BIBLICAL CHRONOLOGY
Generation 18: Hebrew years 2040 to 2160 (1720-1600 BCE)
Introduction
God confirms His covenant with Abram and enables his barren wife, Sarah, to give birth.
Year 2047 – 1713 BCE – God confirms His covenant with Abram
A few years later, when Abram was 99 years old, God appeared to him again, to confirm His Covenant:
"As for Me, here is My covenant with you; you shall be the father of a multitude of nations; and your name will no longer be called Abram but your name shall be Abraham because I have given you to be the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you many many descendants, and make nations of you, and kings will come out from you. And I will ratify My covenant between Me and you, and between your offspring after you, for their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God for you, and for your offspring after you. And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land where you sojourn, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting portion, and I shall be God for them." (Genesis 17:1-8)
Compared to the previous vision, to give to Abram’s descendants all the land from Egypt to the Euphrates, the covenant has now been reduced to all the land of Canaan. It may be seen contradictory, but it is not: most of the promised land from the previous vision, from Egypt to the Euphrates, will be given to Ishmael, while the land of Canaan will be given to the son that Abram will have after Ishmael. Thus, Abram's inheritance has been shared between the two sons. This is the first “partition plan” of the region !
About the promise you shall be the father of a multitude of nations, nobody can deny the fact that Abram, "a man who ruled no empire, commanded no army, delivered no prophecy and performed no miracle" (this was the expression used by Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks z”l in a speech at AIPAC 2013; to listen to the address to this convention, click here) has become the most influential character in history of humanity. There are today about 7 billion people on Earth, of which 2.4 billion claim to be Christian and 1.6 billion to be Muslim: this is over half of the population of the world who define themselves as coming from the Abrahamic heritage. There are also some 200 countries in the world (according to the United Nations) of which about 55 are Muslim, over 100 are Christian and there is one Jewish state (Israel). Out of the few continents, all America is Christian, all Europe and Australia is Christian, Africa is partly Christian partly Muslim, and Asia is mostly pagan except for the Middle East and some states in Asia-Pacific.
God changed the name of Abram into Abraham to give it a significance. Do names really have such role? A teaching of the Talmud says so:
How do we know that the name [of a person] determines one’s destiny? — R. Eleazar said: Scripture says: "Come, behold the works of the Lord, who has made desolations in the earth (Psalms 46:9)." Read not ‘shammoth’ [desolations], but ‘shemoth’ [names]. (Talmud, Berachot, 7b)
The word used in this Psalm is indeed שמות [names] and not שממות [desolations].
Then God ordered Abraham to perform the circumcision of all males after 8 days from birth, as an acceptance of the covenant with Him:
"Thus, My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. And an uncircumcised male who will not have the flesh of his foreskin circumcised, you shall cut off this soul from its people: he has invalidated My covenant." (Genesis 17:13-14)
Finally, God ordered Abraham to call his wife Sarah from now on, instead of Sarai, and told him that she will conceive a son that they will call Isaac. Concerning Abraham’s two sons, God made the following statement:
"Here, I have blessed him [Ishmael], and will make many descendants from him, and I will multiply him a great lot; twelve princes will be born from him and I will give them to be a great nation. But I will maintain My covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year." (Genesis 17:20-21)
And Abraham circumcised himself and his son Ishmael and all the male servants and slaves of his house on the same day that God had spoken to him. Ishmael was 13 years old at that time and this explains why the Muslim people, who are the spiritual descendants of Ishmael, circumcise their sons at that age until today. Although, strictly speaking, they received God's blessing with no obligation for the act of circumcision which was only imposed on the descendance of Isaac, as an acceptance of His covenant. But Ishmael having been circumcised like the rest of the male household of Abraham, he took this tradition in his descendance.
