Noah’s Ark and the flood: An analysisMichael F. Sackett

Copyright © 2009, 2010All Rights Reserved

Contents

Introduction 2Chapter 1..........................In the Beginning 3Chapter 2..........................The Ark 5Chapter 3..........................Animals and Supplies 6Chapter 4..........................The Flood 8Chapter 5..........................The Voyage 10Chapter 6..........................Post Flood 12Chapter 7..........................Flood Accounts 14Chapter 8..........................Points 16Chapter 9..........................Conclusions 18Glossary 19Appendix 20

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IntroductionNoah’s Ark and the worldwide flood have captured the imagination of millions for morethan 2000 years. It has been written about, discussed, dissected and hotly debated innewspapers, books, magazines, and on the radio, tv and internet, but did it happen astold in the Bible? In attempting to answer that question, I will look at what is recorded inthe Bible, applying logic and common sense. The main objective is to scrutinize thestory as told in the Bible and determine if the account is plausible or not. My biblicalreference will be the New American Standard Bible, the standard for the CatholicChurch.

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In The Beginning 1When first read, the story of Noah and the flood seem straightforward. God, angry withthe corruption of the Earth, plans the annihilation of all land based life, human andanimal. He instructs Noah to build an ark giving general specifications of it’sconstruction . He further instructs Noah to fill the completed ark with a certain numberof clean and unclean animals as well as food for himself, his family and all the animals.

As we delve into the story with a discerning eye on the details that are evident andthose that aren’t, the story no longer remains as cut and dried as it first appeared. Infact, some of the details that are not covered in the story have a greater impact, albeit anegative one, on the plausibility of the story than some might believe.

The bible does not give a specific date for the flood, but James Usher, using the agesof the people listed in the bible, in conjunction with known events, calculated thecreation of the Earth to 4004 BCE and the flood to 2348 BCE. Since these dates areaccepted as accurate by a great many who view the account of Noah and the flood as aliteral historical account, I have opted to use them as a base for my research.

The book of Genesis, containing the account of Noah and the flood, was supposedlywritten by Moses about 1450 BCE. The earliest known Hebrew script dates from 1100-1000 BCE, more than 300 years after the book was written. The language most likelyused was Ugaritic, a script in use from 1500-1300 BCE and one that is close instructure to Proto Semitic. This presents the possibility that errors could have occurredwhen translating the bible from Ugaritic to Hebrew.

Where the information for the flood came from is still debated. Since there is noindication or support for the existence of documents detailing the flood, penned byNoah or members of his family, we are left with two possibilities. The story could havebeen handed down verbally from father to son or other accounts of the flood from otherlands could have been available to Moses during or just before he began witing thebook of Genesis.

For those who do not own a bible but wish to check out the biblical account, there is agreat online resource available. “The Bible Gateway” 1

1 http://www.biblegateway.com/

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As the story of Noah and the flood is examined, it will be helpful to have a time line ofevents that happened before, during and after the flood. Below is one I haveconstructed using information found in the bible. Bold month/day listings are datesspecifically given in the bible and those that are not bold are calculated dates based onthe passage of time indicated in the bible. The numbers in parenthesis are days fromthe start of the flood.

2/10 God commands Noah to gather animals (-7)2/17 Start of the flood (1)3/26 Rain stops after 40 days & 40 nights (40)7/17 Ark comes to rest on the mountains of Ararat (150)7/17 Flood waters begin to recede at a steady pace (150)10/1 Tops of the mountains become visible (224)11/11 Window opened and raven and dove released for the first time (264)11/18 Dove released second time and returns with olive branch (271)11/25 Dove released final time and does not return (278)1/1 Covering removed from the ark (314)2/27 Earth is dry and humans and animals leave the ark (370)

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The Ark 2Noah is told by God to build an ark 300 x 50 x 30 cubits or 450 x 75 x 45 ft. It was toinclude rooms, a window one cubit from the top, lower second and third decks and adoor in the side at the main deck level.

Gopher wood is what is referred to in the bible as the wood to use in the ark’sconstruction. There is no corroboration in any other source to support the existence ofgopher wood. Most likely some local wood was used in building the ark. It is my beliefthat an error occurred in translating the bible from Ugaritic to Hebrew and that the wordshould not have been translated as Gopher but as Kopher. This seems to besupported by the fact that Kopher/Kophar is a term which describes wood covered withpitch, exactly what is indicated in the bible.

