who was actually the embodiment of the god Vishnu, "it will be more convenient for me."
Vishnu then warned Manu of the impending flood. He sent him a big ship and ordered him to load into him a pair of all living things and the seeds of all plants, and then sit there himself. "
No sooner had Manu fulfilled these orders, when the ocean rose and flooded everything; nothing was visible except the god Vishnu in his fish-like guise, only now it was a huge one-horned creature with golden scales. Manu drove his ark to the horn of fish, and Vishnu hauled him along the boiling sea until he stopped at the top of the "Mountains of the North" protruding from the water.
"The fish said," I saved you. Tie the ship to a tree so that the water does not carry it away while you are on the mountain. As the water subsides, you can go down. "And Manu came down with the waters. The flood washed away all the creatures, and Manu was left alone."
A new era began with him, as well as with animals and plants, which he saved from death. A year later, a woman appeared from the water, declaring herself "the daughter of Manu." They married and gave birth to children, becoming the progenitors of existing humanity.
India
India suffered very much during the flood, it was all flooded. After a wave leaves huge piles of sand, stones and clay. All this mixture is evenly distributed throughout the territory. Usually this is a grayish-beige or dark coating. If there are mountains, then this raid is located between the mountains and then looks like frozen streams. In such deposits, archaeologists always dig out ancient objects, animals, people, etc. For example, clay Sumerian tablets. The first written monuments were discovered among the ruins of the ancient Sumerian city of Uruk (Biblical Erech). In 1877, an employee of the French consulate in Baghdad, Ernest de Sarzhak, did not make a discovery that became a historic milestone in the study of Sumerian civilization. In the area of \u200b\u200bTello, at the foot of a high hill, he found a figurine made in an unknown style. Monsieur de Sarzhak organized excavations there, and sculptures, figurines and clay tablets decorated with unprecedented ornaments began to appear from the earth. During excavations, tens of thousands of tablets were found in the archives of the Sumerian cities. How could a whole library of clay tablets end up under a layer of earth?
North America
Among the Inuit of Alaska, there was a legend about a terrible flood, accompanied by an earthquake that so quickly swept across the face of the Earth that only a few managed to escape in their canoes or hide on the tops of the highest mountains, petrified with horror.
Alaska
Eskimos living along the coast of the Arctic Ocean from Cape Barrow in the west to Cape Buters in the east, as well as in Greenland, talk about several floods that periodically destroyed almost the entire population. One of the floods was the result of a hurricane wind, which caught sea water on land and turned it into a desert. The few survivors were then saved on rafts and boats. The cause of another flood was a terrible earthquake. Another flood was caused by a huge tidal wave:
Once upon a time, the ocean suddenly began to rise higher and higher, until it flooded the whole earth. Even the mountain peaks hid under the water, and ice floes beneath them swam with the stream. When the flood ceased, blocks of ice piled up and formed ice caps, which still cover the mountain peaks. Fish, mollusks, seals and whales remained lying on dry ground, where you can still see their shells and bones.
The entire northern coast of Alaska, Canada and Siberia is completely covered by lakes and swamps, and most of the territory is the so-called "Permafrost". In Alaska, many kilometers of accumulations of bones of extinct animals were discovered -mammoths , mastodons, superbisons and horses. These animals disappeared at the endice age . Here, in this mass, the remains of existing species are found - many millions of animals with broken and torn limbs mixed with trees torn from the roots.
The Louiseans from Baja California have a flood legend that flooded the mountains and destroyed most of humanity. Only a few escaped by escaping to the highest peaks, which did not hide, like everything else, under water. Further north, the same myths were recorded by the Hurons.
The legend of the mountaineers from the Algonkin family tells how the Great Hare of Michabo restored peace after the flood with the help of a raven, otter and muskrat.
In Linda's History of the Dakota Indians, the most authoritative work of the 19th century, which preserved many indigenous traditions, the Iroquois myth describes how "the sea and waters once surged onto the earth, destroying all human life."
The Chicago Indians claimed that the world was ruined by the waters, "but one family was saved and a couple of animals of each species." Sioux also talked about a time when there was no dry land left and all people disappeared.
Easter Island
The same series of culprits of the flood includes Uoke, the formidable god and ancestor of the Easter. According to them, “the land of Easter Island was once much larger, but since its inhabitants committed crimes, Uoke rocked the ground and broke it, (lifting) with a stick.”
