Many are interested in the question "How many years did Noah build the ark?" Let's try to figure it out. Many believe that it took 120 years to build this structure. This date is taken from the 6th chapter of the Bible, which details the construction of the ark and the story of Noah.

Who is Noah and why did he build his ark?

Noah is one of the direct descendants of Adam. When he started building his structure, he was 500 years old. He had 3 sons - Shem, Ham and Japheth. They were all the weather. Scientists agree that he did not want to have children, because he knew that the end of the world would come. But still, at the behest of the Lord, he was forced to marry.

It was Noah who was the only one who led a righteous life and obtained alms from the Lord. He was chosen by the Almighty in order to revive life in the world after the flood.

The Lord God believed that people were mired in their sins. The punishment for people should have been their complete destruction. He brought a lot of water down to the ground. All living things went under its waves.

Only Noah's family survived. This mercy was sent to him by God in the form of the so-called instruction:

1. God explained to Noah in detail how to build the ark so that it would not go under water and leak.
2. He told me what to take with you on the ship in order to survive and not die of hunger.
3. He ordered to take his wife and sons with their wives, as well as each creature a pair.

Of course, the Lord God could have helped Noah, and he would have built the ark in just a few days. Still, the Almighty hoped that people would change their minds and come to ask for forgiveness for their sins. Then he would have left life on earth by his grace. However, sinners were in no hurry to go and repent.

Noah also warned them about the coming end of the world. He planted trees that were later used as material for the ship. All preparation and construction lasted 120 long years, and not a single living soul listened to advice and turned to God.

The flood lasted more than a month. Only after 40 days did the ark rise to the surface. There was so much water that only the tops of the sunken mountains protruded from it. It was unrealistic for any living creature to escape.

The water lasted for 150 days, then began to decrease. The ark was nailed to Mount Ararat. But only after 9 months Noah noticed the tops of the mountains, and only after 40 days he sent a raven free, but he returned without finding land. Three more times he released the pigeon, and only on the third time the bird did not return. This means that now it was possible to go ashore.

After such an end of the world, only Noah's family survived on earth. So that the Lord would no longer punish his descendants, Noah offered sacrificial gifts. And the Almighty promised that he would never again punish people with complete destruction. He blessed all life on this earth and made an agreement with Noah. The symbol of this is the rainbow, which appeared as a sign that water can no longer destroy humanity.

It was necessary to start a new life. Agriculture was Noah's main occupation. He planted many vineyards and made the first wine.

From here comes another legend. One day, Noah, having drunk wine, lay naked in a tent. When Ham saw this, he laughed at his father and told about all the brothers. But they hid their father and condemned their brother. Noah cursed the whole family of Ham.

After the flood, Noah worked for another 350 years and died when he was 950 years old.

Noah gave birth to all peoples who live on Earth. These are the descendants of his sons: Ham, Japheth and Shem. It was Noah's righteous and godly life that made us live.

Now you know the answer to the question "How many years did Noah build his ark?" The Lord gave a lot of time so that people could change their minds and stop committing sinful deeds. For 120 years, people laughed and scoffed at a man who was destined to become the forefather of modern humanity.

Doctor of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences M. VERBA (St. Petersburg).

Comparison of the information given in the Bible about the age of the Old Testament centenarians with the history of the formation of mathematical knowledge among the peoples of Mesopotamia suggests an interesting idea. When, in the 3rd century AD, the Greeks translated the Book of Genesis from Old Aramaic into Greek, the "interpreters" of the ancient manuscripts might not have taken into account the specifics of the positional number system adopted by the Sumerians. If this assumption turns out to be true, then, consequently, the age of the biblical characters was overestimated by about an order of magnitude. By applying modern knowledge about the numeration systems of ancient peoples, one can not only make the dates of many biblical information more reliable, but also clarify other numbers contained in the book of the Old Testament.

Science and Life // Illustrations

Science and Life // Illustrations

Science and Life // Illustrations

Science and Life // Illustrations

Science and Life // Illustrations

Science and Life // Illustrations

Science and Life // Illustrations

Science and Life // Illustrations

Science and Life // Illustrations

Science and Life // Illustrations

Science and Life // Illustrations

Science and Life // Illustrations

The Bible says: "Noah was 500 years old, and begat Noah Shem, Ham and Japheth" [Being. 5, 32]. Thus, the answer to the question about the age of the captain of the ark, it would seem, is extremely clear. Nevertheless, this information is strongly at odds with our ideas about the duration of human life in general. Moreover, the biblical texts suggest that the age of other characters is given in some kind of encrypted form.