Once built, Noah was to pitch the ark within and without. There is some debate overthe type of pitch used to waterproof the ark. On one hand there are those that believethat the pitch used was gotten by processing trees. While a possibility, it raises thefollowing two points. 1 - whether the number of trees necessary to obtain sufficientpitch would impede the construction of the ark and 2 - if the time required to extractsufficient pitch would negatively impact the project. The other possibility is the use ofpetroleum based pitch easily found in pits that were fairly prevalent throughout the area. This option would be quick and easy to obtain the needed materials and is supportedby the Latin Vulgate Bible which uses the word Bitumine and the Septuagint Bible thatuses the word Asphaltos in describing the type of pitch used. Of note is the Epic ofGilgamesh, written several hundred years before the bible, that indicates the pitch usedwas Bitumine.

Curiously, Genesis 8:13 describes Noah removing a covering from the ark. The onlycovering previously mentioned in the construction of the ark was for Noah to havecovered the ark with pitch within and without. This additional covering is not detailedand there is no information about it’s composition, method of attachment to the ark orwhy it is needed in the first place.

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Animals and Supplies 3In Genesis 7:12, Noah is told to gather seven pairs of every animal considered cleanand one pair of those considered unclean 2. Using various sections of the bible itappears that there are 33 clean animals and 99 that would be considered unclean 2A. Noah would have collected 462 clean animals and 396 unclean animals for a total of858. Adding additional animals to feed the carnivores would bring the total to at least1000. According to Genesis 6:20 the animals would come to Noah so his gatheringwould have only been to herd them onto the ark.

Genesis 6:21 shows God telling Noah to take some of all food that is edible for humanson the ark, that it would be the food for the humans and animals. The only itemsmentioned in the bible as food for humans is trees and plants (Genesis 1:29). Theplants and seeds would not have been viable though for the carnivores. This hasraised a theory that meat eating did not occur till after the flood. Comparing the dentalstructure of today’s carnivores and the fossil record clearly indicate that meat eatingexisted before the time of the flood. Even if all the fossils were created by the flood thespecialized teeth of the carnivore should not appear till after that time. A majorquestion that arises is where would Noah have gotten certain plants that don’t grow inthe area he lived in but were required for specialized diets of some animals such as theKoala?

While it is true that rain water could be collected fo the first 40 days, after the rainsstopped, the flood waters would not have been sufficiently clean for human and animalconsumption so a supply of water would have to be aboard the ark. A averagecalculation of 1 gallon of water per day per animal/human (taking into account somewould drink more some less) plus an additional 100 gallons of water per day to coverthe larger animals such as elephants gives a total of 1100 gallons per day or 363,000gallons for 330 days (370 days on the ark - 40 days and nights of rain). Jars that couldhold 5 gallons of water would weigh about 50 pounds. It would take 72,600 jars to holdthe water needed.

Loading the supplies would have been time consuming. If we calculate that each of the8 people could move one jar of water or food into it’s proper place in the ark and returnoutside for another in 10 minutes and if they worked for 16 hours of each day it wouldhave taken more than 6 months to load the supplies.

2 See Jewish Encyclopedia for excellent definitions http://JewishEncyclopedia.com2A http://www.ucg.org/booklets/CU/bibledesignate.htm

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With the ark of the size indicated in the bible it could have taken twice to three times aslong, bringing the required time to somewhere between a year and a year and a half. This may be moot though as the only time frame given by God is the 40 days and 40nights of rain resulting in a flood. With no indication of how long the flood waters wouldremain, it is possible that Noah would not have loaded enough stores for the entire timethe humans and animals would remain on the ark.

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The Flood 4In the 600th year of Noah’s life, on the second month, seventeenth day of the month,the rains began to fall, the fountains of the deep burst forth and in 40 days the wholeworld was covered by water above the tops of the highest mountains or so the bibletells us. As the flood rose it would not only have covered the land, animals, trees andearth with water but also with silt, the effects of which would have made a major impact on the world.

