DieHardBrownsFan Posted January 26, 2014 Report Share Posted January 26, 2014 Ancient tablet reveals new details about Noah's Ark prototype Published January 24, 2014Associated Press The 4000 year old clay tablet containing the story of the Ark and the flood stands on display at the British Museum in London during the launch of the book 'The Ark Before Noah' by Irving Finkel, curator in charge of cuneiform clay tablets at the British Museum.(AP) It was a vast boat that saved two of each animal and a handful of humans from a catastrophic flood. But forget all those images of a long vessel with a pointy bow -- the original Noah's Ark, new research suggests, was round. A recently deciphered 4,000-year-old clay tablet from ancient Mesopotamia -- modern-day Iraq -- reveals striking new details about the roots of the Old Testament tale of Noah. It tells a similar story, complete with detailed instructions for building a giant round vessel known as a coracle -- as well as the key instruction that animals should enter "two by two." The tablet went on display at the British Museum on Friday, and soon engineers will follow the ancient instructions to see whether the vessel could actually have sailed. It's also the subject of a new book, "The Ark Before Noah," by Irving Finkel, the museum's assistant keeper of the Middle East and the man who translated the tablet. Finkel got hold of it a few years ago, when a man brought in a damaged tablet his father had acquired in the Middle East after World War II. It was light brown, about the size of a mobile phone and covered in the jagged cuneiform script of the ancient Mesopotamians. It turned out, Finkel said Friday, to be "one of the most important human documents ever discovered." "It was really a heart-stopping moment -- the discovery that the boat was to be a round boat," said Finkel, who sports a long gray beard, a ponytail and boundless enthusiasm for his subject. "That was a real surprise." And yet, Finkel said, a round boat makes sense. Coracles were widely used as river taxis in ancient Iraq and are perfectly designed to bob along on raging floodwaters. "It's a perfect thing," Finkel said. "It never sinks, it's light to carry." Other experts said Finkel wasn't simply indulging in book-promotion hype. David Owen, professor of ancient Near Eastern studies at Cornell University, said the British Museum curator had made "an extraordinary discovery." Elizabeth Stone, an expert on the antiquities of ancient Mesopotamia at New York's Stony Brook University, said it made sense that ancient Mesopotamians would depict their mythological ark as round. "People are going to envision the boat however people envision boats where they are," she said. "Coracles are not unusual things to have had in Mesopotamia." The tablet records a Mesopotamian god's instructions for building a giant vessel -- two-thirds the size of a soccer field in area -- made of rope, reinforced with wooden ribs and coated in bitumen. Finkel said that on paper (or stone) the boat-building orders appear sound, but he doesn't yet know whether it would have floated. A television documentary due to be broadcast later this year will follow attempts to build the ark according to the ancient manual. The flood story recurs in later Mesopotamian writings including the "Epic of Gilgamesh." These versions lack the technical instructions -- cut out, Finkel believes, because they got in the way of the storytelling. "It would be like a Bond movie where instead of having this great sexy red car that comes on, somebody starts to tell you about how many horsepower it's got and the pressure of the tires and the capacity of the boot (trunk)," he said. "No one cares about that. They want the car chase." Finkel is aware his discovery may cause consternation among believers in the Biblical story. When 19th-century British Museum scholars first learned from cuneiform tablets that the Babylonians had a flood myth, they were disturbed by its striking similarities to the story of Noah. "Already in 1872 people were writing about it in a worried way -- What does it mean that Holy Writ appears on this piece of Weetabix?" he joked, referring to a cereal similar in shape to the tablet. Finkel has no doubts. "I'm sure the story of the flood and a boat to rescue life is a Babylonian invention," he said. He believes the tale was likely passed on to the Jews during their exile in Babylon in the 6th century B.C. And he doesn't think the tablet provides evidence the ark described in the Bible existed. He said it's more likely that a devastating real flood made its way into folk memory, and has remained there ever since. "I don't think the ark existed -- but a lot of people do," he said. "It doesn't really matter. The Biblical version is a thing of itself and it has a vitality forever. "The idea that floods are caused by sin is happily still alive among us," he added, pointing out a local councilor in England who made headlines recently for saying Britain's recent storms were caused by the legalization of gay marriage. "Had I known it, it would have gone in the preface of the book," Finkel said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LogicIsForSquares Posted January 26, 2014 Report Share Posted January 26, 2014 Almost all of the old testament biblical stories are derived from some other culture's folk stories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LogicIsForSquares Posted January 26, 2014 Report Share Posted January 26, 2014 Interesting read regardless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MLD Woody Posted January 26, 2014 Report Share Posted January 26, 2014 Yeah, a lot of cultures have very similar storied across their history. Which only leads to one explanation... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Browns149 Posted January 26, 2014 Report Share Posted January 26, 2014 "The idea that floods are caused by sin is happily still alive among us," he added, pointing out a local councilor in England who made headlines recently for saying Britain's recent storms were caused by the legalization of gay marriage. All I can say is WOW!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calfoxwc Posted January 27, 2014 Report Share Posted January 27, 2014 WOW ! (they got it right... ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MLD Woody Posted January 27, 2014 Report Share Posted January 27, 2014 WOW ! (they got it right... ) Got what right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Browns149 Posted January 27, 2014 Report Share Posted January 27, 2014 WOW ! (they got it right... ) I better start building my arc then. Because there are 2 gay women living next door to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gftChris Posted January 27, 2014 Report Share Posted January 27, 2014 I better start building my arc then. Because there are 2 gay women living next door to me. http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/society/married-gays-to-tour-drought-hit-countries-2014012082721 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Browns149 Posted January 27, 2014 Report Share Posted January 27, 2014 http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/society/married-gays-to-tour-drought-hit-countries-2014012082721 Isn't the Bay area in California known for it's gay population? http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_24998690/california-drought-bay-area-water-districts-start-asking Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gftChris Posted January 27, 2014 Report Share Posted January 27, 2014 Isn't the Bay area in California known for it's gay population? http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_24998690/california-drought-bay-area-water-districts-start-asking Right, so gays don't cause flooding necessarily, just extreme weather. Sounding like global warming, actually! