The Six Days

We believe the Sixth Day of Creation was a long period of time and that five major events can be confirmed by the Bible and by geology.

1. God's plan for the Sixth Day.
2. The creation of the beasts of the Earth.
3. The creation of creeping things on the Earth.
4. The creation of cattle.
5. The creation of Man.

We are continuing our study on the origin and History of Man which is based upon the premise that the science of geology is the key to unraveling the mysteries surrounding the dating of Early Man.

It can now be demonstrated that the science of geology supports the Bible framework that Man was created by God about 6,000+ years ago and that the Biblical Flood took place about 4,500 years ago. To find the answers, we will continue to give examples of Early, Pre-historic, Man throughout Europe and Asia.

According to Figure 1, the Biblical Flood divides human history into two parts- the Old World and the New World Ages. The Flood brought the Old World to a dramatic close during the age of the polished stone or the Neolithic. To determine whether this thesis is valid, we will continue our study of Early Man or what archaeologists refer to as the Great Stone Age or more specifically the Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic ages.

Europe/Asia

In the last Newsletter, two Paleolithic sites in France were presented illustrating how this early period of human history relates to the geological Altithermal Age (Figure 1).

In this Newsletter, we will be continuing to show other sites in Europe and Asia as to how the Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic Ages relate to the Altithermal Age. We will begin with another site in France at the Mas d’Azil Cave. A description is given by Boule, p.333 1.

Mas d'Azil Cave

The left side of Figure 2 illustrates the different cultural layers of Man found in the Mas d’Azil Cave. It was discovered in 1887 by a French Archaeologist E. Piette.

Layers 1 & 2 at the base relate to the Late Paleolithic Magdalenian Age.

Layer 1 is about 4 feet 7 inches thick. It consists of clay, silt and sand mixed with larger pebbles. It is almost barren of artifacts and rests on limestone bedrock.

Layer 2 is about 11 ft. 6 inches thick and consists of silt and clay with hundreds of laminae. It is cut by several ashy layers of incinerated earth. In these layers of occupation are abundant bones of the red deer and rare bones of reindeer. Artifacts include harpoons of red deer and reindeer antlers, needles and artistic engravings.

Layer 3 is of Mesolithic Age. It varies in thickness from 4 inches to 2 feet 6 inches. It is a bed of cinders, reddish incinerated earth and charcoal with modern wild fauna. There are abundant remains of the red deer and beaver, but not a trace of the reindeer. Artifacts include flat perforated harpoons of deer-horn, painted pebbles, with some pebbles polished at ends. The upper part consists of a surface marked by a line of stones. In the lower part are beds of ashes.

Layer 4 is of Neolithic Age. It consists of banded masses of ashes with beds of charcoal and innumerable snail shells. Artifacts include polished stone implements, pebbles worn with usage at the points, together with fragments of pottery. Thickness is variable up to a maximum of 7 feet.

Layer 5 is, herein, related to the Flood Age. It is a rubble layer consisting of masses and blocks of rock detached from the roof of the cave in-filled with finer sediment. Here were found Gaulish objects, bronze age objects, and towards the base of the layer, polished stone axes and Neolithic pottery. Thickness varies from 6 to 10 feet.

Archaeologists date this sequence into the past from about 4,000 to 15,000 years more or less based upon typology and carbon 14 dating.

Figure 2 interprets this sequence of cultural ages as relating to the latter half of the Altithermal Age. The underlying older Paleolithic Ages that have been described in surrounding areas are missing (probably due to non deposition). Scientific evidences would indicate that the Biblical Flood struck during the latter part of the Neolithic Age after Man had discovered the art of making copper tools.

The Middle East

Figure 2 also illustrates the archaeological findings of three ancient city locations in the Mesopotamian triangle region north of the Persian Gulf, namely, Ur, Fara and Ninevah. These three sites are, in turn, related to the findings at the Mas d’Azil Cave in France.

A. Deposits at Ur:

In 1930, Dr. Leonard Woolley led a joint expedition of the Museum of Pennsylvania and the British Museum at Ur. He sank a shaft 75 feet by 60 feet and went down 64 feet. This shaft penetrated 8 levels of houses and then went through about 18 feet of pottery rubbish of the Jamdat Nasr culture. This was evidence of a pottery factory where wastes had been thrown out. Still lower in this “kiln” stratum the pottery became plainer and belonged to the Ereek (Erech or Warka) type, where a heavy potter’s wheel was found. Below this level came the painted al’Ubaid type of pottery, a thin layer, and then the so called Flood Deposit. A few graves from above penetrated down into this Flood layer, and a copper spear-blade and a number of terra-cotta figurines were found. The Flood silt was about 11 feet thick, absolutely uniform and clearly water laid, subject to the action of gentle currents and composed of material brought down from the middle reaches of the Euphrates. Below it were at least three levels of occupation and the pottery was of the decorated al’Ubaid type (Filby,2 p.28). The al’Ubaid culture is classified as being of Neolithic Age. Underlying the al’Ubaid level was bedrock where evidence of human activity ceased.