The excessive over watering of the plants combined with the sun light blocking siltwould have resulted in the complete eradication of all plant life on the world. While it istrue that some seeds could have survived and some plants would have returned, wehave to ask if those plants that had not sprouted any seeds or those that reproducewithout seeds would exist now if the flood occurred as told in the bible. Noah releasesa dove at one point that returns with a freshly picked olive leaf and Noah interprets thatto mean that the waters have abated. If the flood was of the scope depicted in thebible, there would have been no living olive trees from which the dove could pick a leaf. That would only have been possible for a flood of a much smaller scope.

The flood would have removed the existence of villages, towns, cities, and even wholecivilizations, through a combination of the waters sweeping away the people andphysical objects (homes, tools, etc...) and the silt covering what was left to a depth of atleast several hundred feet. The flood should also have left traces on the megaliths andlarge stone structures around the world built before the flood but such traces have yetto be found.

Did the flood waters cover all the high mountains? Looking at the time line we see thaton the same day the waters begin to recede at a steady rate, the ark comes to rest onthe mountains of Ararat. Mt Everest, being the tallest mountain in the world is some12,000 feet above the tallest mountain in the Ararat chain. With a steady reduction ofthe flood waters and the ark coming to rest on the mountains of Ararat, the flood waterscould not have covered any mountains higher than the tallest mountain in the chain andso would not have covered Everest.

The Hebrew word for mountain is Har, but it is also the word for hills. Where Noahpossibly lived had plenty of hills but he would not have been able to see any mountainsfrom there. If we extend this out then the hills of Ararat, not the mountains is where theark would have come to rest, removing some problems that would have been evident ina mountain landing.

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We are told the flood waters rose 15 cubits higher than the highest mountains. Mt.Ararat is 16946 feet high. If we add 15 cubits or 216 feet it makes it 17,162 feet. If weuse a rate of decrease of 4 feet an hour (nice and steady). The mountain tops fromthose near 10,000 feet to Ararat itself at nearly 17,000 feet are visible when the timeline says they would be. However, the earth is dry 42 days earlier than the time lineand bible show. If we use just Ararat itself then the rate of decrease would be 3 feetper day and it would take 15 years for the earth to be dry.

The bible says that the flood waters prevailed over the earth, higher and higher. It isinteresting to note that the word earth indicating the whole world was not used that wayuntil somewhere between 1300 - 1500 AD, some 2750 - 2950 years after the bible waswritten. It points up that the writer of the bible meant ground and not world whenindicating what was covered by the flood and does lend more credence to alocal/regional flood as opposed to a world wide one.

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The Voyage 5Originally I thought that the layout of the ark would have had the animals on the firstand second decks, with the supplies stored on the third (lowest) deck. The more Ithought about it, the more inefficient that seemed to be. It finally occurred to me that abetter layout would have been to have the food and water kept in containers next toeach pen to provide for easy and quick feeding of the animals each day. This wouldmost likely have spread out the animals enough that there could be pens for them onevery deck.

Covering the entire ark with pitch would not only have made it water tight but air tight aswell. Over the year plus that the humans and animals would have been constrained tothe ark, many types of gasses and other hazzards would fill the ark to dangerous levels.

Fumes in the form of Skatole, Mercaptans and Hydrogen Sulfide from stool, Ammoniafrom urea, Ammonium Hydroxide , Carbon Dioxide from respiration, Smoke containingCarbon Monoxide, Methane, Ethane and Acetylene 3 emitted from torches, would allhave had an negative impact on the passengers of the ark in the form of severe or fatalreactions.

The single window, even wide open, was not large enough to supply adequateventilation to the ark, especially the lower second and third decks. According to thebible, the window was closed on the first day of rain and not opened for 264 days,virtually eliminating any kind of ventilation and increasing the risk.

Left over food would have been a breeding ground for certain kinds of bacteria andmolds. These in addition to the gasses previously mentioned would, in time, make theark a hazardous and deadly place for anything living.

Removal of animal waste and left over food would have been extremely difficult. Hauling it up to the first deck to dispose of it would have been a labor intensive choreand trying to toss it out the only window could have been a near impossibility,depending on the direction and strength of the wind.

There was also the need to clean the animal pens regularly. Would they have hadenough additional room to move the animals to clean the pens? What water would theyuse...the flood water filled with dissolved and undissolved dirt and other debris andpossible bacteria or viruses or water that had been stored on board for drinking?