Other digital data, for example, those related to the Flood, are also confusing. First of all, it is known that before the Flood, Noah had to build an ark, the dimensions of which not only amaze the imagination, but also surprise with irrationality. The vessel was approximately 120 meters (300 cubits *) long, 20 meters (50 cubits) wide and 12 meters (30 cubits) high. It had a hold ( lower housing) and two decks on which second and third housing.

Large ships in those days were able to build, as can be judged by archaeological excavations in India, which discovered, in particular, the remains of a shipyard, which would have accommodated Noah's ark. At the same time, the last phrase of the biblical description is perplexing: it turns out that the height of each dwelling is at least 4 m, which is twice the normal requirement. Why build such high spaces on a cargo-passenger ship? A suspicion arises that the number of cubits - thirty - was distorted during the translation of the ancient text and corresponds to a lower value.

The second consideration that leads to suspicion of translation errors is based on discrepancies in the numerical data contained in different Bible translations. The Russian-language version of the Bible is a tracing of the Greek text compiled in the III century BC by 70 "interpreters" who translated the books of the Old Testament from the Aramaic language. Along with this version of the Bible, called the "Septuagint", there are other translations, in which slightly different numbers are given (see table).

Look at the age of the biblical patriarchs in the table - it is quite eloquent. These numbers indicate, first of all, that the disagreements in the translations were of a systematic nature and were caused not by the fact that the original record was illegible or damaged, but by a different interpretation of its meaning. Five biblical characters (out of the fifteen cited) are over 900 years old.

It is unlikely that the life expectancy of the biblical patriarchs among different generations of translators of Scripture would change so markedly. It is more natural to assume that in the original source it remained the same, but the records about it were read in different ways.

And finally, all the noted discrepancies between different translations, as well as information about the incredible age of centenarians, relate to that part of the biblical texts, which describes the Mesopotamian period of the life of the Israelites' first parents. After Terah and his descendants settled in Palestine, the numbers were no longer controversial.

Thus, there is no doubt that the ambiguous interpretation of the numbers indicates the difficulties encountered by the translators of the ancient Sumerian manuscripts. But in order to imagine the nature of these difficulties, you need to mentally go back to those times when the number systems were still being formed.

There is a remarkable episode in the fairy tale "The Little Humpbacked Horse" written by P. P. Ershov based on Russian folklore. The Tsar, seeing the golden-maned horses and wishing to get them, enters into bargaining with Ivan:

"Well, I'm buying a couple!
Selling, are you? "-" No, I'm changing. "
"What good do you take in the exchange?" -
"Two - five silver caps. "-
"That is, it will ten".
The king immediately ordered to weigh ...

There is no need to say that the author of the tale is well aware of the intricacies of the Russian language: any word, every word turnover is precisely weighed and used to the place. The same, of course, also applies to the form of designation of ten - "two - five", which is unusual for the modern reader. What is this expression, what are its roots?

It turns out that in these two words, used as if by the way, one can hear the echo of a big problem, which was solved for a long time by the best minds of ancient civilizations back in biblical times - it is called "the formation of the number system." The decimal number system that we use has become so familiar that it seems the only possible one. Although relatively recently, only a dozen centuries ago, it was far from generally accepted and competed with other methods of manipulating quantitative categories.

The very first such system, when fingers served as a counting "device", was a fivefold one. Some tribes in the Philippine islands use it today, and in civilized countries, its relic, according to experts, has survived only in the form of a school five-point grading scale. Ivan from the tale of Ershov, not being a great literate, when bargaining with the tsar, also operated heel a, mi, and the monarch, more advanced in arithmetic, translated his primitive count into the decimal system familiar to him. So, in a Russian fairy tale, we accidentally met with different number systems.

But this is only one side of the question, the verbal one. And when decoding ancient manuscripts, the researcher deals with numbers in graphic form. Imagine that Ivan would write down the assigned price for the horses in the same way as he said: "two five". Then a person who is not familiar with the fivefold number system could easily read this number as twenty-five. (This tradition of pronouncing numbers without specifying the digits, and implying them "by default", is often demonstrated by our English-speaking contemporaries, when instead of "one thousand nine hundred and ninety" they say "nineteen ninety." This feature of oral speech is very significant in situations where the characters do not specify what counting systems they use, leaving the interlocutor to guess for themselves.)

In the earlier episode from the fairy tale, the king, in order to avoid disagreement, explains out loud how he recalculates the price from one system to another. And this detail of the fairy tale narration turns out to be not a decorative element of the plot, but a reflection of an indispensable component of correct business relations of that time. However, when communication takes place in writing, excluding the possibility of explanations, misunderstandings and discrepancies are inevitable. Such historical misunderstandings, in all likelihood, include the traditional reading of ancient texts in the part where numerals are encountered.

