Noah’s Deluge Story

The Glorious Qur’an talked about the past nations and their stances towards the messengers of Allah (exalted be He). One of the stories mentioned in the Qur’an is that of the prophet Noah (peace be upon him) and the Deluge; Allah says in Surat Al-Shu’araa (The Poets):

(The people of Noah rejected the messengers (105) when their brother Noah said to them “Will you not fear Allah? (106) Surely I am a faithful messenger to you (107) So fear Allah and obey me (108) And I do not ask you any reward for it, my reward is only from the Lord of the worlds (109) So fear Allah and obey me” (110) They said “Shall we believe in you while the meanest follow you?” (111) He said “And what knowledge have I of what they do? (112) Their account is only with my Lord, if you could perceive (113) And I am not to repulse believers (114) I am only a plain warner (115) they said, “If you desist not, O Noah! You shall most certainly be stoned to death”(116) He said, “O my Lord! Surely my people have rejected me (117) Therefore judge Thou between me and them with a just judgement, and save me and those believers who are with me”(118) So We saved him in the Ark filled (with all creatures) (119) then we drowned the rest afterwards (120) Verily there is a sign in this, but most of them do not believe (121) and verily your lord is The Mighty, The Most Merciful (122))

And says in Surat Noah, in verses (1, 2):

(We sent Noah to his people, saying: “Warn thy people before a painful retribution afflicts them” (1) O my people! Surely I am a plain warner to you (2) ) 

The Miracle of Predicting the Unknown: This story is considered one of the greatest images of predicting the unknown, and it is certified by modern archaeological finds.

 The story of the Deluge in Ancient civilizations

It’s well known that the deluge stories were widespread all over the world for a very long time. For, there are many deluge stories in some of the Ancient Near East societies, India, Burma, Malawi, Australia, islands of the Pacific, and all the Red Indian societies. The most important of these stories are the Sumerian and the Babylonian deluge stories, and the Jewish deluge story as mentioned in the Torah. Despite the falsifications that fill these stories, they all agree that a deluge had happened and that there was a righteous man who built a ship and embarked in it of each kind two, male and female; his family and the believers who followed him.

First, the Sumerian Deluge Story:       Till late last century, people were believing the Torah to be the first source of the deluge story; but modern discoveries proved that this is not true. For, in the year 1853, a copy of the Babylonian deluge story was found. Between 1889-1900 A.D, an American expedition prospected in Iraq for the clay tablet that contains the Sumerian deluge story in Nippur. The tablet can be dated by its script to the era of the famous Babylonian king “Hammurabi”.

The Sumerian Deluge Story in Brief : The story is telling about a pious king called “Ziusudra” who was serving God in reverence and humbleness. “Ziusudra” was informed of the decision of the assembly of gods; as they would send a great deluge accompanied by heavy rains and storms. The deluge raged for seven days and seven nights and wiped out the earth. “Ziusudra” was described as being the “ the preserver of the seed of mankind.” 

 Second, the Babylonian Deluge Story:

1- The Epic of Gilgamesh: On 3^rd December 1872 A.D, Sydney Smith managed to collect the fragmentary pieces of the Epic of Gilgamesh and put it together. It is written in 12 anthems or rather “tablets”, and the deluge story is written in the 11^th one.

The story in brief is telling about a man called Gilgamesh who was told by the Deities to build a great boat and convey on board the seeds of every living thing. They told him that the breadth of the boat would equal its length, the heaven would rain in abundance...etc. At last, the boat rested on Mount Nisr (between Lower Tigris and Euphrates rivers).

2- The Story of Berosus:  In the 1^st half of the 3^rd century B.C, in the days of “Antiochus Í” (280-261 B.C), one of the priests of the great Babylonian god “Marduk” called “Berosus” wrote the history of his country (Babylonia) in Greek in a three-volume book. The deluge story was mentioned in the book; as there was a king called “Xisuthras” to whom the Deity appeared in a vision and informed him that all mankind would perish by a deluge, and commanded him to build a ship and go on board of it when the deluge commences. Soon afterwards; “Xisuthras” built a vessel 1100 yards in length and 44 yards in breadth, conveyed on board provisions for food and drink, and introduced into it animals, both fowls and quadrupeds.

