The origin of the Biblical/Sumerian Flood Myth: asteroid impact in southern Iraq

en.wikipedia.org...

Umm al Binni Lake in the Al-Amarah region of southern Iraq is what many thought was a dry lake until people have now theorized it is actually a 3.4 kilometer/2.1 mile across impact crater from 5,000 to 3,000 years ago. The area surrounding Umm al Binni Lake would have been 10 meters/ 33 feet underwater at the time of the asteroid impact. The asteroid impact would have created a tsunami of flood waters especially destructive to Sumeria, although it would be far from the global flood many imagine...

The Epic of Gilgamesh describes not only a flood but the land being "smashed" (the impact) after the land was lit up by a "livid flame" (the asteroid approaching Earth and entering the atmosphere).

...and the seven judges of Hell, the Annunaki, raised their torches, lighting the land with their livid flame. A stupor of despair went up to heaven when the god of the storm turned daylight into darkness, when he smashed the land like a cup. One whole day the tempest raged, gathering fury as it went, it poured over the people like tides of battle; a man could not see his brother nor the people be seen from heaven. Even the gods were terrified at the flood, they fled to the highest heaven, the firmament of Anu; they crouched against the walls, cowering like curs..

reply to post by Mercurio


Hmm...i dunno....doesn't appear to be anything remotely resembling a crater. And there are similar structures nearby with wholly uneven edges and angles.

Great theory...but that is not an impact crater. Of course i am no geologist. But i used to manage a Holiday Inn Express.

reply to post by Mercurio


I'll buy that it could be an impact crater, and the timing is good but, thirty six feet of water, would have been instantly vapourized by any impact, and there would have been no tsunami.
Oh and the impactor was only a couple hundred meters in diameter., not 3.4 kilometers.
I believe that the sumerian flood was caused by an impact tsunami, but not that impactor, but a larger one that created burckle crater in the indian ocean(30 kilometers in diameter).Burckle Crater

The objects that caused the impact in iraq and austria could have been pieces of the burckle impactor or they all could have been part a swarm of objects.

Very interestin stuff indeed

Who knows? I ain't no scientist so I can't say I am wrong or right, but I have my opinions and I think you may be onto something. Ancient civilizations seem to turn everything event into some kind of Adventure story puzzle.

Originally posted by Mercurio
en.wikipedia.org...

Umm al Binni Lake in the Al-Amarah region of southern Iraq is what many thought was a dry lake until people have now theorized it is actually a 3.4 kilometer/2.1 mile across impact crater from 5,000 to 3,000 years ago. The area surrounding Umm al Binni Lake would have been 10 meters/ 33 feet underwater at the time of the asteroid impact. The asteroid impact would have created a tsunami of flood waters especially destructive to Sumeria, although it would be far from the global flood many imagine...

The Epic of Gilgamesh describes not only a flood but the land being "smashed" (the impact) after the land was lit up by a "livid flame" (the asteroid approaching Earth and entering the atmosphere).

...and the seven judges of Hell, the Annunaki, raised their torches, lighting the land with their livid flame. A stupor of despair went up to heaven when the god of the storm turned daylight into darkness, when he smashed the land like a cup. One whole day the tempest raged, gathering fury as it went, it poured over the people like tides of battle; a man could not see his brother nor the people be seen from heaven. Even the gods were terrified at the flood, they fled to the highest heaven, the firmament of Anu; they crouched against the walls, cowering like curs..

The only problem with this being the source for the biblical flood is the amount of description in the biblical account. The author, believed to be Moses was very clear.....it rained...the rain came first, and then the fountains of the deep (the ocean) burst forth all around the world. (Mid Atlantic Ridge) comes to mind when I hear this....the way it travels right through the center of the Earth...all the way around..when that valley was formed, that must have caused one heck of a wave all around the world. I personally...not on a faith, religious or spiritual aspect, but on an evidence basis..for myself, for what I read and see and conclude..feel that the flood story is completely true. We have our highest mountain in the world that contains fossils of sea life, and yet are made to believe, a global flood was not possible. I'm not sure how that can happen. Do I believe Noah was the sole person saved? no, I actually don't..even though I believe in the Christian God and Jesus, I do not believe Noah was the only person, family saved. I believe Noah was the name given to all those who were saved. How were they saved by something so huge? that to me is where God comes in. I believe the writers of the OT fully believed and were in told that thats what happened, because thats what was pertinent to them and their growth, there was no need to know of others around the Globe, because at the time, it did not pertain to them and it never would. But a meteor? it just doesn't fit with what the world wide global flood stories (which all basically carry about the exact same story) that we have. All of them state one thing...the flood gates of the heavens were opened....meaning...lots and lots and lots of water from the sky, and the fountains of the deep burst forth...the waters from the very bottoms of the ocean burst forth.