Year 2047 – 1713 BCE – Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
The destruction took place on the 15 Nissan of year 2047, because it is mentioned that the two angels sent by God to address Abraham went down to the city of Sodom on that day and were welcome there by Lot who prepared them a meal with unleavened bread, the matzos (Genesis 19:3). God had decided to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, in the valley of Siddim, because of their evil manners that were against Nature. The name Sodom certainly gave the name of the valley called the Valley of Siddim, as mentioned in the previous generation document. The word 'sodomy' is derived from the name of the city of Sodom: this sexual act was officially prohibited in the Roman Empire, based on the account of the Bible, by Emperor Justinian in year 559 CE (source: Novelle 141).
Archaeologists have searched for evidence of massive destruction in the region. Some have been convinced that the site of Tall el-Hammam may probably hold the clue because it is a site that has been dated in the Middle Bronze Age and which shows evidence of "an intense, fiery conflagration that left the […] city in charred ruins". Walls of this ancient city have been found below one meter deep of ashes! For more information about the theory of Tall el-Hammam, read the article from Steven Collins, Where is Sodom? The case for Tall el-Hammam, in the Biblical Archaeology Review, March-April 2013, pp. 32-41.
Lot and his daughters escaped to the city of Zoar, in what will become Moab territory (now in Jordan), where the two daughters bore one son each from their father, in one rare occurrence of incestuous story in the Bible:
The older one bore a son whom she named Moab (מואב) who is the ancestor of the Moabites until this day. And the younger one she too bore a son whom she named Ben-Ammi (בן-עמי) who is the ancestor of the Ammonites until this day. (Genesis 19-37-38)
The laws against incest were not established at the time of the procreation of the daughters of Lot with their father, but they were nonetheless considered as sexual transgressions in the Noachide laws. The daughters wanted to procreate and had no expectation of finding any husband after fleeing their city. So, they had made their father drunk to couple with him without his knowledge.
Strangely, the chapter Genesis 19 started with the tale of the sexual sins of the Sodomites, which caused their destruction, and ended with the sexual sin of Lot’s daughters, from whom the final Redemption will come. This is because the Messiah will be a descendant from King David, who was a descendant from Ruth the Moabite, whose ancestor was Moab, the son issued from the incestuous act that Lot's daughter had performed.
One same chapter for the two sinful stories may be a way to show that, when God decides to punish mankind for their sins, He also offers the root for their redemption at the same time.
The name Moab means from the father and the name Ben-Ammi means son of my people. The kingdom of Moab was located at the East from the Dead Sea, while the kingdom of Ammon was located north from it, also on the Eastern side of the Jordan River.
As for Abraham and Sarah, they went to sojourn in Gerar in the Southern part of Canaan, in what became the Philistine land. Their encounter with their Canaanite king Avimelech led to an alliance. Avimelech started a dynasty of kings from this land. The name Avimelech means Father of king and is recorded a few centuries later in Amarna letters as Abimilku (these Amarna letters concerned a descendant of Avi-Melech, who bore the same dynastical name).
Year 2048 – 1713 BCE – Birth of Isaac
When Abraham was 100 years old, in year Hebrew 2048 (1712 BCE), his wife Sarah gave birth to a son, Isaac. According to Jewish tradition, Isaac was born on a New Year Day, Rosh Hashana. It was the same year 1713 BCE as the destruction of Sodom in the month of Nisan. That Hebrew year 2048 also happened 52 years since the Dispersion (Tower of Babel) and 26 years since God spoke to Abraham in Charan: 52 is twice 26, number of God, showing the presence of God's will in these events (Dispersion, God promise to Abraham, birth of Isaac).
The birth of Isaac marks the 3rd attempt of God on humanity to find a representative on earth for His creation. Isaac was the 21st human generation since Adam: 1-Adam > 2-Seth > 3-Enosh > 4-Kenan > 5-Mahalalel > 6-Jared > 7-Hanoch > 8- Methuselah > 9-Lemech > 10-Noach > 11-Sem > 12-Arpachshad > 13-Shelah > 14-Eber > 15-Reu'> 16-Peleg > 17-Sherug > 18-Nachor > 19-Terach > 20-Abraham > 21- Isaac.
