Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Peter Kirk" <Peter_Kirk AT sil.org>]

Do you have any indication of dating for this flooding of the dried up
Mediterranean basin? I think we must assume some time well before the dawn
of recorded history. Probably we are looking back millions of years, before
the emergence of modern man. So I agree with you that this flooding is
somewhat off topic.

As for the Black Sea flooding, I think we should reserve judgment until we
can get some idea of dating, which should not be a problem as there is
radiocarbon dateable wood down there.

By the way, it surprises me to read that "Scientists theorize that the Black
Sea was a freshwater lake until... about 7,000 years ago". As it would have
had no outlet, surely it would have been a salt lake, either a moderately
salty one like the nearby Caspian Sea (less salty than the oceans, but more
salty than the Baltic) or one saturated with salt like the Dead Sea and many
small salt lakes in the region.

It would require only a small increase in the sea level for a similar
catastrophe to happen to the Caspian Sea (but on a smaller scale, as its
level is only 27 metres below sea level). And how much for the Dead Sea to
be flooded?

Peter Kirk

----- Original Message -----
From: "Walter Mattfeld" <mattfeld AT mail.pjsnet.com>
To: "Biblical Hebrew" <b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
Sent: Monday, September 25, 2000 7:21 PM
Subject: The Flood


<snip>
>
> Along this same line of flood discovery, and somewhat off topic, I was
> fascinated by the recent corings in the Mediterranean Sea (1970s ?) that
> brought up layers of salt. The coring experts realized immediately that
what
> they were beholding was evidence that the Med. Sea had dried up, causing
> salt deposits to appear. This tallied with Russian corings done earlier on
> the Nile to establish its deepest bed in antiquity, and their shock to
> discover the ancient bed was way below the current sea-level of the Med.
> Sea. The realization that the Med. Sea had dried up explained the Nile's
bed
> being cut so deeply. The Nat'l. Geographic has published some maps showing
>
> this Med Sea in its dried up state. Later, a break occured near Gibraltar,
> and the Med. Sea filled up again from the Atlantic rushing in. This also
> explains the mystery of how pigmy hippos appeared in Cyprus. They
evidently
> walked there when the Med Sea had dried up, then, trapped on the island,
> survived until man arrived and hunted them into extinction.
>
> All the best,
>
> Walter
>
> Walter Reinhold Warttig Mattfeld
> Walldorf by Heidelberg
> Baden-Wurttemburg
> Germany
>