Flood Stories from Around the World

-- Creation Account -- Flood Account

Creation Account Flood AccountsRio de Janiero Indians (Folk-Lore in the Old Testament)

Universal flood in which only two brothers with their wives were saved in a canoe

Caingangs (or Coroados) of Brazil (FLOT) Universal flood in which only the Caingangs survived by swimming to the mountains

Carayas Indains of Brazil (FLOT) Flood that only the Carays survived by climbing onto the tallest mountain

Pamarys, Abederys and Kataurhys Indians on the River Purus (FLOT)

Universal flood in which Uassu and his wife were saved by perching in the tallest tree

Muratos Indians of Ecuador (FLOT) One man survived a universal flood by floating on a plam-tree

Araucanians of Chili (FLOT) A great flood by which only a few people were saved by seeking refuge ontop of a mountain

Ackawois of Guyana (FLOT) Sigu survived the divine flood by closing up the animals in a cave and putting the rest on the top of a tree

Arawaks of Guyana (FLOT) The god Aiomun Kondi flooded the earth because of man’s wickedness. Marerewana, a wise chief and his family survived the flood with a large canoe.

Macusis of Guyana (FLOT) The god Makunaima flooded the earth to deal with mans evil. One man escaped in a canoe.

Orinoco Indians (FLOT) Mankind survived a great flood by building canoes

Canaris Indains of Ecuador (FLOT) Two brothers excaped a great flood by climbing a tall mountain

Indians of Huarochiri, Peru (FLOT) One man surived the universal flood by climbing to the top of a mountain with all the other animals

Incas of Peru (FLOT) Universal flood was survived by a man and a woman in a floating box made of wood.

Chiriguanos of Bolivia (FLOT) The god Aguara-Tunpa flooded the earth, but two babies (boy and girl) survived the flood by floating on a large leaf.

Indians of Tierra del Fuego (FLOT) World wide flood that few people found refuge on top of a mountain

Bhils of Central India (FLOT) A man and his wife were warned of a world wide flood by a fish and he escaped it by building a box

Kamars of Central India (FLOT) God sent a flood to drown a jackal and a man heard of the flood. So he shut up his family in a hollow piece of wood with provisions.

Karens of Myanmar (FLOT) Two brothers escape a worldwide flood by building a raft

Chingpaws (Singphos) of Upper Myanmar (FLOT)

Pawpaw Nan-Chaunge and his sister saved themselves from a great flood by building a large boat.

Bahnars of Vietnam (FLOT) A flood was caused by a crab and humanity was saved by building a chest of wood

Benua-Jakun of the Malay Peninsula (FLOT)

The god Pirman caused a great flood and man escaped by building a ship with no openings

Losos Aboriginal race of China (FLOT) Du-mu was saved (along with his four sons) from a flood by hollowing out a tree! The flood was sent because of man’s wickedness.

Kamchdales of China (FLOT) World wide flood was survived by large rafts of tree-trunks

Bataks of Sumatra (FLOT) The creator god Debta sent a reat flood to destroy every living thing. The last human pair took refuge in the mountain!

Engano Indians (FLOT) Localized flood left only a woman survivor because her hair was caught in a thorny tree

Ibans (Sea Dyaks) of Borneo (FLOT) A great flood was sent because some men killed a boa constrictor. One woman survived the flood by taking refuge on top of a mountain. Another version speaks of how man made a great boat to escape the flood.

Bare’e-speaking Toradjas of Central Indonesia (FLOT)

A flood covering the highest mountains was survived by a pregnant woman floating on a pig trough

Rotti Indians (FLOT) Man had taken refuge from a great flood on the peak of a mountain. The waves subsided after a man threw a cat in the water.

Andaman Indains (FLOT) Puluga, the creator god, flooded the land because of man’s wickedness. Two men and women who were lucky enough to be in a canoe at the time of the flood survived.

Kurnai Tribe (Aborignial tribe of Victoria, Austrailia) (FLOT; TF 139)

A man and two women survived a great flood by hoping in a canoe that was piloted by a Pelican.

Lake Tyres Aborigines (FLOT) A frog who had swallowed the earth laughed so hard he cried, flooding the earth. Man was saved by the afformentioned pelican and his canoe.

Kabadi Indians of Papua New Guinea (FLOT)

Great flood surrounded people on the mountain

Valmans of New Guinea (FLOT) Man survived a great flood by climbing a tree.

Memberano River natives (FLOT)Figians (FLOT; TF 139) A god sailed his canoe about during a

great flood to rescue drowning humans.Melanesians of Vanuatu (FLOT) Qat (their hero) built himself a canoe to

survive the great flood.-- Tahiti tradition (the Toamarama of Tahiti)

(FLOT)A husband and wife were saved from a great flood by the rising of the sea by climbing a mountain

-- Raiatea tradition (the legend of Ruahatu) (FLOT)

Rising of the sea caused a great flood that was survived by dwelling on an island of refuge

-- Kai of Kahinarii in Hawaii (FLOT) The sea overflowed and two humans were saved by scaling a mountain.