There is no doubt that the age of such biblical characters as Adam, Noah or Methuselah, who fell into the proverb, is significantly exaggerated, but it is not easy to assess the degree of this exaggeration. Ancient manuscripts, before turning into the Old Testament lying in front of me on the table, have come a long way of translation, and each time inaccuracies could creep into them. This assumption grows into confidence, if we take into account that the development of mathematical knowledge among different peoples was uneven, and in some countries different number systems existed in parallel.

The next after the fivefold, or in parallel with it in Egypt and Mesopotamia, the duodecimal number system arose, in which the first, basic category was a dozen. This system safely survived until the 20th century of the new era and had (for example, in Great Britain) during all this time priority over the decimal in any calculations related to finance.

And in the Sumerian Mesopotamia at the time of Noah, there was a more complex one - the sixagesimal number system, which, according to the researchers, is a synthesis of the already mentioned fivefold and duodecimal systems. The indisputable advantage of this complex system, which ensured its longevity, is that the number 60 is divisible without a remainder by the first six numbers of the natural series and is the least common multiple for ten different fractions. In some respects, it turned out to be so convenient that we still use its individual elements to this day, for example, counting minutes and seconds or measuring angles.

The next important point: writing numbers in the sexagesimal system was done in two ways. At first, she was, as mathematicians now say, non-positional, in which the position of one or another character in the number notation has no informational value. The elements of this method, although in an incomplete form, are visible when using Roman numerals, the values \u200b\u200bof which do not depend on the place they occupy in the number recording. (With the exception of the numbers 4 and 9, but these numbers earlier, unlike their modern writing, were depicted non-positionally - see "Details for the curious.") The convenience of such a system, in particular, in the fact that it made it possible to do without a special sign denoting zero.

According to scientists, the ancient Sumerians were the first to introduce positionalrecording of numbers, in which the order of characters in the recording acquired fundamental importance. In the middle of the second millennium BC, the concept of digit capacity was born in them: it became generally accepted to arrange signs in decreasing order of digits and write numbers from left to right. This was one of the revolutionary moments in the development of mathematics and, perhaps, the first experience of applying the "default" principle when writing a number, without which no modern computer program is inconceivable.

Later, in the 6th-5th centuries BC, the Sumerians were also the first to use a special "interdigital" sign to designate "empty" categories, and they used it in a very peculiar way. This sign, in particular, was never placed at the end of a number, as a result of which the true meaning of what was written could only be understood from the context. In Europe, such a special sign to designate the empty category began to be used many centuries later, only at the turn of the first and second millennia of the new era, when the arithmetic work of Muhammad al-Khwarizmi was translated, which outlined the positional number system.

The listed details are of some importance for understanding the problem under discussion, since they show that none of the 70 "interpreters" who translated the books of the Old Testament into Greek in the 3rd century AD, in all likelihood, had not the slightest idea of \u200b\u200bhow to interpret Sumerian numbers. In addition, it should be added that the transition to the positional system among the Babylonians did not have the character of a general reform, it was gradual, the number recording, which, like all other text, in cuneiform, outwardly did not undergo significant changes, and the reader was usually given the opportunity to distinguish the positional entry from non-positional.

Here's an example to illustrate the confusion that can arise if you don't notice the difference in the number systems used. Suppose that Ivan, setting the price for the horses, would show it on his fingers - two fingers and five. It is easy to see that his gesture can be given various interpretations: Ivan meant ten, and today we would understand it as seven, although we could read both 25 and 52 depending on which direction we agree to read the numbers. The example shows how wide is the range of errors that can arise during translation if you do not understand the essence of the rules used "by default".

The researchers note that to the listed features of the Sumerian number system, it is necessary to add the fact that within the category it was decimal, and it was allowed to write numbers in two ways. Moreover, the number 60, which was the base number in the Sumerian counting system, was designated by the same vertical wedge ("hash") as one. As a result, the number 2, depicted with two identical strokes, could be read as 61, and as 120, and as 610. Mathematicians of that time, understanding the flawedness of such uncertainty, tried to overcome it, depicting this sign - "hash" - in the value of one small stroke, and in the value 60 - large.