3 See Glossary

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Other factors affecting the passengers of the ark:

1. Animal muscle impairment due to pen constraints.2. Increasing irritability on the part of the animals due to the length of the voyage.3. The improbability and dangerousness of leaving open flames unattended on a

wooden ship because of the possibility of fire, without wich, the animals would bein complete darkness for most of every day affecting their mental and physicalconditions.

150 days into the voyage, the ark comes to rest “on the mountains of Ararat” accordingto the bible. Though not specific about which mountain the ark rests on, we can makemore than an educated guess about it. The bible says that the same day the arkcomes to rest, seventh month, seventeenth day, the waters also start to recede at asteady rate. This coupled with the indication in the bible that the tops of the mountainsare not visible until the tenth month, first day, or 74 days later, clearly shows that theonly mountain the ark could have come to rest on, would have to be the tallestmountain of the Ararat chain, Mount Ararat itself.

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Post Flood 6The flood waters receded, the ground dried and the passengers left the ark only to befaced with the harshest, most severe conditions, all unfavorable to survival and all wellbeyond the imaginings of Noah and his family. We have shown that for the bible to beaccurate, the ark had to come to rest on the summit of Mt Ararat, nearly 17,000 feetabove sea level. As well as snow and ice, air pressure there is 40% of normal, averagetemperatures range from 0 C to -40 C, quantities of carbon dioxide mix with the alreadyreduced level of oxygen, fog blankets large areas and dangerous lightning exists. Altitude Sickness, Frostbite, Hypothermia 4, Confusion and fluid buildup on the brainand lungs would have affected humans and animals alike.

Traversing from the top of Ararat to the valley below is extremely difficult anddangerous for those trained and equipped for mountain climbing. For thoseunprepared, ill equipped and untrained for such a task, death is pretty much assured. Those few, mostly birds, surviving the trek, would have been met by a bleak landscapeand an uncertain future. The flood would have left no food supply or shelter for theanimals, having wiped out all plant life on the face of the world.

While some seeds would have survived the flood and with seeds left on the ark afterthe voyage some plants would have regrown in time. it would, unfortunately, havetaken far too long to ensure the herbivores survival. Some plants, Liverworts, Mosses,Horsetails and Ferns, for example, do not produce seeds and should not be presenttoday as there would be no living specimens to regrow those plants from. Also, with aflood of the scope detailed in the bible, almost all insects would have been wiped out aswell. Plants needing pollination help from say bees would not get that pollination

The carnivores would have been one of the biggest problems. Their only food sourcebeing other animals, once released, they would have hunted first the herbivores thenthe humans and finally each other as there was no other source of food for them.

The water supply could have been undrinkable based on how much salt, bacteria ormaterial was deposited by the flood in pools, streams, rivers or underground watersupplies. With both food and water in need and not necessarily available, survivalcould have been near impossible.

4 See Glossary

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At some time after exiting the Ark, Noah began farming and planted a vineyard or sothe bible tells us. Noah certainly could have used some of the remain seeds to startgrowing crops however, grape vines are not started with seeds but cuttings of existinggrape vines with established roots attached. Since there is no indication that plantswere kept on the Ark in pots and watered and cared for, a vineyard would not havebeen possible.

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Flood Accounts 7I studied 267 flood accounts from around the world and separated them into thefollowing categories:

Creation Story - The flood seems an integral part of an original creation and notsomething occurring later as punishment for man.

No Flood - No actual flood is indicated.

Non-Specific Flood - Insufficient information is available to classify it as local, global orsomething else.

Local Flood - Usually indicated by the flooding of the land, an area, the countryside, avalley, a single island or a specific tribe or people.

World Wide Flood - A flood of the scope that it would cover the whole world.

I ignored the location of each flood story, instead concentrating on the description of theflood, did it indicate the whole world in some way or was, for example, just a singlevalley or area affected, so that I could put it in the correct category. In this way Imethodically went through each flood account over a period of several weeks.

Interestingly, all but a couple of stories I put in the world wide flood column aredistributed in the Middle East, Europe, Asia and Africa, as one would expect a story totravel by word of mouth. Those outside the Eurasian/African area may be a result of missionary contamination.

The complete list of flood stories, separated into the various categories can be found inAppendix.

