Valerie: Questions about TMR4A

[thoughtful (Valerie (non-scientist))]

@swamidass

If you think this list is accurate, doesn’t that demonstrate that the earth is older than 6,000 years?

@AllenWitmerMiller

So you believe that Dumuzid the Shepherd reigned for 36,000 years?

@John_Harshman

And did you note that this “documented” history makes the date of the flood older than you think the universe is?

@Boscopup

And, as others mentioned, that list either shows numerology being used or the earth is way older than 6000 years.

Well, since you asked I have lots of opinions about this list that I would enjoy sharing

So I think the list is an authentic compilation of badly translated and poorly complied Cushite records, probably first gathered under the Akkadian Empire (Nimrod) and complied and translated later to glorify some later kingdom by showing off a long, impressive history. There’s obviously a list before the flood, and the rest I think is lists of caravan sites with names of those prominent in the household and probably their ages or length of service.

Why I think that Christians should view it as evidence of a global flood:

1. The pre-flood list is similar enough to a biblical list to consider it as least to be somewhat authentic if you already believe the Bible is inspired.
2. Supporting my argument it is a list of caravan sites of an extended family:

The list of kings is sequential, although modern research indicates many were contemporaries, reflecting the belief that kingship was handed down by the gods and could be transferred from one city to another,

3. You can see more information about what I think of that part of the list here: Were the Ancients Aware of a Globe? (plus a little child psychology thrown in for fun) - #86 by thoughtful
4. The pre-flood list seems authentic but it indicates a missing culture that we should have found if the flood was regional. It also indicate the proximity of the Akkadian Empire to pre-flood history.

None of the following predynastic antediluvian rulers have been verified as historical by archaeological excavations, epigraphical inscriptions or otherwise. While there is no evidence they ever reigned as such, the Sumerians purported them to have lived in the mythical era before the great deluge.

5. The obviously, weird and wrong numbering system possibly points to a bad translation because, though the pre-culture was recent, the connection to that culture had been lost. Again a recent, lost culture points to a global flood.

I had read through this a long time ago. The Antediluvian Patriarchs and the Sumerian King List | Answers in Genesis I remember disagreeing with him slightly - I think it’s not genealogy in the antediluvian part of the Sumerian King’s list but a list of priest-kings, since it’s not the same. And I remember thinking the list used a sophisticated combination of base 10 and 60, not quite the ones he mentions. I played with the numbers a bit. I think they correspond to length of reign, not age.

@Boscopup

You do realize that Sumer was in Mesopotamia, where a local Noah’s flood would be, right?

Yes, Sumer was the first civilization after the Tower of Babel.

@Boscopup

How do you account for continuous civilizations before and after the flood? China, Egypt, the Americas…

These were after the flood (China, India settled very soon after Babel). I believe there’s evidence that very early America settlements were small outposts of other civilizations. Someone posted a link to one once that Todd Wood has shared. I think they were flooded after the ice age ended, and now we’re finding them again. And then the Americas were resettled again later, permanently after an ice age(s) had ended.

Also for a fun bonus. I enjoyed researching this too.
I’m quite convinced this is the site of the Tower of Babel:

Tell Brak | Early settlement

Tell Brak Home

Tell Brak (Syria)

http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~jasonur/pdf/Ur_2008_Symbols.pdf