Legends about the flood of different nations. Myths and tales about the flood that exist among different peoples

If you think that the legend about the Flood and the righteous Noah, who managed to escape along with his family and living creatures, exists only in the Bible, then you are mistaken. This story about a global catastrophe, which was sent by the Divine Forces in order to cleanse the Earth of sins and vicious people, has analogues in the cultural sources of other peoples, much more ancient than the Bible. For example, the oldest record of a worldwide flood, a punishment of the gods, was found on Sumerian cuneiform tablets, where it was written in the form of a poem. It was she who subsequently influenced the formation of the myth of the Flood in different cultures and religions, while many still consider the Bible to be the primary source.
The Sumerian version of the legend is set out in the Epic of Gilgamesh, an epic based on Sumerian legends, which describes how the Divine Council decided to destroy humanity by sending a terrible flood and rain. But one of the gods, Ea (Niningiku), told about this to his favorite, the wise and righteous king Utnapishtim (Ziusudra), advising him to start building a ship for himself, his family, worthy citizens, works of art, property and livestock. The natural disaster lasted six or seven days, even the gods themselves were horrified by its destructive power. They blessed the surviving Utnapishtim and his wife, giving them immortality and telling them to start a new life in a new place.
Assyro-Babylonian records also contain a similar myth, dating back to the Sumerian source. It tells how the Supreme God was angry with people for disobedience and decided to send a flood on them, having previously warned the king about this, ordering him to write down the history of his kingdom and all available knowledge for future generations, build a ship, make a list of things and animals that you need to take it with you and sail to the Ararat Mountains, the Abode of the Gods. In the Bible, Noah was on his way to them on his ark.
The mythology of Ancient India also has its own version of this legend: the god Vishnu, taking the form of a fish, told the hero Manu that a great flood was coming, the punishment of the gods, but he would help him and his wife escape by sending a ship and showing the way to Mount Nabandana (Himalayas).
In Phrygia (Asia Minor) there was a city of Apamea Kibotos, the name of which can be translated as “ark, box.” Coins were found here that depicted a ship with people, with birds with branches flying towards them. The inscription on the coins is symbolic - “Noe”, that is, “Noah”.
In Greek myths, there is also a description of the great flood, which was sent to people by the god Zeus, angry at their disobedience. The son of Prometheus, King Deucalion, built an ark and, together with his wife, sailed to Mount Parnassus.
The ancient Egyptians also have a story about the flood; in the Book of the Dead, the god of wisdom Thoth says the following: “They fought, they were mired in strife, they caused evil, they stirred up enmity, they committed murder, they created grief and oppression... Here "Why am I going to wash away everything that I have done? The earth must be washed in the abyss of water by the fury of the flood and become clean again, as in former times."
The ancient tribes of North America had their own legends about the “Big Water”. They tell how the gods sent a flood to the Earth, deciding to get rid of people, only the most worthy and brave managed to survive in it, they sailed for a long time in a boat, and the news of the end of the disaster was brought to them by birds.
As we see, stories about the terrible Flood are in the cultural sources of different peoples, the examples given are only a small part of them. Similar myths can also be found in the Avesta, the holy book of the Persians, in the Koran, among the ancient Chinese and Irish, even among the Eskimos and in Bashkir mythology... This suggests that all world religions have one root, originating in Single Source.

Korkunova Alena, March 2017.

Information about the flood was discovered among books found during excavations of the palace of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal in Nineveh Published on the web portal

During excavations of the palace of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal in Nineveh, a huge cuneiform library was discovered. Among thousands of books, some were discovered that reported about the flood, in detail strikingly coinciding with the Biblical data.

So, the news of the flood is confirmed by ethnographic data from the peoples of the whole (!) world, as well as by reports from ancient chronicles and historians.

But in addition to written evidence, the flood also left numerous archaeological and geological traces.