Already at the 7th generation, with Hanoch who walked in the path of God, and in the 14th generation (second set of 7 generations) with Eber, we saw that God attempted to awaken His essence in humanity. Now, in His 3rd attempt, He ensured that Abraham had a descendance from his wife Sarah, and God will always oversee the life of Isaac which will be dedicated to pursuing the divine mission that his father followed and, as a reward, will be mostly void of conflict or problem.
Year 2051 – 1710 BCE – Abraham sends off Hagar and Ishmael
When Isaac was weaned, Sarah became worried that his older half-brother Ishmael would be of bad influence on him and, worse, that he may eventually kill him (Ishmael learned how to use bows and arrows). Some Biblical commentators assumed that his perversion from Ishmael was of sexual nature, and others assumed he was inclined towards idolatry like his mother Agar.
Sarah requested Abraham to send off Agar and her son Ishmael. But God looked after them:
God was with the youth [Ishmael] and he grew up; he settled in the desert and became an expert in archery. He settled in the desert of Paran [a wilderness in the Southern Negev, Israel.], and she took a wife for him, from the land of Egypt. (Genesis 21:20-21)
Ishmael, however, repented his initial behavior, and so did Hagar. this is why God could see this repentance and granted him a 120 years "new" life from the time He gave His protection to him. Ishmael thus died 120 years after he was sent off by his father and will never challenge Isaac again.
Year 2074 – 1686 BCE – The Binding of Isaac
The Biblical text does not give the timing for the Binding of Isaac (called עקדת יצחק in Hebrew) but it is narrated in Genesis 22, after the events between Abraham and Abimelech in Genesis 21, and before the death of Sarah in Genesis 23. The final verse of Genesis 21 states that Abraham sojourned in the land of the Philistine (Avimelech) for many days (Genesis 21:34). Why days and not years, as was in fact the case? It is to make us understand that the duration of the sojourn in the land of the Philistines was related to divine duration, as human years are like "days" for God. This chapter is about God's own intervention in the life of Abraham to do something for Him. This is why the duration before God talked to Abraham again was based on divine days. The numerical value of God’s name (the tetragram) being 26, we here assume that Abraham sojourned 26 years in Gerar until God called upon him to sacrifice Isaac. As Abraham went down south in the year of the birth of Isaac, the year of the Sacrifice of Isaac would thus be 2048+26= 2074.
This calculation has no proof but makes sense when we consider that God's major calls upon Abraham had occurred every 26 years from the time of the Dispersion (Tower of Babel):
1996: Dispersion (this event may have occurred on the 1st Tishri); the Biblical text doesn’t the timing but uses rare expressions such as Let us go down, Let us confound there, etc. (Genesis 11:7) that may be paralleled to the creation of Adam with Let us make man in our image (Genesis 1:26). This creation of Adam took place on the 1st Tishri year 1.
1996+26= 2022: Abram leaves Charan on the 1st Tishri, after God called upon him a few days earlier in month of Elul
2022+26= 2048: Birth of Isaac on the 1st Tishri, after God announced it to Abraham on the 14 Nisan 2047
2048+26= 2074: Binding of Isaac, also on the 1st Tishri according to Tradition (for example in the text of Pesikta Rabbati 40)
Accordingly, Isaac would have been 26 years old at the time of this event (the Akedah).
But there are other views on this matter. According to the computation made by the Seder Olam Rabbah, the Akedah happened in the same period as the death of Sarah, who feared about Abraham’s mission and chased after her husband and son but died on her way in Hebron where Abraham thus buried her. In such case, the Akedah would have happened in year 2085 (see below for the death of Sarah), when Isaac would have been 37 years old.
