Abraham & Sumerians

by patio34 20 Replies latest jw friends

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  patio34

  I have been reading some on Sumerian mythology. Now, it's said the Sumerians predated Hebrew writings by several centuries or longer. The Sumerians are the first writers. Their mythology includes a flood myth, a serpent in a tree, a woman from a rib, paradise lost, etc. One of their city-states was Ur. Then we find Abraham was from Ur.

  Has anyone found any other data on this subject? It seems possible jws are just preaching Hebrew mythology that was handed down and changed from the Sumerian mythology. Any ideas?
• 

  ianao

  TR, tell him...

  GRRRR.. Smileys...

  Edited by - ianao on 20 March 2001 11:59:19
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  aChristian

  Since the Bible indicates that Abraham lived in Ur hundreds of years after Noah's flood and thousands of years after Adam and Eve lived in Eden, it is possible that the mythology of the Sumerians may have been based on actual historical events, namely those recorded in Genesis.
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  CoolBreeze

  Hi patio34,

  Sumerian Mythology is sort of a hobby of mine. Below I've listed a link that takes you to pretty good FAQ on the subject.

  http://pubpages.unh.edu/~cbsiren/sumer-faq.html

  Ciao,
  CoolBreeze

  Edited by - CoolBreeze on 20 March 2001 13:35:40
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  waiting

  hey patio

  Nice to meet you. AChristian (a/c for short) brings up a good point. Perhaps the Genesis account is completely factual (which I don't really agree with, btw). But if it is completely factual - then why would God entrust this history to pagans instead of bringing it down to his "chosen people" first? Would that mean, perhaps, that the Sumerians are more in tune with the history of the world than Jews?

  I guess if we're looking for a "factual" start to the beginning of the world, we can look anywhere then - to works far predating the Genesis account in the Bible. And then the question would arise - why not look to these others Gods and history for truth instead of to the Bible?

  Not my area, but it would be interesting to know more about the Sumerians. Ginny Toskins (sp?) over at H20 brought up an interesting point. According to The Women's Encyclpedia of Facts and .... (don't remember the rest of name) the name Abraham (or Abram) means Old Braham in ancient languages - which interestingly is the name of an ancient (Hindu?) God.

  Recently, there have been long threads on the history of the world. Perhaps this is why Ianao seemed so perturbed (Grrrrrrr....). If you're interested, I think they're a couple of pages back.

  Welcome to our forum, we've grown a lot lately. We're still trying to adjust to each other. We have no hard & fast rules, along with no moderators. The administator's main request is that we be civil with each other.

  Look forward to more of your information on ancient peoples.

  waiting
• 

  CoolBreeze

  Hey patio34,

  If you want a slightly more whacky view on the subject, check out the following page:

  http://utopia.knoware.nl/users/fastbit/cirkels/gods.htm

  Ciao,
  CoolBreeze
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  Simon

  I have the two books by David Rohl (A Test of Time) which my brother-in-law proudly showed me a newspaper review of. It claimed that the books author had traced the origins of the flood and garden of eden etc.. which indeed he had. Unfortunately, my less than bright b-i-l had not actually read the book himself. If he had, he would have discovered that the author had found the origins of the accounts...ie, the myths and legends that they are based on and where they came from. A lot of it was Sumarian.
  Interesting books BTW!
• 

  aChristian

  : But if it is completely factual - then why would God entrust this history to pagans instead of bringing it down to his "chosen people" first?

  Probably because God's chosen people, Adam and Eve's descendants, had all become "pagan" by the time called Abraham out of Ur. Then, in a land God would give Abraham and his descendants, God's chosen people would again begin worshipping God in truth.
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  waiting

  hey ac,

  Good point, and quite contrary to what the WTBTS teaches. They teach that there has always been true followers of Jehovah God on the earth. So that the world wasn't completely pagan.

  Was Abraham, or Abram, practicing pagan rituals when God called him out of Ur. Was Lot? Noah? High Priest Methusala? (sp?) According to the Bible, these men were righteous men, along with some of their family.

  But if I understand the argument correctly, the ancient Sumerians had ancient stories of their Gods creating the earth the same as the Bible, just predating the Bible for centuries. If all were not pagans, according to the Bible, then why would God entrust the true story of creation to pagans - and not righteous men of the time? Particularily over spans of centuries where fabrications could easily come into the oral traditions of pagans, or even Hebrews?

  waiting
• 

  larc

  It seems to me,

  that all primative peoples had tales about floods, because they all experienced them. They all had creation myths, because they all wondered about their origins just as we do today. The ones who get the credit are those that discovered writing first. Those who are designated as "God's People" are those who are strong enough to destroy their neighbors, e.g. the book of Joshua. Hence, the Jewish account gets more coverage and press than the Summarian account.