Seventeenth Day of the Second Month

Abstract

Historians consider the biblical account of the Deluge as a myth. However, this famous event occurred at the earliest times of recorded history (Sumerian King List). Today scientists believe in the last ice age called Pleistocene ending to 10,000 BCE, but there is no witness (prehistory) of this planetary cataclysmic event and its existence is based solely on the (controversial) interpretation of its consequences and their dating. The existence of erratic blocks and the disappearance of mammoths are presented as evidence of the last glaciation, but contrary to what one might think 14C dating provides conflicting results. Moreover, the sudden extinction of mammoths (some were found with food undigested in their stomachs or still unchewed in their teeth) would be spread over thousands of years! Likewise, during the last glaciation the sea level would have decreased by at least 140 m (which is currently explained by melting of glaciers) but such variations of the sea level did not occur during previous glaciations. Dating obtained by calibrated 14C is considered absolute by most experts but confrontation with the Egyptian chronology, which some dates are fixed by astronomy, reverses this belief. This comparison shows that dates obtained by 14C calibrated by dendrochronology match to those from astronomy until -2200 but before this date increase exponentially. Thus the rate of 14C tends gradually to 0 around -3500, which implies an important consequence: before that 14C dating is no longer possible. The biblical and Sumerian accounts of the Deluge are very similar (which occured in year 600 of Noah or Ziusudra) and suppose a dating around -3000 (3170 BCE according to the Septuagint). The period 3170-2800 is very poorly documented, the only remarkable event is the construction of the Tower of Babel then its abandonment and the emergence of languages. According to Mesopotamian literature the ziggurat of Babylon called "temple of the foundation of heaven and earth" in Sumerian was dedicated to Marduk. Many scholars estimate that these mythological texts have no historical value, but several Sumerian and Babylonian inscriptions have confirmed the antiquity of this ancient ziggurat and the name of its builder. Sumerian stories confirm the biblical version about four key points: 1) a universal deluge, 2) only one language at the origin, 3) construction of the Tower of Babel and 4) a sudden and simultaneous onset of languages (like Sumerian, Akkadian, Egyptian, etc.). Human longevity seems to have remained constant over the entire period from 3100 BCE up to now, which contradicts the biblical data concerning the relatives of Abraham who would have lived, prior 1600 BCE, much more than 130 years. However, contrary to the popular common sense suggests, human limits are difficult to set by science. Studies on human longevity provide amazing data in accordance with the Bible. Thus, for unexplained reasons, the maximum age at death (longevity) is not constant but increases regularly and since 1960 there is an unexplained acceleration of the increase. The transmission of many historical and chronological data (reigns, lifetimes, long periods, etc.) as well as many proper names, is necessarily flawed, unless one believing in an (unlikely) scribes infallibility. Thus, ancient texts, that are preserved in more than one copy, have been compared to determine how much variation occurs between manuscripts. This kind of study showed that the most stable texts surveyed are those containing ritual instructions, which have led, for example, to the exact transmission of the Torah in the late Second Temple period. The accuracy of the transmission of the text can be checked owing to the accuracy of its chronology and through the comparison between the sum of the intermediate values and the total value indicated in the text. Textual criticism now favors an anteriority of the Septuagint text Vorlage (H*) on the proto-Masoretic which comes from an overhaul of this Vorlage, including chronological data from the text of Genesis. According to the reconstruction of chronological data, Jewish corrections of the Hebrew text (preserved in the Septuagint) were performed in two steps: after the onset of the Book of Jubilees (c. -160) durations in Genesis 5:3-31 were reduced by 100 years and were adopted by a part of the Jews, as Eupolemus and by the Samaritans, and afterward, at the Synod of Yabneh (c. 90 CE), durations in Genesis 11:10-26 were also reduced by 100 years and were canonized by the rabbis (Pharisees). There was no dispute since the priests (Sadducees) no longer existed, as well as scrolls of the temple (except some of them which has been retrieved by Josephus thanks to emperor Titus in 70 CE).