Saturday, 8 March 2014
Friday, 28 February 2014
Noah’s Ark in Ancient History: An International ‘Cultural Koine’
ABSTRACT
In this article, symbols, icons and
cosmogonies of the Egyptian theocratic system will be analysed and compared to
those of Syria , Anatolia, Mesopotamia , India
and Crete . Many visual riddles will be
unlocked by viewing such iconography through a ‘grid’, ‘lens’ or ‘cultural koine’ which Professor Nanno Marinatos[1]
defines as a standard set of cultural assumptions which circulated throughout
the Ancient Near East (henceforth ANE) and Eastern Mediterranean. This
historical grid or international milieu will allow us to infer what could be
the Ark ’s true location, confirming previous
claims that the Ark
may have already been discovered, yet never properly excavated. Evidence from
numerous seal cylinders, ring impressions, wall reliefs, paintings and papyri
across the ancient world is presented and interpreted via the koine, showing that the Ark’s specific
location appears to have been both known and revered in ancient antiquity.
Remarkably, the Ark ’s location as suggested by
ANE iconography is still recognizable today - as are the surprising remains of
what could be the Ark
itself!
KEYWORDS
Koine, Ark , Location,
Ararat, Iconography, Babel
INTRODUCTION:
Judging by the recent film ‘Noah’
directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Russell Crowe, Anthony Hopkins, Emma
Watson et al., you could be forgiven for thinking that the entire story of
Noah’s Ark is a solemn yet fanciful myth. In fact, nothing could be further
from the truth! In their 1976 book,
‘The Ark on Ararat’, Dr. John D. Morris and Tim F. LaHaye note a non-exhaustive
list of over 212 flood accounts from across the globe. Bill Cooper confirms the
universal extent of flood accounts worldwide by noting: “Even the remotest
peoples, separated from the rest of the world by immense distances and time,
have preserved among themselves recognisable memories of the Flood of Noah,
sometimes in the most startling detail, lending a remarkable corroboration to
what we read in the Book of Genesis.”[2]
Gleaning precious information from all these accounts regarding the
specific location where the Ark
finally came to land has previously yielded little conclusive evidence (c.f.
Humphreys[3],
who examines the biblical clues in particular and Habermehl[4],
who examines a number of claimed possible landing sites). To the question
‘where are the Ark ’s
remains now?’ most scholars have had to reply ‘we simply do not know’ or ‘it
must have been dismantled’. Nevertheless, a close examination of some of the
more obscure flood accounts serves to elucidate tantalizing clues, which together
with recent advances in ancient iconography may have a revolutionary impact
upon both the Ark Studies Project and the study of all Ancient History. Let us
begin our examination with the testimony of ancient historians:
WHERE THE ARK
As Crouse and Franz note: “…if such
an Ark vessel once really existed, with the Scriptural dimensions of nearly 500
feet in length and being built of a durable wood and coated with a preservative
such as tar, wouldn’t it make sense that it would have taken centuries, even
millennia, to decay, and that everyone in the general vicinity would know where
such a hulk would lie? We are not talking about a small relic that cannot be
readily seen by the general populace. Over the centuries, indeed millennia,
people would know about it; it would be a topic of conversation and people
would want to see it.”[5]
Indeed we learn this much from
various ancient historians, as follows:
- Berosus extracted from Abydenus
The history of a Chaldean priest
named Berosus has been preserved in a number of later sources still extant. The
Greek historian Abydenus, who probably lived around 200 B.C., was one of those
who recounted Berosus’ history. Abydenus relates regarding the Ark of Noah:
“With respect to the vessel, which yet remains in Armenia , it is a custom of the
inhabitants to form bracelets and amulets of its wood.”[6]
- Berosus extracted from Alexander Polyhistor
Another fragment from Berosus was
preserved by the historian Alexander Polyhistor, who flourished in the first
half of the first century B.C. He noted that:
“…the vessel was driven to the side
of a mountain…” and “…the vessel, being thus stranded in Armenia , some part of it yet remains in the
Gordyaean mountains in Armenia ;
and the people scrape off the bitumen, with which it had been outwardly coated,
and make use of it by way of an alexipharmic and amulet.”[7]
- Benjamin of Tudela
A Medieval Jewish traveller,
writing in the 12th century, records that he travelled two days to
an island in the Tigris on the foot of Mt. Ararat Ark
from the summit of the two mountains and made a mosque of it…”[8]
- Targum Jonathan on Genesis 8:4:
This translation suggests that the mountain had two peaks.
The ark came to rest "...on the mountains of Qurdun [Gordyene]; the name of the one mountain is Qurdunia, and the name of the other mountain is Armenia."
- Epiphanus
"...the ark came to rest 'in the mountains of Ararat, in the midst of [or, 'in-between'] the mountains of Armenia and of Kurdistan [Gordyene], on a mountain called Lubar."
- Various authors extracted from Josephus
Finally, for the purposes of this
argument, the Jewish historian Josephus refers to numerous historical sources
which attest that the Ark
was freely accessible and indeed venerated in their times:
"However, the Armenians call
this place, The Place of Descent; for
the ark being saved in that place, its remains are shown there by the
inhabitants to this day…”
“Now all the writers of barbarian
histories make mention of this flood, and of this ark; among whom is Berosus
the Chaldean. For when he is describing the circumstances of the flood, he goes
on thus: "It is said there is still some part of this ship in Armenia , at the
mountain of the Cordyaeans; and that some people carry off pieces of the
bitumen, which they take away, and use chiefly as amulets for the averting of
mischiefs." Hieronymus the Egyptian also, who wrote the Phoenician
Antiquities, and Mnaseas, and a great many more, make mention of the same. Nay,
Nicolaus of Damascus, in his ninety-sixth book, hath a particular relation
about them; where he speaks thus: "There is a great mountain in Armenia,
over Minyas, called Baris [i.e. a ship], upon which it is reported that many
who fled at the time of the Deluge were saved; and that one who was carried in
an ark came on shore upon the top of it; and that the remains of the timber
were a great while preserved."[9]
Notice here in Josephus the very
intriguing observation that the mountain itself was called “Baris” from the
Greek word baris - which is a term for an "Egyptian
boat", (probably deriving from the Egyptian ba-y-r for
"basket-shaped boat")[10]. This name corresponds to 'Lubar' which signifies a crescent moon. Such etymologies might be a significant clue about the shape of the mountain, as we shall more
fully appreciate later on. Meanwhile, carefully note that the Armenians themselves
called the landing site “The Place of
Descent”.
This is corroborated by the Indian
flood account of Manu and the Seven Sages. Julius Eggeling translates this
flood account from the first ‘kânda’ of the Ṡatapatha
Brāhmaṇa thus: “As the water
subsides, thou mayest gradually descend!’ Accordingly, he gradually descended,
and hence that (slope) of the northern mountain is called ‘Manu’s descent’!”[11]
Here in the Indian Sanskrit account
of the great flood we learn a further interesting morsel of information, namely
that the Ark
landed on a north facing slope and gradually sank down.
