Last winter I read in SCIENCE NEWS about a new book by 2 oceanographers,
entitled NOAH'S FLOOD. My husband bought it for me, and I thoroughly
enjoyed it! It's a scientific adventure. Perhaps the book can be of some
influence with students who hold creationist views.
Here's a synopsis. I encourage you to read it - and tell the story to your
students.
Drs. William Ryan and Walter Pitman are earth scientists at the
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University. Both had 3 decades
of research experience when they started looking into the question, "Did
Noah's Flood Occur?" in 1991. Their answer: yes, a catastrophic flood did
occur 7500 years ago, which probably was the basis for the Biblical story
of Noah's flood. (However, as they point out, the Biblical interpretation
is a separate thing from the physical occurrence of a catastrophic flood!)
To summarize their findings:
7500 years ago, the Earth was near the end of the ice age. The oceans were
about 50 feet LOWER than they are now. Consequently the Black Sea was cut
off from
the Mediterranean Sea. The climate there was arid, and due to evaporation
the level of the Black Sea was about 500 feet below sea level. Advanced
agricultural settlements probably existed along its shore.
As the sea level rose, it reached the top of the Bosporus Straits region
and began to pour into the Black Sea. The force of the inrushing water
broke down the earth barrier, and large volumes of water poured in for
years. Ryan and Pitman calculated that a typical lakeside settler had to
travel about 1/2 mile per day to escape the rising water.
Some of the lakeside people probably fled in boats. Some probably went
southeasterly, eventually ending up in the Tigris-Euphrates river valley.
The authors discuss the Epic of Gilgamesh, which is a legend recorded on
cuneiform tablets found at Ninevah in the Tigris-Euphrates river valley in
the late 1800s. It describes a flood which in many respects parallels the
Biblical story of Noah's flood. The cuneiform writings are much older than
the Bible story, though. As Ryan and Pitman state, "Gilgamesh is considered
the most significant literary work to come out of ancient Mesopotamia,
composed and recomposed over a span of 2000 years, with the words kept
alive in the traditions of the singing bard long before they were committed
to writing in the
cuneiform glyphs." (The Biblical account of Noah's flood is newer; it was
written less than 3000 years ago, they noted.)
Ryan and Pitman tell how the Gilgamesh and Noah flood accounts, as well
as other ancient flood myths, support their scientific investigations. They
followed many lines of research, including marine geology, climatology,
archaeology, anthropology, linguistics, oceanography, paleontology,
climatology, genetics, and physics (radiocarbon dating, geophysical
calculations, etc.). They worked with many other scientists. They cite
many pubished scientific papers. These two oceanographers brought together
a large amount of previously fragmented data to form a coherent picture of
our history 7500 years ago.
What's the next step in this investigation of humanity's history? Find the
ancient shoreline settlements!
This is being done. On March 6, 1999, Al Bartlett (retired from the
University of Colorado) said in an e-mail to me:
"Recently I heard a lecture by Robert Ballard, the undersea explorer who
found the Titanic, and I had a talk with him as I drove him to the airport.
He is going to the Black Sea this summer to look there for signs of rapid
flooding that was more localized. I think it was some 7000 years ago that
the Black Sea was isolated, and the world sea level was much lower than it
is today. Much of the area around a much smaller Black Sea was exposed and
was farm land. At some point the rising sea topped the divide at the
Dardenelles and started pouring into the Black Sea. The sea level is
thought to have risen in the Black Sea at the rate of a few [centi]meters a day,
flooding out farmlands and villages. This is possibly the origin of the
story of Noah's flood. What Ballard is going to search for is signs of
villages or other human habitations in the shallow water on the broad shelf
around the edge of the Black Sea."
I hadn't received the book at that time, so I didn't see the connection. But
on the book jacket is the following statement by Robert Ballard: "William
Ryan and Walter Pitman's NOAH'S FLOOD is a fascinating and compelling
scientific detective story. A must-read! It will definitely launch many
expeditions seeking to prove it right or wrong." Chuckle - and Ballard's is
the first.
************************************
Jane Jackson, Dir., Modeling Workshop Project
Box 871504, Dept.of Physics, ASU, Tempe, AZ 85287
480-965-8438/fax:965-7331. http://modeling.la.asu.edu
"The ideals which have lighted my way, and time after
time have given me new courage to face life cheerfully,
have been Kindness, Beauty, and Truth." - Einstein (1931)