The Genesis flood narrative found in chapters 6-9 of Genesis describes a worldwide flood that God sent to destroy all life on earth except for Noah, his family, and the animals aboard the ark he built. According to Genesis, God was grieved by mankind’s wickedness and decided to send a cataclysmic flood to wipe the earth clean and start over. This flood narrative is one of the most well-known stories in the Bible.
Over the centuries, scholars have identified many ancient flood legends from cultures all around the world that have similarities to the Genesis account. Many of these legends tell of a worldwide devastating flood and sometimes include details about a man who builds a boat and survives along with various animals. This has led many to conclude that these shared elements lend credence to the historicity of the Genesis flood.
How many such flood legends exist? Do the similarities actually provide evidence for the biblical deluge described in Genesis? Let’s take a closer look.
How many ancient flood legends exist?
The exact number varies by source, but many scholars state that there are at least several hundred flood legends from cultures across the globe. For example:
- Ethnologist George W. Cox identified at least 170 flood legends in his 1870 book The Mythology of the Aryan Nations.
- Anthropologist Sir James George Frazer compiled flood myths from over 50 cultures around the world in his 1922 book Folklore in the Old Testament.
- Researcher and archaeologist Richard Andree gathered 86 flood legends in his 1877 German book Die Flutsagen.
- Austrian ethnologist Father Wilhelm Schmidt examined over 500 flood legends across multiple cultures and continents in his 4 volume work Die Flutsagen published in the 1920s.
From Native American tribes to the aborigines of Australia, flood myths can be found engraved on ancient temple walls, inscribed on clay tablets, passed down orally, and written in languages and scripts from all corners of the world. The sheer number of different accounts intrigued many scholars.
Similarities between the Genesis flood account and other legends
What’s most interesting is that many of these far-flung legends contain notable parallels with details in the Genesis narrative. Here are some of the common elements that appear again and again:
- A worldwide catastrophic flood that destroys most of humanity.
- A righteous man is warned about the coming flood by God or a deity.
- The man builds a boat or ship to save his family and animals.
- Animals, often in pairs, are gathered onto the vessel.
- A great rain causes flooding that covers mountains and landforms.
- The boat comes to rest on a mountain after the floodwaters recede.
- The humans or man survive the flood and repopulate the earth.
Notable examples demonstrating such similarities include:
- The ancient Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh written on 12 clay tablets includes an account of Utnapishtim who is warned by the god Ea of a worldwide flood to eradicate mankind. He builds a hexagonal boat to save his family, animals, and craftsmen. After seven days, the flood overwhelms even the highest mountains. The boat comes to rest on Mount Nisir where Utnapishtim sends out birds to find dry land before exiting the ark.
- Plato’s Timaeus and Critias mention nine thousand years prior, Egyptian priests spoke of a worldwide flood and people who escaped in boats to save animals and provisions. The flood left only illiterate mountain people.
- According to Berber legends, the entire human race perished in a worldwide deluge except for those saved in a large wooden boat. Animals were also saved.
- Hindu lore describes the Matsya avatar of Lord Vishnu warning King Manu of a colossal flood that would destroy all life. Manu built a boat massive enough to hold his family, the 7 sages, animals, plants, and seeds of all organisms.
- In Norse mythology, the Prose Edda tells of a devastating worldwide flood and the god Odin warning the giant Bergelmir and his wife to escape in a wooden chest. They survive and repopulate the world.
- Aztec mythology describes a global flood from which only two humans, Coxcox and Xochiquetzal, survive by floating in a hollow cypress log. The log also shelters animals and grains to reestablish life after the flood.
- According to the K’iche Maya people in Guatemala, the gods sent a flood to punish human wickedness. The ancestral couple Tata and Nana escaped in a large hollow wooden canoe with animals and seeds to survive the deluge.
- Legends from Hawaii to Samoa in the Pacific tell of Tawhaki and Hema who sailed in a canoe to escape a catastrophic flood that inundated the whole world. Animals were also saved for future propagation.