Moreover, in the Atharva Veda, Book 19, Hymn 39, Verse 8,
Ralph Griffith’s translation reads:
“In the third heaven above us stands
the Asvattha tree, the seat of Gods: There is embodiment of life that dies
not: thence was Kushtha born. There moved through heaven a golden ship, a ship
with cordage wrought of gold: There is embodiment of life that dies not;
thence was Kushtha born. Where is the Sinking of the Ship, the summit of the
Hill of Snow, There is embodiment of life that dies not: thence was Kustha born.”[12]
Why all these seemingly obscure
observations from Hindu Sanskrit records should be considered significant to
the Ark ’s current
location will be gradually revealed as we consider the testimony of other
nations to this strange ‘Place of Descent’.
THE TESTIMONY OF MESOPOTAMIA
The Mesopotamian flood accounts (including
the Epic of Gilgamesh, Fragment CBM 13532 from the Temple
Library of Nippur and the Epic of Atram-Hasis) are some
of the most detailed of all extra-biblical sources. Here I want to make five
important observations regarding them.
First, a recently discovered tablet
of the Epic of Atram-Hasis[13]
has revealed that the Amorites who wrote the Epic believed the Ark to be circular in shape. As Maev Kennedy,
writing in the British Newspaper ‘The
Guardian’ reports, cuneiform expert Irving Finkel’s translation makes this
plain:
"Wall, wall! Reed wall, reed wall! Atram-Hasis,
pay heed to my advice, that you may live forever! Destroy your house, build a
boat; despise possessions And save life! Draw out the boat that you will build
with a circular design; Let its length and breadth be the same."
A circular Ark
might sound like an obvious pagan corruption unworthy of further consideration,
yet although the Ark
clearly wasn’t a circular coracle, Finkel’s ‘Ark Tablet’ does actually bear
wider significance for our interpretation of ANE iconography.
Second, Kennedy also notes that “…the
tablet goes on to command the use of plaited palm fibre, waterproofed with
bitumen, before the construction of cabins for the people and wild animals.”
Note carefully the use of plaited
palm fibre in the Ark ’s
construction. (White palm fibre is one of the few strong natural fibres which is
resistant to saltwater – a fact which explains its use in the manufacture of
fishing nets). The palm tree itself will also become significant as we examine relevant
ANE icons and symbols depicting the so-called ‘tree of life’ in our next
subsection.
Third, consider Fragment
CBM 13532 from the Temple Library of Nippur (discovered
by Professor Hermann Hilprecht from the University of Pennsylvania
“Build a great ship and … total
height shall be its structure. …it shall be a houseboat carrying what has been saved
of life. … with a strong deck cover (it). [The ship] which thou shalt make
[into it br]ing the beasts of the field, the birds of heaven…”[14]
As Bill Cooper[15]
points out, the term ‘houseboat’ translates as ‘ma-gurgurrum’ (or a boat which can be closed by a door), which is
related to an old Semitic word, ‘ma-kurru’,
meaning ark.
Forth, consider if you will a few
enigmatic sections from the Akkadian Epic of Gilgamesh. As Fasold notes: “The
landing site of the ship of Utnapishtim appears in tablet 11 in successive
lines 140 through 144 five times. It is translated ‘Mount Nisir’. … The
interesting thing about working with three root consonants is that nṣr can be related to nšr, msr,
mṣr and mzr. The most obvious would then be nạsāru, ‘to keep something under guard.’[16]
Importantly, cuneiform expert Irving
Finkel corroborates this interpretation of the etymology of Niṣir in noting
that: “…I still prefer Mount Niṣir because this is the Mesopotamian name for
the mountain and the Babylonian root behind it, naṣāru, ‘to guard, protect’, makes very good sense given the
emphasis in this very Gilgamesh
passage on how the mountain holds the Ark fast and will not let it move.”[17]
Intriguingly, in line 37 of the
Epic, the ‘hero’ Gilgamesh finds himself by Mount Mashu
“The mountain is called Mashu. Then
he reached Mount Mashu, which daily guards the rising and setting of the Sun,
above which only the dome of the heavens reaches, and whose flank reaches as
far as the Netherworld below, there were Scorpion-beings watching over its
gate. Trembling terror they inspire, the sight of them is death, their
frightening aura sweeps over the mountains, At the rising and setting they
watch over the Sun.”[19]
Nissen further notes that “…to the
Sumerians, Mashu was a sacred mountain. Its name means ‘twin’ in Akkadian, and
thus was it portrayed on Babylonian cylinder seals – a twin-peaked mountain,
described by poets as both the seat of the gods, and the underworld.”[20]
Compare fully Figure 2 from Professor Marinatos.
Figure 2: Shamash the ‘Sun-god’ arising from between the twin peaks
(note the two-faced ‘Janus’ bottom right, who may represent Noah) (from
Marinatos, 2010)
Professor Nanno Marinatos also makes
a very important connection here: “On Akkadian seals, [she writes] the sun god
Shamash habitually rises between the twin peaks of a mountain ... the
morphology of the sign is almost universal and designates the twin peaks of a
cosmic mountain." [21]
She, independently from Nissen,
also finds correlation with the Epic of Gilgamesh:
"Gilgamesh...travels in search
of...Utnapishtim. ... He comes to the cosmic mount Mashu
Fifth, according to Marinatos this
twin-peaked ‘cosmic mountain’, detailed as two peaks separated by a curved
escarpment, is one of the central elements within an international ‘cultural koine’ which extended from the very
earliest periods of recorded history to the very end of the ancient world. This
distinctive and uniquely formed mountain is inseparably connected with the winged
sun disc or circle – over which it was considered a ‘guardian’. The mountain
therefore guards the embodiment of life. Recall that the Amorites in the Epic
of Atra-Hasis spoke of the Ark ’s
plan as if it were ‘drawn out on a circle design’.
Could the Egyptian winged sun disc and the Ark be morphologically cognate icons? Could
the ‘Place of Descent’ recorded in Josephus as the Ark landing site also imply
sinking into the ‘Underworld’ as the Atharva
Veda seems to imply? Indeed, could this twin-peaked mount actually be the very
‘mountains of Ararat’ mentioned in Genesis 8:4? Consider for a moment the many
relevant seal cylinders which Elliot G. Smith[22]
has collated together from W. Hayes Ward’s book ‘The Seal Cylinders of Western
Asia’ (1910) – Figure 3 (a)-(m). See Footnote [1] below.