The early translators of the Sumerian manuscripts might not have realized that it was necessary to pay attention to such a detail as the thickness of the stroke. Later, in the era of the Ur dynasty (2294-2187 BC), the wedge-shaped form of writing numbers began to be replaced by a semicircular one, in a unit sign, similar to the modern letter of the Arabic alphabet D, they began to add a period when it was necessary to write 60, as a result which made this sign look like another Arabic letter - D. Thanks to these techniques, the Sumerians in most cases successfully coped with arithmetic problems, and in disputable cases they determined the values \u200b\u200bof the numbers according to the meaning of the situation.

We are doing it in the same way now. When, for example, in a school kiosk we hear "two - five", then we understand that, for example, a notebook costs two rubles and five kopecks, and not two times five, as it would have been in those days when the heroes of Ershov's fairy tale were bargaining. In parentheses, we note that over the historical period of time, the relics of the non-positional system of designating numbers, which were preserved in the everyday life of the Russian people, were irreversibly replaced by the rules of positional. Such a transition, according to experts, began among the Sumerians around the middle of the third millennium BC, just at the time when Noah and his family were drifting on an ark across the boundless sea. In Europe, as already mentioned, this transition took place much later.

Without going deep into the details of the Sumerian writing, we note that the translator of ancient manuscripts was required not only to master various number systems, but also to penetrate into the hidden meaning of what was provided by default. And as a result of a misunderstanding, which probably occurred when reading the Sumerian positional records according to the rules of Greek non-positional system, the age of Noah turned out to be greatly exaggerated (apparently, by an order of magnitude). Cyril and Methodius, who used its Greek version when translating the Bible into the Old Church Slavonic, hardly made any additional errors in the spelling of numbers, since it was they who were credited with creating not only the Cyrillic alphabet, but also the alphabetical numbering based on it, completely copying the Greek one.

So, the main reason for the "encryption" of information about the age of the Old Testament elders is, apparently, the ignorance of the Greek "interpreters" of all the subtleties of Sumerian writing. They, of course, knew about the existence of a non-positional system of recording numbers among the Sumerians, they also knew about the gradual replacement of its positional one, but apparently they could not always distinguish in which of them the most ancient manuscripts should be read. By the way, it can be assumed that small numbers not exceeding the basic one - 60, the spelling of which corresponded to the decimal system adopted in Greece at that time, were translated without distortion, and problems arose only when the "hash" sign appeared in the text, meaning also one and sixty and six hundred.

As an assumption, which, of course, must be checked by experts in Sumerian numerals, one can express the opinion that all numbers greater than two basic ones were multiplied by Greek translators by ten, with the result that the result turned out to be as exaggerated as the age of Adam, who in one place is determined at 130 years, and next to it - at 700 [Genesis. 5, 3 and Genesis. 5, 4].

This conclusion can be indirectly confirmed by the following observation. First, it is very indicative that the age of Eber (see the table) in different editions differs just by the aforementioned ill-fated "gash". If, moreover, we recall that the zero sign was not yet used by the Sumerians in those days, it becomes clear that the translators really did not just translate, but also recounted the numerals, but, having made mistakes, only encrypted the digital data. It is apparently quite possible to restore the true values, but we will leave this fascinating task to mathematicians.

What is the conclusion? Numerous translations of Old Testament manuscripts from one language to another and accompanying recalculations of numbers from one number system to another allowed distortions of the true meaning of many numbers, especially in the first, most ancient part of the book of Genesis, which deals with the Mesopotamian period of the life of the ancestors of the Israelites. In later times, when Abraham and his family left the banks of the Euphrates, the positional decimal number system, which did not cause difficulties in translations, apparently already entered the everyday life of this people. Therefore, the digital data relating to this period do not cause much doubt. As for the earlier information, it can be assumed that the numbers of the first category, less than sixty, have been translated mostly correctly. And discrepancies in different translations and disagreements with common sense appeared only when the translators had a need to interpret "by default" and "by context" the value of the base number 60.

But back to our hero. All of the above suggests that the age of 60 years (at the beginning of the voyage) is most likely for Noah. The odyssey of the entire Noah family was recorded, apparently, from the words of one of his sons (there were no other men on the ship, and women hardly had the right to vote). Moreover, we can confidently believe that the eldest son, Sim, became this storyteller. The younger son, like Ivanushka in the Russian fairy tale, was not, as you know, a great expert in literature; the middle one, Ham, by definition could not speak respectfully about relatives. Obviously, Sim was the only one who brought the story of the ark to the descendants, which eventually became a legend.

By the way, about the age of this heir. From the Greek version of the translation of the Old Testament it follows that " Shem was a hundred years old, and gave birth to Arphaxad "[Genesis. 11, 10]. At the same time, if we take into account everything that was discussed above, then the number read by the Greeks non-positional like 100 was most likely recorded by the Sumerians positionally as 40+ "hash", and "hash" is thin, in the meaning of one. This means that the number should be read as 41 - this is more consistent with the age of the man who has the first child.