 Third: The Jewish Deluge Story as Mentioned in the Torah:  The story was mentioned in the Genesis (chapters 6:9) and it goes as follows:

⁵ The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. ⁶ The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. ⁷ So the LORD said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth-men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air-for I am grieved that I have made them." ⁸ But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD. ⁹ This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God.

¹² God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. ¹³ So God said to Noah, "I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. ¹⁴ So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out.

¹⁹ You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. ²⁰ Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. ²¹ You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them." (Genesis 6 [The Flood])

Then God repeated His command in the next chapter:

¹ The LORD then said to Noah, "Go into the ark, you and your whole family…. ⁴ Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights…. ⁵ And Noah did all that the LORD commanded him…all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened…. ¹⁷ For forty days the flood kept coming on the earth, and as the waters increased they lifted the ark high above the earth. ¹⁸ The waters rose and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water…. ²³ Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; men and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds of the air were wiped from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark. (Genesis 7)

⁴ and on the seventeenth day of the seventh month the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. (Genesis 8)
 

In spite of the distortion that fills these texts, they all confirm the deluge story. Besides, they; generally, correspond with the Qur’an.

NOW, who told “Mohammad” (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) about a story happened thousands of years before his birth?!!

The Archaeological Finds in Iraq Prove the Deluge Story

In 1928, the archaeologist sir Leonard Woolley, found in “Ur” an alluvium deposit which is up to 8 feet thick, and he considered it to be a tangible proof of the Sumerian deluge. It is to be noted that this alluvial deposit lies above and below archaeology of the Ubaid period which represents Early Dynastic Í period in southern Iraq. Afterwards, Woolley went to dig 300 yards southeast of “Ur” to see how far this alluvium deposit goes. Digging results were positive, the thing that made Woolley associates the stratum with the flood mentioned in the holy books.

Sir Leonard Woolley tells us that he found in “Ur”, below the construction layer, an alluvium deposit (16 feet thick) full of painted pottery mixed with flint implements and glass which dated back to 2700 B.C. He also found that “Ur” was living under this deposit during the pre-deluge period. Woolley went on to say that the cause of the complete disappearance of this painted pottery, that was widespread all over the countries of Tigris and Euphrates rivers, was the Deluge that perishes the inhabitants of these counties.

Finding the Remains of Noah’s Ark

In 1959, archaeologists discovered the remains of Noah's Ark on Mount Ararat in Turkey (or what is known as Mount Judi). The American “Life” magazine, on Sept. 5, 1960 (page 2), published an article covering the finding of Noah’s Ark supported by some pictures.

Ron Wyatt, an amateur archaeologist, visited the site in 1977 and asserted that site is 6,300 feet above the sea level and 200 miles from the nearest sea.
  

Discovering Evidences of Life before the Deluge

Washington-NASA: hundreds of meters below Black Sea surface, American Explorers found the remains of an inhabited site in region inundated by a cataclysmic flood 7,500 years ago. This discovery equals the discovery of the ancient Roman city of Pompeii that was destroyed by the Vesuve Volcano (Vesuvius) many centuries ago.

Reuters mentioned in a report in this respect that one of the explorers, Robert Ballard, said that his team from National Geographic Society found a rectangular skeleton on a depth of 310 meters below the sea level, which indicates that this site was once inhabited by humans before it was inundated by a great deluge.

Ballard said, in a phone call from the search ship (Northern Horizon), that the find is great, and its architecture and pieces of art dated back to the modern Bronze Age (i.e. 7000 years ago). Moreover, the site included many remnants of human habitations below water surface, which indicates that a large number of people were once living there. Ballard sees that this site surpasses in its importance the find of the wreck of the Titanic 1985. He added that his team reached this find before the 3^rd day of the 2^nd week of the five-week expedition, and the team members hope to reach more finds. Before bringing anything to the surface, the team will dry up the site and take precise documentary photos.

The discoveries were found by the help of sonar scans, and photographed by a remotely-operated vehicle (Argus), equals the electric washing-machine in size, which was connected with the search ship through fiberglass cables. The rectangular skeleton was 15 meters in length and 4 meter in breadth.

References  :
1- Mohammad Bayoumi Mahraan’s “Historical Studies from the Glorious Qur’an”
2- www.geocities.com/islamicmiracles/woodenplatefound.html