The Atheists' Timeline?

[naomi24]

4500 BCE Sumerians invent glue and beer.

4000 BCE god creates the universe.

2600 BCE The Egyptian third dynasty starts building pyramids.

2500 BCE god floods the world and kills everyone but 8 people.

2400 BCE The Egyptian third dynasty is still building pyramids, apparently not realizing there was a flood and that they are, in fact, dead.

(From the internet). :o)

[wildwood]

So is there a word for After Common Era? ACE?

[DaisyNonna]

Naomi. I know what it stands for! I am enquiring what it means. Could be Green Time at the golf course. Or Usual Age. Or Vulgar Dynasty. I could go on. In the context of dating history it means absolutely nothing. Therefore I will never accept it.

[naomi24]

Daisy, I thought you were asking what it meant. My mistake.

Wildwood, just CE = Common Era.

[jno]

Noah's flood probably happened about 7000BC as rising seas after the end of the Ice Age spilled into the Black Sea. It's mentioned in other contemporary sources such as Gilgamesh (and it's in the Koran as well). But there's been dispute about how high the waters rose: some say 60 metres, which really would have been an inundation; others say just 10 or so.

[naomi24]

The Epic of Gilgamesh is significantly older than the bible, but flood stories come from all over the world - even China. I dismiss the Koran. It's a newcomer, and took its information from earlier sources.

[RATTER15]

Sorry Naomi, ive stolen it for Facebook xx

[jno]

both Gilgamesh and the Bible were written down centuries - millennia, even - after the flood; but both are in the same part of the world as the Black Sea, so if the flood really was traumatic - which is in dispute - it seems more than likely that it made it into the racial memories of both societies. I'd be surprised if Chinese flood stories came from the same source, though there was time for them to do so. Floods are common enough; inundations aren't.

[naomi24]

Ratter, please don't apologise. I pinched it from the internet. :o)

jno, The Epic of Gilgamesh, inscribed on clay tablets in cuneiform, is thought to be the most ancient recorded story on earth, and it is very significantly older than Genesis.

Sumer was located in the Tigris/Euphrates valley in southern Mesopotamia - generally the area we now know as Iraq - so nowhere near the Black Sea.

The hypothesis that "Noah's" flood occurred in the Black Sea area is a very recent one, and is disputed. Whilst there is evidence of flood, scientists suspect that it was not of 'biblical' proportions, so to speak.

For anyone interested, a few of the many flood stories from around the world (unashamedly lifted from the internet).

Maori - Mankind once became so disrespectful of the great God 'Tane' who had created them that there were only two prophets left who preached the truth. Insulted by men, they built a house on a huge raft, stocked it with food and dogs, and brought down heavy rain by incantation to demonstrate the powers of 'Tane'. The waters rose and the prophets embarked with a few others. After six months the flood began to subside and they settled on dry land, to discover the whole world and its inhabitants had been destroyed.

Aztec - ('Na-Hui-Atl' - The age of water). After the world had existed for 1716 years the flood came. All mankind was lost and drowned and found themselves changed to fish. In a single day all was lost. Only 'Nata' and his wife 'Nana' were saved, having been warned by the god 'Titlacahuan' to make a boat from a Cyprus tree.

Hindu - 'Manu, a hero, finds a fish, rears it and then releases it into the Ganges. As a reward the fish announces it will save him from a purification of the world. It gives him instructions to build a ship with stores and everything is destroyed except Manu and the seven 'Rishis' he had taken. The fish guides the boat until they reach a mountain top, whereupon it reveals itself as 'Prajapati' (or Vishnu in versions), the supreme god who helps Manu recreate life on earth.

Similarly, creation stories abound. Spooky innit?!! :o)

[Mosaic]

Many ancient cultures have creation stories that involve floods - and also involve storms, droughts, hunting, and fertility matters that are the understandable preoccupations of a society scratching a living from farming.
In addition, the 'holy family' and the son who must doe and be reborn is a widespread notion especially in the Middle East - Isis, Osiris and Horus - Ba'al the Lord, Ba'al the son and Astarte - so not really a surprise to find it included in mythologies of the Common Era.

The epic of Gilgamesh is an invaluable artefact but it is not a historic document any more than the Just William stories are.

[jomifl]

Which bits of the 'Just william stories aren't true? The names may have been changed but it all happened:-)

[Mosaic]

In fact Jomifl the Just William epic is a metaphor for creation and for the end of days.
When the HUbert Laneites will inherit the earth.

[naomi24]

I actually think ancient documents contain quite a lot of history. Discerning fact from fiction is another matter entirely though. :o/

[boxtops]

Common Era makes me laugh - common to whom? It still follows the Christian AD year principles, whereas the Muslim, Jewish and no doubt other faith calendars start at completely different dates. This year spans 1433 - 1434 AH in the Islamic calendar, so that's not Common with CE!

[naomi24]

Actually, our calender is common to the world. Yes, religions have their own calenders - but the world - especially the world of finance and business - would be pretty buggered if those calendars were in common usage.

[boxtops]

LOL naomi, that's true!

[naomi24]

:o)

[jomifl]

Mosaic, so what you are saying is that William (the Just) is the True Prophet and the allegories are a test to see if we have reached a high enough moral plane to discern their meaning.

[naomi24]

I'd rather believe in Harry (the Potter). ;o)

[jomifl]

Would that be Harry the Potter who wrought all the creatures from the clay of the earth and we are here just awaiting the kiln of judgement to see if we crack because of our flaws?

[naomi24]

The very same. It's all magic! :o)