The Bible (Tv Series on History Channel)

[sr71plt]

Originally Posted by JackLuis

I'd have to look it up again. I didn't keep a source because it wasn't important to my research. I'll take your info as gospel though.

All of my references are a good ten years old (I gave up writing biblical stuff for erotica ). If there's been a lot of new research since then, I will have missed it. Everything I have, though, says the Pentatuch was written around 1400 B.C. There's a split on how much Moses had to do with the writing, but everything I have places the writing in that period. Genesis is the first book of the Pentatuch.

[JackLuis]

Originally Posted by sr71plt

All of my references are a good ten years old (I gave up writing biblical stuff for erotica ). If there's been a lot of new research since then, I will have missed it. Everything I have, though, says the Pentatuch was written around 1400 B.C. There's a split on how much Moses had to do with the writing, but everything I have places the writing in that period. Genesis is the first book of the Pentatuch.

I think a case could be made that the Mesopotamian influences in the Jewish tradition since the Meso's were a major influence in the region. Good thing the Jews didn't adopt the whole Alien gene manipulation story it would have wrecked a lot of careers.

[slyc_willie]

This link provides, in numerous nutshells, the basic flood myths from around the world. Some of the books I have go into greater detail about these, but the basic information is identical.

The fact that flood myths are prevalent around the world is one thing; that so many of them include the selection of a single figure to build a boat, vessel, or ark, by God or some other Deity, and take on board their families and specimens of all (or nearly all) of the animals of the world is incredible.

If Noah-like flood myths were only prevalent among nearby cultures (Babylonian, Sumerian, Persian), I could chalk it up to shared cultural influences. But the same basic myth is found among the ancient cultures of central Asia, India, Siberia. Even some of the flood myths of Central and South America depict men and women saved from a flood by being placed inside a box or other container.

Obviously, flood myths abound around the globe. That makes a pretty powerful case for a shared inspiration for these myths, I think.

[sr71plt]

I think what is more obvious is that when new religions tried to get going, they latched into the existing myths/beliefs of those they were trying to convert so that they would be more comfortable with the new religion. The whole Christmas thing reeks of that.

[slyc_willie]

Originally Posted by sr71plt

I think what is more obvious is that when new religions tried to get going, they latched into the existing myths/beliefs of those they were trying to convert so that they would be more comfortable with the new religion. The whole Christmas thing reeks of that.

Oh, absolutely. I don't think there's any contention that all the various religions of the world garnered inspiration from existing sources. There's no better way for a new religion to endear itself to potential converts than to say, "Hey, we believe the same thing you do, but more than that, we explain it better."

The Romans were -- pardon the expression -- gods of assimilation. Rather than simply overtaking new territory, they would incorporate the belief systems of those they conquered. Before Christianity came along, there were literally hundreds of Roman gods and goddesses, all borrowed from different cultures and "Romanized" to fit the larger picture.

[Stella_Omega]

Originally Posted by slyc_willie

This link provides, in numerous nutshells, the basic flood myths from around the world. Some of the books I have go into greater detail about these, but the basic information is identical.

The fact that flood myths are prevalent around the world is one thing; that so many of them include the selection of a single figure to build a boat, vessel, or ark, by God or some other Deity, and take on board their families and specimens of all (or nearly all) of the animals of the world is incredible.

If Noah-like flood myths were only prevalent among nearby cultures (Babylonian, Sumerian, Persian), I could chalk it up to shared cultural influences. But the same basic myth is found among the ancient cultures of central Asia, India, Siberia. Even some of the flood myths of Central and South America depict men and women saved from a flood by being placed inside a box or other container.

Obviously, flood myths abound around the globe. That makes a pretty powerful case for a shared inspiration for these myths, I think.

Well, water is pretty important to human survival, and we almost always live near it if we have any sort of choice at all. And where there is water in natural bodies, there will be floods.

Of course people get into a boat or box or whatever. How else are you going to save your characters-- have them swim for forty days and nights?

And dry spells, too. There are thousands of stories about the water drying up. Even in the bible. They just don't include the utterly charming 'two of every animal' paragraph, so we don't remember them as well.