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MLD Woody Posted January 27, 2014 Report Share Posted January 27, 2014 Homosexuality is directly related to the "suns activity" I guess Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gftChris Posted January 27, 2014 Report Share Posted January 27, 2014 To bring this back on topic, I'm naturally sceptical that this is the real deal, but if somehow it can be proven that this is related to noah and his command from God then that's pretty game-changing. However, I suspect that's not the case, and all we'll be able to ascertain is that it's someone's rough draft of a boat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MLD Woody Posted January 27, 2014 Report Share Posted January 27, 2014 Well obviously the Noah's arc story from the Bible isn't true. Where did all of the water come from to flood the Earth for that long? How could every species on Earth fit in a boat? What about the plants? Why didn't the animals attack each other? How were the animals caught? Incest? etc etc etc. Cultures all across the world have very similar great flood stories. Something probably did happen. Maybe the sea level increased and low lying areas were submerged. Going back far enough these stories could have been exaggerated. Adding all the divinity from god(s) was probably just a way to explain things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gftChris Posted January 27, 2014 Report Share Posted January 27, 2014 Cultures all across the world have very similar great flood stories. Something probably did happen. Maybe the sea level increased and low lying areas were submerged. Going back far enough these stories could have been exaggerated. Adding all the divinity from god(s) was probably just a way to explain things. Yep, I suspect something happened - isn't there geological evidence of a massive flood a few thousand years ago? I thought I'd heard something about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MLD Woody Posted January 27, 2014 Report Share Posted January 27, 2014 Here are some hypotheses on it. http://science.howstuffworks.com/nature/climate-weather/storms/great-flood1.htm Both seem possible. It would also explain the widespread legends among different cultures. It would only make sense it would be attributed to divine beings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legacy Fan Posted January 29, 2014 Report Share Posted January 29, 2014 We can't trust stuff found from that far back in history. The church has clearly changed the meaning of all of this when they translated the bible so many times. Idiots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairHooker11 Posted January 29, 2014 Report Share Posted January 29, 2014 Im pretty sure the hebrew text that was translated into the greek language will tell the same story.,..... how far back is that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LogicIsForSquares Posted January 29, 2014 Report Share Posted January 29, 2014 Fairy tales can go on throughout time through several iterations that relate more to that particular society. I would put on my thinking cap and not believe stories about people living in whales. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MLD Woody Posted January 29, 2014 Report Share Posted January 29, 2014 but it is in the bible which is 100% true because god wrote it and we know god is real because of the bible ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calfoxwc Posted January 29, 2014 Report Share Posted January 29, 2014 Oth, in Joseph Campbell's "Hero of a Thousand Faces", one of the elements of his monomyth theory is "belly of the whale". Not to be taken literally, but figuratively. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LogicIsForSquares Posted January 29, 2014 Report Share Posted January 29, 2014 But every other part is supposed to be taken literally? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MLD Woody Posted January 29, 2014 Report Share Posted January 29, 2014 The Bible means whatever you want it to mean so you can still look right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legacy Fan Posted January 30, 2014 Report Share Posted January 30, 2014 But every other part is supposed to be taken literally? Any reason that taking "thou shall not murder" literally is a major problem? (OT) Or "Do unto others as you would have others done to you" ? (NT) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gftChris Posted January 30, 2014 Report Share Posted January 30, 2014 Any reason that taking "thou shall not murder" literally is a major problem? (OT) Or "Do unto others as you would have others done to you" ? (NT) I think his point is more the things like not eating pork, not wearing mixed textile fabrics, no tattoos and all the rest of the stuff that's supposed to be banned, but generally glossed over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legacy Fan Posted January 30, 2014 Report Share Posted January 30, 2014 I think his point is more the things like not eating pork, not wearing mixed textile fabrics, no tattoos and all the rest of the stuff that's supposed to be banned, but generally glossed over. That was more of a practicality thing. Pigs live in their own shit. Want to know what happens when you eat E.Coli? Muslims still avoid anything pork-based (which is why the Russians buried muslim terrorists that attacked that school several years ago in pig skins). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MLD Woody Posted January 30, 2014 Report Share Posted January 30, 2014 Any reason that taking "thou shall not murder" literally is a major problem? (OT) Or "Do unto others as you would have others done to you" ? (NT) Of course not. But I don't think that's what he meant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gftChris Posted January 30, 2014 Report Share Posted January 30, 2014 That was more of a practicality thing. Pigs live in their own shit. Want to know what happens when you eat E.Coli? Muslims still avoid anything pork-based (which is why the Russians buried muslim terrorists that attacked that school several years ago in pig skins). Right, so I presume you never eat any bacon or pork chops, and the rest of the world has just been extremely lucky to not have died from ham poisoning? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gftChris Posted January 30, 2014 Report Share Posted January 30, 2014 Right, so I presume you never eat any bacon or pork chops, and the rest of the world has just been extremely lucky to not have died from ham poisoning? Or are we coming to the conclusion that parts of the bible are just out of date? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westside Steve Posted January 30, 2014 Report Share Posted January 30, 2014 Or are we coming to the conclusion that parts of the bible are just out of date?[/q] Nor unlike the Constitution... WSS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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