Normal practice of religions down through the ages have been to borrow from earlierreligions and that may be what has happened here. The progression of the floodstories from Atrahasis to the bible seems to be as follows:

Atrahasis, Epic of - This appears to be the oldest known version of the flood story withfragments older than those of the Epic of Gilgamesh. The earliest full version of theepic dates from 1646-1626 BCE. It specifically details a river flood of 7 days/nights.

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Gilgamesh, Epic of - The earliest versions of the epic date from the third dynasty ofUR (2150-2000 BCE). It refers to a cube shaped boat 180 feet in all directions dividedinto 63 compartments and a flood of 7days/nights with an equal amount of time for theflood waters to recede. This version, which copied much from the Epic of Atrahasis,changed the word river in Atrahasis to the word sea in an attempt to convey how widespread the flood was and not an indicator that it covered the whole world.

Eridu Genesis - This 17th century BCE story tells of a river flood of 7 days and 7 nightswith the main character riding it out on a large boat. Nothing more specific is availabledue to missing tablets.

Bible - The most well known of all the flood stories, written about 1450 BCE anddetailing an ark larger than anything known at the time and a flood lasting over a yearthat covered the whole world.

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Points81. The biblical flood should have left mass graves of people but there are none to

be found.

2. Out of place animal skeletons not native to the middle east, such as Koala’s andAmerican Bison should be found in Turkey but are not.

3. Flood damage should be found on large stone monuments and structures builtbefore the time of the flood but is not.

4. The separate story of the Tower of Babel, details how God changed the peopleso they spoke different languages and couldn’t understand one another andscattered them to the four corners of the world. It does not indicate that theirthoughts, customs and beliefs were similarly affected.

a. Why did the descendants of Noah, who repopulated the land of Egypt,abandon their beliefs in one God and change to a belief not only inmultiple Gods, but the exact same Gods that were worshiped by theEgyptians prior to the flood?

b. Why did they change their customs?

c. How did they learn, in less than 360 years 5, to read and write Egyptianhieroglyphics and to copy the pre-flood Egyptian civilization perfectly?

d. Better yet who taught them about the Egyptians as there were none aliveafter the flood with that knowledge?

5. There is a possibility that fishermen would have been on their boats, fishingwhen the flood began and could have ridden out the flood, surviving on fish.

6. The tops of the mountains became visible 40 days before Noah opened thewindow and released the dove but the dove found no dry land.

5 Abram, born 292 years after the flood, leaves home at 75 years of age visits the landof Egypt, where he interacts with the people and ruling class

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7. Noah was 500 when Shem, his oldest son, was born. The flood happened whenNoah was 600 and Shem 100. Arpachshad, Shem’s son, was supposed ly born2 years after the flood when Shem was 100. For Shem’s son to be born whenShem was 100 would indicate that he was born during the flood and not 2 yearsafter the flood.

8. According to Genesis 2:5-6 there was no rain before the flood but a mist existedto water the ground. In Genesis 2:10 it says that a river flowed out of Eden towater the garden. Now why would a river be needed to water the garden if themist existed for that purpose?

9. In Genesis 7:4, God indicates that he will bring rain. If rain did not exist beforethis time, why didn’t Noah question God as to what rain was? Would he notneed to know to prepare properly.

10. In Genesis 6:13, God indicates he is about to destroy all land based creatureswith the earth. In 6:17 he indicates it will be done with a flood.

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Conclusions 9Everyone must come to their own conclusions about the biblical story of the flood andthe ark. I know that those set in their views, pro or con, concerning the story most likelywill not be swayed by myself or anyone else writing about it and it was never my intentto. I am just presenting my research and thoughts for people to read or ignore as theywish.

For me it seems that Moses or whoever wrote the bible may have heard tales of a largeflood, possibly covering the whole world. Something that large could only have been awork of God and all works of God should be included in the Bible or so they possiblythought. Wanting more details, they consulted the most common source available atthe time, the Epic of Gilgamesh. Combining what they had heard from oral traditionwith what was written in the Epic of Gilgamesh and making some changes, they craftedthe account that we know today. The biblical account does not stand up under closescrutiny as being a historical narrative but a story with elements borrowed another story.

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GlossaryAcetylene - A colorless gas, C2H2, having an ether like odor.

