Transcript Flood Myths

Various Flood
Myths
(Some are older than the
Hebrew/Christian myth
concerning Noah)
Welsh (United Kingdom)
The lake of Llion burst, flooding
all lands. Dwyfan and Dwyfach
escaped in a mastless ship with
pairs of every sort of living
creature. They landed in
Prydain (Britain) and
repopulated the world.
Sumerian (Middle East)
The gods had decided to destroy mankind.
The god Enlil warned the priest-king
Ziusudra ("Long of Life") of the coming
flood by speaking to a wall while Ziusudra
listened on the other side. He was
instructed to build a great ship and carry
beasts and birds upon it.
Babylonian (Middle East)
Three times (every 1200 years), the gods
were distressed by the disturbance from
human overpopulation. The gods dealt with
the problem first by plague, then by famine.
The third time, Enlil advised the gods to
destroy all humans with a flood, but Enki had
Atrahasis build an ark to escape. Also, on the
boat were cattle, wild animals and birds, and
Atrahasis' family.
Assyrian (Middle East)
The gods, led by Enlil, agreed to cleanse the earth of an
overpopulated humanity, but Utnapishtim was warned by
the god Ea in a dream. He and some craftsmen built a
large boat (one acre in area, seven decks) in a week. He
then loaded it with his family, the craftsmen, and "the
seed of all living creatures." The waters of the abyss
rose up, and it stormed for six days. The waters covered
everything but the top of the mountain Nisur, where the
boat landed. Seven days later, Utnapishtim released a
dove, but it returned finding nowhere else to land. He
next returned a sparrow, which also returned, and then a
raven, which did not return. Thus, he knew the waters
had receded enough for the people to emerge.
Chaldean
The god Chronos in a vision warned Xisuthrus, the
tenth king of Babylon, of a flood that was coming. The
god ordered him to build and provision a vessel for
himself, his friends and relations, and all kinds of
animals. Xisuthrus built a ship and loaded it as
ordered. After the flood had come and abated
somewhat, he sent out some birds, which returned.
Later, he tried again, and the birds returned with mud
on their feet. On the third trial, the birds didn't return.
He saw that land had appeared above the waters, so
he drove his ship aground in the Corcyraean
mountains in Armenia.
Zoroastrian
Yima reigned over the world for 900 years. As
there was no disease or death, the population
increased so that it was necessary to enlarge
the earth after 300 years. When the population
became too great after 900 years, Ahura Mazda
warned Yima that destruction was coming in the
form of winter, frost, and subsequent melting of
the snow. He instructed Yima to build a vara, a
large square enclosure, in which to keep
specimens of small and large cattle, human
beings, dogs, birds, red flaming fires, plants and
foodstuffs, two of every kind.
Masai (East Africa)
Tumbainot, a righteous man, had a wife and three
sons. The world was heavily populated in those days,
but the people were sinful and not mindful of God. At
this, God resolved to destroy mankind, except
Tumbainot found grace in His eyes. God commanded
Tumbainot to build an ark and enter it with his family
and some of animals of every sort. God caused a
flood, and all other men and beasts drowned. The
rain finally stopped, and Tumbainot let loose a dove.
The dove returned tired, so Tumbainot knew it had
found no place to rest. When the water ran away, the
ark grounded on the steppe, and its occupants
disembarked. Tumbainot saw four rainbows, one in
each quarter of the sky, signifying that God's wrath
was over.
Vogul (Asia)
After seven years of drought, the Great Woman said to
the Great Man that rains were coming. The Great Man
counseled the other giants to make boats from cut
poplars, anchor them with ropes of willow roots 500
fathoms long, and provide them with seven days of food
and with pots of melted butter to grease the ropes.
Those who did not make all the preparations perished
when the waters came. After seven days, the waters
sank. But all plants and animals had perished, even the
fish. The survivors, on the brink of starvation, prayed to
the great god Numi-târom, who recreated living things.
Altaic (central Asia)
Ülgen commanded Nama to build an ark. The ark
was built on a mountain, and from it were hung eight
80-fathom cables with which to gauge water depth.
Nama entered the ark with his family and the various
animals and birds. Seven days later, the cables gave
way from the earth, showing that the flood had risen
80 fathoms. Seven days later, Nama told his eldest
son to open the window and look around, and the son
saw only the summits of mountains. His father
ordered him to look again later, and he saw only
water and sky. At last the ark stopped in a group of
eight mountains. On successive days, Nama released
a raven, a crow, and a rook, none of which returned.
On the fourth day, he sent out a dove, which returned
with a birch twig.
Tuvinian (Soyot) (north of
Mongolia)
The giant frog (or turtle) which supported
the earth moved, which caused the cosmic
ocean to begin flooding the earth. An old
man who had guessed something like this
would happen built an iron-reinforced raft,
boarded it with his family, and was saved.
When the waters receded, the raft was left
on a high wooded mountain, where, it is
said, it remains today.