♠Noah's ark: another fairytale or an untold history♠
Written by- Shraddha_1D
Stuck in the global pandemic here I am researching some odd topics related to the Old Testament of the Bible, reading Upanishads and Puranas and even thinking to read Quran. In simpler words, only a few more months are needed for me to become a complete Sanyasi. But then there is another fun to link various mythologies and play with them.
Most of us are accustomed to the story of Noah's Ark as given in the Old Testament of the Bible. Now, the question arises that is this incident of the biblical global flood true?
Many of you will say 'No', as there is no archaeological proof but only some hypothetical theory questioning the Bible. It has been deliberately converted into a fairytale. But then if we have a close look into this topic, we will get many parallel stories of various mythologies and ancient civilizations.
For over more than a century scholars have recognised that the Bible's story of Noah's ark is based on some older Mesopotamian flood stories that had happened in the dawn of history which now gives us the impression that the myths themselves must come from very primitive origins, but the myth of the global flood that destroys all life only begins to appear in the Old Babylonian Period (20th-16th centuries BCE).
There are nine known versions of the Mesopotamian flood story, each more or less adapted from an earlier version. In the oldest version, the Sumerian Flood story which is inscribed in the Sumerian city of Nippur c.1600 BCE and the hero is King Ziusudra. This version tells how he builds a boat and rescues life when the gods decide to destroy it. This remains the rudimentary plot for several ensuing flood-stories and heroes, including Noah.
The version closest to the biblical story of Noah, as well as its most likely source, is that of Utnapishtim in the Epic of Gilgamesh which is found in a clay tablet dating from the 7th century BCE, but fragments of the story dated 19th century BCE. The recent known version of the Mesopotamian flood story was written in Greek in the 3rd century BCE by a Babylonian priest named Berossus. From the fragments that survive, it seems little changed from the versions of two thousand years before.
Then again we have an Indian version mentioned in the text of Vishnu Purana where the king of Dravida, Vaivasvata (Sraddhadeva or Satyavrata) was warned of the flood by the Matsya (fish) avatar of Vishnu and was asked to build a boat that had the capability to carry the Vedas, Manu's family and the seven sages to safety. The tale was repeated with variations in other texts, including the Mahabharata and a few other Puranas.
In the Quran, we also find the mention of Noah as Nuh ibn Lumik ibn Mutushalkh who had the boat, Safina.
Various mention this global flood has been found in various texts of various mythologies. I am no one to judge but every one of us has their own belief. So do I. Hence, if I am asked my answer is that every myth that we hear today has some kind of connections with the primitive Earth.
Do let me know your point of view on this global flood or global variations of the same myth but with various names. I will wait for your answer.
Till then, goodbye.
Yours sincerely,
Jhaaru wali.
Love and hugs.
⚫️⚜️⚫️⚜️⚫️⚜️⚫️⚜️⚫️⚜️⚫️
September 9, 2020 (Wednesday)
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