The most famous Easter statues are moai. There are hundreds of them, and they are scattered throughout the island. The weight of the statues is mainly 10-20 tons, but there are giants reaching 80-90 tons. The height of the statues ranges from 3 to 21 meters. Very many statues are not finished. The overall picture gives the impression of a sudden cessation of work, either by the will of their creators, or because of some kind of cataclysm. In favor of the second version, one of the local legends indicates that there was a huge flood, "lightnings fell from the sky and from the inside of the earth," big water "came, and nothing became visible around." The fact that the vast majority of statues are fallen or partially covered by loose soil layers is also consistent with the version of the cataclysm. Those that stand at full height near the coast, restored recently - in the second half of the twentieth century.
On land, sedimentary rocks of unusually large thickness. Such heterogeneity is inexplicable as is the formation of fossils. But both of these phenomena can be explained by catastrophic events in the past. (Earth in coups)
Siberia, Altai and Alaska
Many years have passed, and the missionaries discover among the Altai people their own version of the legend about the global flood. In it, a ship built by a man named Nama approaches the two mountains, standing close to one another Chomgoda and Tulutta. But the plot became so popular that residents of different places began to dispute the whereabouts of the ark. In the south, they claimed that a fragment of the ark lies on a mountain near the mouth of the Chemal River, the Northern Altai saw huge nails from the ark on the snowy peak of Ulu-tag - the Great Mountain. Tunguska explosion why they dig them out of the ground.
Flood in South America:
Several versions of the flood legends circulated among the ancient Peruvians. Ethnographers said: “When the Tiaguanako complex was opened by Europeans, local residents could tell only fantastic legends about its creators. One of them said that the gods, angry with the ancient builders, sent a plague, famine and a terrible earthquake that killed the creators of Tiaguanako, and their main city disappeared in the waters of Titi-kaka. " Let me remind you, Titi-kaka is the world's largest alpine salt lake.
Mountain peaks protrude from mudflow deposits
When water mixed with land, stones, and other debris flows into the ocean, it leaves behind a thick layer of earth
Such traces of the flood are found everywhere, they are in Europe, in the Americas, in Africa, in India, in China, in Japan and in many other places of the world.
In Ecuador, the Canary Native American tribe keeps an ancient flood story, from which two brothers escaped by climbing a high mountain. As the water rose, the mountain also grew, so the brothers managed to survive the disaster.
Peru, especially rich in legends about the flood. A typical story tells of an Indian who was warned of a flood by a llama. The man and the llama together fled to the high mountain of Vilka-Koto: “When they reached the top of the mountain, they saw that all kinds of birds and animals were already saved there. The sea began to rise and covered all the plains and mountains, with the exception of the peak of Wilka-Koto; but even and the waves swam in there, so the animals had to pile up on the "patch" ... Five days later, the water began to decline and the sea returned to its shores. But all the people, except one, had already drowned, and it was from him that everyone went peoples of the earth. "
In pre-Columbian Chile, the Araucans kept the tradition that there was once a flood, from which only a few escaped ...
Was there really a global flood? This question excites the minds of all mankind for many centuries. Is it really true that the entire population was destroyed by the will of God from the face of the Earth in an instant in such a barbaric way? But what about the love and mercy that all world religions ascribe to the Creator?
To this day, scientists around the world are trying to find reliable facts and a scientific explanation for global flooding. The theme of the Flood is featured in literary works, and in the paintings of famous artists, the biblical apocalypse reflects the full power of the natural element. Aivazovsky’s famous painting depicts a deadly cataclysm so vividly and realistically that it seems that the great painter personally witnessed it. Everyone knows the famous fresco by Michelangelo’s brush depicting representatives of the human race a step before their death.
Aivazovsky’s painting “The Great Flood”
"The Flood" by Michelangelo Buonarroti
The theme of the World Flood was embodied on the screen by American filmmaker Darren Aronofsky in the movie "Noah." He presented to the audience his vision of a famous biblical story. The film caused a lot of controversy and controversial reviews, but did not leave anyone indifferent. The director was accused of diverging the script from the generally accepted outline of the development of events in biblical presentation, the lengthiness and severity of perception. However, the author did not initially claim to be original. The fact remains: almost 4 million viewers watched the film, and box office receipts amounted to more than 1 billion rubles.
