Subject:
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Re: Geology from Outer Space
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Fri, 6 Apr 2001 19:38:52 GMT
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Viewed:
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635 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Dave Schuler writes:
> In lugnet.off-topic.debate, James Simpson writes:
>
> > > You might ask instead why the Noachian Flood myth so closely mirrors a much
> > > earlier Sumerian myth, even down to "two of each kind of animal."
>
> > Both Nova and National Geographic have recently done pieces on new findings
> > that suggest a catastrophic flood of the Black Sea did indeed occur x
> > thousands of years ago. I can't really remember the details, but I believe
> > that the event is hypothesized to have occured as a result of tectonic
> > movements that allowed the Mediteranean to flow through a fissure into the
> > Black Sea basin. One of the scientists in the Nova episode commented that,
> > in the scenario being considered, the flood could have displaced settlement
> > at the rate of a mile a day. Submersibles have been used to find settlement
> > remains some distance from the present coastline. This of course doesn't
> > prove anything in itself, but it is interesting that the scientific
> > community is beginning to lend credence to the possibility of a catastrophic
> > flood of some nature that had a marked impact on a focus point of developing
> > civilization.
>
> I've seen bits about that on Good Morning America and now and then on CNN,
> but I'm not up on the latest info. What I recall is that the water flow
> into the Black Sea exceeded the rate over Niagara falls for a period (if I
> remember correctly) of years! That's a lot of moisture!
> Such a flood is an amazing thing to consider, and I'm sure that the people
> at ground zero when the fissure opened felt that a catastrophe was going on.
> I just don't know how far-reaching or pervasive the effects of such a
> (relatively) localized flood could have been; did the people in Sumer really
> feel the waters of the Black Sea rising around them? I know you're not
> suggesting that they did, but I'm concerned that the more literal-minded
> might use the Black Sea inundation as proof of a world-wide flood.
I doubt that the Sumerians felt the water rising, although such an event would
have disrupted trade balances and relationships. There also would have been a
dramatic exodus of refugees, many of them "spilling" into Sumeria. Since a
fertile agriculture region would have been inundated, the civilized world would
have lost an important grainery. These refugees would further tax the food
resources of regions to which they migrated, leading to, no doubt, racial and
class resentment and probably bloodshed. Such an event would also hve a
profound influence on folklore and religious belief. I imagine that such a
catastrophy would have a profound and traumatizing effect on an infant human
civilization that was struggling to emerge from a purely-subsistence level
farming and commerce system.
james
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: Geology from Outer Space
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| (...) I've seen bits about that on Good Morning America and now and then on CNN, but I'm not up on the latest info. What I recall is that the water flow into the Black Sea exceeded the rate over Niagara falls for a period (if I remember correctly) (...) (23 years ago, 6-Apr-01, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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