Either way, the actual date of the Akedah is not of considerable importance for the rest of the chronology. What is important is that the Akedah was the last call that God put upon Abraham. Indeed, the only other time when a divine intervention was made to Abraham was not from God Himself but from an angel He sent to Abraham (Genesis 22:15). Why God never spoke again to Abraham after the Akedah? Abraham had right away obeyed to God’s command to sacrifice his own won without arguing about it, nor trying to change God's opinion as he had done in trying to save the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. And yet God's order about the Akedah would have had a direct disastrous effect on Abraham, personally, as Isaac was the promised son of the Covenant who was announced by God Himself.
Year 2083 – 1677 BCE – Death of Terach in Charan
Terach, the father of Abraham, lived 205 years and died in Charan in the Hebrew year 2083 (Genesis 11:32). Milca, who had married to Nachor (see document C17), brother of Abraham, had 8 sons: her last son, Bethuel, had a daughter called Rebekah (Genesis 22:20-23). They lived in Aram-Naharayim, near Charan. The name Aram-Naharayim means Aram of the two rivers. It may have been in the present city of Al-Busayrah, Northern Syria at the border with Turkey, which is at the junction of two rivers: the Euphrates and the Khabur. North of this location is the vast oasis of Harran, which is the ancient Charan.
It is possible that Abraham was in Charan at the time when his father Terach died, if a messenger or a servant would have been sent to him from Charan to attend his father’s last moments. Then he would have buried him, as Abraham was his eldest son. We could suppose so because the Biblical text mentions that, after these things (the Akedah/Binding of Isaac and the last moments of his father), it was told to Abraham about the children and grandchildren of his younger brother Nachor (Genesis 22:20-24). Then Abraham, hearing these things, would have gone to Charan to be near his father.
Also, Rebekah, the future wife of Isaac, is mentioned at the end of the chapter of the Akedah (Genesis 22:23), and after these things, and prior to the next one concerning the death of Sarah (Genesis 23). So, we can assume that Rebekkah was born after the Akedah (year 2074) and before Terach’s death (year 2083). The resolution of this uncertain year of her birth is resolved with details that follow.
Year 2085 – 1675 BCE – Death of Sarah
In the Hebrew year 2085, Sarah died at the age of 127 in Kiriat-Arba which is Hebron today (Genesis 23:1). Abraham was then 137 years old, and their son Isaac was 37 years old. At the time, Canaan was under control of the sons of Heth, the Hittites (Genesis 23). Abraham paid 400 silver shekels for the purchase of a burial place, down from the ancient city of Hebron. In these times, the Canaanite cities were always built on the top of hills, for defense purposes, but with access to a water source. The site of Tell Rumeida near Hebron is where the ancient of Hebron was located. The burial place featured an underground cave.
This method of burial, in an underground cave shut with a large stone, is typical of the period, the Middle and Late Bronze. Many such "shaft tombs" have been found in the Land of Israel dating from these times. So, the burial described in the Bible is indeed contemporary to the archaeological findings of the same period.
According to Tradition, the place chosen by Abraham was the burial location of Adam and Eve, which explains why he chose it and insisted on paying for it when the owner of the land, Ephron the Hittite, wanted to offer it to him (Genesis 23). The names Machpelah and [Kiriat] Arba explain it because Machpelah means double (couple, pair) and Arba means four:
The Cave of Machpelah. Rab and Samuel differ as to its meaning. One holds that the cave consisted of two chambers, one within the other; and the other holds that it consisted of a lower and upper chamber. According to him who holds that the chambers were one above the other the term 'machpelah' is well justified but according to him who holds that it consisted of two chambers one within the other, what could be the meaning of ‘machpelah’? That it had multiples of couples.