Ethnographic data about the flood

“Myths, legends, traditions about the flood are widespread... The basic scheme of myths about the universal flood comes down to the following: God sends a flood to people as punishment for bad behavior... some people (usually righteous people), notified in advance about the flood, take measures for salvation: they build ship (ark, raft, large canoe, boat, etc.)… Those escaping take with them animals, seeds or plants, etc. The downpour leading to the flood continues for a sacredly marked period of time (e.g. 7, 40 days, six months). When it stops and the waters begin to subside, a bird is released in search of dry land, finally bringing good news. The ship reaches the mountain... A new life begins... people, livestock, plants multiply and repopulate the earth"

Here are just a few examples:

India

The oldest Indian legends about the flood date back to the 6th century BC. and are contained in the religious work of Satapatha Brahman. Indian Noah - Manu, warned about the flood, builds a ship on which he manages to escape, while all the people die in the waters of the flood. Immediately after the end of the disaster, Manu makes a sacrifice to the gods for his salvation.

The Bhil tribe, living in the jungles of Central India, also talks about the flood; Rama (Noah), who escaped from the flood, appears in their narrative, which is also described in the famous Indian works “Ramayana” and “Mahabharata”

Australia

According to the legend of the natives, many centuries ago a flood hit the earth, in which all people died, except for a few people

Africa

Flood legends are common, in particular, among the Bapedi tribe in South Africa, and among a number of tribes East Africa. In their legends, a certain Tumbainot, the African Noah, was famous for his piety. Therefore, when the gods decided to destroy the sinful world with a flood, they informed him of their intention in advance. They also ordered him to build a ship on which he, his family, and representatives of the entire animal world were to be saved. The flood raged for a long time. Several times Tumbanot released either a dove or a hawk to find out about his end. When the water subsided, he saw a rainbow, signifying the end of God's wrath.

South America

The Indian tribes of the Kaingang, Curruaya, Paumari, Abederi, Catauchi (Brazil), Araucan (Chile), Murato (Ecuador), Macu and Akkawai (Guiana), Incas (Peru), Chiriguano (Bolivia) tell stories about the flood that are almost identical to the Biblical. Noah appears in them under various names - Tamanduare, Uassu, Anatiua, Sigu, etc. They also include the mountain at which the ark stopped after the flood. An episode is also mentioned when those on the ark release one of the animals in order to find out whether the water has subsided.

Central America

In the Mexican province of Michoacan, the legend of the flood has also been preserved. According to the natives, at the beginning of the flood, a certain man named Teuni with his wife and children boarded a large ship, taking with them animals and seeds of various plants in sufficient quantities to re-supply the earth with them after the flood. When the water subsided, the man released the hawk, the bird flew away... finally he released the hummingbird, and the bird returned with a green branch in its beak.

North America

The Montagnais, Cherokees, Pima, Delaware, Solto, Tinne, Papago, Akagchemey, Luiseño, Cree, and Mandan tribes also tell of a flood in which one man was saved by sailing to a mountain in the west by boat. The Mandans had an annual holiday with a special ritual in memory of the end of the flood. The ceremony was timed to coincide with the time when the willow leaves on the river banks fully bloomed, because “the branch brought by the bird was willow.”

Europe

The tales of the flood are recorded in the Prose Edda, the epic monument of the ancient Irish, by the poet Snorri Sturluson. During the disaster, only Bergelmir with his wife and children escaped by boarding the ark.

The Scandinavian heroes who survived the flood, Byth, his wife Birren and their daughter, were also saved by boarding the ark.

Legends about the flood have also been preserved among the inhabitants of Wales, Friesland, etc.

But the events of the flood are more fully described among the ancient disappeared peoples in cuneiform libraries discovered by archaeologists.

We owe the most significant discovery in this area to the English scientist George Smith, who in 1872, while deciphering several cuneiform tablets from the library of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal, discovered the “Epic of Gilgamesh,” which details the story of the flood.

Even the natives of Greenland preserved legends about a flood in which all of humanity perished, except for one man.

Sumerian epic

As further excavations showed, the Epic of Gilgamesh was not the oldest account of the flood. During excavations of the Mesopotamian city of Nippur, a small tablet containing six columns was found. Information about its contents was first published in 1914 by Assyriologist professor Arne Pebeley. This text contained the following: “In approximately one-third of the text preserved, it talks about the creation of man, animals and plants, the founding of five cities, the wrath of the gods and their decision to send a flood to the earth to destroy the human race.