Figure 3:
Collated cylinder seals from across Western Asia
(courtesy of Smith, 2007)
Here in this compilation of ancient
seals we can observe a number of relevant correlations which are highly
suggestive of this thesis. In (a) we note that the sun disc resides between
twin peaks, with cobras [scorpion beings?] on either side and wings extending
to the horizon. Again, comparing icons (b) through to (d) we may note that the
winged sun disc is positioned atop stylized icons of a solar palm or tree of
life. In (e) this tree is more clearly a palm standard between the twin-peaked
mountain, together with a sacred bird; whilst in (f) a morphologically cognate bird
is found perched atop the Minoan Double Axe. Marinatos notes regarding this
type of imagery: “We may easily understand why birds are associated with the
sun. They are the first to wake up in the morning and greet the emerging disc;
their presence on the same scene as the rising axe is thus quite meaningful.”[23] Icons
(i) and (k), on the other hand, are noteworthy because the former shows a
winged gate from Chaldea - and the latter shows
a ‘god’ figure riding the Persian winged disc-boat above a fire-altar -
suggestive of the twin-peaked mountain of dawn. Compare all these with (m)
where the ‘god’ now arises from a crescent-shaped icon above the ‘tree of
life’. All these correlations are suggestive of what Professor Marinatos herself
describes as a shared international religious milieu or ‘cultural koine’ which
acts as a lens through which the culture of the ANE can be better understood.
THE TESTIMONY OF CRETE
Nanno Marinatos is, in fact, a
world expert in Minoan cultural art from the isle of Crete .
Her remarkable thesis, recorded in ‘Minoan Kingship and the Solar Goddess’
(2010) deserves further summary at this point because of its significance for
the Ark Studies Project.
In Chapter 4 of her extended thesis,
Marinatos notes that the thrones or throne rooms of Minoan solar god-royalties
are usually associated with griffins and palm trees.
“The first observation is that both
griffin and palm are associated with the sun in Syrian glyptic. The palm is
often linked with a winged rosette disc, a Levantine idiom of the Egyptian
winged sun disc. We may draw further inference, which is of some consequence,
that there existed stylized, human-made, wooden cult standards imitating the
palm. This would explain why the solar disc (also part of the object) was
attached on top…. Beatrice Teissier says: ‘The association of the sun with the
palm was both an Egyptian and Mesopotamian concept but Syrian imagery was
derived from the latter. In Egypt
the palm was considered to be one of the seats of Re at his rising.”[24]
Figures 4 and 5: Royal griffin and palm were closely
associated with the
winged sun disc (from Marinatos, 2010)
In Chapter 5, it is noted that Cretan
‘houses of god’ were not necessarily independent structures but were integrated
within larger buildings or they constituted an open-air sanctuary. Furthermore,
these ‘divine dwellings’ contained symbolic architecture – in particular they
incorporated ‘mountain-gate’ architecture (c.f. Figures 6 and 7).
Figures 6 and 7:
Minoan ‘House of god’ – stone rhyton from Zakros (left) and clay votive model of
a sanctuary from East Crete (right) (from
Marinatos, 2010)
This gate architecture is
intimately associated with the ‘underworld’. As the Professor carefully relates
to those of us who are uninitiated to ANE lore: “Mountains are gates. Strange
as this may seem to us, it was a common concept in Near Eastern mythology… The
gate to the beyond is conceived as a double-peak mountain, sometimes guarded by
lions … The idea that the mountain is a gate to the netherworld is supported by
linguistic evidence. The Sumerian word kur
means both ‘mountain’ and ‘underworld’.”[25]
Chapter 8 of Marinatos’ thesis is
particularly significant for the Ark Studies Project. Marinatos begins by
redefining the meaning of a Minoan hieroglyph:
"Generations of scholars have
relied on these two giants of Minoan religion [Evans and Nilsson - ed.] for the
interpretation of the sign [Minoan hieroglyph 37 of the old palace period] as
bull's horns...[yet other theories came from] Dutch scholar W.B. Kristensen and
the German scholar W. Gaerte, who both regarded the so-called horns as
mountains, pointing to the similarity with the equivalent Egyptian ideogram...”
Indeed, this identification of the
horns of consecration with this twin-peaked mountain was made by Professor
Newberry[26] of Liverpool as early as 1908.
Marinatos continues: “Barry Powell
demonstrated it in 1977... in more recent years, Alexander MacGillivray and
Vance Watrous have also returned to this view. I endorse it here as well and
will add additional visual evidence that makes it unlikely that the symbol is
anything but the twin peak mountain depicting the east and west points of the
horizon. ... the Minoan symbol is almost identical to the Egyptian cosmic
mountain. The Egyptian symbol consists of two peaks that define the horizon
between which the sun disc rises…On Akkadian seals of the third millennium we
find a very similar rendition of the mountain represented as two scaly cones
that signify ‘land’…In Syria and Anatolia, the twin peaks also symbolize a
mountain, sometimes a double one… The twin peak mountain defines the edges of
the cosmos. … A symbol so common to Mesopotamia ,
Syria , Anatolia, and Egypt and designating ‘mountain’ must have had a
similar meaning in Crete … It has previously
been mentioned that we do not see offerings (bread, meat, incense, etc.)
between the peaks of the object that has been redefined as a mountain;
therefore, its function cannot have been to sanctify offerings. Instead, the
two peaks frame a tree…a double axe…or a god… All of these are symbols of
cosmic significance and not votives that can be consecrated.”
Figure 8: a) Minoan b) Egyptian c) Akkadian and d) Syrian
representations (from Marinatos, 2010)
The full evidence Marinatos gathers
is highly persuasive. Some icons clearly depict a curved escarpment between two
rounded peaks whilst others simplify the image as two separate hillocks or two
more pointed ‘knife like’ objects [Figure 9].
Figure 9: Bronze votive tablet from the
cave of Psychro
Yet the central motif always remains the same:
“On a seal from Vapheio [she continues]
a tree rises between the two peaks of the mountain...” [Figure 10] … “In
summary: the tree rising between the Minoan twin-peak mountain is not
consecrated as an offering but constitutes the tree of life. This is the solar
palm...”
Figures 10 and 11:
A seal from Vapheio (left) and a Minoan seal from Kydonia (right) (from
Marinatos, 2010)
And again: “On a seal from Cretan
Kydonia we meet something even more striking: instead of a tree there is a god
standing between the mountain peaks and receiving homage from a Minoan demon
and a goat.” [Figure 11].
Later, in chapters 9 through 14 of
her book, Professor Marinatos focuses upon a number of long-standing riddles in
Minoan iconography. These riddles concern some perplexing questions such as ‘why
does the [Minoan] double axe rise from the cosmic mountain?’; ‘why does the
double axe appear between the horns of a bovine head?’; ‘why does the double
axe turn into a lily?’ and ‘why is the double axe both in the underworld and
the sky?’
Her conclusions are equally remarkable!
