The Flood Legends. An Ethnographic Consideration. Richard Andree [1891, Translation from German, 2024] (original) (raw)

The Genesis Flood Narrative: Crucial Issues in the Current Debate

Andrews University Seminary Studies, 2004

The purpose of this article is to examine major interrelated issues that are present in current discussions about the biblical Flood narrative of Gen 6-9. These include such questions as: the unity and literary genre of these chapters, the nature and extent of the biblical Flood, the relationship between history and theology in the Flood narrative, and the relationship of the biblical Flood narrative to other ANE flood stories. There are three major interpretations of Gen 9 : (1) nonhistorical (mythological) interpretations suggest that Gen 6-9 is a theologically motivated account redacted from two hfferent literary sources (J and P) and lmgely borrowed from other ANE mythological flood traditions; (2) limited or local flood theories narrow the scope of the Genesis Flood to a particular geographical location or locations (usually in Mesopotamia); and (3) tradtional views regard Gen 6-9 as a unified, historically rehble narrative describing a worldwide, global Flood, and written as a...

Some Observations on the Indian and the Mesopotamian Flood Myths

2014

Having taken (with the help of Yuri Berezkin's Catalogue) a bird's eye view on the distribution of various flood motifs all over the world, one can see that Indian (fixed in the Sanskrit sources) and Near Eastern (primarily Mesopotamian) flood myths contain the unique common sequence of motifs. Some points of similarity have been noticed previously, some have escaped attention of scholars until now. The measure of similarity is so high that it points to a kind of genetic connection. A link connecting the Sumero-Babilonian myth with the flood stories in Indo-Aryan, Sanskrit sources was provided probably by the civilization of the Indus Valley.

ANALYSIS OF FLOOD MYTHS AMONG GREAT AND LITTLE TRADITIONS

THE EASTERN ANTHROPOLOGIST , 2023

Across all cultures folklore has an expression of existence comprising the universal value of collectivity and brotherhood and togetherness. Religions like Hinduism, Christianity, Ancient Greeks and Aztecs and several other tribal groups around the globe have diverse cultural histories. But one mythical story has in common about the great deluge. Although these stories are different in detail of events or in specific plot, the premise remains remarkably the same. The recurring theme of flood and myths of a giant deluge constitute an underlying and important theme in all the classic literature as well as in oral tradition. Even Indian classical writings have evidence of flood myth narratives along with the primitive folkloric traditions, especially in the tribal minorities of central India. It can be seen by interpretation of certain characteristics of mythology that are almost universal and have a wide range of distribution and acceptance in all forms of societies. The purpose of this paper would be focusing specifically on the classical collection of flood myths. There would be an attempt on identifying and analyzing a plurality among classical flood myths by selecting the four flood myths from the perspective of great tradition and little tradition in which two are from great and two are from little traditions. Here I am focusing upon comparing and analyzing the deluge stories from Europe and India. By comparing the folklore stories of Bhil and Kamar deluge as little tradition and from great tradition Hindu and Judeo-Christian deluge. However, the original historical occurrence of events can be observed through the modification and enhancement in the myth from generation to generation.

A Biblical Theology of the Flood

2002

A. Terminology: mabbûl (13x) and several other terms B. Extra-biblical Flood stories 1. Flood stories are almost universal (see Nelson, Deluge in Stone) 2. Stories nearest area of dispersion closest to Biblical account 3. Four main flood stories from Mesopotamian sources a. Eridu Genesis (Sumerian, ca. 1600 B.C.)–See T. Jacobsen, JBL 100(1981): 513-529 = Creation, Antediluvian Period, Flood b. Atrahasis Epic (Old Babylonian version, ca. 1600 B.C.)–see W. G. Lambert and a. R. Millard, Atrahasis (Oxford, 1969) = Creation, Anediluvian, Flood c. Gilgamesh Epic, 11 tablet (Neo-Assyrian version, 8th-7th cen. B.C.)–see Pritchard, ANET, pp. 23-26; and Alexander Heidel, The Gilgamesh Epic and OT Parallels (Chicago: University Press, 1946) = only Flood d. Berossus' account (Babylonian priest 3 cent. B.C.)–See Lamber and Millard, pp. 134-137 = just Flood C. Unity of the Genesis Flood Story–see accompanying photocopy from W. Shea, The Structure of the Genesis Flood Narrative and Its Implica...

