First of all there was no ruby slippers

No ruby slippers?! My priest lied to me!

second of all your reiteration of the story is completely distorted.

Really? I’m pretty sure I told it exactly like it happened. I mean, why would I make up a completely different version of the story? I’d only do that if I were trying to show the absurdity of the story. And you’d only miss the whole point of my retelling if your intellectual faculties were so shallow that you were incapable of analyzing anything you read beyond the shallowest surface layer. But I’m sure you aren’t that much of a mental defective.

EVERYTHING in the bible is true.

Never mind.

There are certainly quite a few culturally significant ancient flood myths, but most ancient cultures have a flood myth?

Carl, our alleged-expert anthropologist said all ancient cultures. Clearly, he is not qualified to make the allegations against me that he does, if he makes ridiculous statements like that.

I was being kind by backing it off a notch and conceding “most”. I’m not sure how you would go about quantifying that. However, I have this great book (I assume it’s great, I’ve only had time to skim it so far) called Parallel Myths by J.F. Bierlein. He has a whole chapter on flood myths. Here are the stories mentioned:

• Noah
• Manu and the Fish (India)
• Utnapishtim (Babylonia)
• Flood Myth of Hawaii
• Tata and Nena (Aztec)
• Deucalion (Greece)
• North American Flood Myths
• Flood Myth of the Incas
• Flood Myth of Egypt

I’m sure there are others, but that’s what he chose to include in the book. Our fear of getting washed away and drowning seems to be universal. The wide geographic diversity also shows that they didn’t all descend from a common ancestor, although I suspect some/many/most/all of the Middle Eastern ones did.

…most ancient cultures have flood myths…

There are certainly quite a few culturally significant ancient flood myths, but most ancient cultures have a flood myth? I’m not sure that’s accurate… is it? There were a hell of a lot of ancient cultures on this world!

Your attitude on this page is not helpful to any serious study in archaeology

On the contrary. My attitude is essential for discrediting the credulous. Archaeology, like all sciences, requires evidence and rigor. People such as Robert Cornuke are not qualified to even be in the same room with real archaeologists. They need to be not only laughed out of the room, but the entire state.

I quoted reputable archaeologists from that documentary, and they concluded that there is currently insufficient evidence to support his wild claims. Therefore, both my conclusions and attitude are justifiable, because both are based on more evidence than Cornuke has provided for his conclusions.

Your statements about Israel and their history with Egypt are legitimate issues worth exploring. Such investigation needs to be done within the bounds of archaeological procedures and standards. Reading something in the Bible and trying to make the facts fit is not science. The Biblical story of the Israelites in Egypt is not consistent with the evidence.

Yes, most ancient cultures have flood myths. I have never disputed this. In fact, all evidence indicates that many of these flood myths descend from a common ancestor. I fail to see how anything I’ve written here can be a problem for you.

A serious study of this subject, or any other study of antiquity, begins with an open mind.

Absolutely. That’s something that Cornuke and his ilk do not bring to this field.

My mind has always been open. All it waits for is evidence. And it waits. And it waits.

It is true that the nation of Israel came from somewhere in history. That they claim to be slaves is no doubt true, as few people groups would embelish this part of their history. That they were once slaves in Egypt is also not likely to be suspect, the most likely time period being that during the Tuthmosis period (not the Ramses period, as Hollywood has typically referenced). One notes the similarity of Tuthmosis and Moses, along with several internal references that fall into place in an honest study of the period, plus the “defaced Tuthmosis” in hieroglyphs of the period.

It is also interesting to note that all ancient cultures have flood legends, and that all of them have similar elements that show they are obviously referencing an historical event. They only vary on some of the details and the “why” of the flood.

A serious study of this subject, or any other study of antiquity, begins with an open mind. The attitude of this board represents little more than childish mockery of real investigative research.

That said, I rate the likelihood of their actually being an ark just slightly less likely than the above.

Can’t you just see a bunch of hunter gatherers sitting around a fire some night after an especially successful hunt, with unusually full stomachs, and “turning on the TV” for a little entertainment?…Come on grandpa, tell us a story about…

Or maybe it goes the other way: Food is in short supply, and grandpa tells the little ones an especially good story about the giant sky pixie who really likes us a bunch, and I’m sure food will be plentiful tomorrow…Here’s a story about some nut-job and a boat…err something like that.

But I just had to say that there might be a teensy weensy chance of finding some sort of ancient boat that was relevant in the origins of the story.