B. Deposits at Fara:

Fara is locate midway between Babylon and Ur. At one time it was situated along the Euphrates River. Now it is 40 miles to the east. There are a group of low lying mounds beaten by the desert sands. Dr. Eric Schmidt, of the University Museum of Pennsylvania, excavated them in 1931. He found the remains of three cities: the top one contemporaneous with the 3rd Ur Dynasty; the middle city was of Early Sumerian Age which included Jamdat Nasr type pottery; and the bottom city, which he believed was pre-Flood.

The Flood layer was between the Middle city and the bottom city. It consisted of clean water laid clay, yellowish with a mixture of sand and clay, definitely alluvial, water laid and without relics of human occupation. Halley describes the bottom city as follows:

“Underneath the flood deposit was a layer of charcoal and ashes, a dark colored culture refuse which may have been wall remains, painted pottery, skeletons, cylinder seals, pots, and pans, and vessels, with an appearance that indicated that the population had hastily deserted their homes, leaving their belongings behind” (Halley,3 p.79).

C. Deposits at Ninevah

Ninevah is located about 300 miles north of Ur. Dr. Mallowan, Director of the British Museum, conducted excavations at Ninevah in 1932-33. He sunk a 90 foot shaft into the Great Mound (Filby,2 P.31).

At a depth of 27 feet from the surface, excavators found Jamdat Nasr type pottery. At a depth of 51 feet, they found a 6 foot layer of black mud with pebbles, underlain by 33 feet consisting of thirteen layers of inter-bedded mud and sand. The excavators considered this to represent a “well defined pluvial period” and that it coincided with an important climatic change. It represents a Flood Layer that was deposited at the end of the Altithemal Age. A copper pin was found at the 51 foot level.

Below the Flood Deposit is an earlier civilization called “Ninevah 2,” with charred wood, red and black painted pots and a thin layer of mud. Still lower is Ninevah 1 where the pottery has become plain. The artistic remains of Ninevah 1 and 2 are said to be somewhat like those of the Aurignacian culture, which would place this interval in the latter part of the Paleolithic Age (Figure 2). Below Ninevah 1, at the 81 foot depth, is a 3 foot layer of black mud. This can also be interpreted to be a flood layer. Below this was very hard soil where all evidence of human activity ceased (Filby, p.30-31).

Scientific Evidences Lead to the Following Conclusions:

1. The Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic ages can be traced throughout Europe and the Middle East.

2. Several local floods can be documented at various time intervals throughout the Paleolithic/Neolithic ages. Two such local floods are shown above the bedrock at Ninevah and at Ur. However, there is one major Flood Event that is very dominant throughout the region. It has resulted in the erosion and truncation of beds of Neolithic, Mesolithic and Paleolithic ages. For example at Ninevah the erosion has removed all ages above the Aurignacian (Figure 2. This major flood event relates directly to the Biblical Flood of Noah (Figure 1).

3. The Sumerian Age relates to the Jamdat Nasr cultures in the Middle East. It was during this age that history began again all throughout the world. History confirms that the population of the Earth was small at this time. From this age arose a multitude of nations including the Babylonian, Akkadian, Assyrian, Egyptian, and we could go on and on. The Bible describes this early post-Flood people as those who inhabited the land of Shinar, which later became known as the land of Babylonia (NIV Genesis 10:10 & 11:2).

4. The Flood Age marks a profound historical and geological break or hiatus, not only in this area, but throughout the world. Future Newsletters will be documenting this event.

Note: The next Newsletter will be relating the geology, archaeology and anthropology of Northern Africa with Europe. If you know of anyone who should be receiving this Newsletter, please let us know.

Flood Deposits at Kish

The ancient city of Kish is contemporary with Ur and Fara. It is located on the east edge of Babylon, on the banks of where the Euphrates River used to flow.

In 1928-29, Dr. Stephen Langdon, of the Field Museum-Oxford University Expedition, found a 5 foot bed of clean water-laid clay in the lower ruins of Kish, indicating a flood of vast proportions. It contained no objects of any kind. Dr. Langdon suggested that it may have been deposited by the Flood mentioned in the Bible. Underneath the Flood deposit, the relics represented an entirely different type of culture. Among the relics found was a four wheeled chariot, whose wheels were made of wood and copper nails with the skeletons of the animals that drew it lying beneath the shafts (Halley, p.79). This would verify the suddeness of the Flood event and the fact that they had already entered the Copper Age.

References

1. M. Boule & H. Vallois, Fossil Men A Textbook of Human Palaeontology, Thames & Hudson, 1957

2. F, Filby, The Flood Reconsidered, Pickering & Inglis, London, 1970.

3. H. Halley, Halley’s Bible Handbook, Zondervan, May 1976.