To the devout and God-fearing king Ziusudra, a divine voice announces the decision of the gods: a flood will fall on the earth in order to completely destroy the seed of the human race... All the storms raged with unprecedented force at the same time. At the same moment, a flood flooded the main sanctuaries. For seven days and seven nights the flood flooded the earth, and the winds carried the huge ship through the stormy waters. Then Utu (the sun god - approx. A.O.), the one who gives light to heaven and earth, came out. Then Ziusudra opened a window on his huge ship, and Utu penetrated his rays into the huge ship. Ziusudra, the king prostrated himself before Utu, the king killed a bull for him, slaughtered a sheep.”

Also, “a number of other Sumerian documents written in cuneiform mention both the flood and the Sumerian Noah - Ziusudra...

Legends and tales of different peoples say a lot about a fertile country in which happy people once lived. However, this country perished in the waters of the Great Flood, and the place where it was was covered with a shell of many meters of ice. And the myths of Ancient Greece feature a character who is an analogue of the biblical Noah.

The legend tells how Zeus, the king of the gods, decided to destroy humanity, mired in numerous sins. A man named Deucalion managed to avoid death by building a spacious ark. A similar legend appears in Vedic myths.

The myths of the Indians of Central America also tell of an era that ended with the death of the people living at that time, the cause of which was a severe flood, when even the highest mountains disappeared into the abyss. The codex of the priests of the Quiche tribe “Popol Vuh”, now living in Guatemala, describes this event as follows: “The face of the Earth darkened, and black rain began to fall; rain during the day and downpour at night... People fled in despair... They tried to climb onto the roofs of houses that collapsed and threw them to the ground. They tried to climb to the tops of the trees, but the trees threw them off, people sought salvation in caves and grottoes, and they buried people. Thus the death of people doomed to destruction was completed.” And only two people survived, because the gods ordered them to hollow out a cavity in the trunk of a huge tree. They crawled there and only thanks to this they remained alive.

The inhabitants of the New World still have legends about the onset of cold weather. Thus, the Toba Indians pass on to each other a myth about the coming of the “Great Cold,” from which many people died. Only a few survived, stocking up on wood and keeping the fire going. American methods of exact sciences confirm the testimony of legends. According to U.F. Libby, approximately 10,400 years ago, the traces of man on the American continent suddenly disappear.

Ancient Iranian sacred texts tell of a time when all people lived carefree and happily. It is alleged that the ancestors of the Iranian Aryans lived in the country of Aryan Wedge. The climate of this paradise country was moderate and promoted fertility. However, as a result of an attack by the devil, it turned into a lifeless icy desert. One of the sacred books of the Iranian Aryans, the Zend-Avesta, tells that their ancestors were warned about the onset of cold weather: “Destructive winters will fall on the earth, they will bring with them severe frosts... They will bring snow 14 fingers deep... Now in this once flourishing country there are ten months of winter and only two - summer. The water freezes there, the ground freezes, the trees freeze... Everything around is covered in deep snow, and this is the most terrible of misfortunes...” The sun in this country began to rise only once. And the year seemed like one day and one night. On the advice of the gods, the ancestors of the Aryans left this country forever.

Now let's turn to scientific data. The fact that floods of water and the cold that followed them suddenly hit many parts of the world is evidenced by the fact that many dead animals are still found in the north of Eurasia and North America. Their torn bodies mixed with tree trunks, stones and dirt form a homogeneous mass. All this was frozen solid and still rests in permafrost, being a kind of monument. Many experts believe that the frozen mess was formed due to a huge wave that swept through these places about 13,000 years ago, sweeping away everything in its path. Mammoths, woolly rhinoceroses, bison, camels, horses, saber-toothed hygras and other large mammals were instantly killed and buried under a layer of mud carried by the water. The mammoth meat turned out to be so well preserved that local residents, even before the revolution, thawed it and fed it to their sled dogs. And this is after 13,700 years since the death of animals! This dating of their death was established using the radiocarbon method. This proves that mammoths were not eaten by ancient people, as some researchers suggest, but that they died as a result of a natural disaster.