What does the Bible say?
Every person knows about the history of the Great Flood at least firsthand. Let's take a short digression into history.
God could no longer put up with the unbelief, debauchery and lawlessness that people had committed on earth, and decided to punish sinners. The Flood was designed to end the existence of people by death in the depths of the sea. Only Noah and his loved ones at that moment deserved the mercy of the Creator, leading a godly life.
By God's direction, Noah had to build an ark capable of withstanding a long voyage. The vessel had to correspond to certain sizes, and it was necessary to equip it with the necessary equipment. The term for the construction of the ark was also agreed - 120 years. It is worth noting that life expectancy at that time was estimated at centuries, and at the time of completion of work, Noah's age was 600 years.
Further, Noah was instructed to enter the ark with the whole family. In addition, a pair of unclean animals from each species (those that were not eaten due to religious or other prejudices, and also were not used for sacrifices), and seven pairs of pure animals on the ground were placed in the holds of the vessel. The doors of the ark were closed, and the hour of reckoning for sins came for the whole man.
Heaven seemed to have opened, and water poured into the earth in a never-ending powerful stream, leaving no chance of survival. The elements raged for 40 days. Even mountain ranges hid under the water column. Only the passengers of the ark survived on the surface of the vast ocean. After 150 days, the water began to decline, and the ship moored at Mount Ararat. After 40 days, Noah released a raven in search of land, but numerous attempts were unsuccessful. Only the dove managed to find land, after which people and animals found the ground under their feet.
Noah performed the ritual of sacrifice, and God promised that the flood would not happen again, and the human race would continue to exist. Thus began a new round in the history of mankind. According to God's plan, it was from the righteous person in the person of Noah and his descendants that the foundation was laid for a new healthy society.
For a simple layman, this story is full of contradictions and raises a lot of questions: from the purely practical “how could such a colossus be built by the forces of one family” to the moral and ethical “was this mass murder so deserved.”
There are many questions ... Let's try to find the answers.
Flood mention in world mythology
In an attempt to find the truth, let us turn to myths from other sources. After all, if we take as an axiom that the death of people was massive, then not only Christians, but also other nationalities suffered.
Most of us perceive myths as fairy tales, but then who is the author? And the event itself is quite realistic: in the modern world, it is increasingly necessary to observe deadly tornadoes, floods and earthquakes in all corners of the world. Human casualties from natural disasters amount to hundreds, and sometimes they arise where they should not be at all.
Sumerian mythology
Archaeologists working in the excavations of ancient Nippur discovered a manuscript stating that in the presence of all the gods, on the initiative of Lord Enlil (one of the three dominant gods), it was decided to arrange a great flood. In the role of Noah was a character named Ziusudra. The elements raged for a whole week, and after Ziusudra left the ark, offered sacrifices to the gods and gained immortality.
“Based on the same list (approx. Nippurian royal list), we can conclude that the global flood occurred 12 thousand years BC. e. "
(Wikipedia)
There are other versions of the great flood, however, all of them have one significant difference with the biblical interpretation. Sumerian sources consider the whim of the gods the cause of the disaster. A kind of whim to emphasize their power and power. In the Bible, the emphasis is on the causal relationship of life in sin and unwillingness to change it.
“The story of the Flood, cited by the Bible, is fraught with hidden power that can affect the consciousness of all mankind. Undoubtedly, when recording the story about the Flood, this goal was set: to teach people moral behavior. “No other description of the Flood from those that we find in sources unrelated to the Bible in this respect is completely unlike the story contained in it.”
- A. Jeremias (Wikipedia)
Despite the various prerequisites for global flooding, there are references to it in the ancient Sumerians manuscripts.
Greek mythology
According to ancient Greek historians, there were three floods. One of them, the Deucalion flood, partially echoes the biblical plot. All the same saving ark for the righteous Deucalion (part-time son of Prometheus) and the pier at Mount Parnassus.
However, according to the plot, some people managed to escape from the flood at the top of Parnassus and continue their existence.
