Before Books

Before there were books,

Before there were prose,

Before there were limericks,

We had stories, news, and events shared and passed own from generation to generation orally.

The Natives of lands everywhere, before the printing press, told stories via memory & mouth.

In fact, many families still carry this tradition by passing their histories unto their children and children's children.

One of the most famously known, yet oldest story, passed down orally and artistically with paints and carvings, before writings, is the story of a global flood. This is the reason why many different nations share this common story: because it happened! It occurred globally and each culture is using his or her language and personal understanding to describe it. That is why some details may differ, due to cultural perspectives, but nonetheless it is the same event, told from various viewpoints. They are usually nestled in the culture's rooted philosophy , which may or may not be shared nor completely accurate.

Here are over 25 Nations/Cultures that have a flood narrative in their history:

1. Biblical Account- Noah's Flood

2. Mesopotamian book - Gilgamesh

3. Algonquian peoples (some): Manabozho Stories

4. Anishinaabe: Flood Myth - an Algonquin Story

5. Anishinaabe: Turtle Island[8]

6. Choctaw: A Choctaw Flood Story

7. Comox people: Legend of Queneesh

8. Cree: Cree Flood Story

9. Cree (Knisteneaux): Knisteneaux Flood Myth

10. Hopi mythology: Entrance into the Fourth World

11. Inuit: flood myth

12. Menomini: Manabozho and the Flood

13. Miꞌkmaq: Two Creators and their Conflicts

14. Nipmuc: Cautanowwit

15. Nisqually: In the beginning of the Nisqually world.

16. Ojibwe: Great Serpent and the Great Flood

17. Ojibwe: Manabozho and the Muskrat

18. Ojibwe: Waynaboozhoo and the Great Flood

19. Orowignarak (Alaska): "A great inundation, together with an earthquake, swept the land so rapidly that only a few people escaped in their skin canoes to the tops of the highest mountains."

20. Ottawa: The Great Flood

21. Saanich (W̱SÁNEĆ): the W̱SÁNEĆ endonym means "the emerging people" in the Saanich dialect because they survived a great flood and settled atop the mountain that emerged as the water receded.

22. Ancient Near East & Asia - Sumerian (Ziusudra), Assyrian (Atrahasis), Babylonian (Utnapishtim), Hindu (Matsya and Manu), Chinese (Nuwa), Korean, Malaysian, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnamese.

23. Central & South America - Aztec, Maya, and Guarani (Paraguay/Brazil).

24. Europe -Ancient Greek (Deucalion and Pyrrha), Welsh (Dwyfan and Dwyfach), Irish, Norse, Finnish, and Bashkir.

25. Other Regions - Australia (Aboriginal traditions), Siberia (Yukaghir), and various African traditions.

A post by the Ark Encounter on Facebook, had this to say about shared accounts of the Great Flood:

Over 200 legends of an ancient global flood have been discovered around the world. These legends vary in their level of consistency with the biblical account, yet certain details are widely distributed. For example, many of these tales speak of a favored family who built a huge boat and, along with some animals, survived a worldwide catastrophe sent by an angry deity.

Here are the common themes in all the Flood Stories
According to comparative studies, many flood legends share similar details, suggesting a shared cultural memory or widespread local events:

• Survival via Boat: ~70% of stories.

• Survival of Specific Family: ~88% of stories.

• Animals Saved: ~67% of stories.

• Sent by Deity due to Wickedness: ~66% of stories.

• Survival on Mountain: ~57% of stories.

List source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_flood_myths#:~:text=Algonquian%20peoples%20(some):%20Manabozho,emerged%20as%20the%20water%20receded.

Facebook post: https://www.facebook.com/ArkEncounter/posts/over-200-legends-of-an-ancient-global-flood-have-been-discovered-around-the-worl/564613772367705/