From the same position, you can re-read other numbers mentioned in the Book of Genesis and characterizing, for example, the size of Noah's ark or the age of Abraham. For this, of course, one should turn to the primary source, which, of course, does not contain any inaccuracies, or exaggerations, or mysticism.

* Elbow is a measure of length from 40 to 64 cm. Today in Ethiopia it is equal to 0.5 meters. In 11th century Russia, the elbow was 45.5-47.5 cm.In more ancient times, the elbow was apparently smaller and fluctuated within 35 cm.This can be judged from the description of Goliath: his height was six cubits and an inch ( 1 Kings 17: 4). The span is the distance between the thumb and forefinger of the hand - 20-22 cm.The tallest person mentioned in the Guinness Book of Records had a height of 270 cm.Even if Goliath was not lower, then in this case the elbow did not exceed 42 cm. the value is accepted in the calculation, although it is probably somewhat overestimated.

Details for the curious

IN non-positional system, the value of a number is determined by summing\u003e all signs regardless of what place (what position) the sign occupies a number in the record. So, the number 6 can be depicted in two ways - VI or IV, and the number 9 - a combination of the signs V and I in any sequence; the number 11 can be represented as XI, but there will be no confusion if it is written as IX.

But in positional system, the place occupied by a sign is of fundamental importance. If a smaller sign is in front of a larger one, then its value is minus from the next one, which does not happen in a non-positional system. Thus, it is very difficult to determine in which system the number is written - in positional or non-positional - by external signs, and if you do not know which system the author used, then you can fall into a mistake. For example, XL in a positional system means 40, and in a non-positional system it means 60.

A full-scale replica of Noah's Ark was built in three years by the 60-year-old Dutch carpenter Johan Huybers with the help of a team of enthusiasts. Johan Huybers built his Noah's Ark exactly as described in the Bible: the Dutch Ark is 133.5 m (300 cubits) long, 22.25 m (50 cubits) wide, and 13.35 m (30 cubits) high ... As befits Noah's Ark, it contains representatives of all possible animals "each creature has a pair" - though plastic mannequins. The only problem and inconsistency is that the Old Testament ark was built from the mythical gopher tree (perhaps cypress or cedar), while the modern one is made of the metal hulls of old barges topped with Scandinavian pine. The ark is classified as a building, not a ship, so a small harbor in the town of Dordrecht (Holland) was chosen as its permanent location.

(12 photos total)

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2. In the biblical story, God commands Noah to build a boat big enough to save Noah's animals and family while the Earth is destroyed by the Flood.

3. Johan Huybers, center, shows reporters a full-scale replica of the ark in Dordrecht, the Netherlands, Monday December 10, 2012. Johan interpreted the description given in Genesis and built his own ark. The new ark is the same size as the original and is colossal in size: 130 meters (427 feet) long, 29 meters (95 feet) across and 23 meters (75 feet) high. Johan Huybers says he has finally made his 20-year dream come true. The Ark received permission to receive up to 3,000 visitors a day.

4. Johan Huybers looks up at the sky as he shows reporters a copy of Noah's Ark in Dordrecht, the Netherlands, Monday, December 10, 2012.

7. A life-size replica of a giraffe stands aboard a full-scale replica of Noah's Ark, which opened its doors in Dordrecht, The Netherlands, Monday, December 10, 2012.

A life-size replica of an elephant stands inside a hold in a full-scale replica of Noah's Ark, which opened its doors in Dordrecht, The Netherlands, Monday, December 10, 2012.

A life-size replica of cows in the hold aboard a full-scale replica of Noah's Ark, which opened its doors in Dordrecht, The Netherlands, Monday, December 10, 2012.

10. 150 meters long Dutchman Johan Hubers builds Noah's Ark on an old abandoned pier on the Merwede River in Dordrecht June 21, 2011.

11.150 meters long Dutchman Johan Hubers builds Noah's Ark on an old abandoned pier on the Merwede River in Dordrecht June 21, 2011.

12. An enthusiastic carpenter helps Dutchman Johan Huybers build a 150-meter-long Noah's Ark on an old abandoned pier on the Merwede River in Dordrecht June 21, 2011.

Story Noah's Ark, in which people and animals were saved from the global flood, is familiar to people of various nations and is told in the Bible, the Koran and the Torah, but was it really so. Modern scientific methods allow us to consider this well-known legend in a different way.