Mamreh, the city of [Kiriat] Arba. R. Isaac explained: The city of the 'four' couples: Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Leah. (Talmud, Eiruvin 53a)
Year 2088 – 1672 BCE – Union of Isaac and Rebekah
After the death of Sarah, Abraham sent his old servant, Eliezer the Damascene, to Charan to find a suitable wife for Isaac, as he did not want his son to take a wife among the Canaanites. God guided the servant to the city of Aram-Naharayim, toward Rebekah, daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milca and Nachor, brother of Abraham. And Rebekah had a brother called Laban.
After receiving all the gifts of gold and silver that Abraham sent for the family of the selected girl, her brother Laban and her mother Milca intervened and wished to delay the departure of Rebekah for at least ten days. But Rebekah made the decision not to delay her departure and to follow Abraham’s servant (Genesis 24:55-58). Rebekah's family then gave her the following blessing:
And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her: "Our sister, be you the mother of thousands of ten thousands and let your seed possess the gate of those that hate them." (Genesis 24:60)
Isaac had been waiting at the northern border of the land of Canaan for the return of the old servant with the maiden he had chosen. The first encounter with his destined wife was under the sign of simplicity, modesty and chastity:
Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the beginning of the evening, and he raised his eyes and saw, behold, camels coming. And Rebekah raised her eyes and saw Isaac and inclined over the camel. She said to the servant: "Who is that man in the field walking towards us?" And the servant: "He is my master." And she took the veil and covered herself. And the servant told Isaac all the things that he did. And Isaac brought her to the tent of her mother Sarah, and he took Rebekah, and she became his wife. And he loved her, and Isaac consoled after his mother. (Genesis 24:63-67)
This union took place when Isaac was 40 years old (Genesis 25:20), so it was the year 2088. The number 40 is numerical symbol of maturity: in the case of Isaac, it means that he had to be mature of age before he could deserve a wife as good as Rebekah (for Jewish symbolism of the numbers, click here).
As Rebekah was born after the Akedah (year 2074) and before Terach’s death (year 2083), she was either 14 years old or 5 years old!?! From this, we can conclude that Rebekah was in fact born at the time of the Akedah, not at the time of Terach’s death.
The Tosafoth agree with Rebecca’s age of 14, based on the Sifre’s comments on: He shall not marry a woman incapable of procreation (Talmud Yevamoth 61b). Thus, the fact that Isaac married Rebekah means she was capable of procreation at the time.
But there is a notable diverging opinion: the Seder Olam Rabbah opted with Rebekah being 3 years old (!) when she married Isaac. This is to fit in the calculation of the chronology that the author of Seder Olam Rabbah has followed. The issue is caused by the age of Isaac at the time of the Akedah. Tradition says that, at that time, Abraham was informed of the birth of Rebekah. So then, as the Seder Olam Rabbah considered that Isaac was 37 years old at the time of the Akedah and, as the Biblical stated that he was 40 when he married Rebekah, it makes that Rebekah was 3 years old ! If, instead, one would follow the Tosafoth and the present chronology, Isaac was 26 years old at the time of the Akedah and therefore married at 40 when Rebekah was then 14 years old. Somehow the Seder Olam Rabbah agrees with the age of 14 but contradicts its own calculation.
As of Abraham, he was a widower and Jewish traditions invite any widower, man or woman, not to stay alone after one month of grieving but find another spouse. So, he took another wife called Keturah, after Isaac’s union with Rebekah. According to the Jewish commentaries, Keturah was Agar, who had abandoned her idolatry after God saved her and her son Ishmael from a sure death and had remained chaste after returning to Abraham. She bore him the following new sons:
Zimran
Yokshan who begot Sheba and Dedan; Dedan begot the Asshurim, Letushim and Leummim
Medan
Midian who settled in Sinai Peninsula (we know it from the story of Moses, later in this chronology) and begot Eiphah, Epher, Chanokh, Aviyda’, Elda’ah
Ishbak
Shuah
But Abraham considered Isaac as his only spiritual heir, as God had told him. Isaac was born in Canaan and will never leave the land of Canaan. To avoid potential conflicts, Abraham's descendance from Keturah/Agar sent them away, eastward, from his heir Isaac. According to some commentators, they gave birth to the Chinese and other Asian nations.
