Why do we find ancient references to 8 people in a large boat in diverse cultures and languages

[Twilight Hue]

For example in the Chinese pictogram for a large boat there are 8 people.
but also Egyptian hieroglyphics reference 8 people in a large barge.
Why so?
Coincidence?
Ancient evidence for Noah?

Who says it's Noah?

It might actually be evidences for 8 Chinese and or 8 Egyptians having a good time out on the water.

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

Because the coxswain wasn't added until more modern times?

I thought that was funny, but then, the notion of "eight men with cox" has a certain cachet for me...

 

[Kangaroo Feathers]

The point is that Gilgamesh is a corruption of the Biblical account not the source. That cubical dog won't hunt. A cube? Really? that would roll all over the ocean like a volleyball

The ark of Noah has modeled ships using similar ratios for stability (as Noah not Gilgamesh... surprise surprise)

Gilgamesh predates the Bible, so that dog, won't, in fact, hunt.

 

[blü 2]

For example in the Chinese pictogram for a large boat there are 8 people.
but also Egyptian hieroglyphics reference 8 people in a large barge.
Why so?
Coincidence?
Ancient evidence for Noah?

Evidence that the Sumerian guy who made up the Flood story had been to Egypt?

(And was elaborating on the flooding of the Nile?)

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

Gilgamesh predates the Bible, so that dog, won't, in fact, hunt.

But very clearly, the Biblical Noah is based on Gilgamesh's Utnapushtim.

 

[Subduction Zone]

View attachment 28807

It appears there is an ancient reference to 8 people on a large boat. And from there, early dynasties build on that. The 8 people morphed into an octet of gods

note image from Egyptologist Gavin Cox

Seven people and a giant beetle hardly qualify as eight people.

 

[Subduction Zone]

And the Chinese pictograph claim has been refuted So many times that it is now a PRATT:

CG101: Chinese Glyph for "Ark"

 

[whirlingmerc]

The culture the authors of Gilgamesh came from were plains dwellers, i.e. not that familiar with boats.

And the Jews had no navy to speak of either... but had a really great design would be consistence
by wise guidance from God.

 

[shunyadragon]

View attachment 28807

It appears there is an ancient reference to 8 people on a large boat. And from there, early dynasties build on that. The 8 people morphed into an octet of gods

note image from Egyptologist Gavin Cox

I see seven people and a beetle carried by a God.

 

[shunyadragon]

And the Jews had no navy to speak of either... but had a really great design

A design that is not sea worthy

 

[whirlingmerc]

A design that is not sea worthy

We design modern ships with similar ratios and have for hundreds of years

and yes in principle it could float
Could Noah’s Ark Float? In Theory, Yes | Science | Smithsonian

 

[Subduction Zone]

We design modern ships with similar rations and have for hundreds of years

"Rations" do not make a vessel seaworthy on their own. Just ask the crew of the Wyoming.

 

[whirlingmerc]

Gilgamesh predates the Bible, so that dog, won't, in fact, hunt.

Noah predates both. The basis of both, corrupted in the case of Gilgamesh

In any case Egyptologist Gavin Cox made a compelling case that
"A survey of standard Egyptian Encyclopedias and earliest mythology demonstrates Egyptian knowledge of Creation and the Flood consistent with the Genesis account."

 

[Kangaroo Feathers]

And the Jews had no navy to speak of either... but had a really great design would be consistence
by wise guidance from God.

The didn't have a navy. They were, however, on the Mediterranean and in close contact with seafaring peoples, like the Phoenicians. Depending on the theory one subscribes to, it is even possible than the group that became the classical Israelites were the mysterious "Sea People" of Egyptian fame. There's really no mystery about any given hebrew being familiar with the shape of a boat. Think back to Simon Peter's day job, for example. There's no mystery here.

 

[Kangaroo Feathers]

Noah predates both and so it does

No, it doesn't. But anyhoo.

 

[Kangaroo Feathers]

We design modern ships with similar ratios and have for hundreds of years

and yes in principle it could float
Could Noah’s Ark Float? In Theory, Yes | Science | Smithsonian

In theory, with modern ship building techniques and materials. In the ancient middle east? Not so much.

 

[Subduction Zone]

Noah predates both. The basis of both, corrupted in the case of Gilgamesh

In any case Egyptologist Gavin Cox made a compelling case that
"A survey of standard Egyptian Encyclopedias and earliest mythology demonstrates Egyptian knowledge of Creation and the Flood consistent with the Genesis account."

No, the Noah account is thought to have been written after the Babylonian captivity.

 

[Stanyon]

Why do so many cultures
have mermaids??

Because it get's lonely after months at sea

 

[Samantha Rinne]

Short answer?

Because it really happened in some form.

Myth does not mean "not real."

Myth

1. a traditional or legendary story, usually concerning some being or hero or event, with or without a determinable basis of fact or a natural explanation, especially one that is concerned with deities or demigods and explains some practice, rite, or phenomenon of nature.
2. stories or matter of this kind: realm of myth.
3. any invented story, idea, or concept: His account of the event is pure myth.
4. an imaginary or fictitious thing or person.
5. an unproved or false collective belief that is used to justify a social institution.

Definitions 3 to 5 are overused, and commonly believed as the most important definition.

But the heart and soul of a myth is that it points to a larger truth. So what is it trying to teach us?

 

[shunyadragon]

We design modern ships with similar ratios and have for hundreds of years

and yes in principle it could float
Could Noah’s Ark Float? In Theory, Yes | Science | Smithsonian

So what? It still was not sea worthy