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Limited Tangible Evidence •Why? • Nomadic lifestyle • The flood was devastating Common Cultural Writings •Why do we have these? • Events such as creation and the flood are universal in nature •Why so different? • Man drew away from God • The Bible account is pure and inspired Dating of the Bible •The Bible states it was written by many men over the course of 1500 years, beginning with Moses and ending with John •The Holy Spirit directed these writers to communicate the word of God (2 Tim 3:16-17, 2 Peter 2:16-21, Heb 1:1-3) •Genesis was written by Moses during the mid- second millennium BC Dating of the Bible •Scholars believe the Bible, especially Genesis, was written by anonymous writers in the 7th and 8th centuries BC • It was edited and expanded over the next 200-300 years • Jewish leaders wanted to create a national identity to rally around during the days leading up to and during the Babylonian exile Dating of the Bible •This supposedly resulted in the exiled Jews adapting the myths of their captors • There are numerous commonalities between Mesopotamian myths and the accounts in Genesis • Therefore, according to these scholars, the Biblical writers and editors must have borrowed heavily from the Babylonians Dating of the Bible “The biblical stories should thus be regarded as a national mythology with no more historical basis than the Homeric saga of Odysseus’s travels or Virgil’s saga of Aeneas’s founding of Rome.” Israel Finkelstien and Neil Asher Siberman, The Bible Undearthed, 36 Common Cultural Writings •Egyptian hieroglyphics • Writings dating back to 3400 BC • Picture based • 700 different signs • Written from left to right, right to left, or downward Image: http://blog.world-mysteries.com/ancient-writings/read-egyptian-hieroglyphics/ Common Cultural Writings •Rosetta Stone • 1799, French officer • Discovered in Rosetta (Rashīd), Egypt • Dates to 195 BC • Housed at the British Museum Image: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosetta_Stone Common Cultural Writings •Rosetta Stone • Written in three languages • Egyptian hieroglyphics • Demotic hieroglyphics • Greek • Deciphered by Thomas Young and Jean-François Champollion, 1832 Image: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosetta_Stone Common Cultural Writings •Cuneiform • Writings dating back to mid-4th century BC • Wedge shaped script • 300 different signs • Two main forms • Sumerian • Akkadian Image: http://www.ox.ac.uk/news/arts-blog/digitising-irans-cuneiform-collection Common Cultural Writings •Cuneiform • Commonly used in the Fertile Crescent • Slowly replaced by the Phoenician alphabet around 1000 BC • No longer used by the 2nd century AD Image: http://www.ox.ac.uk/news/arts-blog/digitising-irans-cuneiform-collection Common Cultural Writings •Behistun Inscriptions • Commissioned during the days of Darius the Great (522-486 BC) • Brought to the attention of Western scholars in 1598 Image: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/04/Darius_I_the_Great%27s_inscription.jpg Common Cultural Writings •Behistun Inscriptions • Written in three forms of Cuneiform • Old Persian • Elamite • Babylonian • Translations of the Old Persian allowed scholars to learn the other forms Image: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/04/Darius_I_the_Great%27s_inscription.jpg Creation Accounts •Eridu • Ancient Sumerian City • Believed to be founded around 5400 BC • Estimated to cover an area of 100 acres • Fishing based economy • Contains ruins of ziggurats • Patron city of Enki Image: https://www.thoughtco.com/eridu-iraq-earliest-city-in-mesopotamia-170802 Creation Accounts •Eridu Genesis • Comprised of fragments and tablets found in Eridu and other cities • Originally may date to 2300 BC Image: https://www.ancient-code.com/sumerian-story-great-flood-eridu-genesis/ Creation Accounts •Eridu Genesis • Tartug cursed for eating forbidden fruit • Adapa tricked and denied the knowledge of eternal life Image: https://www.ancient-code.com/sumerian-story-great-flood-eridu-genesis/ Creation Accounts •Enuma Elish • Discovered in 1853, Hormuzd Rassam and in 1870, George Smith • Discovered in the library of Nineveh of Ashurbanipal • Date to c. 1100 BC Image: https://www.ancient.eu/article/225/enuma-elish---the-babylonian-epic-of-creation---fu/ Creation Accounts •Similarities with Genesis • Formless, chaotic, dark waters • Light and order is created first • Natural world and heavenly bodies follow • First man is created and serves the deity(-ies) • Humans are given a specific role Image: https://www.ancient.eu/article/225/enuma-elish---the-babylonian-epic-of-creation---fu/ Creation Accounts •Differences with Genesis • Monotheistic vs Pagan • Loving God vs waring gods • Mankind is the pinnacle of creation vs an afterthought to meet the needs of the gods Image: https://www.ancient.eu/article/225/enuma-elish---the-babylonian-epic-of-creation---fu/ Flood Accounts •Sumerian king list • Found amongst several tablets and fragments throughout ancient Sumer • Most date to the late 3rd or early 2nd millennium BC • Describe kings and their accomplishments Image: http://asorblog.org/2016/11/01/sumerian-king-list-history-kingship-early-mesopotamia/ Flood Accounts Sumerian Kings Before the Flood Sumerian Kings After the Flood King Length of Reign (years) King Length of Reign (years) Alulum 28,000 Ga-Ur 1,200 Alalgar 36,000 Gul-la-dnidabab-anna 960 En-men-lu-anna 43,200 Ga-li-bu-um 360 En-men-gal-anna 28,800 Ka-lu-mu-mu 840 Dumuzi the shepherd 36,000 Ka-ga-gi-b-ib 900 En-Sib-zi-anna 28,800 A-tab 600 En-me-en-dur-anna 21,000 A-tab-ba 840 Ubara-Tutu 18,600 Ar-pi-um 720 Etana the shepherd 1,500 Ba-li-ih 400 Adapted from The Sumerians by Sir Leonard Woolley, cited in Archaeology and the Bible by Mike Willis En-me-nun-na 660 Image: http://asorblog.org/2016/11/01/sumerian-king-list-history-kingship-early-mesopotamia/ Flood Accounts •Eridu Genesis • Flood account found on a fragment from Nippur, Iraq • Also titled The Sumerian Myth • Dated 2150 BC • Housed at the Pennsylvania Museum Image: https://www.ancient-code.com/sumerian-story-great-flood-eridu-genesis/ Flood Accounts •Eridu Genesis • Mankind was to be destroyed by the gods • Ziusudra is told of the impending flood and is spared Image: https://www.ancient-code.com/sumerian-story-great-flood-eridu-genesis/ Flood Accounts •The Atrahasis Epic • Dates to 1635 BC • Originally discovered in 1888 but lost • Rediscovered in the 1960s by Alan Millard • Housed at the British Museum Image: http://www.biblearchaeology.org/post/2006/10/Atra-Hasis-Epic.aspx Flood Accounts •The Atrahasis Epic • Mankind becomes too loud for the god Enlil • He tries unsuccessfully to reduce the population • He finally decides to flood the earth Image: http://www.biblearchaeology.org/post/2006/10/Atra-Hasis-Epic.aspx Flood Accounts •The Atrahasis Epic • The god Ea warns Atrahasis, who escapes the flood in a boat with his family and some craftsmen • Upon exiting the boat, Atrahasis offers sacrifices to the gods Image: http://www.biblearchaeology.org/post/2006/10/Atra-Hasis-Epic.aspx Flood Accounts •The Epic of Gilgamesh • Part of a series of Babylonian tablets • Initially found as part of Rassam’s discovery in Nineveh in 1872 • Dates to 650 BC • Housed in the British Museum Image: https://britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details/collection_image_gallery.aspx?partid=1&assetid=426395001&objectid=309929 Flood Accounts •The Epic of Gilgamesh • Gilgamesh wishes to become immortal • Seeks out Ut-napishti, who was granted immortality after surviving a flood Image: https://britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details/collection_image_gallery.aspx?partid=1&assetid=426395001&objectid=309929 Flood Accounts • Similarities to Genesis • Flood is divinely designed • Hero and family saved • Divine revelation to the • Flood lasted a specified hero length of time • Flood caused by divine vs • Landing site named mortal • Birds sent out to • Hero told to build a boat determine safety • Directions for the building • Hero worshiped process were given afterwards • Hero told to save animals • Special blessings were • Pitch used to seal the boat bestowed Image: https://britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details/collection_image_gallery.aspx?partid=1&assetid=426395001&objectid=309929 Flood Accounts •Differences to Genesis • Monotheistic vs polytheistic • Sin vs annoyance • Boat size • Length of the flood • Differences in blessings provided Image: https://britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details/collection_image_gallery.aspx?partid=1&assetid=426395001&objectid=309929 Tower of Babel Accounts •Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta • An epic comprised on several Sumerian texts • Dates to the 21st century BC • Tells of Enmerkar, king of Uruk and his conflicts with the king of Aratta • Tells of a time when all spoke one language, which was then confused by the gods Tower of Babel Accounts •Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta “Sumer, the great land of the decrees of princeship, Uri, the land have all that is appropriate, The land Martu, resting in security, The whole universe, the people in unison, To Enlil, in one tongue… Translation by Samuel Noah Kramer Tower of Babel Accounts •Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta Enki, the lord of abundance whose commands are trustworthy, The lord of wisdom, who understands the land, The leader of the gods, Endowed with wisdom the lord of Eriud, Changed the speech in their mouths, brought contention into it, Into the speech of man that had been one.” Translation by Samuel Noah Kramer.
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