I settled down last night with an old paperback book of essays by Mr. Asimov. He is fun to read and I enjoy it when he points out his earlier mistakes that have been corrected by 'current ' science. I think the date on the book was early 70's, so some of it is still off.

One essay explored impact events and suggested an impact in the Persian Gulf could have been responsible for the Noah story in the bible. Certainly in light of the tsunami effects seen in Sumatra, an impact tsunami blasting up the Tigris / Euphrates valley would certainly seem like the end.

I seem to remember some discussion of this on some forum, but cannot remember the outcome, hence my post here. Anyone care to join in on a discussion of ancient impactors and bible stories?

So, did Noah see it coming and build the ark? Was God flying a meteor ship to destroy the last of the "ennui", no that's not right .. what are those guys Stichen writes about?

David Davis
Toledo, OR

Well, the Jews clearly picked up the Noah story from the Babylonian legend of Ut-Napishtim. Was there any historical reality to the latter story? I doubt anyone knows...I certainly don't (I was very young at the time!).

No, you got it right the first time.

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Well, certainly some of the descriptions I have read in the bible suggests to me that there was some oral history about catastrophies hanging around. I don't see why volcanic events or impacts could not have been twisted into angels and correcting floods. I had often wondered if Ezekials wheel was a tornado cluster from a super cell.

David Davis
Toledo, OR

The flood myth may pre-date the Babylonians too. It likely dates from a time roughly 7000 year ago (aprx 5000 BC). For more information, try this: National Geographic Black Sea Flood Expidition.

I was able to track down an article as recent as Oct. 2004:

http://www.washtimes.com/culture/200...3111-2577r.htm

From the article, I surmise that he plans a future expidition with equipment that will be able to carry out excavations on the sea floor. No date was given in the article.

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Photons have mass? I didn't even know they were Catholic.

I'm not sure the Black Sea theory is the best or the only theory. Certainly floods would have been devastating to a people dependant on agriculture and hunting, regardless of the origin. The Black Sea theory suggests one enormous flood event, but would it have thrown Noah's boat to the NW into the Turkish mountains.

What about an impact in the Persian Gulf as Asimov suggested? Has there been any indications of a water impact there? We are talking an oral tradition here, so the source shouldn't be more than eight or ten thousand years old. A mere blink of the geological eye.

David Davis
Toledo, OR 97391

Something I've long wondered is if perhaps the flood myth is just backfilling to fit a not unusually recognized fact. It's something I noticed at a young age, and if I hadn't then been educated, I might have myself invented a flood story to fit the facts.

The fact I observed as a kid was obvious shell fossils in solid rock beneath my feet, hundreds of miles from any ocean. Might not some ancients also have noticed similar and, lacking knowledge of pre-historical events, surmise that the seas once covered that very land in a giant flooding? And, then, made up a dramatic tale to match?

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