Various Flood Myths. (Some are older than the Hebrew/Christian myth concerning Noah.)

Transcription

1 Various Flood Myths (Some are older than the Hebrew/Christian myth concerning Noah.)

2 Welsh (United Kingdom) The lake of Llion burst, flooding all lands. Dwyfan and Dwyfach escaped in a mastless ship with pairs of every sort of living creature. They landed in Prydain (Britain) and repopulated the world.

3 Sumerian (Middle East) The gods had decided to destroy mankind. The god Enlil warned the priest-king Ziusudra ("Long of Life") of the coming flood by speaking to a wall while Ziusudra listened on the other side. He was instructed to build a great ship and carry beasts and birds upon it.

4 Babylonian (Middle East) Three times (every 1200 years), the gods were distressed by the disturbance from human overpopulation. The gods dealt with the problem first by plague, then by famine. The third time, Enlil advised the gods to destroy all humans with a flood, but Enki had Atrahasis build an ark to escape. Also, on the boat were cattle, wild animals and birds, and Atrahasis' family.

5 Assyrian (Middle East) The gods, led by Enlil, agreed to cleanse the earth of an overpopulated humanity, but Utnapishtim was warned by the god Ea in a dream. He and some craftsmen built a large boat in a week. He then loaded it with his family, the craftsmen, and "the seed of all living creatures." The waters rose up, and it stormed for six days. The waters covered everything but the top of the mountain Nisur, where the boat landed. Seven days later, Utnapishtim released a dove, but it returned finding nowhere else to land. He next returned a sparrow, which also returned, and then a raven, which did not return. Thus, he knew the waters had receded enough for the people to emerge.

6 Chaldean The god Chronos in a vision warned Xisuthrus, the tenth king of Babylon, of a flood that was coming. The god ordered him to build and provision a vessel for himself, his friends and relations, and all kinds of animals. Xisuthrus built a ship and loaded it as ordered. After the flood had come and abated somewhat, he sent out some birds, which returned. Later, he tried again, and the birds returned with mud on their feet. On the third trial, the birds didn't return. He saw that land had appeared above the waters, so he drove his ship aground in the Corcyraean mountains in Armenia.

7 Zoroastrian Yima reigned over the world for 900 years. As there was no disease or death, the population increased so that it was necessary to enlarge the earth after 300 years. When the population became too great after 900 years, Ahura Mazda warned Yima that destruction was coming in the form of winter, frost, and subsequent melting of the snow. He instructed Yima to build a vara, a large square enclosure, in which to keep specimens of small and large cattle, human beings, dogs, birds, red flaming fires, plants and foodstuffs, two of every kind.

8 Masai (East Africa) Tumbainot, a righteous man, had a wife and three sons. The world was heavily populated in those days, but the people were sinful and not mindful of God. At this, God resolved to destroy mankind, except Tumbainot found grace in His eyes. God commanded Tumbainot to build an ark and enter it with his family and some of animals of every sort. God caused a flood, and all other men and beasts drowned. The rain finally stopped, and Tumbainot let loose a dove. The dove returned tired, so Tumbainot knew it had found no place to rest. When the water ran away, the ark grounded on the steppe, and its occupants disembarked. Tumbainot saw four rainbows, one in each quarter of the sky, signifying that God's wrath was over.

9 Vogul (Asia) After seven years of drought, the Great Woman said to the Great Man that rains were coming. The Great Man counseled the other giants to make boats from cut poplars, anchor them with ropes of willow roots 500 fathoms long, and provide them with seven days of food and with pots of melted butter to grease the ropes. Those who did not make all the preparations perished when the waters came. After seven days, the waters sank. But all plants and animals had perished, even the fish. The survivors, on the brink of starvation, prayed to the great god Numi-târom, who recreated living things.

10 Altaic (central Asia) Ülgen commanded Nama to build an ark. The ark was built on a mountain, and from it were hung eight 80-fathom cables with which to gauge water depth. Nama entered the ark with his family and the various animals and birds. Seven days later, the cables gave way from the earth, showing that the flood had risen 80 fathoms. Seven days later, Nama told his eldest son to open the window and look around, and the son saw only the summits of mountains. His father ordered him to look again later, and he saw only water and sky. At last the ark stopped in a group of eight mountains. On successive days, Nama released a raven, a crow, and a rook, none of which returned. On the fourth day, he sent out a dove, which returned with a birch twig.

11 Tuvinian (Soyot) (north of Mongolia) The giant frog (or turtle) which supported the earth moved, which caused the cosmic ocean to begin flooding the earth. An old man who had guessed something like this would happen built an iron-reinforced raft, boarded it with his family, and was saved. When the waters receded, the raft was left on a high wooded mountain, where, it is said, it remains today.