-- Maoris of New Zealand (FLOT) Evil prevailed everywhere. Two prophets made a great raft with housing and loaded it with food. The two prophets prayed for God to make himself known. The rain flooded the earth for 5 days.

-- Pelew Islanders of Micronesia (FLOT) An old woman built a raft of bamboo per the instruction of the gods. One night the rain came and the flood took place.

-- Northern Guinea (FLOT) Universal flood-- Natives of the Lower Congo (FLOT) Universal flood-- Bapedi, a Basuto tribe of South Africa

(FLOT)Great flood killing nearly all mankind

-- Masai tribe of East Africa (FLOT) Tumbainot was a righteous man. Man had become evil and disobedient. God

told Tumbainot to build a boat of wood and he survived the flood along with his family.

-- Mkulwe, on the Saisi or Momba River. (FLOT)

The river flooded and man surved the universal flood by God by building a ship.

-- Indians of Nicaragua (FLOT) Flood-- Natives of Michoacan, province of Mexico

(FLOT)Tezpi, with his wife and children and animals, entered a large boat to survive a great flood.

-- Huichol Indians, Santa Catarina in Western Mexico (FLOT)

Huichol was warned by Nakawee, the godess of the earth of a great flood. She told him to build a coffin to float and survive the flood. For five years it floated.

-- Cora Indians (FLOT) Man was warned by Nakawee, the godess of the earth of a great flood. She told him to build a coffin to float and survive the flood. For five years it floated.

-- Papagos Indians of South-western Arizona (FLOT)

Montezuma and his coyote escaped a great flood, because the coyote had prophesied it coming. Montezuma hollowed out a boat for himself and so did the coyote.

-- Pimas, neighbors to the papagos (FLOT) Birds warned the great prophet of a large flood. The prophet was saved by floating on a ball of gum or resin.

-- Acagchemen Indians near St. Juan Capistrano in California (FLOT)

The sea began to roll in on the plains and fill the valleys until it covered the mountains. Mankind was saved by scaling a mountain.

-- Luiseno Indians of Southern California (FLOT)

A flood covered all the high mountains but a few men were saved by taking refuge on a knoll.

-- Smith River tribe in California (FLOT) A great rain drowned all men except one pair who escaped to the highest peak and were saved.

-- Natchez, an indain tribe of the Lower Mississippi (FLOT)

Man was saved from a large floodby climbing to the top of a mountain.

-- Mandan Indians (FLOT) A tradition of a great deluge in which the human race perished except one man, who escaped in a large canoe to a mountain in the west.

-- Cherokee Indians (FLOT) Rain Water once prevailed over the land until all mankind were drowned except for a single family who surved by building

a boat. The calamity was revealed by a dog to his master.

-- Delawares, of the Algonquins (FLOT) A Deluge submerged the whole earth which only a few people escaped alive on the back of a turtle.

-- Montagnais, Indian tribe in Canada (FLOT) A lake overflowed and covered the earth. Man survived in a canoe

-- Cree Indians (FLOT) Man survived with animals aboard a large canoe

-- Ojibways of South-eastern Ontario (FLOT) Nenebojo angered the water spirits. The waters rose in anger and he survived by building a raft for himself and two of every kind of animal.

-- Blackfoot Indians (FLOT) An old man and all the animals were floating around on a large raft because the earth was covered in water.

-- Tinnehs or Denes, of the Athapascan tribes of North western Canada (FLOT)

A great raft protected man from a great flood.

-- Haresskin Indians, another Tinneh tribe (FLOT)

A Wise-man resolved to build a great raft. When a flood came he boarded the boat.

-- Sarcees, of the Tinnehs (FLOT) When the world was flooded only one man nad woman were left alive being saved on a raft, on which they also collected animals and birds of all sorts

-- Tlingits or Thlinkeets, an Indian tribe of Alaska (FLOT)

Flood was caused by a Raven

-- Haida Indians of Queen Charlotte Islands (FLOT)

Very long ago there was a great flood by which all men and animals were destroyed with the exception of a single raven.

-- Thompson Indians of British Columbia (FLOT)

A great flood covered the whole country except the top of some of the highest mountains.

-- Twanas of Puget sound (FLOT) People were wicked and to punish them a great flood came which took over the land except for one mountain. Mankind was saved in canoes.

-- Spokanas, Nez Pereces and Cayuses (FLOT)

Each have a flood tradition

-- Inuit (FLOT) A flood was escaped by canoesTchiglit Eskimo (FLOT) They tied many canoes together to form a

great raft to escape a great flood-- Central Eskimos (FLOT) Ocean began to rise and they survived by

their canoes-- Greenlanders (FLOT) Flood came-- Gypsies of Transylvania For keepig his word an old man was

warned of a flood. He survived in a boat along with seeds and animals.

Lithuania Pramzimas, the supreme diety, saw the wickedness of man and decided to destroy them. He sent two giants, Wandu (water) and Wegas (wind) to destroy them. A few men were saved by climbing into a nut shell that was dropped by Pramzimas.