Abraham gave all what he had to Isaac. And to the sons of the concubine who were Abraham’s, Abraham gave them presents and sent them away from his son Isaac, while he was still alive, eastward to the previous land. (Genesis 25:5-6)
Year 2108 – 1652 BCE – Birth of Jacob and Esau
Meanwhile, Rebekah, young of age when she met with Isaac, did not get pregnant too soon. In fact, she was barren (Genesis 25:21). After Isaac prayed to God, she finally gave birth 20 years after their union: Isaac was therefore 60 years old. She gave birth to non-identical twins as God had announced to her:
"Two nations are in your womb, and two nations from your insides will separate. One will strengthen nation after nation, and many will serve the younger." (Genesis 25:23)
Rebekah gave birth to two boys. The first one came out red-haired and very hairy: he was called Esau (עֵשָׂו) which means hairy. The second came out by holding onto the heel of his brother and was named Jacob (יַעֲקֹב) which means he follows.
Jacob represented the 22nd human generation since Adam. His father Isaac was the 21st one, which was a sign of divine intervention in his case. The number 21 is equal to three times 7. The number 7 is symbol of divine intervention and 3 is symbol of completion cycle (for Jewish symbolism of the numbers, click here).
But the 22nd generation is equally meaningful because of the number 22 which is associated with the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet, which was given to the Jewish people, and through them to humanity via the Phoenicians then the Greeks (tTo read about the origin of alphabets, see document C23). Therefore, the birth of Jacob represented a turning point in humanity and the start of more divine revelations to come, following the ages of darkness that prevailed until his venue to the world.
Year 2123 – 1637 BCE – Death of Abraham
Both boys grew up in different ways, Esau as a hunter who was living in the field, and Jacob was a simpler person living and studying in tents. One evening, Esau came back from the field and asked his brother to serve him the red thing (הָאָדֹם הָאָדֹם הַזֶּה) that was in his stew: this is why Esau was also named Edom (אדום).
Jacob said: "Sell as this day your birthright to me."
Esau said: "Here, I am going to die, and what use is for me a birthright?"
Jacob said: "Swear to me as this day," and he swore to him. And he sold his birthright to Jacob. Jacob gave Esau bread and a stew of lentils, and he ate and drank, got up and left. And Esau spurned the birth right. (Genesis 25:31-34)
Jewish tradition says that Jacob was cooking a stew of lentils because his grandfather Abraham had just died: lentils are mourners’ meal. Esau did not feel concerned with Abraham’s death and went to the field, to carry out his usual hunting as if everything was normal at a time when many people, including Ishmael, had gathered at the family’s camp to mourn the death of Abraham whom they knew was guided by God.
And Abraham expired, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people. (Genesis 25:8)
Abraham had lived another 38 years after Sarah’s death and died at the age of 175, in year 2123. Esau and Jacob were 15 years old at the time. Some commentators say that he was supposed to live until the age of 200. But, in anticipation that Esau will turn into evil ways after the age of 15, he preferred not to be alive and witness the change.
Abraham was buried in the Cave of Machpelah, near his wife Sarah.
Year 2126 – 1634 BCE - Death of Shelah
Abraham’s death was followed by the death of his ancestor Shelah, in Hebrew year 2126.
Year 2148 – 1612 BCE – Esau takes Canaanite wives
When he was 40 years old, in Hebrew year 2148, Esau took two wives from the Hittites. One was called Judith and the other Basemath. They created tension between Isaac and Esau.
Year 2158 – 1602 BCE – Death of Sem son of Noah
Sem, the wise Melki-Tzedek who lived in Salem (the future Jerusalem), died in 2158, after a lifetime of 600 years. He was the last living witness of the Flood. He had passed all his knowledge of God to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob over the last years of his life. Jacob was 50 years old at the death of Shem.
