It was not only in the Bible that heroes lived to the serious age of 900 years. Other ancient texts also mention such centenarians. Today this age seems incredible to us. Did people really live up to such solid numbers?
It depends on how you count. Scientists say it's all about the difference in approaches. Some have suggested that the numbers are symbolic. Others argue that the Middle Eastern understanding of the year is seriously different from ours. The year was measured not by the movement of the Earth around the Sun (12 months), but by the orbit of the Moon (1 month) or the change of the season (3 months). In this case, everything is greatly reduced. The life expectancy of the biblical Adam, translated into the years we are accustomed to, falls from 930 to 77 years. But if we accept this point of view as correct, then it turns out that he gave birth to his son Seth at the age of 11. But this is still not so surprising. But how Enoch gave birth to Methuselah at the age of five is not entirely clear.
"Old Jew". V. Polenov.
Astronomical explanations were also applied. According to them, the period of rotation of the Earth has changed and the year according to the previous calculation is not at all equal to the present one.
Another explanation is provided by the water canopy hypothesis. It was suggested by D. Whitcomb and G. Morris. The longevity of the biblical heroes is explained by the fact that there was a water canopy before the Flood, which covered the Earth from harmful radiation. Thanks to him, people lived to a ripe old age. After the flood, it was gone, and with the increase in radiation, the lifetimes began to decrease. Gradually, the duration reached 70 years. The disadvantage of this version is that it is not supported by any physical and geological data. Archaeological excavations also do not find long-livers.
Examination of the remains of people from the Bronze Age indicates that the average life expectancy was no more than 40 years. How then to explain the incredible life span of the forefathers?
"Portrait of an Old Man in Red". Rembrandt.
Carroll Hill, in her article on the study of numbers, writes that "the numbers in Genesis can have both real and symbolic meanings."
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Just like in the Book of Genesis, in the List of the kings of Sumer and Akkad, the list of rulers that existed in Mesopotamia, the rule of individual rulers is several tens of millennia. For example, Alulim, the ancient mythical king of the Sumerians, ruled for 28,800 years. Experts believe that the system of square numbers was used. Moreover, just as in the Bible, in the List the duration of the reign and life of people after the flood is significantly reduced. If Adam lived for more than 900 years, then Noah lived up to 500 years, and Abraham - up to 170.
List of the kings of Sumer and Akkad.
Brandeis University researcher Dwight Young noticed that certain gaps are multiples of 60. Other large numbers are squares. For example, 900 is square 30, 625 is square 25, 400 is square 20, and so on.
In the Mesopotamian counting system, there were ordinary and sacred numbers. The common ones were used in simple life, the sacred ones were used in relation to gods and the names of people. The name could have its own numerical expression. The most important were the numbers 60 and 10. They were considered the highest symbols for expressing truth. Therefore, in the Mesopotamia of the ball, the sixagesimal number system is adopted.
How were things in other cultures?
In Asian countries, centenarians were commonplace. They, of course, did not reach biblical proportions, but medical records mention Dr. Xu Wentse of the Qing dynasty, who lived to be 300 years old. Or Gi Yul of the Han Dynasty, lived to be 280 years old. The Taoist monk Hue Cao made it to 290.
Tanzilya Bisembeeva.
Buddhists attribute this to a correct life, which includes healthy eating, spiritual and mental development. Modern centenarians are often reported in rural areas where documentation is not always preserved.
The oldest person in Russia is Tanzilya Bisembeeva. On March 14 this year she turned 123 years old. She lives in the Krasnodar Territory. The woman has three sons, and she gave birth to the youngest at 66.
Pavel Romanutenko