Welsh The lake of Llion burst, flooding all the lands so that everyone drowned except Dwyfan and Dwyfach, who escaped with a pari of every living thing

Chinese Tradition Fah-he escaped from a deluge which destroyed the human race with the exception of himself, his wife and his three sons and daughters

Sudan They call Lake chad in Bornu, the lake of Noah…they believe that a world wide flood had its origin in this lake

Arapaho Flood Tradition Flood that only a single Arapaho survived

Ancient Creation and Flood Traditions

Creation Account – Flood Account –

Civilization Creation FloodSumerian (1) Eridu Genesis – Sumerian creation/flood account from 1600 B.C.

(2) Epic of Atrahasis – Babylonian creation/flood account from 2000 B.C. The story recounts the creation of the world and subsequently mankind.

(1) Sumerian King Lists—found in Kish. Lists 8 antediluvian Kings of Sumer with a break for a flood.

(2) Eridu Genesis – Sumerian creation/flood account from 1600 B.C. whose hero Ziusudra builds a boat saving his family and animals

(3) Epic of Atrahasis – Sumerian creation/flood account from 2000 B.C.—unlike The Epic of Gilgamesh, Atrahasis gives a reason for the flood: “mankind was making too much noise!”

Egyptian (4) The Temple of Esna – Khnum, the Father of the Gods, is said to have molded men out of clay on his potter’s wheel. It describes how he goes about ordering the bloodstream to cover the bones, and how he made the skin enclose the body. He then made the respiratory system and the food digestion. (cited on the Festival of the Potters Wheel at Elephantine)

(5) The Ogdoad of Hermopolis – the Primeval Waters (Nun) were personified by 8 gods. (Pyramid Text 446) The 8 gods swam together and formed the primeval egg in the darkness of Nun.(Coffin Text, spell 223) Out of this egg a lotus flower arose and opened in its petals the creator of the world in the form of a child.

(6) The Ennaed of Heliopolis – Out of the primeval waters arose a primeval hill (a pyramid) upon which Atum was seated. He gave birth to Shu (the air) and Tefnet (moisture). To Shu and Tefenet were born Geb (earth) and Nut (sky). Nut gave birth to another five deities in the Egyptian pantheon: Osiris, Horus, Set, Isis, and Nephtys who gave rise to the population of this land. (Papyrus Brehmer-Rhind)

(7) Ptah of Memphis – Ptah was the creator-god who created all the other Gods. The other gods are only the heart; tongue; lips; and teeth of Ptah. “thus Ptah was satisfied after he had made all things and every divine word.” (Temple of Ptah in Memphis)

(8) The Book of Two Ways – “The Universal Lord (Atum-Re) says: ‘the gods I created from my sweat, but mankind is from my tears.”

(9) Instruction of Merikare – An Egyptian text about the creation of Pharoah’s, mentions receiving the breath of life from the gods, and whose chief goal was to keep ma’at. (Papyrus St.Petersberg 1116A; P.Carlsberg 6; P.Moscow 4658)

Persian (1) The Persian Tradition of the flood shows that the world was corrupted by Ahraiman, the Prince of Darkness. A flood came to destroy the wicked.

Greek (10) Prometheus is said to mold the first men out of clay at Panopeus in Phocis. Athena then breathed life into man’s body. Since all the other creatures had all the good gifts (wings, fur, feathers, swiftness, etc.), Prometheus made man stand upright like the gods

(1) Athens – Prometheus had a son, Deucalion, who reigned in Phthia and married Pyrrha, daughter of Epimetheus and Pandora. Because Zeus wished to destroy mankind, Deucalion, by the advice of Prometheus, made a box into which he put all the

and he gave them fire. necessities of life and into which he withdrew with Pyrrha. Zeus caused a great rain to fall. Deucalion was tossed on the waves for nine days and came to shore at Parnassus where he offered a sacrifice and asked Zeus to repopulate the earth. (Psudo-Appollodorus the Mythographer)

(2) Apamea in Phrygia contained a pillar on which was carved an ark which had come to rest on that very spot. A coin was found on one side of which was represented an ark with the door wide open. On the other side of the coin was shown a man and his wife leaving the ark. On the ark itself appears the name “Noe” (gk for “Noah”) – [The Flood, 144]

(3) The Greeks claim that Atlantis was lost to a great flood. In the course of history there occurred a violent flood that sank the city and destroy the evil in that empire. (Plato, Critias IV, 387-88)

Babylonian (11) the god Bel cut off his own head, and the other gods caught the flowing blood, mixed it with earth and fashioned men out of the bloody paste. That is why men are so wise, because their mortal clay is tempered with blood divine.

(1)

Akkadian (12) Enuma Elish – An Akkadian myth that explains how Marduk (the creator god) creates man out of blood and clay. The story ends with a hymn expousing Marduk as the chief diety of the city of Babylon.

(1) Epic of Gilgamesh – The hero of the story, Gilgamesh, meets Utnaphistim, “the Babylonian Noah” who achieved immortality because he was warned by the gods of a divine plan to flood the world. He was told to build a large boat to hold his family and pairs of animals. He was granted immortality because of this.

Hebrew (13) Genesis Account – Genesis 1-2 (1) Noah’s Flood – Genesis 6-9