Hindu mythology
Here we are faced, perhaps, with the most fabulous interpretation of the flood. According to legend, the founder of Vaivasvat caught a fish into which the god Vishnu embodied. Fish promised Vaivasvat salvation from the impending flood in return for a promise to help her grow. Further, everything is according to the biblical scenario: according to the instructions of a fish that has grown to a huge size, the righteous man builds a ship, stocks up with seeds of plants and goes on a journey led by a savior-fish. A stop at the mountain and a sacrifice to the gods is the ending of the story.
In ancient manuscripts and other peoples, there is mention of a great flood that revolutionized the human mind. Is it not true that such coincidences cannot be random?
Flood from the point of view of scientists
Such is human nature, that we certainly need strong evidence of the existence of something in reality. And in the case of the global flood that hit the earth millennia ago, there can be no question of any direct witnesses.
It remains to turn to the opinion of skeptics and take into account the numerous studies of the nature of the occurrence of such a massive flood. Needless to say, there are very different opinions and hypotheses on this issue: from the most ridiculous fantasies to scientifically based theories.
How many Icarus had to break up so that a person could learn that he would never ascend to heaven? However, this happened! So is the case with the flood. The question of where on earth such a quantity of water could have come from today has a scientific explanation, for it is possible.
There are many hypotheses. This is the fall of a giant meteorite, and a large-scale volcanic eruption, which entailed a tsunami of unprecedented power. There have been versions of a super-powerful methane explosion in the depths of one of the oceans. Be that as it may, the Flood is a historical fact beyond doubt. There is too much evidence based on archaeological research. Scientists can only agree on the physical nature of this cataclysm.
Torrential rains, going months on end, have been in history more than once. However, nothing terrible happened, mankind did not die, and the world's oceans did not leave the shores. So, the truth must be sought in another. Modern scientific groups, which include climatologists, meteorologists and geophysicists, are working together to find the answer to this question. And very successful!
We will not bore readers with scientific wisdom for an ignorant person. In simple terms, one of the popular theories of the occurrence of the Flood is as follows: due to the critical heating of the earth's bowels under the influence of an external factor, the earth's crust has split. This crack was not local, the split in a matter of hours, not without the help of internal pressure, crossed the entire globe. The contents of underground bowels instantly escaped to freedom, most of which were groundwater.
Scientists have even managed to calculate the emission power, which is more than 10,000 (!) Times higher than the most terrible large-scale eruption of the volcano, which fell to the lot of mankind. Twenty kilometers - a column of water and stones rose to such a height. The subsequent irreversible processes provoked heavy rains. Scientists focus on groundwater because there are many facts confirming the existence of underground water reservoirs, many times greater than the volume of the world's oceans.
At the same time, researchers of natural anomalies recognize that it is not always possible to find scientific explanations for the mechanism of the occurrence of elements. The Earth is a living organism with enormous energy, and in what direction this force can be directed - only God knows.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I would like to offer the reader the point of view of some clergy on the Flood.
Noah is building an ark. Not secretly, not under cover of night, but in broad daylight, on a hill and as many as 120 years! People had enough time to repent and change their lives - God gave them this chance. But even when an endless string of animals and birds headed towards the ark, they perceived everything as a fascinating idea, not understanding that even the animals at that time were more pious than people. Intelligent beings have not made a single attempt to save their lives and souls.
Not much has changed since then ... We still need only spectacles - action when the soul does not need to work, and thoughts are shrouded in cotton candy. If each of us is asked a question about the degree of our own morality, can we sincerely answer at least to ourselves that we can become the saviors of the new humanity in the role of Noah?
In the school years, teachers who were wonderful in the 70s and 80s of the last century cultivated the ability to develop their point of view with the uncomplicated question: “And if everyone jumps into the well, will you also jump?” The most popular answer was: “Of course! Why should I stay alone? ” The whole class laughed merrily. We were ready to fall into the abyss, if only to be together there. Then someone added the phrase: “But you will never need to do homework again!”, And a massive jump into the abyss became completely justified.
Sin is a temptation that is contagious. It is worth giving in to him, and it is almost impossible to stop. It’s like an infection, like a weapon of mass destruction. Being immoral has become fashionable. Nature does not know another antidote to the feeling of impunity, how to show humanity its power - is this not the reason for the increasing natural cataclysms of destructive power? Perhaps this is a prelude to the new Flood?
Of course, we will not comb all of humanity under one comb. There are a lot of good, decent and honest people among us. But nature (or God?) So far only locally lets us know what it is capable of ...
Keyword "till".
