We all use the word "antediluvian" in our speech and we roughly know the legend that was the basis for the emergence of this word. However, the story of a global flood is found not only in the Bible: stories of a global catastrophe that destroyed almost all life on the planet are part of many myths. But are they myths?
In fact, the Biblical record of the flood is not the oldest. It became known about this, in general, by accident and relatively recently. In the second half of the nineteenth century, during excavations of the Assyrian capital of Nineveh, cuneiform tablets were found, which were eventually unloaded into the basement of the British Museum. The engraver-typographer, and concurrently an expert on Assyrian history, George Smith liked to dig into them. He was well versed in cuneiform and once found a fragment of a tablet, deciphering which he was very surprised. It was a legend about a worldwide flood.
The Sumerian epic about Gilgamesh, namely the mentioned myth was a part of it, dates back to the third millennium BC. The content of the legend is very similar to the biblical one, but its age is 700-800 years older.
"Biography" of Gilgamesh is recorded in four languages: the oldest text was Sumerian, and the most artistic one was Akkadian. The essence of the story boiled down to the fact that Gilgamesh, having learned about the great righteous man Ziusudra, to whom the gods bestowed eternal life, decided to meet him. Overcoming obstacles, the hero nevertheless reached the goal, and Ziusudra told him about the great and terrible flood that destroyed humanity.
Only Ziusudra (in another version - Utnapishtim) managed to escape, who was distinguished by righteousness and was the favorite of the god of wisdom Enki. Before staging a cataclysm, the gods conferred and even argued - not everyone wanted to destroy people. Nevertheless, the decision was made, and Enki appeared in a dream to Ziusudra and warned him of the impending disaster. Also, apparently, he advised him to make an ark and save the animals.
Ziusudra heeded the warning and, when the hour X came, locked himself on the ship. And he did the right thing, after all.
It rained for six days, and after the water came down, the ark clung to the mountain, and Ziusudra revived the human race. Agree, it is very similar to the biblical story, which many consider to be fiction.
However, historians understand that not every myth is a 100% fairy tale. Often legends are based on real facts, only significantly embellished artistically. Could the flood story be true? Why not? Need proof? Archaeologist Leonard Woolley decided to put an end to this issue and went to Mesopotamia.
Promotional video:
He dug up the city of Ur, where he made several deep pits near the city wall. In the cultural layer of the beginning of the third millennium, he discovered the tombs of the kings, and already under them - a layer of river silt and not a hint of civilization. At first, Woolley was puzzled, but then decided to go deeper - and saw traces of ancient settlements under a three-meter layer of silt! Moreover, in his opinion, it was a completely different culture.
The archaeologist explained the obtained data as follows. Initially, tribes unknown to us lived in Mesopotamia, which were destroyed by a grandiose flood. When the water receded, other people settled in this area, the Sumerians, who created the most ancient civilization in the world.
Modern scientists have gone further and decided to find out the true dimensions of the disaster. They proceeded from a three-meter layer of silt: with such a load, the entire Mesopotamia, in their opinion, should have been flooded. At the same time, for a very long time, the water was kept at the level of eight meters.
So, on the scale of the inhabitants of Mesopotamia, the flood really seemed to be universal, although on a planetary scale this event, of course, was local. So it turns out that in every legend there is a grain of truth. In any case, in the myth of the worldwide flood - for sure.
