Not only the biblical characters lived for 900 years. The ancient texts of many cultures mention people with incredible life spans. Some say that these are just translation errors, while others suggest that these numbers have a symbolic meaning. One way or another, such evidence is of interest to historians who are wondering whether the life expectancy of a person has really decreased so much over thousands of years.
One of the possible explanations is that in the Middle East in ancient times there was a different chronology, and the length of the year was different from the modern one. For example, the rotation of the Moon around the Earth (month), and not the rotation of the Earth around the Sun (12 months) could be taken for a year.
If we translate the age of the biblical characters according to this system, then the age of Adam will be 77 instead of 930, which sounds realistic. However, then another problem will arise: this would mean that he became a grandfather at 11 years old when his grandson Enoch was born. And Enoch himself was only five years old when he became the father of Methuselah.
The exact same inconsistency occurs when we use seasons instead of the solar year, notes Carol A. Hill in her article Finding Meaning in Genesis Numbers, published in A Look at Science and Christianity magazine in December 2003.
Similar problems arise if we assume that the authors of ancient texts used a certain formula to change the present age (for example, multiply it by a specific number).
“Numbers in Genesis can have both real (numerical) meaning and sacred (numerological or symbolic) meaning,” Hill writes.
Promotional video:
Mathematical patterns?
Both in Genesis and in the 4000-year-old list of the kings of Sumer and Akkad, where there are references to kings who ruled for 30,000 years, squares of integers appear, analysts say.
As in the Bible, the List of the Kings of Sumer and Akkad shows a steady decline in life expectancy and a significant difference before the flood and after the flood. The reign of kings before the flood was significantly longer, despite the fact that the life expectancy of some people after the flood reached several hundred years or more than 1000 years. In the Bible, we see a progressive decline in life expectancy: Adam - 930 years, Noah - 500 years, Abraham - 175 years.
Dwight Young of Brandeis University writes of the life expectancy of the Sumerian kings: “These numbers look unnatural not only because they are large. Ethan's age (1560 years) is the sum of the reigns of two previous kings. In some cases, the reign appears to have been multiplied by 60. Other large numbers are the squares of numbers: 900 is the square of 30; 625 - square 25; 400 is the square of 20 … Among the smaller numbers, the power of the number 6 is very common, "says Young's article" A Mathematical Approach to the Duration of the Sumerian Kings' Reign "in 1988.
In turn, Arthur Mendez from the University of South Texas believes that the rate of decline in life expectancy from the antediluvian era to the present coincides with the rate of decrease in the life span of organisms that are exposed to radiation or toxins.
Longevity in many cultures, including Chinese and Persian
According to many sources, long-livers with record lifespans were common in ancient China. Acupuncturist Joseph P. Hou writes in his book Techniques for Longevity: “According to Chinese medical treatises, a doctor named Tsue Wenze from the Qing Dynasty lived for 300 years. Ge Yule at the end of the Han dynasty lived for 280 years. The Taoist monk Hui Zhao lived for 290 years, and Luo Zhichang - 180 years, according to the Chinese medical encyclopedia, He Nentsi lived for 168 years during the Tang dynasty. Taoist master Li Qingyuan lived for 250 years. In the modern era, traditional Chinese medicine master Luo Mingshchan from Sichuan province lived 124 years.
Dr. Howe says that from an Eastern perspective, to achieve longevity it is necessary to "nourish life", this applies not only to the physical body, but also to the psychological and spiritual side.
"Shah-name" ("The Tsar's Book") is a Persian epic written by Ferdowsi at the end of the 10th century. It mentions kings who ruled for 1000 years, several hundred years, 150 years, etc.
Modern longevity claims
Even today, there are reports of people aged 150 and over. Typically, these messages come from rural areas and they have no evidence. A hundred years ago in rural areas, people often had no documents, so it is difficult for them to prove their age.
Bir Narayan Shodhari from Nepal.
In 1996, Vijay Jun Thapa visited Shodhari in Tharu village in Taray region. Shodhari said he was 141 years old. Thapa wrote about it in India Today. If this is true, then Shodhari holds the record for life expectancy.
Shodhari has no documents to prove it. However, many villagers could attest to its considerable age. “Almost all the elders in the village remember their early years, when Shodhari was already an elder and told how he did land surveying during the first topographic survey in Nepal in 1888,” writes Thapa. According to the villagers, he should have been over 21 at the time, because this is a responsible job. Shodhari claims that he was 33 years old at the time. He is a committed bachelor.
Many people in the Caucasus also claim to be 170 years old, but cannot provide documents to prove this.
Dr. Howe writes, “These centenarians led modest lives, practicing hard physical labor or sports, often outdoors, from young to old. They ate simple food and were actively involved in family affairs. One such example is Shisali Mislinlov from Azerbaijan, who was engaged in agriculture and lived to be 170 years old. He said: “I was never in a hurry, so there is no need to rush to live, this is my main idea. I've been doing manual labor for 150 years."
A question of faith?
The question of longevity in ancient times in China was raised by Taoist practices. As in Western religions, longevity is associated with mental qualities.
Mendez quotes the first-century Jewish historian Josephus Flavius. AD: “Noah lived after the flood for another three hundred and fifty years, and lived all this time happily … Let, however, no one thinks, when comparing the data of ancient writers about the duration of their life with the brevity of our present, these messages are false, explaining it is because none of our contemporaries reaches that age and that therefore none of the ancients could live for such a number of years. It is quite natural for people to have such a number of years of life who enjoyed the special favor of God, were created by Him and consumed more suitable food for a long time. In addition, God gave them a longer life for their piety."
Scientists now have a choice: to believe what the ancient texts say and the villagers' collective memory of the incredible life expectancy, or to consider these statements as exaggeration, figurative statements or misinterpreted information. For many, it's just a matter of faith.