I was working today and my brain was working in circles like it often does and I started wondering about what I was always told about people like Methuselah in Bible times, and their incredibly claims of longevity. I've tried researching things but have a hard time getting through all of the Bible thumpers to some real evidence, and figured that some here may be more informed or have done the research previously.
So, did people really live longer way back when? I doubt it, like I doubt many of the stories in the Bible, but I figured there has to be some sort of records of some of this. Did Bible characters really live for hundreds of years? Is there anything that corroborates this? What about other societies that existed in similar times? Do they have any verified records of such longevity?
From what I could find, there are theories that perhaps they counted years in shorter durations than the current calendar, but some point to similar lengths of months, though maybe not as many months per year. Does anyone really know? Obviously, people living to 900 years old sounds about as likely as a flood covering the entirety of the earth up to the highest peak, but I'm wondering if there are any records in existence other than so called "holy books" that are filled with lots of things that don't add up. Is there even a record of these people living at all other than in the books themselves?