“The double axe is a regenerative symbol suggesting growth or development. It
is the visual manifestation of the Egyptian concept of ‘coming forth by day’
and the equivalent of the lotus giving birth to the primeval sun/child…”[27]
“The sacred mountain with its twin
peaks, the incurved altar, the rosette, and the double axe are either landmarks
in the sun’s journey or allomorphs of the sun disc itself. … The key to their
meaning is the symmetry of their form, which reflects the dual world traversed
by the sun in its journey in the sky and underworld respectively. ...the
Minoans intended a deliberate ambiguity between ‘horns’ and ‘mountain peaks’
because both the ox or cow and the mountain embrace the sun in mythical
thinking; in some ways they give birth to it. The Minoans deliberately played
with the form: horns look like mountain peaks… The Egyptians did the same, as
we see on a ceiling from the palace
of Malkata
Figures 12 and 13:
The Minoan Calf with Double Axe (left) and a ceiling painting from the palace of Malkata
What are we to make of all this? Is
there any further evidence that the sun disc and the Ark are morphologically cognate icons? Could
the sacred twin-peaked mountain really be equivalent to the ‘mountains of
Ararat’? As we shall now see, the forgotten solar cult teachings of the Old
Kingdom of Egypt hold a highly probable answer to these questions.
THE TESTIMONY OF EGYPT
Bill Cooper sums up previous
interpretations of Egyptian origins when he writes:
“Concerning any distinct memories
of the Great Flood amongst the Egyptians, we have to say that almost all trace
of them is lost – or dimmed almost to the point of obliteration. Records
discovered so far make no mention of it – assuming there are no more surprises
in store…”[29]
Well it seems that a huge surprise
is, in fact, in store! For it appears that not only did the early Egyptians
record the story of the Great Flood in great detail on their temple walls and papyri,
they also venerated the Ark and the cosmic twin-peaked mountain to the extent
that the whole Giza plateau with its central twin-pyramids and sphinx could be
one vast enigmatic representation of it - garbed in complex geometry!
To explain this bold supposition,
we must begin with some of the most ancient cosmogonies of Egypt – from the four cult centres of Heliopolis , Memphis ,
Hermopolis and Thebes .
In general, all four cosmogonies
relate the same story in different ways. The oldest and purist of the four
cosmogonies belongs to Thoth’s cult centre of Hermopolis.
Robert Armour[30]
notes an early papyrus which records of the ‘Ogdoad [or Eight] of Hermopolis’
account: “Salutations to you, you Five Great Gods, Who come out of the City of
Eight, You who are not yet in heaven, You who are not yet upon the earth, You
who are not yet illuminated by the sun”.
Figures 14 and 15:
The Ogdoad of Hermopolis depicted in Ancient Egyptian Icons (left) from Ancient
Egypt, edited by David P. Silverman, p. 121; photograph from the Book of
the Dead of Khensumose (right) Detail from the Astronomical Ceiling at the
Temple of Hathor at Iunet, first strip west (© Olaf Tausch)
He continues:
“The poem tells how, on the Island
of Flame, the primeval hill similar to the one on which Ra arose, the four gods
came into being at the same time; they were seen as some sort of force that
existed between heaven and earth…Each element brought with him his female
component, giving the total of eight elements. The group included Nun, the god
of the primeval ocean already seen in the mythology of Heliopolis, and his
consort Naunet; Heh, the god of the immeasurable, who with his consort Heket
was responsible for raising the sun; Kek, the god of darkness, and his consort
Keket gave the world the darkness of night so that the sun would have a place
to shine; and Amun, the god of mystery, the hidden, and nothingness, who with
his consort Amaunet brought the air which breathed life into everything. The
four males were depicted as frogs and the females as serpents swimming around
in the mud and slime of chaos…Eventually the eight elements came together and
out of their union came the primeval egg which could not be seen because it
existed before there was light. Out of the egg came the light of the sun which
the eight raised up into the sky”.
Veronica Ions adds more important
detail to the Ogdoad ‘cosmogony’ which we quote in extenso:
“The four male deities of the
Ogdoad were depicted in Egyptian art with frogs’ heads, and the four female deities
had serpents’ heads. This would seem to derive from another tradition in
Hermopolis which likened the eight primordial gods to the amphibious life which
swarmed…in the mud left behind by the annually receding Nile
floodwaters. Thus instead of creating the primeval mound, the Eight would be
conceived as hatching out on to it. As in the other cult centres, the city was
declared to be on the site of the primeval hill. In a park attached to the
temple was a sacred lake called the ‘Sea of the Two Knives’ from which emerged
the ‘Isle of Flames’. This island was said to be the primeval hill and was a
great place of pilgrimage and the setting for much ritual. Four variants of the
creation myth as told at Hermopolis were connected with this lake and this island.
In the first, the world was said to have originated in a cosmic egg…this was
laid by the celestial goose which first broke the silence of the world and was
known as the ‘Great Cackler’. The egg, laid on the primeval mound, contained
the bird of light, Ra, who was to be creator of the world. Other sources said
that the egg contained air – a tradition more in keeping with the Ogdoad
legend. The remains of the egg were shown to pilgrims at Hermopolis. The second
version was similar to the first, except that in this case the egg was laid by
an ibis – the bird representing Thoth, god of the moon and of wisdom… The third
variant of the Hermopolitan doctrine reverted to the imagery of creation out of
the waters, and was exceptionally poetic. According to this version, a lotus
flower rose out of the waters of the ‘Sea of the Two Knives’. When its petals
opened the calyx of the flower was seen to bear a divine child, who was Ra. The
forth version of this legend was that the lotus opened to reveal a scarab
beetle (symbol of the sun); the scarab then transformed itself into the boy…
Indeed in Hermopolis the lotus was sometimes specifically identified with the
Eye of Ra. The lotus is a flower which opens and closes every day: it could
therefore easily be associated with the cult of the sun god, which it bore
within its petals. By opening his Eye, Ra was said to separate day from night…
The Ogdoad were said…to have created the lotus bearing the sun-god, and this
lotus rose out of the waters…”[31]
These accounts contain some highly
significant information derived from diverse Egyptian hieroglyphic texts
(principally the Papyrus Leiden 1350 (New Kingdom
circa 1567-1085 BC). First, note from Armour that the myth concerns the ‘Eight
elements’ – four males and four females – the ‘ancestors of the gods’. This
bears a striking parallel to the biblical account of Noah and his family of
seven. Second, note the symbolism associated with each of the eight – Nun the
‘primeval ocean’. Of this same Nun ‘god’, Egyptologist Sung Hwan Yoo notes:
“In ancient Egypt the sky
was often thought of as a watery region, and Nut was closely associated with
Mehet-Weret (mhjjt wrt) “Great
Flood,” a female counterpart of Nun. Sometimes envisioned as a cow astride the
earth, Nut was paired or even identified with Mehet-Weret who was shown as a
cow-headed woman or a cow carrying a child (J. Allen 1989: 16; B. Lesko 1999:
23-24; Pinch 2002: 163). In this connection, Mehet-Weret stands as a primeval
cow goddess who gave birth to the sun-god. It is interesting to note that
Mehet-Weret gave birth to the sun in the form of a calf, as mentioned in the
Pyramid Texts Spell 485A (Pyr. § 1029a-b) … “This Pepi has come to you, Re, a
calf of gold to whom Nut gave birth, a fatted calf of gold whom Hezat created”
(Barta 1984: 167). The statement calls to mind the fact that Ihy, regarded as
one of the sun-children, is born as a calf (Hoenes 1980: 125).”[32]
This is the same sacred animal
found in ‘The Book of the Heavenly Cow’[33],
inscribed in the tombs of Seti I, Ramesses II and Ramesses III, which book
contains numerous parallels to the biblical flood.[34]
Figure 16: Mehet-Weret (mhjjt
wrt) [35] meaning “Great Flood,” along with the solar barque (boat) of Ra
underneath her leg and Shu holding up the heavens[36]
Also note the ‘coming forth by day’
or the rising of the sun, the darkness of night and the reference to life –
signified in many other accounts by the solar palm or tree of life.
