XPost: alt.religion.jehovahs-witn, alt.bible, alt.talk.creationism   
   XPost: talk.atheism   
      
     THE Flood of Noah’s day was such a devastating cataclysm that   
   mankind could never forget it. Over 2,400 years later, Jesus Christ   
   spoke of it as a fact of history. (Matthew 24:37-39) This awesome   
   event left such an indelible impression on the human race that it has   
   become legendary all over the world.   
      
   In the book Myths of Creation, Philip Freund estimates that over 500   
   Flood legends are told by more than 250 tribes and peoples. As might   
   be expected, with the passing of many centuries, these legends have   
   been greatly embellished with imaginary events and characters. In all   
   of them, however, some basic similarities can be found.   
      
   As people migrated from Mesopotamia after the Flood, they carried   
   accounts of the catastrophe to all parts of the earth. Thus,   
   inhabitants of Asia, the islands of the South Pacific, North America,   
   Central America, and South America have tales of this impressive   
   event. The many Flood legends existed long before these people were   
   exposed to the Bible. Yet, the legends have some basic points in   
   common with the Biblical account of the Deluge.   
      
   Some legends mention violent giants living on the earth before the   
   Flood. Comparably, the Bible indicates that before the Deluge   
   disobedient angels materialized fleshly bodies, cohabited with women,   
   and produced a race of giants called Nephilim.—Genesis 6:1-4; 2 Peter   
   2:4, 5.   
      
   Flood legends usually indicate that one man was warned about a   
   coming deluge of divine origin. According to the Bible, Jehovah God   
   warned Noah that He would destroy wicked and violent ones. God told   
   Noah: “The end of all flesh has come before me, because the earth is   
   full of violence as a result of them; and here I am bringing them to   
   ruin together with the earth.”—Genesis 6:13.   
      
   Legends concerning the Flood generally indicate that it brought   
   about global destruction. Similarly, the Bible says: “The waters   
   overwhelmed the earth so greatly that all the tall mountains that   
   were under the whole heavens came to be covered. Everything in which   
   the breath of the force of life was active in its nostrils, namely,   
   all that were on the dry ground, died.”—Genesis 7:19, 22.   
      
   Most Flood legends say that a man survived the Deluge along with one   
   or more other persons. Many legends have him taking refuge in a boat   
   he had built, and they have it land on a mountain. Comparably, the   
   Scriptures say that Noah built an ark. They also state: “Only Noah   
   and those who were with him in the ark kept on surviving.” (Genesis   
   6:5-8; 7:23) According to the Bible, after the Deluge “the ark came   
   to rest on the mountains of Ararat,” where Noah and his family   
   disembarked. (Genesis 8:4, 15-18) Legends also indicate that Flood   
   survivors started to repopulate the earth, as the Bible shows that   
   Noah’s family did.—Genesis 9:1; 10:1.   
      
   With the foregoing points in mind, let us consider some Flood   
   legends. Suppose we begin with the Sumerians, an ancient people who   
   inhabited Mesopotamia. Their version of the Deluge was found on a   
   clay tablet unearthed in the ruins of Nippur. This tablet says that   
   the Sumerian gods Anu and Enlil decided to destroy mankind with a   
   giant flood. Being warned by the god Enki, Ziusudra and his family   
   were able to survive in a huge boat.   
      
   The Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh contains many details. According to   
   it, Gilgamesh visited his ancestor Utnapishtim, who had been granted   
   eternal life after surviving the Flood. In the ensuing conversation,   
   Utnapishtim explained that he was told to build a ship and take   
   cattle, wild beasts, and his family into it. He built the ship as a   
   huge cube 200 feet [60 m] on each side, with six floors. He tells   
   Gilgamesh that the storm lasted six days and six nights, and then he   
   says: “When the seventh day arrived, the hurricane, the Deluge, the   
   shock of battle was broken, which had smitten like an army. The sea   
   became calm, the cyclone died away, the Deluge ceased. I looked upon   
   the sea and the sound of voices had ended. And all mankind had turned   
   to clay.”   
      
   After the vessel grounded on Mount Nisir, Utnapishtim released a   
   dove that returned to the boat when it could not find a resting-   
   place. This was followed by a swallow that also returned. A raven was   
   then released, and when it did not return, he knew that the water had   
   subsided. Utnapishtim then released the animals and offered a   
   sacrifice.   
      
   This very old legend is somewhat similar to the Biblical account of   
   the Flood. However, it lacks the graphic details and simplicity of   
   the Bible account, and it does not give reasonable dimensions for the   
   ark nor supply the time period indicated in the Scriptures. For   
   instance, the Epic of Gilgamesh said that the storm lasted six days   
   and six nights, whereas the Bible says that “the downpour upon the   
   earth went on for forty days and forty nights”—a continuing heavy   
   rain that finally covered the entire globe with water.—Genesis 7:12.   
      
   Though the Bible mentions eight Flood survivors, in Greek legend   
   only Deucalion and his wife, Pyrrha, survived. (2 Peter 2:5)   
   According to this legend, before the Flood the earth was inhabited by   
   violent individuals called the men of bronze. The god Zeus decided to   
   destroy them with a great flood and told Deucalion to build a large   
   chest and get into it. When the flood subsided, the chest came to   
   rest on Mount Parnassus. Deucalion and Pyrrha descended from the   
   mountain and started mankind again.   
      
   In India there is a Flood legend in which Manu is the human   
   survivor. He befriends a small fish that grows to a large size and   
   warns him of a devastating flood. Manu builds a boat, which the fish   
   pulls until it is grounded on a mountain in the Himalayas. When the   
   flood subsides, Manu descends from the mountain and with Ida, the   
   personification of his sacrifice, renews the human race.   
      
   According to the Chinese flood legend, the thunder god gives a tooth   
   to two children, Nuwa and Fuxi. He instructs them to plant it and to   
   take shelter in the gourd that would grow from it. A tree promptly   
   grows from the tooth and produces a huge gourd. When the thunder god   
   causes torrential rainfall, the children climb into the gourd. Though   
   the resulting flood drowns all the rest of earth’s inhabitants, Nuwa   
   and Fuxi survive and repopulate the globe.   
      
   Indians of North America have various legends that carry the common   
   theme of a flood that destroys all but a few people. For example, the   
   Arikara, a Caddo people, say that the earth was once inhabited by a   
   race of people so strong that they ridiculed the gods. The god Nesaru   
   destroyed these giants by means of a flood but preserved his people,   
   the animals, and maize in a cave. The Havasupai people say that the   
   god Hokomata caused a deluge that destroyed mankind. However, the man   
   Tochopa preserved his daughter Pukeheh by sealing her in a hollow log.   
      
      
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