Great Flood

In fact, you may see the upheaval in the depiction that you have in the Bible of the Great Flood.

I give them as they were said and do not treat them as a record of the flood.

Nir (Noah's brother, mentioned in 2 Enoch) and any other unnamed siblings, as well as extended family members, did not survive the flood according to the biblical narrative and associated texts.

Only the eight individuals on the Ark were preserved through the flood.

The Sumerian, Biblical and Greek traditions each describe a world before the great flood.

Then humanity declined, and the gods sent a flood.

Genesis says giants lived on the earth before the flood, and the children of the sons of God became famous men.

The pre-flood world is often depicted as having advanced knowledge and technology.

Much of it was lost after the flood.

The Sumerian flood story gives Eridu to Nudimmud, which is another name of Enki.

The Sumerian flood story says Eridu was the first city, given to Enki.

Ancient texts such as the Sumerian King List name cities that were centers of power before the flood.

The list counts 8 kings in 5 cities before the flood, with 241,200 years in total.

Then it says "the flood swept over." I compare these kings with other traditions on Antediluvian rulers.

Clay reads the tablet so that a long famine came first, and the flood came after it.

Clay says the famine was sent for the same reasons the Old Testament gives for the flood.

This led to disasters like the flood in the story of Deucalion.

Many myths speak of signs and omens before the great flood.

The god Enki advised Ziusudra (or Utnapishtim) to build a boat to survive the flood.

In the Sumerian flood story, Ziusudra hears the warning through a wall.

The Sumerian flood story says a voice at the wall told Ziusudra that a flood would come.

A flood will sweep over the ......

I compare the three flood heroes on Utnapishtim, Ziusudra and Noah.

More flood accounts are collected on Flood stories.

The Sumerian King List and the Sumerian flood story are quoted from the Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature (ETCSL), Oxford, as short excerpts for review and study.

Soon after, a great flood came and covered the entire earth.

The story of Nuu and the flood is a traditional Hawaiian myth detailed in Martha Warren Beckwith's "Hawaiian Mythology".

In this tale, Nuu, a descendant of the first man, is commanded by the gods to build an ark to survive a great flood.

I was familiar with Noah's great flood story, but then I discovered that almost every culture has a great flood story.

There are over 300 Great Flood stories worldwide.

Let's look into the Great Flood story of Berossus:

In the second book, Berossus records the ten kings and the length of their reigns, 120 saroi or 432,000 years until the Great Flood.

Cronus appeared to Xisuthrus in a dream, warning of a flood on the fifteenth of Daisios.

After the flood, Xisuthrus released birds.

Each Flood story reveals information about the survivors of Atlantis, their relationship with the 'Gods,' and the locations where Atlanteans restarted civilizations.

I have organized the great flood stories by continent in the tables below.

I compare flood stories from many cultures in Flood Stories from Around the World.

I think it's fair to say that there is plenty of cultural evidence of a Great Flood event.

Here is a list of the Great Flood stories that mention the duration, sorted from the shortest to the longest duration:

Here are some additional significant relations in flood myths beyond celestial and planetary associations:

The Unified Catastrophe Theory posits that a series of interconnected geological and astronomical events around the end of the last Ice Age, approximately 12,000 years ago, could have inspired multiple flood myths across different cultures.

This theory aims to provide an explanation for the prevalence and similarities of flood myths worldwide by integrating evidence from various disciplines.

This event could have displaced populations and influenced flood myths in Europe and the Near East.

Volcanic Eruptions: Massive volcanic eruptions, such as the eruption of Mount Toba around 74,000 years ago, could have had long-lasting climatic effects, causing floods and contributing to the collective memory of catastrophic events.

These layers support the occurrence of ancient floods that could have inspired myths.

Ancient Settlements: Archaeological evidence of ancient settlements submerged by rising sea levels or destroyed by floods provides tangible connections to flood myths.

Migration Patterns: Genetic and linguistic studies trace the movement of ancient populations, suggesting that displaced groups carried their flood narratives with them, spreading these stories across continents.

Trade and Contact: Ancient trade routes and contacts between civilizations could have facilitated the exchange of stories and myths, leading to similarities in flood narratives.

Collective Unconscious: Carl Jung's theory of the collective unconscious posits that certain archetypal symbols and themes, such as the flood, emerge independently in various cultures as responses to shared human experiences with natural disasters.

Hero’s Journey: Many flood myths can be framed within the Hero’s Journey archetype, where the flood represents a “death” and the subsequent survival and migration represent “rebirth,” with cultural heroes guiding humanity through the crisis.

The Epic of Gilgamesh, one of the earliest written records, also describes a flood similar to the Biblical narrative.

Connections: The story of Noah’s Ark in the Bible shares similarities with the Sumerian flood myth of Utnapishtim, suggesting a shared cultural memory or direct influence.

Evidence: The Greek myth of Deucalion’s flood describes a cataclysmic flood sent by Zeus to punish humanity.

Geological evidence of flooding in the Mediterranean supports the occurrence of significant ancient floods.

Connections: The Greek myth shares themes of divine retribution and survival with Near Eastern flood myths, indicating possible cultural diffusion.

Evidence: Chinese legends of the Gun-Yu flood describe a prolonged period of flooding managed by the hero Yu, who eventually controlled the waters.

Evidence: The Popol Vuh of the Quiche Maya describes a great flood that wiped out a previous creation.

Geological evidence in Central America shows signs of ancient floods.

Connections: The migration from the East described in the Popol Vuh has parallels with other myths of survivors traveling great distances after a flood, suggesting a possible shared origin or cultural transmission.

The theory suggests that multiple flood myths worldwide could be the result of interconnected global events rather than isolated incidents.

Flood myths may represent a shared human response to the trauma of natural disasters.

The similarities in flood myths across cultures could be attributed to ancient migrations and cultural exchanges.

As people moved and interacted, they carried their stories with them, leading to the diffusion and adaptation of flood narratives.

The recurrence of flood myths might also reflect deep-seated archetypal themes within the collective unconscious.

The Unified Catastrophe Theory offers a comprehensive framework to understand the prevalence and similarities of flood myths across different cultures.