Customer Reviews
The Black Sea Deluge as Noah's Flood - By: Andis Kaulins, 11 Dec 2008 
The theory of Pitman & Ryan that there was a Black Sea Deluge at the Bosporus about 7500 years ago, which resultedin Noah's Flood, has received support through isolated archaeological & oceanographic data, although the matter is still controversialin academic circles. As such, the hypothesized prehistoric flood of Pitman & Ryan & its consequences on human civilization remains one of the most intriguing scientific ideas of our time. This book is well worth a read.
yeah, not bad - By: Mr. R. J. Paul, 28 Nov 2007 
I found the beginning & end chapters more interesting than the middle. There's some very interesting stuff about the legends at the end, especially the Sumerian map of the home of Utnapishtim, which appears to be at the black sea. I also liked the chapter about how poems/songs are recited, which preserve the myths throughout the ages.
Having thought it a bit of a weak idea, after reading the book, it does seem to be as good as proven, that the black sea area was the origin of the flood legend. However, as one of these rare, I suspect, christian readers, I did find it a bit too much treading on the bible,in regard to there being no mention of the possibility that there was a real historical Noah/Utnapishtim, & a real ark. I suppose it's not that sort of book, but the ancestors of Noah are important to christians, because they are used as identifiers for the final regional playersin doomsday. The authors are saying that the general population of the black sea area escaped & migrated out, & good evidence for that is presented. But I'm heading my investigation now towards the records of kings before the flood, recored on the stones at Ninevah or whatever.
Not a babbling brook - By: Stephen A. Haines, 13 Apr 2005 Imagine standing on a the crest of a long hill. To one side is a broad, deep valley, a lake glisteningin the morning sun. On the other side is the sea, the wind whipping the surf against the hill. One large wave sweeps up the beach into a cleft. Seawater pushes over the top, cascading into the valley, 150 metres below. Following waves enlarge the opening - within hours there's a steady flow of seawater. In days, the cascade is a deafening roar & the distant lake is rising 15 cm per day. People are fleeing as villages & fields are swept away or drowned forever. It's an event you will recount to your grandchildren.
This is the scenario postulated by Ryan & Pitman that transpired less than seven thousand years ago. The Ice Age, they remind us, tied up immense amonts of sea water, dropping coastlines & leaving lowlands isolated. The cold, dry air spilling off the glaciers swept over a freshwater lake northeast of the Mediterranean Sea. The lake evaporated faster than the rivers feeding it could replace. Ultimately, the lake's surface was far below sea level, but the sea was restrained by a land barrier. Once breached, the salty ocean water poured through what is now the Bosphorus to flood the lake's basin. At its height, the flow must have been ten times that of Niagra Falls & gushed through the break at over 70 kph. Evacuation of settlements scattered populationsin many directions. The Tigris-Euphrates valley provided one major refuge. There, people settled & the story of the great flooding would have been paramountin their legends.
The revelation of how a flood myth became so importantin the arid lands of Mesopotamia & Palestine was slowin exposure. The authors narrate the explorations of early researchersin these areas. Among the many revelations was that the Noachean Flood myth of the Hebrew Bible was actually taken from Babylonian sources during the Jewish Exile. Why should a desert people have a story about the inundation of the entire world? Ryan & Pitman relate how samples from the sea floor sediments indicate a bizarre & sudden shiftin ancient sea life offered the first clues. It took high technology to reveal the details, the authors note, but hints were visible to those who knew how to look. Small boats still hang rock-filled nets deep into the waters of the Bosphorus because the deep, northward-flowing currents can pull small boats to the Black Sea against the surface water coming out of it.
This is an excellent account of how scientific detective work merged with innovative thinking. The methods of investigation are well-detailed & the analyses explained clearly. The writers even studied the methods of passing oral traditions & how basic themes persist even when presentation style & emphasis may change. There are excellent maps & the illustrations are "personalised" by transforming photographs into drawings. The footnotes are page-referenced, making sources easily understood by the reader new to the topics, although a full bibliography would have enhanced the work. Since this book was published, support for the thesis has come from the finding of human habitation deep underwater along the Turkish Black Sea coast. On the other hand, a research team has challenged the idea of the Aegean Sea flooding the Black Sea, proposing that the process was reversed. Such is the delightful experience of reading science! [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]
Brilliant book! - By: , 06 Apr 2001 This brilliant book is intellectually rich, melding together seamlessly such diverse disciplines as oceanography, geophysics, marine biology, genetics, archeology, geology, history, linguistics, & mythology.
Based on scientific arguments, Ryan & Piton hypothesize that the origins of the first known civilizations derive from the Black Sea basin. The Black Sea, having once been a fresh water lake & the single largest available source of potable water available on the Eurasian land mass, was the likely homeland of the ancestors of those who eventually founded the civilizationsin Mesopotamia, Anatolia, Egypt & beyond. Geological & fossil evidence suggest that the depth of this fresh water lake was approximately 400 feet shallower than its present depth. At some point around 5500 BC, the dam broke that prevented the waters of the Mediterranean from mixing with this fresh water lake. Ryan & Pitman argue that this flooding happened rapidly forcing any inhabits to permanently evacuate the region.
The book is intriguing & reads like a suspense novel. At times, though. it is writtenin highly technical jargon (such as the use of the word "tsunami" --why don't they just say "tidal wave" if they are seeking to appeal to a mass audience?). Also annoying is the tendency of Ryan & Pitman to refer to themselvesin the third person --as Ryan & Pitman, instead of acknowledging that they themselves are the authors. I think it would have been even more accessible had they simply said "we believe...".
Perhaps the most refreshing aspect of Ryan & Pitman's theory is that they recognize it as such. "Short of finding the remains of Neolithic settlements beneath the mud of the present Black Sea shelf, no archeological observation can prove a human occupation of the now submerged landscape." Indeed, they challenge future marine archeologists to search "the drowned remains" for the archeological evidence that would support their theory.
The book supports much of the Bible's Old Testament . - By: , 21 Mar 1999 Having watched & been impressed by a T.V. Programme on geological & archeological investigationsin the Black Sea area by Messrs Ryan & Whitman, I was pleased to find they had published this book which links their discoveries to those of archeologists & language experts over the last two centuries or so. The authors develop a theory which not only places Noah's Flood convincinglyin & around the Black Sea, but also gives credence to the area as the cradle of human development & dispersion -in other words, the Garden of Eden. In the process it gives considerable support to many other events & places chronicledin the Old Testament. A god book for the lay as well as the specialist reader. I am one of the former.