Third, note the sacred lake called
‘The Sea of Two Knives’ and the ‘Isle of Flames’. This may be paralleled with
the twin-peaked mountain, as depicted in the form previously seen in Figure 9.
It may also bear significance for the waters of the flood and the first land
peaks seen after the waters receded:
“And the waters decreased continually
until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were
the tops of the mountains seen.” Genesis 8:5
Here we learn that the ‘Isle of
Flames’ was more like a ‘primeval hill’ or twin-peaked ‘mud mound’ rather than
a large volcanic mountain like Mount Ararat itself. At the same time, we learn
that it may have been called ‘The Great Cackler’ because it appears to have acted
as a natural harbour-nest or ‘guardian’ for the cosmic egg (or Ark ) – hence the bird
imagery we have encountered previously.
Finally we learn two other
important facts which may bear deeper meaning:
In the first instance, we discover from
Ion’s text that the biconvex shape of the Eye of Ra was “specifically
identified” with the lotus flower in Hermopolis - and hence the sun disc also
because of the koine established by
Marinatos. Therefore, of large consequence is the fact that the Eye of Ra is
another allomorph of the Ark
itself. This is corroborated by Professor Finkel, who adds regarding the shape
of the Ark in
various cuneiform tablets:
“We can identify the characteristic
shape of the makurru [i.e. ark] with
the help of a geometrical diagram from the world of cuneiform educational
mathematics…. This shows two circles, drawn with one overlapping the other. Here
a Babylonian teacher is expounding the mathematical properties of the pointed
almond or biconvex shape generated by such intimate circles. We learn from him
at the same time that this shape is called makurru,
which will therefore evoke or correspond to the outline of a contemporary makurru boat, seen from above.[37]”
In the second instance, we discover
that this entire Ogdoad ‘cosmogony’ was the subject of much ritual and
pilgrimage in the Old Kingdom . This could be,
remarkably, the interpretive key to the whole of the Giza plateau and the ancient pyramids.
Some explanatory background in the
euhemeristic interpretation of mythology is necessary here. In 1807, Jacob
Bryant published ‘A New System; Or, An
Analysis of Ancient Mythology’. In this work, Bryant made some logical
inferences of considerable importance for the Ark Studies Project. He noted
that:
“Such was the Gentile history of
the Deluge: varied indeed, and in some measure adapted to the prejudices of
those who wrote; yet containing all the grand circumstances with which that
catastrophe was attended. The story had been so inculcated, and the impressions
left upon the minds of men were so strong, that they seem to have referred to
it continually; and to have made it the principal subject of their religious
institutions. I have taken notice of a custom among the priests of Amon, who at
particular seasons used to carry in procession a boat, in which was an oracular
shrine, held in great veneration. They were said to have been eighty in number;
and to have carried the sacred vessel about, just as they were directed by the
impulse of the Deity. … I mentioned at the same time, that this custom of
carrying the Deity in an ark or boat was in use among the Egyptians, as well as
the people of Ammonia. … The ship of Isis is
well known; and the celebrity among the Egyptians, whenever it was carried in
public. The name of this, and of all the navicular shrines was Baris: which is
very remarkable; for it was the very name of the mountain, according to Nicolaus
Damascenus, on which the ark of Noah rested; the same as Ararat in Armenia .
… We may be assured then that the ship of Isis
was a sacred emblem; in honour of which there was among the Egyptians an annual
festival. It was in aftertimes admitted among the Romans, and set down in their
Calendar for the month of March. The former in their descriptions of the
primary deities have continually some reference to a ship or float. … They
oftentimes, says Porphyry, describe the sun in the character of a man sailing on
a float. And Plutarch observes to the same purpose, that they did not represent
the sun and the moon in chariots; … but wafted about upon floating machines. In
doing which they did not refer to the luminaries; but to a personage
represented under those titles. The Sun, or Orus, is likewise described by
Iamblichus as sitting upon the lotus, and sailing in a vessel. … The same
memorial is to be observed in other countries, where an ark, or ship, was
introduced in their mysteries, and often carried about upon their festivals.
Pausanias gives a remarkable account of a temple
of Hercules at Eruthra in Ionia; which
he mentions as of the highest of antiquity, and very like those in Egypt . The
Deity was represented upon a float; and was supposed to have come thither in
this manner from Phenicia. … Aristides mentions, that at Smyrna , upon the feast called Dionusia, a
ship used to be carried in procession. The same custom prevailed among the
Athenians at the Panathenæa; when what was termed the sacred ship was borne with
great reverence through the city to the temple of Damater Egypt ,
and when these rites were first established: and there is reason to think, that
in early times most shrines among the Mizraim were formed under the resemblance
of a ship, in memory of this great event. … in the ancient mythology of Egypt ,
there were precisely eight Gods: of these the Sun was the chief, and was said
first to have reigned. … And as in the histories of their kings, the Egyptians
were able to trace the line of their descent upwards to these ancient
personages; the names of the latter were by these means prefixed to those
lists: and they were in aftertimes thought to have reigned in that country.
This was the celebrated Ogdoas of Egypt, which their posterity held in such
veneration, that they exalted them to the heavens, and made their history the
chief subject of the sphere. This will appear very manifest in their symbolical
representation of the solar system. … Thus we find that they esteemed the ark
an emblem of the system of the heavens. … The vessel in the celestial sphere,
which the Grecians call the Argo, is a representation of the ship of Osiris,
which out of reverence has been placed in the heavens. The original therefore
must be looked for in Egypt .
The very name of the Argo shews, what it alluded to; for Argus, as it should
truly be expressed, signified precisely an ark, and was synonymous to Theba. …
The principal terms, by which the ancients distinguished the Ark , were Theba, Baris, Arguz, Argus, Aren,
Arene, Arne, Laris, Boutus, Bœotus, Cibotus.”[38]
Following Bryant’s pioneering euhemeristic analysis
of mythology, in Figure 16 we may recall that the cow Mehet-Weret, representing
the ‘Great Flood’ is ridden out by the solar
barque of Ra (or Sokar). Depictions of the Egyptian solar funerary barque
vary in detail yet contain fascinating information. Marinatos also makes the
connection between Egyptian barques and the solar deity in a different context
altogether. “Consider one example on an Egyptian Nineteenth Dynasty sarcophagus
[of Seti I – ed.] that shows the journey of the elongated polelike sun bark. It
ends in two ox heads and is pulled by deities. … Here, the ox heads define the
east and west axis of the pole. Thus, in Egyptian imagery the ox heads envelop
the sun’s course between east and west.”[39] In
Figures 17-20 are shown some different renditions of this solar barque in
association with what might be the cosmic twin-peaked mountain:
Figures 17: The
Solar Barque of the Ogdoad – from the papyrus of Anhai (or Ani)
Figure 18: The Funerary
Barque of Sokar – from the temple complex of Dendera , Egypt
Note the falcon atop the palm standard.
