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Why Do All Ancient Civilizations Have a Flood Myth?
A chilling theory
The most famous tale of the Great Flood comes to the Western world by way of the bible. The story in the Book of Genesis about Noah and his Ark and the flooding of the Earth has made a great impression on generations of people going back thousands of years. According to the story, God flooded the world to destroy the wickedness of mankind which had become overwhelming. Great rains fell from the sky and waters welled up from the deep places inside the Earth and covered the entire face of the planet.
This story has always felt fantastical to atheists and skeptics. But what is interesting is Genesis is not the only ancient document to make mention of a world purging flood. In fact, almost every ancient human society on Earth has a flood myth.
The ancient Hindus have a story about a man who was warned about an impending flood. That man’s name was Manu and he was urged to build a giant boat to save himself. Curious.
In China, the flood was known as Gun-Yu and it reportedly lasted two full generations causing great destruction in the land.
Many of the Mesopotamian creation stories included a great flood and one of the best-preserved tales exists in the Epic of Gilgamesh.
