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A Lost Civilization Beneath the Persian Gulf?

Posted by kdawson on from the tigris-is-for-neandertals dept.

Phoghat sends news of a new theory that a once-fertile landmass beneath the Persian Gulf may have supported some of the earliest humans outside of Africa. "Perhaps it is no coincidence that the founding of such remarkably well developed communities along the shoreline corresponds with the flooding of the Persian Gulf basin around 8,000 years ago... These new colonists may have come from the heart of the Gulf, displaced by rising water levels that plunged the once fertile landscape beneath the waters of the Indian Ocean."

3 of 277 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Noah, etc by Yvanhoe · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Interestingly, most civilizations that developped near shorelines have flood myth and most inland civilization don't have it. Floods happen really frequently you know.

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  2. Unscientific to dismiss legends and myth ... by perpenso · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So is this the origin of the flood myth?

    Or another attempt at lending credence to the myth, by people of a faith where it's central?

    It is unscientific to dismiss a theory because it lends credence to religious beliefs. Do you realize that the current cosmological theory for the origin of the universe, the "big bang" theory, was initially dismissed by the "leading scientists" of the day because (1) it was developed by a roman catholic priest and (2) it seemed too close to the "creation myth of genesis". The term "big bang" was coined by these "leading scientists" to mock the theory.

    Secondly, many myths and legends have a bit of truth behind them. Sometimes based on a multigenerational telling of historical events and sometimes as an attempt to explain things beyond a culture's scientific understanding. A real scientist tries to interpret myths and legends, not ignore or dismiss them.

  3. Re:Attempt at justifying religion again? by Arker · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Archaeologists study Geology intensely, and any team of size will include a Geologist.

    Also Southern Methodist is a great place for archæology, home to Lewis Binford among others. The Methodist church isnt fundamentalist and doesnt have a problem with science.

    So you were offbase on every point.

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