About Year 2160 – 1600 BCE – The Flood in ancient writings
With the death of the last witnesses of the Flood, some people felt the urge to record in writing the tales they have heard from them. These tales, and mostly legends, narrated how humanity came to exist (Creation) and how it has been saved from destruction (the Flood).
In the 19th century, archaeologists found in the Library of Assurbanipal in Ancient Nineveh many cuneiform-written tablets with these tales. The oldest ones found date from the period around the death of Sem and are known as the Epic of Atrahasis (probably the oldest one of them, Eridu Genesis (Eridu was a city-state neighbor of Ur), the Enuma Elish and the Epic of Gilgamesh. The Enuma Elish consists of 7 tablets telling the story of Creation; these tablets are dated of the 7th century BCE but the text is assumed to have been composed much earlier, maybe around the time of Hammurabi.
Here is an extract from Epic of Atrahasis about the Flood:
... the flood came forth.
Its power came upon the peoples like a battle,
one person did not see another,
they could not recognize each other in the catastrophe.
The deluge bellowed like a bull,
The wind resounded like a screaming eagle.
The darkness was dense, the sun was gone,
... like flies.
the clamor of the deluge.
(Epic of Atrahasis, III:5-20, translation from B.R. Foster adapted by Livius.org)
The British Museum has a collection of over 30,000 tablets that were found in the ruins of Ancient Nineveh (today the city of Mosul in Kurdistan, Northern Iraq).
These ancient tales of the Creation and the Flood are quite comparable to the story of the Bible. But, with witnesses who were no longer alive and the passage of time, the tale of Creation had naturally been distorted in the memory of Humanity. But, as for the Flood, it is a different situation because it echoes the Biblical narrative. Although some historians believe that the similarities are coincidental, the stories contain details that cannot have been created by coincidence from pure human imagination. For example, beside the fact that the destruction of the world was done by a "flood" in all these stories, here are some unusual details that are also common to the Bible:
the boat (or ark) carrying Noah and his followers stopped on a mountain
to check the levels of the waters, Noah waited seven days, and then he sent a dove which came back to him: these details are also found in the Epic of Gilgamesh
then Noah sent a raven which didn’t return, so he then knew that the water levels had come down
On Mount Nimuš the boat lodged firm,
Mount Nimuš held the boat, allowing no sway.
One day and a second Mount Nimuš held the boat, allowing no sway.
A third day, a fourth, Mount Nimuš held the boat, allowing no sway.
A fifth day, a sixth, Mount Nimuš held the boat, allowing no sway.
When a seventh day arrived
I sent forth a dove and released it.
The dove went off, but came back to me;
no perch was visible, so it circled back to me.
I sent forth a swallow and released it.
The swallow went off, but came back to me;
no perch was visible, so it circled back to me.
I sent forth a raven and released it.
The raven went off and saw the waters slither back.
It eats, it scratches, it bobs, but does not circle back to me.
(Epic of Gilgamesh, tablet XI, source Livius.org)
In another tablet, that came into light in 2014 and translated by Irving Finkel, the Ark is stated to have been round in shape, although this was a legend copying the concept of floating coracle widely used in Mesopotamia in the times:
On a circular plan; Let her length and breadth be equal. (press articles of 19 January 2014; one article can be read online by clicking here)
The many details common between the Bible and the recorded tales cannot be the result of multiple coincidences unless someone would want to defy the laws of Probability! The fact is that these tales recorded the same event, and this fact is not seriously disputed. The question is to know if this event was a “local” catastrophe (storm, tsunami, or else) or a “global” event that affected the entire planet. The Bible and these tales found in multiple cultures are supporting the latter.
To return to the list of chronological generations from Seder Olam Revisited, click here.
Albert Benhamou
Private Tour Guide in Israel
Adar 5785 - March 2025