The story of Noah told in Genesis happened somewhere in the Middle East about 5000 years ago. Noah's family consisted of three sons. Noah is called in the Bible the most worthy person in the world. He preserved virtue in a world of sin and violence.

Noah was a winemaker, so some details of his life are associated with this craft. According to the Bible, after the flood, Noah planted the first vineyard, but he had one weakness - having made the first wine, he began to drink it immoderately. One night, his sons found him completely drunk and without clothes. In the morning with a hangover, Noah was outraged at his sons that they saw him naked. Noah had a difficult character, but so are many great people.

Apparently Noah was a good believer, because God himself entrusted him with an important mission. He announced to the artisan in a dream that he would punish people for their sins, causing a worldwide flood. To save Noah and his family, God ordered to build a tarred the ark... He also ordered Noah to build three decks, a roof and a door in the ark. In addition, God indicated the exact dimensions ship... In the Bible text, measurements are given in cubits - the ark it was 300 cubits in length and 30 cubits in width and height. The elbow is the length of a man's forearm, just under half a meter. Dimensions ark can be compared with modern or. With a length of almost 140 meters, it was the most in the entire ancient world. Backbreaking work for one family. How can you build such giant ship almost alone? This is a very daring business.

Many engineers claim that it is vessel could not have been built at that stage in the development of shipbuilding. Even in the 19th century, engineers used metal fasteners, and there could be big problems with a wooden ship.

The main problem for this wooden one is its length, because the sides would simply not be able to withstand such a weight. At sea, such a ship's skin will immediately crack, smudges will appear, and vessel immediately sinks like an ordinary stone. Of course, Noah could have built an ark, but its dimensions were much more modest.

The second problem arises - how he placed the different animals inside the ship, each in pairs. It is believed that there are 30 million species of animals on Earth, if Noah had a whole fleet of arks, this task would be overwhelming for him. After all, how was he able to load all the animals on board. He had to catch them ... or they themselves came to the ship. Noah had only seven days to find all the animals and load on the ark... 30 million species in one week - a total loading speed of 50 pairs per second. It would take about 30 years for a more realistic loading speed.

The conclusion suggests itself that the whole story is either invented or there was a direct help of divine power. But the next part creates much more problems. According to the Bible, the rain continued until the entire world was flooded. Such a disaster should have left traces all over the Earth - homogeneous geological layers of a certain type. The search for evidence of a worldwide flood that only Noah and his family and animals managed to survive began a century and a half ago. Various geologists have searched on all continents, but nothing of the kind has been found. On the contrary, there is evidence that this never happened. The very history of the flood negates everything that geologists know about the history of the Earth. To flood the planet to the height of the highest mountain system of the Himalayas, it takes an amount of water three times the volume of the world's oceans. Where did it come from so much. The Bible gives some hints here. Genesis says that it rained for 40 days and 40 nights. But that would not be enough to flood the entire planet. If it's not rain then what.

The Bible gives another answer to this question - the origins of the abyss. Could the great flood come from the bowels of the Earth itself? If water in such a volume emerged from the geysers, then it would not be water or the ocean, but a swamp slurry, on which it is impossible to swim. Even if the flood was caused by a miracle, Noah would have had to face another difficulty. The flooding of the entire surface of the planet led to changes in the Earth's atmosphere. So much water vapor would enter the atmosphere that the person would choke on breathing, and the increased pressure could rupture the lungs. There is another threat as well. Emissions from geysers contain toxic gases from the interior of the earth's surface. Their concentration would also be fatal to humans.

So, nothing on Earth could cause a worldwide flood. It turns out the reason must be looked for in space, since comets contain a lot of ice. However, to flood the entire Earth, the comet's diameter must be 1500 km. If such a comet fell, all people would have died before the flood began. When an extraterrestrial object approaches, kinetic energy turns into thermal energy, and this is equivalent to an explosion of 12 million megatons of TNT. It would be a cataclysm of monstrous power. All life would be erased from the face of the Earth. The temperature would rise briefly to 7000 degrees Celsius. Everyone would have died before they could get on board ark.

According to the Bible the ark moored to Mount Ararat in the east of Asia Minor. When the water receded, animals and humans re-colonized the planet. Can you find leftovers there ark... Wood is a short-lived material in the face of time. The mountain has been visited by countless expeditions in search of the ark and no traces of its presence have been found on the slopes of this mountain. This even allowed the development of the tourism business - pilgrims, archaeologists - everyone wanted to find the remains ancient ship... When the interest in Mount Ararat began to fade, she "threw up" a sensation. In 1949, the Americans took aerial photography of Mount Ararat. There were rumors that the pilots had photographed a strange object in the ice. The CIA has classified this information for decades. However, in 1995, access to this information appeared. A dark object about 140 meters long was seen on one of the slopes, the exact length of Noah's ark. But geologists declared these images not convincing due to the poor resolution of the photograph. In 2000, the survey was made from a satellite. On the slope there was something like shipbut very doubtful. According to geologists anyway the ark couldn't stay frozen for that long. The glacier moves and blows everything on the slopes down the slope.