As another evidence of the sudden death of animals, one can regard the fact that undigested buttercups, bells, and various herbs were found in their stomachs. In addition, all this mid-latitude vegetation grew where today only dwarf willows spread. Polar explorer Eduard von Toll, while studying the ancient fauna and flora of the New Siberian Islands, discovered the remains of a saber-toothed tiger and fragments of a fruit tree with fruits and leaves. Now the New Siberian Islands are one of the coldest places in the world. But just over 10,000 years ago this place looked completely different. Those animals that did not die from the cold died from hunger. For example, many mammoths discovered in fossil form have their tusks worn away from below. They tried to dig out reindeer moss and other plants from under the fallen snow. However, this did not save the mammoths. The giants were unable to feed themselves in the icy desert.

Darwin, traveling through South America, discovered a fossil horse tooth along with the remains of long-dead animals. What was unusual about this was that the Europeans who first sailed to America never saw horses. They brought them with them, then some of these horses went wild, multiplied and took root well in both Americas. It turns out that horses used to exist in America, but they died at the same time as many other animals. A similar pattern of mass extinction of animals was observed on other continents. For example, in Australia alone, nineteen species of large animals died at the same time.

Some scientists believe that the disaster occurred because our Earth, suspended in space, “flipped over”, changing the inclination of its axis of rotation. This also changed the angle of incidence of the sun's rays. Before this natural disaster, poorly lit polar regions were located in other parts of the globe. The snowy polar caps, exposed to the direct rays of the sun, melted, and the ocean level rose sharply. Water flooded many lands. Geological and paleobiological data indicate that previously the level of the World Ocean was much lower than it is today. For example, the Japanese scientific submarine Shikai discovered coral skeletons off the coast of Australia at a depth of 150 m that were alive 13,000 years ago. Corals grow near the surface of the water because they need sunlight to grow. Thanks to this circumstance, scientists concluded that the level of the World Ocean just 13,000 years ago was 150 m lower. If we mentally lower the ocean level to such a depth, then huge areas of land thousands of kilometers will “float” to the surface and the contours of the continents will change greatly. For example, the coastline of the Eurasian continent will be much further north. Indeed, river beds have been discovered on the shelves of the Arctic Ocean, which are now located at the bottom of the northern seas. In addition, on Spitsbergen, people discovered herds of reindeer, which could only get to the island by land, which once stretched from Spitsbergen to Europe. North America was connected to Europe by a land bridge passing through Greenland and Iceland. The fact that North America and Europe were once a single continent is evidenced by the amazing similarity of their flora and fauna.

We now continue to live in the Ice Age. Many shelves of the Arctic Ocean, occupied today by the northern seas, used to be dry land. Where the endless tundra stretches, oak groves once grew and ostriches ran. And to this land, where today there are only bare stones covered with lichen, and dwarf birches and willows creep, every spring countless flocks of birds and various animals flock.

The same can be said about people. Polar explorers, Arctic explorers, meteorologists, geologists, fishermen, hunters, pilots, submariners, military men - they are drawn to these places like a magnet. Having been there at least once, they cannot help but return there again! What pushes people to constantly come, sail, fly into this! the edge of white silence and cold? The call of the ancestors settled in their hearts! They are imperiously called to this mysterious country, flooded with icy water and covered with multi-meter ice, the homeland of people and animals in the now cold Arctic.

One of the most striking episodes of the Bible, undoubtedly, is the legend of the Flood. This legend, striking the imagination like no other, has served as an eternal theme for artists of all times. It is interesting that references to the Flood are found in the oral literature and epics of many peoples of our planet. Scientists have found that similar myths exist in Australia, India, Tibet and Lithuania; they existed: and in pre-Columbian America. The content of these legends is very similar. The Spaniards, who at one time explored the New World, were amazed at the amazing coincidence in the details of all the stories about the global flood among different Indian tribes.

The description of the biblical Great Flood, which occurred about 5 thousand years ago, is not the very first mention of this disaster. An earlier Assyrian myth, recorded on clay tablets, tells of Gilgamesh, who escaped in an ark with various animals and, after the end of a seven-day flood, strong winds and rain, landed on Mount Nitzir in Mesopotamia. By the way, many details coincide in the stories of the floods: in order to find out whether the earth appeared from under the water, Noah released a raven and twice a dove; Ut-Napishtim - dove and swallow. The methods of building arks are also similar. What is this - a free presentation of the same event, a story about different regional floods, or facts from the history of a real global flood, in which several representatives of different nations, independently of each other, were warned (or guessed, felt themselves) about the impending danger ?