Figure 19: Sokar
Barque in the Bull Hall of the Temple of
Ramesses II at Abydos .
Note the Eight are here depicted in the form of birds – two larger, six
smaller.
Figure 20: The Sokar/Seker/Sokaris
or Henu Barque of the Underworld – or divine boat of Nu from the Papyrus of
Anhai (Ani). Note (right) the falcon or sparrow-hawk atop the hieroglyph for
‘west’
positioned between the peaks of the cosmic mountain
We may note from these reliefs and
glyphs a number of significant observations. First, the solar barque shown in
Figure 17 (from the papyrus of Ani) has Eight people standing within the barque
and one of them (the sun-god Heh or Kheper-Ra) is represented as a scarab
beetle lifting up the Sun. Another large ‘god-figure’ (Shu or Nun) stands in a
pose with their two arms either end of the barque supporting it. This pose may
be considered morphologically cognate to the twin peaks of the cosmic mountain
arising from the waters.
Second, note in Figure 18 from the Temple of Dendera Greece
via the Sun Bird or Phoenix .
Also notice that from the back of
the barque in Figure 20 arise what appear to be lines of rope holding what
could be interpreted to be approximately 20 drogue stones. This is significant,
as we shall discover in our final section on potential Ark field data. Finally, observe that the
entire cult teaching of ancient Egypt
was centred around these ritual barques – meaning that the Ark
and its allomorphs probably have significance for the geometry of the Giza plateau itself.
Egyptologist Robert Temple has clearly
identified two geometric squares on the Giza
plateau, which he terms the ‘Shadow
Square ’ and the ‘Perfect Square’. The Shadow
Square was used to make the Perfect Square. Both
are associated with the sun, solar deities - and with the enigmatic hiding of
cultic dogma.
Figure 21: The ‘Eye of Ra’ (or Ark
‘makurru’ shape) geometrical
hieroglyph superimposed on Giza plateau
satellite image (courtesy of Temple ,
2011, pg. 34. Also see footnote [2] below)
He observes that: “The first thing
one can do with the Perfect Square of Giza
is to construct a giant Eye of Ra gazing upwards at the sky. It is a purely
geometrical design, which is not physically represented on the ground. However,
it is not just an arbitrary Eye of Ra, but is one which is constructed of two
arcs and a circle, each of which intersects key points of the Giza monuments…This
inscribed hieroglyph intersects (1) the apex of the Great Pyramid, (2) the
southeast corner of the Great Pyramid, (3) the midpoint of the waist of the
Sphinx, (4) the midpoint of the base of the western face of the Pyramid of
Chephren. If you take a compass point and put it on the centre of the Perfect
Square, point O, and draw a circle of radius OP, it intersects both point P
(the midpoint of the base of the southern face of the Great Pyramid) and the
midpoint of the base of the northern face of the Pyramid of Chephren. The ‘Eye
of Ra’ thus intersects six key points of the monuments within the Perfect
Square of Giza .”[40]
What immediately strikes one about
the ‘Eye of Ra’ secretly inscribed upon the Giza plateau underneath layers of
geometry is that the centre of the eye is precisely located in between the two
larger pyramids – in the same manner as other cosmic allomorphs of the Ark have
been too in our study of the koine.
This location matches precisely a real life location which David Deal[41]
has proposed for the initial landing site of the Ark
near Mount Yigiturtagi
THE CITY AND TOWER
OF BABEL
Here, therefore, at Giza - we appear
to have a codified cult rendition of the cosmic ‘landscape of the gods’ found
in the koine – complete with the
twin-peaked mountain (the Great Pyramid of Cheops and the Pyramid of Chephren),
the Underworld or ‘mud sunken ark’ (represented by the shaft of Osiris which is
slanted at the golden angle of 26° 33̍ 54̎ - the angle David Fasold also found
to be a central design feature of his boat-shaped object) and subsequently the
passage of the Ark through the Underworld (represented by the Causeway of
Chephren leading towards the Sphinx).
What we have represented by the Giza monuments is clearly
a ‘gate of the gods’ or in Akkadian itself ‘Bāb-ilu’, literally: gate of
god. This is true because the two larger pyramids strongly seem to represent
the cosmic twin-peaked mountain
of Mashu Babel in Genesis 11 has
been misidentified as that famous city of Sumerian
Mesopotamia . Remarkably, Coptic Cairo (next to the Giza plateau) was in Persian times (6th century
B.C.) known as Babylon [42].
Further, the text of Genesis 11:3-4 reads:
“And they said one to another, Go
to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone,
and slime had they for mortar. And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and
a tower, whose top [is] unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be
scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.”
It is tempting to postulate that the
city and tower with its “top unto
heaven” mentioned in Genesis 11:4 could well refer to the Eye of Ra or Ark hieroglyph geometrically
inscribed upon the plateau. The Hebrew word for ‘tower’ is migdal (MG-DL) – figuratively defined in Strong’s Hebrew Lexicon as
a ‘pyramidal bed of flowers’.[43] If
this supposition is correct, we might expect the Holy Bible to suggest this location
– and it does appear to. Genesis 11: 2 states:
“And it came to pass, as they
journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar
This verse has been the subject of
much debate because the most obvious reading of the Hebrew word miqqedem, ‘from the east’, is highly
precise. Theologian John Gill comments that: “…it seems a little difficult how
to interpret this phrase, "from the east", since if they came from
Ararat in Armenia, where the ark rested, as that lay north of Shinar or
Babylon, they might rather be said to come from the north than from the east,
and rather came to it than from it: so some think the phrase should be
rendered, "to the east" (b), or eastward, as in Genesis 13:11.
Jarchi thinks this refers to Genesis 10:30 "and their dwelling
was", &c. at "the mountain of the east"…”[44].
Yet as Humphreys notes: “The noun qedem,
in a geographic sense, means ‘east’, or sometimes ‘front’ (the front of the
tabernacle was its east side). According to lexicons, the Hebrew prefix mi (short for min) most often means ‘from’ (including when used as a prefix to
another Hebrew word). Hence we have ‘from [the] east’. Occasionally the phrase
may mean ‘to the east’, as is faintly possible in Genesis 13:11. But I think
use of a different preposition, l e, meaning ‘to’, would have been
more likely had that been the case. Very often, however, ‘eastward’ is a
different word, qēdemah, as in
Genesis 13:14, 25:6, Leviticus 1:16, Numbers 3:38, etc. So our first hypothesis
should be to take the phrase in Genesis 11:2 as meaning the Flood survivors
traveled from some point in the east, i.e. they travelled westward.[45]”
This clear and straightforward
interpretation creates a riddle, however, because assuming the mountains of
Ararat have been identified correctly, to reach Babylon of Mesopotamian
‘Shinar’ they would need to have travelled directly south for approximately 447
miles. So unless the growing family travelled south and then entered the Sumerian plain from the eastern Zagros Mountains this verse really cannot be
understood straightforwardly. Yet if it refers to crossing the Sinai Peninsula
and arriving at the Giza
plateau it can be understood far more naturally.