... sensation Noah's ark found!

There are many pictures in the world Noah's ark, but they are all questionable. The authors of the images cannot be found. All this is done to confirm the biblical legend. Alas, history Noah's ark from the point of view of science is not reliable. Perhaps it shouldn't have been real.

If history Noah's ark rewrite, you get the following. It all started in Schumann, an ancient state in what is now Iraq. Specifically in the city of Shuruppak - the center of an ancient civilization. It was here that the wheel and the counting system were invented. Noah himself was not at all a bearded old man as in the Biblical stories. He was a rich man (merchant), as indicated by the presence of gold and other values. He also had a large barge, perfect for transporting grain and livestock.

The city was located on the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. They were used to deliver goods to other settlements, which was much cheaper than caravans in the desert. For movement, the Sumerians used four-meter canoes, but merchant ships were larger. The boat was divided into sections. Large ships could be built like pontoons. Several river barges were pulled together with ropes or lashing beams. Insofar as vessel it was a cargo, it was easy to guess what it was loaded with: grain, animals and beer.

Most likely, our Noah became a hostage of the elements. In some places, the Euphrates River is navigable at high water levels, so it was necessary to calculate the time of departure. It had to coincide with the high water. Melting snow in the mountains of Armenia in July raises the water level in the Euphrates River. At this time, the ducts become passable for ships... But there was some risk. If a strong storm broke out over Shuruppak, the full-flowing river would turn into an uncontrollable raging element and cause a flood. Usually in July it rarely rains in these places. Similar phenomena occur here once in a thousand years. Therefore, such an event would necessarily be reflected in the annals. Noah's family sat together at lunch. Suddenly the wind blew, a storm began, and then a flood. It was this that became the basis of Noah's story. To rip off barge noah from a leash due to a sharp rise in the water level in the river, a real tropical downpour was required. The consequences of such cataclysms were catastrophic and records of them were reflected in the chronicles of those years. If the storm coincided with a period of melting snow in the mountains, then the waters of the Euphrates could flood the entire Mesopotamian plain. It rained for seven days. Having lost most of its cargo, Noah's barge found itself among the raging waves of the Euphrates. According to legend, in the morning Noah and his loved ones could not see the earth. The flooded area stretched for tens of kilometers. After the storm, they drifted downstream on the ship, waiting to be carried on the river aground. But the difficulties were just beginning. Since people could not see the earth for seven days, a conclusion suggests itself - the flood swept the whole world.

Noah's family believed that their ship was being carried through the flooded waters of the Euphrates River, but the water overboard became salty. Noah's ark sailed no longer along the river, but in the Persian Gulf. It is not known how long his family sailed in the bay, the Bible says a year, and the Babylonian tablets say seven days. Noah's main problem was the lack of fresh water. In the absence of rain, they could only drink the beer stored in the holds for trade. According to the Bible, Noah managed to get and escape on Mount Ararat, but the Sumerian texts said that it was far from completion. Creditors began to demand money from Noah, so he decided to leave this country to avoid persecution. The end of Noah's life remains a mystery.

The land of abundant food that God gave Noah, where his family could not waste time at work and enjoy idleness, could be Dilmun, now the island of Bahrain. There are a thousand small burial mounds on the island. Only a few of them have been excavated and studied. Perhaps among them there is a grave where the great Noah rests. Gradually, the story of this unusual journey formed the basis of one of the Sumerian legends. Many mythical details were added to it. Subsequently, the tex was copied and rewritten several times. More and more changes were made to history. 2000 years later, one of these texts, which was kept in the library of Babylon, was read by Jewish priests. They found an important moral in her. If people violate God-given laws, they pay a terrible price for it. An illustration of this morality was then one of the most popular legends at that time. But now we can conjecture an ordinary person, a real ship and a very real adventure.

This is the well-known story about Noah and his ark, the secret of salvation, which is hidden in the Bible. The history of mankind from Adam to Noah, which, unfortunately, ended tragically for most people.

So who is Noah? What did he do to deserve salvation? What qualities did you have? Is he special or not?

