Editing Flood myth (section)

==Mythologies==
[[File:Babylon's world view.jpg|thumb|300px|The Sumerian Genesis describes the [[Abzu]] as a cosmic freshwater ocean that surrounds our planet (created in its midst) above and below, so the sketch shows the same as [[Babylonian Map of the World|Babylon's map]], now in sideview. A bubble of breathable air clings to Earth, with the Abzu as roof like on Athrahasis' lifeboat. Further details, such as Utnapishtim's (Athrahasis) island ''Dilmun'', are taken from the [[epic of Gilgamesh]]. An important technical detail are the [[Gate valve|sluices]] built into sky. Through them, the gods, skilled in construction of irrigation systems, supplied their Garden of Eden with rain, but also unleashed the Flood.]]
The ''[[Epic of Gilgamesh]]'' (c. 2100–1800 BCE) references an early flood myth.<ref>{{cite book |last = Tigay |first = Jeffrey H. | author-link = Jeffrey H. Tigay | title = The Evolution of the Gilgamesh Epic | publisher= Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers |year= 2002 |orig-year= 1982 |isbn= 9780865165465 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=cxjuHTH6I2sC |pages = 23, 218, 224, 238}}</ref>{{efn|[[Andrew R. George]] points out that the modern version of the ''Epic of Gilgamesh'' was compiled by [[Sîn-lēqi-unninni]], who lived sometime between 1300 and 1000&nbsp;BC.{{sfn|George|2003|pp= ii, xxiv–v}}}} This story has some parallels to the 18th century BCE epic ''[[Atra-Hasis]]'',{{efn|The ''Atra-Hasis'' flood myth contains some material that the [[Gilgamesh flood myth]] does not.{{sfn|George|2003|p= xxx}}}} in which a group of Sumerian gods begins to transform Mesopotamia into a fertile garden landscape. The hard labour leads to a revolt of the ‘lower’ gods, and to pacify it, a first pair of humans was created to do the work in place of the gods. After a few thousand years, however, the humans have multiplied to such an extent that they disturb the gods with their noise, so [[Enlil]], the highest of all gods, decides to unleash a mighty flood to wipe out humanity. The rebellious god [[Enki]] secretly warns his priest Athrahasis of the impending catastrophe. Giving him detailed instructions for building a boat,<ref>{{cite book |last=Finkel |first=Irving |title=The Ark Before Noah |publisher=Doubleday |date=2014 |isbn=9780385537124 }}</ref> Athrahasis and his family survive, ensuring continued existence of artificially constructed mankind.<ref>{{cite book |editor-link=James B. Pritchard |editor-last=Pritchard |editor-first=James B. |title=Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament |title-link=Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |orig-year=1955 |year=1969 |page=44 |quote=a flood [will sweep] over the cult-centers; to destroy the seed of mankind; is the decision, the word of the assembly [of the gods]. }}</ref>{{fv|reason=This source doesn't speak of Athrahasis, the name here is Ziusudra|date=April 2025}} In the [[Gilgamesh flood myth]], the flood is survived by the man [[Utnapishtim]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Utnapishtim {{!}} Noah, Flood & Epic {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Utnapishtim |access-date=2024-11-04 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> The similar [[Eridu Genesis]] flood myth ({{Circa|1600&nbsp;BCE}}),<ref>{{cite book |year=2004 |chapter=The Flood story |editor1-last=Black |editor1-first=Jeremy A. |editor1-link=Jeremy Black (assyriologist) |editor2-last=Cunningham |editor2-first=Graham |editor3-last=Robson |editor3-first=Eleanor |editor3-link=Eleanor Robson |editor4-last=Zólyomi |editor4-first=Gábor |title=The Literature of Ancient Sumer |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a1W2mTtGVV4C |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |publication-date=2006 |page=212 |isbn=9780199296330 |access-date=5 February 2021 |quote=The Sumerian story of the universal Flood [...] resembles the longer version preserved in the Babylonian poems ''Atra-hasis'' and the ''Epic of Gilgamesh''. }}</ref> known from tablets found in the ruins of [[Nippur]] in the late 1890s, was translated by assyriologist [[Arno Poebel]].<ref>Black, Jeremy; Cunningham, G.; Robson, E.; Zolyomi, G. ''The Literature of Ancient Sumer'', Oxford University Press, 2004. {{ISBN| 0-19-926311-6}}{{Full citation needed|date=February 2021}}</ref>[[File:Mr. George Smith, the man who transliterated and read the so-called the Babylonian Flood Story of Tablet XI.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[George Smith (Assyriologist)|George Smith]], who discovered and translated the ''[[Epic of Gilgamesh]]'']]