The Sagas of the Flood. By Hermann Usener, 1899; Tr. by Robert Hutwohl, 2024

Die Sintfluthsagen. Untersucht von Hermann Usener. Mit Fünf Abbildungen und einer Münztafel, 1899

One remembers the astonished movement into which educated people were transported far beyond the circles of their specialists when George Smith gave the first report and sample of a cuneiform report on the flood on December 3, 1872. Just then, the big question about the relationship between the Semitic and Aryan legends had been discussed in quick succession by theologians and orientalists. 1. In the legend of Mount Apesas near Nemea, Deucalion takes the place of Perseus. 2. The germinal point of the flood legend. Idea of the baptism of the Jordan and the birth of Christ. 3. When examined against the five essential components of the Semitic flood legend, the Indian legend shows itself to be independent. 4. The Greek, its relative, preserves ancient goodness in the creation of people and has borrowed the divine judgment from another group of legends. 5. The loading of animals into the ark could have been known early on through Phoenician trade articles, but was never part of the flood legend. 6. The release of the dove, which Plutarch attributes to the Deucalion, is borrowed from Semitic-tinged recent reports. 7. The Semitic legend was formed by poets, but grew out of the same mythical image as the Aryan. The old image emerges tangibly in Egyptian hymns. Derivation of the remaining elements.

A Few “Intensive Comparative Method” Observations on the North American Flood Myth

A Few “Intensive Comparative Method” Observations on the North American Flood Myth, 2025

This is basically a sampler and enticement for those interested in world mythology and the flood in particular to follow through by reading the 150,000 word full translation-study, which will undoubtedly need yet more revisions: https://picaresquescholar.wordpress.com/nenabozho-recreates-the-earth/

Source Criticism and the Flood Narrative

Summary: The classic source critical analysis of the flood narrative remains popular among commentators, yet it disappoints in at least two important respects. First, it fails to deliver on its promises; most of the ‘oddities’ it identifies in the flood narrative are still present in the narrative’s hypothetical sources. And, second, the decomposition of the flood narrative creates new examples of the oddities it claims to remove; that is to say, many passages which read naturally in their present (Masoretic) context seem out of place in the context of their sources. Keywords: Genesis 6–9, the flood narrative, source criticism, Priestly, coherence. Date: Nov. 2020.

The Flood in Legend and Science. Johannes Riem. 1925, Tr. by Robert Hutwohl,: 2024

1925

This work includes an important World Map of Flood Reports, at the end.. The investigation of the Hellenic flood sagas has shown that the older their form, the simpler and more authentic they are, but the more recent they are, the more detailed they are, the more embellishments and details are told. Riem says: “Long and detailed discussions with Dr. Kunike have convinced me that he is obviously right, that the fact of the flood must be admitted, because all myths, especially natural myths, are based on a real fact, but that a later myth-forming time then took possession of the material and took possession of it given the present form of a myth. This is particularly evident in the American Indian sagas, in which the rabbit seen there in the moon plays a major role.”

Flood Myths in the Religions of the Ancient World

Many cultures have some form of flood myth as part of their religious beliefs, but some of the most ancient of these are those of Mesopotamia and other early Middle Eastern civilizations, as well as certain Asian groups. It is possible that these myths have been passed down from their oldest form to the cultures of other groups such as those of the Chinese Miao. It could also be that the flood myths of each culture are actually based on a real catastrophic event that occurred at some point far in the past history of the world and each culture has passed the tale of this flood incident down through the generations.