Altitude Sickness - A condition caused by insufficient oxygen in the blood andcharacterized by dizziness, nausea and shortness of breath.

Ammonia - Is an asphyxiating gas and at an adequate concentration can be explosive. The gas dissolves easily in water creating Ammonium Hydroxide.

Ammonium Hydroxide - A corrosive, flammable and toxic substance with vapors andmists that cause irritation to the respiratory tract. High concentrations can cause burns,pulmonary edema and death. Brief exposure to 500 ppm can be fatal. Flammablevapors can accumulate in confined spaces.

Carbon Dioxide - A colorless, odorless, incombustible gas, CO2.

Carbon Monoxide - A colorless, odorless, poisonous gas, CO.

Ethane - A colorless, odorless, flammable gas, C2H6

Frostbite - Injury to any part of the body after excessive exposure to extreme cold,sometimes progressing from initial redness and tingling to gangrene.

Hydrogen Sulfide - A highly toxic and flammable gas. Although very pungent at first, itquickly deadens the sense of smell so potential victims may be unaware of it’spresence until it is too late. It’s greatest effect is on the nervous system with a toxicitycomparable to Hydrogen Cyanide.

Hypothermia - Subnormal body temperature.

Mercaptans - Medium to high levels of Mercaptans cause headaches, nausea,vomiting, irritation of the lungs and inflamation of the eyes, nose and throat. At veryhigh levels difficulty breathing, Cyanosis (Turning Blue), loss of consciousness andmuscle spasms can occur.

Methane - A colorless, odorless, flammable gas, CH4.

Skatole - The mildly toxic compound has been shown to cause pulmonary edema ingoats, sheep, rats and some strains of mice. It can result in respiratory failure.

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AppendixFlood Stories - Breakdown of 267 stories

Creation Story (15) - Batak, Benua-Jakun, Blackfoot, Carib, Efik-Lbibio, Joshua, Kato,Kiangan Lfugao, Mayan, Nanumanga, Pygmy, Quiché, Scandinavian, Sia, Toltec.

No Flood (18) - Australian 1, Dusun, Fitzroy River area, German, Herschel IslandEskimo 7, Ho 8, Innuit 9, Ipurina 10, Jicarilla Apache 11, Manger, Micmac, Middle Eastern,Munda, North American Indians generally, Russian, Santal, Shuar, Singpho.

Non-Specific Flood (52) - Buryat, Canelos Quechua, Cayuse, Chaldean 4, Chingpaw,Chitimacha, Choctaw, Cora, Jino, Kammu, Kaska, Kwaya, Lake Tyres, Lakota, Lepcha,Lolo, Lower Congo, Macusi, Michoacan, Mixtec, Nage, Nahua, Natchez, Navajo, NezPerce, Northern California Coast, Norton Sound Eskimo, Ohlone, Ottawa, Panama,Pawnee, Persian, Quillayute, Sagaiye, Samo-Kubo, Samoa, Samoyed, Spokana,Tamil, Tarascan, Tepecano, Thompson Indians, Tlapanec, Tlaxcalan, Tlingit, Totonac,Trique, Vogul, Yakima, Yoruba, Zapotec, Zhuang.