Academic Yi Samuel Chen<ref>{{cite web |title=Yi Samuel Chen |url=https://history.hku.hk/staff-y-chen.html |publisher=[[University of Hong Kong]] |access-date=28 March 2023 |archive-date=28 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230328215944/https://history.hku.hk/staff-y-chen.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> analyzed various texts from the [[Early Dynastic Period (Mesopotamia) |Early Dynastic III Period]] through to the Old Babylonian Period, and argues that the flood narrative was only added in texts written during the [[Old Babylonian Period]]. With regard to the [[Sumerian King List]], observations by experts have always indicated that the portion of the Sumerian King List talking about before the flood differs stylistically  from the King List Proper. Old Babylonian copies tend to represent a tradition of before the flood apart from the actual King List, whereas the [[Ur III]] copy of the King List and the duplicate from the Brockmon collection indicate that the King List Proper once existed independent of mention of the flood and the tradition of before the flood. Chen gives evidence to prove that the section of before the flood and references to the flood in the Sumerian King List were all later additions added in during the Old Babylonian Period, as the Sumerian King List went through updates and edits. The flood as a watershed in early history of the world was probably a new historiographical concept emerging in the Mesopotamian literary traditions during the Old Babylonian Period, as evident by the fact that the flood motif did not show up in the Ur III copy and that earliest chronographical sources related to the flood show up in the Old Babylonian Period. Chen also concludes that the name of "[[Ziusudra]]" as a flood hero and the idea of the flood hinted at by that name in the Old Babylonian Version of "[[Instructions of Shuruppak]]" are only developments during that Old Babylonian Period, when also the didactic text was updated with information from the burgeoning Antediluvian Tradition.<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite book |first1=Yi Samuel |last1=Chen |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199676200.001.0001 |title=The Primeval Flood Catastrophe |year=2013 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-967620-0 }}</ref>

In the Hebrew [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]] ([[documentary hypothesis|9th century BC]]), the god [[Yahweh]], who had created man out of the dust of the ground,<ref>{{cite book |last=Davidson |first=Robert |title=Genesis 1–11 |date=1973 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9780521097604 |pages=30 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7cIb7DvR5BsC&q=genesis }}</ref> [[Genesis flood narrative|decides to flood the earth]] because of the corrupted state of mankind. Yahweh then gives the protagonist, [[Noah]], instructions to build [[Noah's Ark|an ark]] in order to preserve human and animal life. When the ark is completed, Noah, his family, and representatives of all the animals of the earth are called upon to enter the ark. When the destructive flood begins, all life outside of the ark perishes. After the waters recede, all those aboard the ark disembark and have Yahweh's promise that he will never judge the earth with a flood again. Yahweh causes a [[rainbows in mythology|rainbow]] to form as the sign of this promise.<ref>{{cite book |last=Cotter |first=David W. |title=Genesis |year=2003 |publisher=Liturgical Press |location=[[Collegeville, Minnesota]] |isbn=0814650406 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6lCVzr4cT9QC&q=great+flood |pages=49–51 }}</ref>