Is there further evidence for this interpretation? Indeed, for John Gill
continues: “…they found a plain in the land of Shinar; which the Targum of
Jonathan paraphrases the land of Babylon; and Hestiaeus (c), a Phoenician
historian, calls it Sennaar of Babylon; there are plain traces of this name in
the Singara of Ptolemy (d) and Pliny (e), the Hebrew letter being sometimes
pronounced as "G", as in Gaza…”[46].
It is really not a far stretch from this to our modern name of ‘Giza ’! “Sin-gara” may
even have reference to the moon god ‘Sin’, who also occurs as the high deity in
Finkel’s Ark Tablet[47].
Indeed, a mud-brick lost city area
(known locally as Gebel Qibli) associated
with the Giza plateau,
where those who actually constructed the pyramid monuments lived and ate, had a
population of approximately 20,000. These 20,000 appear to have built the
complex entirely voluntarily[48].
This would fit naturally with the population increase after the Flood from the
Eight aboard the Ark
as they freely conspired to unify themselves under one banner. There even seems
good archaeological evidence that the settlement was abandoned in a rapid
salvage operation:
“Beneath the sandy layer lies a
compact surface of gray soil, which resulted from a rapid, seemingly
intentional, toppling of mud brick settlement walls. Inhabitants abandoned the
settlement and stripped nearly everything of value: wooden columns, stone
doorsteps, even many mud bricks.” [49]
This is just as Genesis 11:8 notes:
“So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth:
and they left off to build the city.”
Observe, moreover, that the Sphinx
guardian (possibly representing Sothis) is facing Eastwards toward the sunrise
and for interest compare Figure 21 – a photograph of the sphinx – with what
Smith describes of Figure 23: “An Egyptian picture of
Hathor between the mountains of the horizon (on which trees are growing) (after
Budge, "Gods of the Egyptians," Vol. II, p. 101). [This is a part
only of a scene in which the goddess Nut is giving birth to the sun, whose rays
illuminate Hathor on the horizon, as Sothis, the "Opener of the Way"
for the sun.]”[50]
The correspondence is of considerable consequence – especially when one
understands that Hathor was often depicted with the sun disc between her bovine
horns (morphologically similar to the Minoan double axe of Crete ).
Figure 21: The Sphinx between the twin peaks (from The image of
the East : nineteenth-century Near Eastern photographs by Bonfils, Carney
E.S. Gavin; edited by Ingeborg Endter O'Reilly,
Figure 22: The Summer Solstice sunset behind the Sphinx (© Juan
Antonio Belmonte) taken from ‘Area A’ – the lost workers’ city of Gebel
Qibli
Figure 23: The cow goddess Hathor between the twin peaks and framed
by a gate to the underworld
(from Smith, 2007, Figure 26, pg. 189)
Viewing Giza as an artificial ‘mountain-gate’, as the
ANE koine dictates, also has
consequence for our interpretation of Egyptian mythology. According to Ions:
“From the time when Ra returned to the heavens, an immutable order was
established for him. The world was bounded by mountains which supported the sky
and at whose foot was Naunet, the consort of Nun in Hermopolitan doctrine. The
sun was therefore reborn daily either from the watery abyss or alternatively as
son of the sky-goddess. He emerged in the east from behind Manu, the mountain
of sunrise, and passing between two sycamores, began his journey across the sky
in what was called the Manjet-boat, or ‘Barque of Millions of Years’.”[51]
It seems that early post-flood
peoples of Babel
wanted to make a name for themselves as ‘children of the ark’. They wanted to
represent the journey of the ‘life-saver’ Ark
and the depth of the global flood, which they did via comparison with the
‘life-giving’ Sun disc, sailing across the deep blue sky, beginning from the
natural twin-peaked mountain in the east and descending to the underworld via
the artificial twin-peaked mountain in the west (i.e. the Giza monuments).
Consider moreover that at the foot
of the Sphinx, behind which the Summer Solstice sun sets, we have two temples –
called the Sphinx and Valley
Temples Giza area during the Festival of Sokar, which
we may understand as a pagan remembrance of the Great Flood[52]. Many
boat pits have in fact since been discovered beneath the Giza plateau, indicating that Robert Temple
cannot be far wrong in his reasoning.[53]
A LOCATION REVISTED:
DURUPINAR’S BOAT MAY BE NOAH’S ARK
From our study of Noah’s Ark in ancient history, we have discovered much new
information regarding what the ancients believed about the location of the Ark , its construction -
and possibly how it actually looked to them. There are, to date, four main
contenders for where the Ark
landed.
- Durupinar
- North-West
- Cudi Dagh (Eastern or Central)
Figure 24: In the
distance - distinctive mount
Yigiturtagi
Figure 25: Life Magazine first published the Airborne Photograph of
the biconvex makurru boat-shape in
1960 (Image courtesy of Nissen, 2004, pg. 194)
Figure 26: The Ark as reconstructed by
Fasold had many ‘Egyptian’ features including a 1 acre or 'iku' deck area - see Footnote [3] below, and the natural golden angle in its curved bow and stern (Image courtesy of Fasold, 1988). This
boat-shaped object now deserves the benefit of the doubt since despite some believing it a doubly plunging syncline formation this does not explain the geometry of the object described here by S.R. Windsor: [WWW] http://www.creationism.org/patten/WindsorNoahsArkGeometry.html (Accessed on 08/02/14)
Important in corroborating this
particular twin-peaked mountain even further is the Babylonian map of the World
known as mappa mundi. Surrounding the
outer portion of this map were originally eight mountain icons in the shape of
triangles. These are known as nagûs.
Professor Irving Finkel notes that the cuneiform on mountain or Nagû V (which points towards the Urartu
area of the Mount
Yigiturtagi
“[To the fift]h, to which you must
travel seven Leagues, […]. [The Great Wall,] its height is 840 cubits; […].[54]”
This map is reconstructed by Finkel
on page 296, where the cuneiform is translated:
“Great Wall, 6 leagues in between,
where the sun is not seen”
Interestingly, this name
corresponds directly to the description “wall of heaven” in the Epic of
Gilgamesh, where this same ‘wall’ is identified with Mount Mashu
Additionally, eleven apparent
drogue stones (used to create drag in the water) found nearby to the
boat-shaped formation correspond with images of the solar barque made in
ancient Egypt .
Although there is some dispute about whether these stones are ancient drogue
stones, their apparent correspondence with the Egyptian bark of Sokar is
suggestive.