Thirteen myths, different ones at that, have come to us from Asia; four are from Europe; five are from Africa; nine from Australia and Oceania; thirty-seven from the New World: sixteen from North America; seven from Central and fourteen from Southern. The German historian Richard Hennig noted that among different peoples, “the duration of the flood varies from five days to fifty-two years (among the Aztecs). In seventeen cases it was caused by downpours; in others, snowfalls, melting glaciers, cyclones, storms, earthquakes, tsunamis. The Chinese, for example, believe that all floods are caused by the evil spirit Kun-Kun: “In a fit of anger, he hits his head on one of the pillars supporting the sky, and the heavens throw giant waterspouts to the ground.”

None of these hypotheses have ever been confirmed. But the traditions of reporting the events of the flood indicate that a catastrophe associated with a short-term general flooding of the land actually occurred on all continents.

All world legends about the flood have one common detail. Legends say that in those days there was no... Moon in the sky. Those who lived in antediluvian times were called “dolunniks” (the ancient Greeks called them “proto-selenites”, from the Greek Selene - Moon). So maybe this is the answer to the mystery of the Flood? Our only satellite, due to its significant mass, causes small floods and tides on Earth twice a day. The moon attracts more strongly the point on the earth's surface that is closest to it, and a hump “grows” at the sublunar point. The soil rises by half a meter, the ocean level by a meter, and in some places up to 18m. (Bay of Fundy in the Atlantic). And although we humans have long been accustomed to this seemingly ordinary phenomenon, it is unique in our Solar System. Astronomers do not know of another such example of the existence of such a heavy satellite on a relatively light planet like ours. It would be more correct, scientists believe, to call the Earth and the Moon not a planet and its satellite, but a double planet. The formation of such a system at the same time from the point of view of cosmology is impossible, from which it follows that the Moon is not the “sister” of the Earth, but, how to put it, a spouse who once came from the dark depths of space. They even call it a “maiden name”; before, Selena was supposedly the core of the deceased Phaeton.

The Bible is not the only source that tells about the flood that destroyed humanity. Almost all peoples have written evidence or oral stories about the disaster that occurred. Moreover, most of them have similar features. In flood myths, higher powers warn the righteous man about the upcoming flood and order him to build a ship; a man and a woman who are able to continue the race are always saved; animals are necessarily taken on board the ship, which subsequently populate the earth; People learn about the end of the flood from the released birds. In addition, most legends mention a rainbow appearing in the sky when the water recedes.

There are more than one volume of legends dedicated to the global flood. But in our book we will remember only the most famous ones, which arose both in pre- and post-biblical times.

1. Sumer. On adobe tablets from the time of Ashurbanipal, a narrative was found that coincides to the smallest detail with the biblical one. The righteous man spared by the gods bears the name Ziusudra. This was the wise ruler of the city of Shuruppak.

2. Babylonia and Assyria. Assyro-Babylonian myths are closely related to Sumerian ones, and the myth of the universal flood too. According to the legend set out in Greek by the Babylonian priest Beross, the god Kronos was angry with the people. Appearing to King Xisuthras, he ordered him to first write the history of his kingdom, bury it in the city of Sippar, preserving the knowledge for future generations, and then build a boat that would save the entire royal family from the flood. Moreover, God indicated the dimensions of the ship (5 stages in length and 2 in width), listed the animals that should be taken with you, and ordered to sail to the abode of the gods, located in the Ararat Mountains (an extraordinary coincidence with the biblical legend!). The flood that began destroyed the entire human race.

Xisuthras, like Noah, released birds several times to find out if dry land had appeared, and after his deliverance he brought rich gifts to God.

3. Ancient Iran. In the sacred book of the Persians “Avesta” there is a legend dedicated to the flood: the main god Ahuramazda informed Patriarch Yima about the upcoming punishment of humanity. He saved himself by building a ship, which, after the flood, moored to Mount Damavand, which is part of Elbrus.