All of these questions can be answered by studying the Bible and looking at the big picture. The Lord, as an artist, draws on the canvas of time his plan - a plan for man.

God's plan

The Lord created the first man in His own image and likeness. The Creator gave Adam a possession of the entire earth to rule over it, clothed him with God's glory and placed him in the most beautiful place “Eden” (Gen. 1:26).

But, soon, disobedience to God led a person to sin, exile from the garden and loss of close communion with God. Humanity further multiplied and multiplied not with the righteousness of God, but with a sinful nature that resisted the ways of the Creator. Disobedience has grown from generation to generation.

Man began to resemble the Creator less and less. Everyone had free will in thoughts, actions, choosing their own path.

But without God's guidance, everyone's life is doomed to a pitiful semblance of a "happy" life. Position, status, finances, fame, appreciation of others, power - all this does not give and does not guarantee a person real happiness, peace, tranquility and, moreover, salvation.

Biblical story of Noah

At the age of 182, Lamech, Noah's father, gave birth to a son. They gave him a name meaning "consolation" (Gen. 5:29). Nothing is said about Noah's upbringing, but it can be assumed that he grew up in reverence and respect for God, which his father told about.

This is evidenced by the fact that Noah communicated with the Creator. The Lord warned him about what He wants to do, how and what size to build the ark, etc. Scripture characterizes Noah as a righteous and blameless man of his kind, walking with God (Genesis 6: 9).

He was obedient to the word of the Lord, not only in the construction of the ark, but also in life, by which he pleased God. Noah's amazing steadfastness of character, courage and firmness speak of his trust in God, love and respect for the Creator.

Guided by common sense, Noah did the right thing - this does not mean that he did not make mistakes, but the life he lived speaks of striving to please God with all his might.

What surrounded Noah? The absolute opposite. People living at that time did not care to have God in their minds, were disobedient to His commandments, headstrong, evil, arrogant, they lacked moral purity (Genesis 6: 5-7).

Lord repented

In the Bible we see that God repented that he created man (Genesis 6: 5-7). For evil deeds came the judgment of God - the flood. No one but Noah and his family escaped punishment. The sin that corrupted society - captured, enslaved and corrupted morally to such an extent that it could not be restored. Society is thoroughly rotten.

Man was able to choose to live the way he wanted, to listen or not to listen to God. The result of his choice is the life he chose.

The Lord has nothing to do with sin and does not encourage it in any way. The Creator is righteous and blameless, kind and merciful, does good and wants His creation to be like Him as well.

In the midst of the debauchery of that time, Noah retained faith in the Creator. At the age of 500, he had three children: Shem, Ham and Japheth. Noah subsequently predicted the future of his sons - Shem will continue to serve God, and Ham will be in bondage to the brothers.

Construction of the ark

When Noah was 600 years old, God spoke to him that he wants to destroy everything living on earth, from people to animals. The Creator made a covenant with Noah that he and his family — his wife and sons with their wives — would enter a building called the ark (Genesis 6:18).

The Lord told how to build it and what size it should be. The ark was like a three-story ship, which must fit Noah's family, all kinds of animals, birds, mammals, and food supplies for everyone. The ark was the first ship prototype (Genesis 6: 14-16).

It is very likely that Noah was laughed at and considered insane, but despite all the humiliation, he continued to build. When the ark was ready, God Himself closed the door of the ship of salvation (Gen. 7:16), after which the flood began.

The water poured out for 40 days, rising both from the ground and from the sky in streams, reaching a mark above the peaks of the highest mountains (15 cubits \u003d about 675 cm). No one could be saved (Genesis 7: 19-21).

After the salvation of Noah and his family, God made a covenant with him that he would never again bring a flood to the earth (Gen. 8: 21-22). The sign of this covenant was the rainbow in the sky, which appears to this day after the rain.

Who can be saved?

God's plan continued to be fulfilled in the person of the righteous Noah and his family. Therefore, Noah became the starting point for the education of mankind - those who were saved in the ark were commanded to be fruitful and multiply. All the days of Noah were 950 years.

A good, happy life is impossible without the Creator. Despite this, we see that man today chooses to live without God.

The Bible says that as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the last times.

But, as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the coming of the Son of Man: for, as in the days before the flood, they ate, drank, married and got married, until the day Noah entered the ark, and did not think until the flood came and did not destroy all, - so will the coming of the Son of Man (Matthew 24: 37-39).

The ark of salvation in the Old Testament is a type of Christ in the New Testament. Sin by itself cannot be destroyed or cured; only God can do it. The Lord wants and always wanted to communicate with his creation, but man does not always, unfortunately, want to communicate with the Creator.