Reflections on the Children of Noah

Let's assume that the Bible is historically true. A global flood buried sea creatures and land creatures on every continent leaving tons of fossils in layers of sedimentary strata. The Ark landed somewhere in the Mountains of Ararat around 2350 BC, but it hasn't been found. Can you handle that so far? What happened next?

Take a deep breath.

Noah floated down the Aras or the Euphrates River and began farming and raising animals with his family. Where? Look for a pre-pottery Neolithic settlement that has farming and ranching at its lowest level. Maybe Çayönü, near Karacadag.

Was this Babel, so far north? Which came first anyway, settlements or Babel? We must solve that puzzle before the Bible and archeology have any hope of agreement. Tradition has kept us from seeing the obvious. Babel is the key, and it wasn't Babylon.

How could we have been so blind? The amazing Urban Revolution was the most significant event of the Early Bronze Age. The Ubaid and Uruk Periods spread out from two cities in Sumer and left clear cultural traces over hundreds of miles. In the Bible, Babel was the revolutionary city that was mentioned, and it was also in Sumer, a.k.a., Shinar. Could they have been the same? Have we located Babel? That changes everything. If theologians could get past Babylon and archeologists could loosen up on their dates, it's hard to imagine where this could go.

The Ark was made of wood, and wood rots. Babel was made of bricks. It remained undisturbed for over 4100 years, until it was first excavated in 1855. Take a stroll through the past and get acquainted with your parents, O children of Noah.