4. Ancient India. On the Hindustan Peninsula there are several myths that testify to the global flood. In the most common version, the god Vishnu appeared to the hero Manu, taking the form of a fish, and predicted that a great flood was coming, but Manu would be saved if, together with his wife and some animals, he boarded a ship sent by the deity. As soon as water began to absorb the land, the hero boarded a ship, which was being pulled by a huge fish, and, after spending some time in sea wanderings, landed at Mount Nabandana, located in the Himalayas.

5. Phrygia. In Asia Minor there was a city called Apamea Kibotos. Translated from Greek, “kibotos” means “box, ark.” Moreover, during its excavations, coins were found on which a ship was minted with two people standing on board, birds with olive branches in their beaks and the inscription “Noe”. Noe - how similar to Noe!

6. Ancient Greece. Both in Greek myths and in the works of many ancient historians of Hellas there are descriptions of a terrible flood that destroyed cities and people. Of course, legends from different sources differ somewhat, but the essence remains the same: King Deucalion, the son of Prometheus, was saved from the waters sent to earth by the angry Zeus, thanks to the help of his father. Deucalion built a box, or ark, and in it, together with his wife Pyrrha, he sailed for nine days and nights to Parnassus, which remained towering above the sea. True, it should be said that, for example. Apollodorus mentions that there were still people who escaped and managed to reach the high mountains. But, on the other hand, Pindar writes that people were completely destroyed, and Deucalion had to create subjects for himself from stones.

For many centuries, in the temple of Zeus in Athens near a deep chasm where, according to legend, the water of the flood went, sacrifices were made to the souls of the dead.

7. Ancient Egypt. The Egyptians, who along with the Greeks had a highly developed civilization, were convinced that the flood came to earth more than once and each time testified to the wrath of the gods.

8. Ancient Ireland. In the northern regions there are also legends dedicated to the great flood. They may not describe the events in as much detail as the Bible or the Avesta, but in many of them the history of the country dates back to the time of the flood, during which Fintan and his wife Kessar were saved. And the Druids, for many centuries, made sacrifices to the gods, thanking them for saving the couple, who gave rise to a new race on Earth.

9. Ancient China. Here, instead of God, the initiator of the catastrophe is the evil deity of water with the body of a snake, who destroyed the pillars supporting the vault of heaven. The Supreme Lord, to whom the entire universe is subordinate, sent the hero Gunya to fight the flood. For nine years, Gun tried to pacify the flow of water by building dams. But his efforts were unsuccessful and he was executed. From Gun's body the hero Yu was born, who was ordered by the Supreme Lord to continue his father's work and given "self-growing, swelling land." To pacify the flood, Yu traveled all over China and other lands, fought with evil spirits, corrected river beds and drilled passages through mountains. He divided China into 9 regions, built 9 main roads, embanked 9 lakes, and measured 9 mountain peaks. He gave rice to the people and ordered them to sow it in the lowlands. The legendary Xia dynasty originated from him. As we can see, the Chinese myth of the flood has its own important features. First, the flood was not sent as punishment for human sins. The people were not to blame. Secondly, deliverance from the flood is associated with the improvement of the earth.

10. Ancient tribes of North America. Although America is located in the opposite hemisphere, myths about the flood have not spared this continent. Moreover, there are not just one or two of them; most tribes have them, even those that live in conditions of eternal drought and rarely see water. The legends about the “big water” were preserved by the Papago, Pima, Akagchemem, Luiseño, Natchi, Mandan, Mascaña and many others. All of them say that the gods, for one reason or another, decided to get rid of people and sent a flood to the earth that destroyed all life. One or two of the most courageous and strong representatives of humanity and several animals managed to escape on the boat. The news of the end of the disaster was brought by a variety of birds. Does this remind you of anything? Very similar to the Bible, only there is more local color and the names are harder to hear: Nu-mokh-muk-a-nah, Vis-kai-chah, etc.

It is impossible even briefly to recount all the myths about the Flood in a short chapter. After all, the Eskimos, the inhabitants of Polynesia, and the Indians of Peru have them... Why are all peoples sure that the flood happened and happened this way and not otherwise?