The Ark of Noah, then, appears to
have come to rest between Yigiturtagi’s twin peaks (the geographically western
peak being known as Ziyaret Dag or Pilgrim’s Mount and the eastern peak being
known as Al Cudi – similar to Noah’s landing place ‘Al Judi’ in the Koran) and
been sheltered by the curved escarpment in between as the waters gradually
descended (this curved escarpment is a unique feature of the mount only truly
appreciated when viewed from the northern mud-flow). Only this explanation can
fully account for all the relevant twin-peak cosmic mountain iconography across
the whole ANE, Eastern Mediterranean and
beyond.
At some point soon after landfall,
the Ark appears to have been enveloped in the large mud flow (visible in Figure
24) which buried the reed, palm and wood structure underground so as to
transform the Lily/Lotus/Eye/Double Axe/Rosette or Cosmic Egg into the Underworld
‘Place of Descent’ of ANE mythology. The Egyptians, at Giza ,
probably captured the passage of the Ark
through the mudflow geometrically by building the Chephren Causeway between the
pyramids to represent where the Ark
first landed and where it later flowed to under gravity. Recall that the Causeway
ends in the Temple
of Osiris
At this point, the Egyptian model of the Mount Yigiturtagi
CONCLUSION
This thesis, based upon the ANE koine
inferred through the complex comparison of ancient icons from diverse
locations, accounts for the bizarre nature of the Egyptian cult system, which
was concerned with the symmetry of the heavens being replicated as in a mirror
on the ground – and the passage of the pharaoh’s soul after death. The cosmic
mountain (pyramids) at Babel acted as a ‘gate’ and ‘guardian’ for the Sun
(Ark), and when the Sun sank from the ‘Great Flood’ (cow) it passed into the
Underworld (mudflow) before being ‘reborn’ when Ra opened his Eye again
(earthquake or such like). Peer reviewed archaeological and scientific evidence
for the Durupinar site has so far
been less than adequate to make a firm objective decision either way about the
boat-shaped object. Archaeologically the site has yielded little firm evidence
which can be independently confirmed. Nevertheless, judging by the koine of ancient iconography we may
safely say the Ark of Noah has already been found – and verification of the
boat shaped object through excavation is now essential to settle the matter
conclusively.
Footnotes 1-3:
[1] Key to
Smith’s images in Figure 3: “(a) Winged Disk from the Temple of Thothmes
(b) Persian design of Winged Disk above the Tree of
Life (Ward, … Fig. 1109).
(c) Assyrian or Syro-Hittite design of the Winged
Disk and Tree of Life in an extremely conventionalized form (Ward, Fig. 1310).
i.e. W. Hayes Ward ‘The Seal Cylinders of Western Asia’. 1910
(d) Assyrian conventionalized Winged Disk and Tree of
Life, from the design upon the dress of Assurnazipal (Ward, Fig. 670).
(e) Part of the design from a tablet of the time of
Dungi (Ward, Fig. 663). The Tree of Life (or the Great Mother) between the two
mountains: alongside the tree is the heraldic eagle.
(f) Design on a Cretan sarcophagus from Hagia Triada
(Blinckenberg, Fig. 9). The Tree of Life has now become the handle of the
Double Axe, into which the Winged Disk has been transformed. But the bird which
was the prototype of the Winged Disk has been added.
(g) Double axe from a gold signet from Acropolis
Treasure, Mycenæ (after Sir Arthur Evans, "Mycenæan Tree and Pillar
Cult," p. 10).
(h) Assyrian Winged Disk (Ward, Fig. 608) showing
reduplication of the wing-pattern, possibly suggesting the doubling of each
axe-blade in g.
(i) "Primitive Chaldean Winged Gate" (Ward,
Fig. 349). The Gate as the Goddess of the Portal.
(k) Persian Winged Disk (Ward, Fig. 1144) above a
fire-altar in the form suggestive of the mountains of dawn…
(l) An Assyrian Tree of Life and Winged Disk crudely
conventionalized (Ward, Fig. 691).
(m) Assyrian Tree of Life and "Winged Disk"
in which the god is riding in a crescent replacing the Disk (Ward, Fig. 695)”
[2] Also
see: [WWW] http://www.egyptiandawn.info/chapter1.html (Accessed on 10/2/14).
[3] Fasold,
ibid, 1988, pg. 130 and Finkel, I. ibid, 2014,
pg. 359.
References and Endnotes:
[1]
Marinatos, N. Minoan Kingship and the
Solar Goddess: A Near Eastern Koine. USA: University of Illinois Press, 2010.
[2] Cooper,
B. The Authenticity of the Book of
Genesis, Creation Science Movement, p.162, 2011.
[3]
Humphreys, R. Where is Noah’s Ark ?
– a closer look at the biblical clues, J.
Creation 25(3):6-8, 2011.
[4]
Habermehl, A. A Review of the Search for Noah’s Ark ,
in Snelling, A. (ed.), Proceedings of the
Sixth International Conference of Creationism (Pittsburg ,
PA ; Dallas ,
TX
[5] Crouse,
B. and Franz, G. Mount Cudi – True Mountain of Noah’s Ark. Bible and Spade 19.4, pp. 99-111, 2006.
[6] Cory, P.
and Hodges, E.R. Cory’s Ancient Fragments
of the Phoenician, Carthaginian, Babylonian, Egyptian and Other Writers, p
54. 2003.
[7] Ibid.
pp. 62-63
[8] Crouse,
B. and Franz, G. ibid, 2006, p. 105
[9]
Josephus, F. Antiquities' Book 1,
chapter 3.
[10] Budge, E.A.W. An Egyptian hieroglyphic dictionary: with
an index of English words, Dover
Publications, 1978.
[11]
Eggeling, J. in Müller, F.M. The Sacred Books of the East, Volume XII, Oxford : The Clarendon
Press, 1882, p. 218.
[12]
Griffith, R. T. H. The Hymns of the
Atharva Veda, Volume 1, Book 19, Hymn 39, (1916), Kessinger Publishing
Reprint, 2010.
[13] [WWW] http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2010/jan/01/noahs-ark-was-circular
(Accessed 09/01/14)
[14] Cooper,
B. The Authenticity of the Book of
Genesis, pp. 390-396, 2011.
[15] Cooper,
Ibid, p. 396, 2011.
[17] Finkel,
I. . The Ark
Before Noah: Decoding the Story of the Flood, Hodder and Stoughton ,
London , p. 280,
2014.
[18] Heidel,
A. The Gilgamesh Epic and Old Testament Parallels.
Chicago and London :
The University of
Chicago
[19] Nissen,
H. Noah’s Ark Uncovered, Copenhagen : Scandinavia
Publishing House, p. 108, 2004.
[20] Nissen,
H. ibid. p. 252, footnote 5, 2004.
[21]
Marinatos, N. ibid, p. 112, 2010.
[22] Smith,
G. E. The Evolution of the Dragon. 2007.
[23]
Marinatos, ibid, 2010, pp. 115-116.
[24]
Marinatos, ibid, 2010, pp. 60-62.
[25]
Marinatos, N. ibid, pp. 110-111.
[26]
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