In [[Hinduism]], texts such as the [[Satapatha Brahmana]]<ref>{{cite book |author-last= Eggeling |author-first= Julius |author-link= Julius Eggeling |title= Satapatha Brahmana, Part 1 |date= 1882 |url= https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/sbr/sbe12/sbe1234.htm |pages=216–218 (1:8:1:1–6)}}</ref> ({{circa}} 6th century BCE)<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~witzel/Erdosy1995.pdf|title=Early Indian history: Linguistic and textual parametres|first= Michael|last= Witzel|year= 1995|page= 136|encyclopedia=The Indo-Aryans of Ancient South Asia: Language, Material Culture, and Ethnicity|editor-first=George |editor-last=Erdosy|location= Boston |publisher=De Gruyter}}</ref> and the [[Puranas]] contain the story of a great flood, ''[[manvantara]]-sandhya'',<ref>{{cite book |author-last= Gupta |author-first= S. V. |year= 2010 |chapter= Ch. 1.2.4 Time Measurements |editor-last1= Hull |editor-first1= Robert |editor-last2= Osgood |editor-first2= Richard M. Jr. |editor-link2= Richard M. Osgood Jr. |editor-last3= Parisi |editor-first3= Jurgen |editor-last4= Warlimont |editor-first4= Hans |title= Units of Measurement: Past, Present and Future. International System of Units |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pHiKycrLmEQC&pg=PA7 |series=Springer Series in Materials Science |volume=122 |publisher= [[Springer Publishing|Springer]] |pages= 7–8 |isbn=9783642007378 |quote= Paraphrased: Mahayuga equals 12,000 Deva (divine) years (4,320,000 solar years). Manvantara equals 71 Mahayugas (306,720,000 solar years). Kalpa (day of Brahma) equals an Adi Sandhya, 14 Manvantaras, and 14 Sandhya Kalas, where 1st Manvantara preceded by Adi Sandhya and each Manvantara followed by Sandhya Kala, each Sandhya lasting same duration as Satya yuga (1,728,000 solar years), during which the entire earth is submerged in water. Day of Brahma equals 1,000 Mahayugas, the same length for a night of Brahma (Bhagavad-gita 8.17). Brahma lifespan (311.04 trillion solar years) equals 100 360-day years, each 12 months. Parardha is 50 Brahma years and we are in the 2nd half of his life. After 100 years of Brahma, the universe starts with a new Brahma. We are currently in the 28th Kali yuga of the first day of the 51st year of the second Parardha in the reign of the 7th (Vaivasvata) Manu.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author-last= Krishnamurthy |author-first= V. |date= 2019 |chapter= Ch. 20: The Cosmic Flow of Time as per Scriptures |title=Meet the Ancient Scriptures of Hinduism |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HF2NDwAAQBAJ&q=%227th+manvantara%22+%2228th%22&pg=PT407 |publisher= Notion Press |isbn= 9781684669387 |quote= Each manvantara is preceded and followed by a period of 1,728,000 (= 4K) years when the entire earthly universe (bhu-loka) will submerge under water. The period of this deluge is known as manvantara-sandhya (sandhya meaning, twilight).}}</ref> wherein the [[Matsya]] [[Avatar]] of [[Vishnu]] warns the first man,[[Sraddhadeva Manu| Manu]], of the impending flood, and also advises him to build a giant boat.<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/369611/Matsya "Matsya"]. ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]''.</ref><ref>{{cite book |title= A Survey of Hinduism | first= Klaus K. |last= Klostermaier |author-link= Klaus Klostermaier |publisher= SUNY Press|year= 2007|isbn= 978-0-7914-7082-4 |page= 97 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=E_6-JbUiHB4C&q=the+great+flood+in+Hinduism&pg=PA97 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title= Encyclopaedia of Hinduism |volume=2: C–G |first= Sunil |last= Sehgal |publisher= Sarup & Sons |year= 1999 |isbn= 81-7625-064-3 |pages= 401–402 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=zWG64bgtf3sC&q=Noah%27s+Ark+in+Hinduism&pg=PA401}}</ref> In [[Zoroastrian]] [[Mazdaism]],<!-- later than 405 BC --> [[Ahriman]] tries to destroy the world with a drought, which [[Mithra]] ends by shooting an arrow into a rock, from which a flood springs; one man survives in an ark with his cattle.