The Flood – true story or biblical tale?

Geology and research on Old Europe has a surprising message about the biblical story of The Flood. Since ancient times, the biblical story of the Flood has usually been regarded as a fictional, cautionary tale of divine revenge and what would take place if the teachings of the gods were forsaken and their worship neglected. In the 1990's a great discovery was made that rattled the scientific understanding of this event: evidence revealed that a flood really had taken place, and the biblical story (The First Book of Moses 7:17–19, 7:24) was neither fictitious nor a myth.

In 1998, a book called "Noah's Flood" was released. Its authors, the American geologists William Ryan and Walter Pitman, collected research results on water currents between the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. The book became a bestseller. Geologists proved that up until about 6700 BCE, there was a ridge of land between Europe and Asia Minor that crumbled due to an earthquake, and water masses flooded in through the gorge from the Mediterranean Sea. The surface level of the sweet water lake to the North rose, and the area covered by water spread considerably. The earlier dwelling places on the lakeshore were flooded, and the residents had to flee. The chain of events resembles those in the Bible. (There is also a recent novel about these events: Christine Labrige's ”Irya and the Great Flood – Challenges of a World in Transformation” (2022).)

Michelangelo’s interpretation of the events of the Flood. “Il Diluvio” (The Deluge), fresco, Sistine Chapel, Vatican City.

Contemporary accounts were passed down from one generation to the next, and a cultural memory spread orally around a large area around the Black Sea and to the Middle East (the Biblical tradition), Mesopotamia and Europe. The well-known hero of the biblical flood is Noah, and in Mesopotamian mythology it is the hero Gilgamesh.

In Europe's Greek mythological tradition, the survivors of the flood are Deucalion and his wife, Pyrrha. According to the myth, the god Zeus fell in love with Pyrrha. They had an affair, and a son named Hellen was born. The ancient Greeks considered Hellen to be their founding father, and named their nation after him. This myth originated from a flood in the Thessalian plain in central Greece. This was the first phase of the deluge that led to the creation of the Black Sea, as proved by geologists and oceanographers.

The Black Sea deluge and its consequences for cultural development has been widely discussed in academia. Researchers have stated that since about 6500 BCE, cultural development in Europe started to accelerate in comparison to the time preceding the flood. One explanation for this is that the inhabitants of the coastal area who escaped the flood went to e.g. the Danube river valley and established new dwellings there. The survivors who managed to escape were especially resolute and had strong initiative. Thanks to them, the first flourishing centers were born, now known as the cradles of Old European civilization. 

Harald Haarmann and Virpi Lehtinen

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