Dozens and dozens more examples could be provided. The common threads running through so many diverse cultures are striking. This has led many scholars to conclude that these shared elements lend credibility to the historicity of the Genesis account of Noah’s flood.
Counterarguments and Responses
Of course, many skeptical scholars over the years have offered counterarguments. Here are some of the common objections raised and how Christian apologists have responded:
Objection 1: Unknown transmission means flood legends aren’t credible evidence
Critics argue that since the transmission history of most flood legends is uncertain, they can’t credibly be used as evidence for the biblical flood. Christian thinkers respond that while transmission history varies, geological evidence indicates catastrophic flooding did occur at various locations worldwide in the distant past. Oral traditions often contain kernels of truth passed down.
Objection 2: Universal themes explain common elements
Some anthropologists suggest the shared themes simply reflect universal human experiences like fear of natural disasters. Apologists counter that the detailed similarities seem too precise to be just universal. A man building a boat to survive with animals before repopulating the world after a worldwide cataclysmic flood is very specific.
Objection 3: Christian influence explains parallels in recent centuries
Skeptics argue that missionary activities and colonization resulted in the Genesis narrative influencing more recent native flood legends. However, this cannot explain evidence from ancient Near East flood stories that predate Christianity nor legends from historically isolated cultures.
Objection 4: Earlier flood layers show legends pre-date Noah’s flood
Geological findings of ancient flood sediment layers predating Noah are offered as proof that flood legends predate Noah’s time. Some Christian scientists respond that dating methods aren’t always accurate when projecting thousands of years. Also, localized floods occurred throughout history.
Objection 5: Mythical elements call into question reliability
The fanciful, miraculous details in some accounts undermine their historical reliability, some argue. Apologists don’t claim every detail is historical but rather that kernels of truth often exist in myths and legends.
Objection 6: Similar motifs exist in other myths
Critics argue flood motifs parallel motifs in creation and earth diver myths, undermining uniqueness claims. However, apologists see important differences setting flood legends apart as their own category of traditions.
Approaches Christian Apologists Use to Link Flood Legends to Noah’s Flood
In arguing that non-biblical flood legends provide evidence for Noah’s flood, Christian apologists appeal to several lines of reasoning:
1. Collective memory
The shared memory approach presumes ancestors of these cultures experienced a real flood event firsthand which was passed down through oral tradition. Details mutated over time resulting in variants.
2. Archetype approach
Common experiences like floods get distilled into narrative archetypes. Unique elements reflect actual events. Each culture adapts the archetype to its own context. Similarities reflect a shared flood event in human history.
3. Common source approach
There was once a shared historical flood tradition that disseminated and diversified as groups spread around the world after Noah’s flood. Similarities trace back to the original story.
4. Historical kernel approach
Myths contain kernels of truth passed down from actual events. Striking parallels between the Genesis account and flood legends increase the plausibility there is a historical core within the biblical narrative.
5. Polemical approach
Presenting Genesis as real history was meant to subvert competing mythical versions. Similarities are a consequence of the polemical nature of the Genesis narrative.
6. Geographical correspondence approach
Since flood sediments are found across the globe, many flood legends likely arose independently yet exhibit similarities because they reflect these deposits from a real worldwide flood.
7. Historical-documentary approach
Based on the accumulation of evidence, the Genesis flood narrative likely contains a factual core describing real events despite literary shaping.
8. Theological approach
The worldwide scope coheres with Genesis 1-11’s cosmological orientation. Though exaggerated, similarities bolster Genesis as real sacred history centering theological meaning.
Conclusion
The many ancient flood legends from around the world do exhibit striking parallels with the Genesis account. While this does not definitively prove the biblical narrative, Christian apologists leverage the similarities to argue that the pervasive flood traditions lend credence to the possibility, even probability, of a real worldwide deluge as described in Genesis. If Genesis has historical value, then we would expect such worldwide corroborating traditions, which is exactly what we find. Still, interpretative issues and questions remain requiring discernment to determine what can reasonably be deduced from the evidence available.