<ref>{{cite book | last1= Smith | first1= Homer W. | author-link1= Homer W. Smith | title= Man and His Gods |date= 1952 |publisher= [[Grosset & Dunlap]] |location= New York |pages= 128–29}}</ref> Norbert Oettinger{{who|date=March 2022}} argues that the story of [[Jamshid#In scripture|Yima and the ''Vara'']] was originally a flood myth, and the harsh winter was added in due to the dry nature of Eastern Iran, as flood myths did not have as much of an effect as harsh winters. He has argued that the mention of melted water flowing in [[Vendidad | Videvdad]] 2.24 is a remnant of the flood myth, and mentions that the Indian flood myths originally had their protagonist as Yama, but it was changed to Manu later.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.academia.edu/6083055 |title=Before Noah: Possible Relics of the Flood-Myth in Proto-Indo-Iranian and Earlier |last1=Oettinger |first1=Norbert |journal=Proceedings of the 24th Annual UCLA Indo-European Conference |editor-first=S. W. |editor-last=Jamison |editor-first2=H. C. |editor-last2=Melchert |editor-first3=B. |editor-last3=Vine |location=Bremen |year=2013 |pages=169–183 }}</ref>

In [[Plato]]'s ''[[Timaeus (dialogue)|Timaeus]]'', written {{circa|360 BCE}}, [[Timaeus of Locri|Timaeus]] describes a flood myth similar to the earlier versions. In it, the [[Ages of Man|Bronze race of humans]] angers the high god [[Zeus]] with their constant warring. Zeus decides to punish humanity with a flood. The [[Titan (mythology)|Titan]] [[Prometheus]], who had created humans from clay, tells the secret plan to [[Deucalion]], advising him to build an ark in order to be saved. After nine nights and days, the water starts receding and the ark lands on a mountain.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Platon Timaios |url=http://www.24grammata.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Platon-Timaios.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181024022417/http://www.24grammata.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Platon-Timaios.pdf |archive-date=2018-10-24 |website=www.24grammata.com}}</ref>

The [[Cheyenne]], a North American [[Plains Indians|Great Plains tribe]], has a tradition where a flood altered the course of their history, perhaps occurring in the [[Missouri River Valley]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Seger |first=John H. |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.75643/page/n155/mode/2up |title=Early Days Among the Cheyenne and Arapahoe Indians |date=1934 |pages=147–148 |author-link=John Homer Seger}}</ref> The [[Blackfeet]], another Great Plains tribe, have a story called "[[Blackfoot_mythology#Language_on_a_Mountain|Language on a Mountain]]". In this story the deity Napi, referred to as Old Man, tells the story of a  great flood that swept through the land. After the flood Old Man made the water different colors. He gathered the people on top of a large mountain where he gave them water of different colors. Old Man then told the people to drink the water, then speak, and so they did.<ref name="Duvall and Wissler"/> Everyone was speaking a different language except those who received the black water; they were speaking the same language, and they consisted of the [[Blackfoot Confederacy|bands of the Blackfoot]], the [[Piegan Blackfeet|Piegan]] (Apatohsipikuni and Amskapipikuni), the [[Siksika Nation|Siksika]], and the [[Kainai Nation|Blood]] (Kainai). This was said to have taken place in the highest mountain in the Montana [[Indian reservation|reservation]].<ref name="Duvall and Wissler">{{cite book|last=Duvall|first=D.C.|title=Mythology of the Blackfoot Indians|year=1995|publisher=University of Nebraska Press|location=Lincoln, NE|pages=19|url=https://www.questia.com/library/book/mythology-of-the-blackfoot-indians-by-d-c-duvall-clark-wissler.jsp|author2=Clark Wissler|access-date=2017-08-24|archive-date=2008-08-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080803035419/http://www.questia.com/library/book/mythology-of-the-blackfoot-indians-by-d-c-duvall-clark-wissler.jsp|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The [[Hopi]], southwestern United States, have a tradition of a flood that nearly reached the tops of the mountains, and other [[Puebloans]] have similar legends.<ref name="The Hopi Indians, 1915">{{cite book |last1=Hough |first1=Walter |author1-link=Walter Hough |title=The Hopi Indians |date=1915 |publisher=Torch Press |pages=144, 203 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.79357/page/n205/mode/2up?q=flood}}</ref>