Local Flood (149) - Ababua, Acagchemem, Acawai, Algonquin, Altaic, Ami,Ancasmarca, Andaman Islands, Andingari, Araucania, Arcadian, Arekuna, ArnhemLand, Ashochimi, Atá, Babylonian 3, Bahnar 1, Bakongo, Basonge, bena-Lulua, Bunun,Caddo, Cameroon, Cañari, Caraya, Cascade Mountains, Central Eskimo, Cherokee,Cheyenne, China 1, Chippewa, Chiriguano, Chokwe, Chol 13, Colla, Coroado, Chorote,Cree, Dogrib and Slave, Dyak, Ekoi, Engano, Eskimo, Fiji, Guanca and Chiquito,Gumaidj, Gunwinggu, Haida, Hareskin, Hawaii 6, Hopi, Ifugao, Inca, Jivaro Indian,Kabadi, Kamchadale, Kathlamet, Kelantan, Kikuyu 12, Klallam, Komililo Nandi,Kootenay, Korea, Kurnai, Kwakiutl, Lenape, Lifou, Lillooet, Lisu, Loucheux, Luiseño,Lushai, Maidu, Makah, Makiritare, Mamberao River, Mandan, Mandaya, Mandingo,Mangaia, Maori, Maung, Menomini, Mongolia, Montagnais, Mount Elliot, Murato,Muysca, Narrinyeri, Netsilik Eskimo, New Hebrides, Nias, Nisqually, Ojibway, Ot-Danom, Palau Islands, Pamary, Abedery and Kataushy, Papago, Pima, Pomo,Quechua, Raiatea, Rakaanga, Rotti, Salinan, Samothrace, Shan, Shasta, Sioux, SmithRiver, Southeast Australia, Southwest Tanzania, Sui, Tahiti, Tmanaque, Tarahumara,Tchiglit Eskimo, Tepehua, Tibet, Timagami Ojibway, Tinguian, Tinneh, Toba, Toadja,Tsetsaut, Tsimshian, Tsuwo, Tuleyome Miwok, Turkey, Twana, Tzeltal, Valman,Victoria, Warm Springs, Welsh, Western Australia, Western Carolines, Wintu 15,Wiranggu, Yamana, Yanomamö, Yaqui 16, Yaruro, Yellowstone, Yenisey-Ostyak, Yuma,Yurok, Zoroastrian, Zuni.

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World Wide Flood (33) - Alfoor, Arawak, Assam, Assyrian, Bella Coola, Bhil, Celtic,Eastern Brazil, Greek, Greenlander, Havasupai, Hebrew, Hindu, Huichol, Islamic,Kamar, Karen, Lithuanian, Masai, Nicaragua, Northern Miwok, Olamentko Miwok,Papua New Guinea, Popluca 14, Roman, Sarcee, Selk’nam, Skagit, Skokomish,Squamish, Sumerian, Transylvanian Gypsy, Tuvinian.

NOTES:

1 China - This flood story apparently comes from the United States, not China. It hasbeen traced back to Nelson’s 1931 story “The dluge story in stone”. Nelson says thataccording to the Hihking, Fuhi escaped the waters of a deluge, and reappeared as thefirst man at the reproduction of a renovated world, accompanied by his wife, three sonsand three daughters. The temple illustration is a separate account which Nelsonattributes to Gützlaff, presumably Karl Gützlaff, a Lutheran missionary in China around1825. Gützlaff reports it as a picture of Noah, not Fuhi. There is no further referencesto allow either account to be checked and the temple illustration has not been found byanyone else.

2 Australian - Early flood stories seem to revolve around water rising where specificpeople have walked but not true floods. It seems that only after missionary appearanceIn Australia do the stories take on the biblical proportions.

3 Babylonian - The Epic of Gilgamesh appears to be taken from the older Epic ofAtrahasis. At one point it appears the writer of Gilgamesh replaced the word river withthe word sea, elevating the account from a river flood to a greater one.

4 Chaldean - The earlier Chaldean account is of a non-specific flood while the laterChaldean account seems to be a modified version of the Hebrew account. The writerof the later account may have had access to the Hebrew account at the time.

5 Egypt - Atum threatens to flood the world but the papyrus is damaged and no otherinformation is available.

6 Hawaii - Of the six variations, one is a creation story, one a non-specific flood, one aworld wide flood and three are local floods. With only one account describing a worldwide flood it is possible that missionary contamination may have occurred.

7 Herschel Island Eskimos - The flood story here names Noah, which is not anEskimo name, and lends weight to missionary contamination.

8 Ho - Destruction by either fire or water. No other information is available.

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9 Innuit - Mentions a global flood based on sea shells found in mountains but no actualflood story.

10 Ipurina - A flood of fire that burned everything including water.

11 Jicarilla Apache - Story of a flood was passed to them by others.

12 Kikuyu - Describes a flood of beer.

13 Chol - Flood does not reach the tops of the trees.

14 Popoluca - Indications of missionary contamination. Either the original native storywas altered to a great degree or they had no story and a version of the Hebrew storymodified to fit the peoples of the area was introduced.

15 Wintu - Story is reminiscent of a hurricane description.

16 Yaqui - Appears to be a local flood. It’s date of occurrence, 614 CE, rules it out asthe flood of the bible.

Chart of flood stories: