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Flood myth

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"Great Flood" redirects here. For other uses, see Great Flood (disambiguation).
"The Deluge", frontispiece to Gustave Doré's illustrated edition of the Bible. Based on the story of Noah's Ark, this shows humans and a tiger doomed by the flood futilely attempting to save their children and cubs.
Nanabozho in Ojibwe flood story from an illustration by R.C. Armour, in his book North American Indian Fairy Tales, Folklore and Legends, (1905).

A flood myth or deluge myth is a mythical story of a great flood sent by a deity or deities to destroy civilization as an act of divine retribution. It is a theme widespread among many cultures, though it is perhaps best known in modern times through the biblical and Quranic account of Noah's Ark, the Hindu puranic story of Manu, through Deucalion in Greek mythology or Utnapishtim in the Epic of Gilgamesh.

Parallels are often drawn between the flood waters of these myths and the primeval waters found in some creation myths since the flood waters are seen to cleanse humanity in preparation for rebirth. Most flood myths also contain a culture hero who strives to ensure this rebirth.[1]

Origin of flood myths

Adrienne Mayor's The First Fossil Hunters and Fossil Legends of the First Americans promoted the hypothesis that flood stories were inspired by ancient observations of seashells and fish fossils inland and on mountains. The ancient Greeks, Egyptians, Romans, and Chinese all wrote about finding such remains in these locations, and the Greeks hypothesized that Earth had been covered by water several times, noting seashells and fish fossils found on mountain tops as evidence. Native Americans also expressed this belief in their early encounters with Europeans, though they had not written it down previously.[citation needed] However, Leonardo da Vinci postulated that an immediate deluge could not have caused the neatly ordered strata he found in the Italian Apennines.

"The Deluge", by John Martin, 1834. Oil on canvas. Yale University

Some geologists believe that quite dramatic, unusually great flooding of rivers in the distant past might have influenced the legends. One of the latest, and quite controversial, hypotheses of this type is the Ryan-Pitman Theory, which argues for a catastrophic deluge about 5600 BC from the Mediterranean Sea into the Black Sea. This has been the subject of considerable discussion, and a news article from National Geographic News in February 2009 reported that the flooding might have been "quite mild".[2]

There also has been speculation that a large tsunami in the Mediterranean Sea caused by the Thera eruption, dated about 1630–1600 BC geologically, was the historical basis for folklore that evolved into the Deucalion myth. Although the tsunami hit the South Aegean Sea and Crete it did not affect cities in the mainland of Greece, such as Mycenae, Athens, and Thebes, which continued to prosper, indicating that it had a local rather than a regionwide effect.[3]

Another theory is that a meteor or comet crashed into the Indian Ocean around 3000–2800 BC, created the 30 kilometres (19 mi) undersea Burckle Crater, and generated a giant tsunami that flooded coastal lands.[4]

It has been postulated that the deluge myth may be based on a sudden rise in sea levels caused by the rapid draining of prehistoric Lake Agassiz at the end of the last Ice Age, about 8,400 years ago.[5]


The Nüwa Legend and The Great Flood

I) Earlier written records of Nüwa’s story

The earliest written story of Nüwa was from < Liezi, chapter 5: "Questions of Tang" (卷第五 汤问篇)> (475 - 221 BC) author: Lie Yukou. Paragraph 1: "Nüwa repairs the heavens" Describes Nüwa repairing the imperfect heavens. Nüwa uses five colored stones to repair the heavens, cut the legs of a tortoise and use them as struts to establish the four corners of the earth(The Ends of the Earth). According to the earliest written story of Nüwa, Nüwa was not the creator of Human Beings. In the book: <Huainanzi, chapter 6: Lanmingxun (览冥训)> (179 - 122 BC) author: Liu An, "Nüwa Mended the Sky": In remote antiquity, the four corners collapsed, and the earth descended into chaos: the firmament was no longer able to cover everything, and the earth was no longer able to support itself; fire burned wild, and waters flooded the land. Fierce beasts ate common people, and ferocious birds attacked the old and the weak. Hence, Nüwa tempered the five-colored stone to mend the heavens, cut off the feet of the great turtle to establish the four corners of the Earth (The Ends of the Earth), killed the black dragon to help the earth, and gathered the ash of reed to stop the flood. After Nüwa finishing her tasks: Heavens repaired; The Four Corners of the Earth established; Flood water dried; China became peaceful; Evil animals died; Good people grew; Then Nüwa left Square Earth, enfolded (went to) Round Heaven (In Chinese《淮南子•览冥训》：往古之时，四极废，九州岛裂，天不兼覆，地不周载，火滥（lǎn）焱而不灭，水浩洋而不息，猛兽食颛民，鸷鸟攫老弱。于是,女娲炼五色石以补苍天，断鳌足以立四极，杀黑龙以济冀州，积芦灰以止淫水。苍天补，四极正；淫水涸，冀州平；狡虫死，颛民生; 背方州，抱圆天。)

From the earlier written records, we only could find the following story of Nüwa： Repaired the heavens; Established the four corners of the earth (The Ends of the Earth); Killed the black Dragon; Stopped The Big Flood. We could find that Nüwa was not the creator of Human Beings.

Later, mankind had keep enriching Nüwa’s stories by adding in more fancies. Nüwa is presented differently in so many myths; it is not accurate to tie her down as a creator, mother. Depending on the myths, she is responsible for being a wife, sister, man, tribal leader (or even emperor), creator, maintainer, etc. It is not clear from the evidence which view came first. Regardless of the origins, most myths present Nüwa as female in a procreative role after a calamity.

II) Nüwa and Noah

From Nüwa’s story, we knew there was a big flood. This flood was exactly the same flood of Noah (Genesis 6). The waters were from the heavens. Genesis 7:11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, on the seventeenth day of the second month--on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. 12 And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights。

III) Nüwa and Angel

From China Legend, Nüwa appeared only after Pangu opened up the universe. Nüwa was created by Pangu. We can consider Pangu to be God, and Nüwa to be an Angel created by God. Nüwa carried out God’s tasks after The Big Flood. The main tasks of Nüwa were to work for God: to repair the heavens; to establish the four corners of the earth (The ends of the Earth); to kill the black dragon; to stop the flood. Genesis 8:2 Now the springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens had been closed, and the rain had stopped falling from the sky. The Bible uses the terms מלאך אלהים (mal'akh Elohim; messenger of God), מלאך יהוה (mal'akh YHWH; messenger of the Lord), בני אלהים (b'nai Elohim; sons of God) and הקודשים (ha-qodeshim; the holy ones) to refer to beings traditionally interpreted as angels. Daniel is the first biblical figure to refer to individual angels by name. The writer includes the names Gabriel (God's primary messenger) in Daniel 9:21 and Michael (the holy fighter) in Daniel 10:13. These are part of Daniel's apocalyptic visions and are an important part of all apocalyptic literature. Angels are created by God, and carrying out God's tasks "praise ye Him, all His angels: praise ye Him, all His hosts... for He spoke and they were made. He commanded and they were created..." (Psalms 148:2-5; Colossians 1:16).

See also

References

  1. ^ "Flood" The Oxford Companion to World mythology. David Leeming. Oxford University Press, 2004. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. 17 September 2010 http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t208.e567
  2. ^ "'Noah's Flood' Not Rooted in Reality, After All?" National Geographic News, February 6, 2009.
  3. ^ Castleden, Rodney (2001) "Atlantis Destroyed" (Routledge).
  4. ^ Scott Carney (November 7, 2007). "Did a comet cause the great flood?". Discover Magazine. Retrieved 17 September 2010.
  5. ^ Sarah Hoyle (November 18, 2007). "Noah's flood kick-started European farming". University of Exeter. Retrieved 17 September 2010.

Other

  • Alan Dundes (editor), The Flood Myth, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1988. ISBN 0-520-05973-5 / 0520059735
  • Lloyd R. Bailey. Noah, the Person and the Story, University of South Carolina Press, 1989, ISBN 0-87249-637-6
  • John Greenway (editor), The Primitive Reader, Folkways, 1965
  • G. Grey, Polynesian Mythology, Illustrated edition, reprinted 1976. (Whitcombe and Tombs: Christchurch), 1956.
  • A.W. Reed, Treasury of Maori Folklore (A.H. & A.W. Reed:Wellington), 1963.
  • Anaru Reedy (translator), Nga Korero a Pita Kapiti: The Teachings of Pita Kapiti. Canterbury University Press: Christchurch, 1997.
  • W. G. Lambert and A. R. Millard, Atrahasis: The Babylonian Story of the Flood, Eisenbrauns, 1999, ISBN 1-57506-039-6.
  • Faulkes, Anthony (transl.) (1987). Edda (Snorri Sturluson). Everyman. ISBN 0-460-87616-3.
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