The Biblical account of the Flood is not historically accurate.

I am going to jump straight into this then. I am going to start this off with a history lesson. HistoryThe first civilization on earth was known as Mesopotamia with Egypt following right behind [1]. In Mesopotamia the current system of writing and recording things was called cuneiform [2]. These are how accounts such as the code of Hammurabi and what occurred in the civilization was passed down. During this time the first epic novel was written which was called The Epic of Gilgamesh [3]. So the cool thing about this book was that it incorporated Gods as well. So how or why is incorporating Gods in this book applicable to this debate? The reason it is applicable is that there was a global flood mentioned in this novel, that is almost exactly the same as the story of Noah in the bible. The reason for the cause of the flood was that the God(s) were upset. There were a few differences in between the two flood accounts but they are practically identical. For a full account and comparison of the flood and the two stories click [4]. So again you may be asking why is this applicable. Mesopotamia was in existence around 3500 BC, with Egypt following around 3200 BC [5]. Ancient Israel was around 1950 BC [6]. Now when did the flood occur according to the bible? Some biblical scholars have shown that one date they can say with reliable certainty is 967 BC [7]. Now some scholars have the epic of Gilgamesh being written around 2750 BC, and others have it being written as early as 3000 BC [8][4]. So there is an obvious issue, with the biblical time line and most scholars agreeing that the flood had to have happened around 1,00 BC and 967 BC how was the Epic of Gilgamesh written and have the same story of the flood (almost verbatim) 1500-2000 years prior to this? It almost seems impossible that 2 floods could have occurred. With slim evidence actually supporting a global flood, if one were to have occurred, how was it recorded 1,500 years prior to the biblical account of the flood with almost the same text word for word. There are differences as I have said such as the main character and there being an assembly of Gods that caused the flood rather than Yaweh, but it seems as if the bible copied this from the novel itself. So how is that possible? The earliest account of the bible being written is 1445 BC [9]. This is according to the bible, not actual historical context by the way. So Alexander the great conquered the known earth and set out on a giant conquest to rule the earth. This was between 356-323 BC [10]. During this time he merged cultures among civilizations. This time was a melting pot of cultural bliss. Basically culture ideals and practices were being spread throughout the world, as he conquered it [11].Now for a main point that should be noted. " According to Christian tradition, spans a wide range of years. In fact, most religious scholars believe that the final books of the Old Testament were completed around 450 B.C."This number varies from 450 BC to 300 BC according to most scholars. [12][13]So with it being noted that cultures were being spread around this time frame, and the account of the story of Gilgamesh predating the bible by 1,500 years it is a very likely possibility that the bible actually used the story in the novel with some minor changes. Such as Yahew instead of an assembly and, a dove instead of a raven, and a main character change. [4]The closing point to this is that the chance the biblical flood actually occurred is almost 0 percent. The chance a global flood actually occurred is very slim as well, but if really did occur according to Mesopotamia script it would have had to have happened prior to the novel being written which was around 2750 BC. The most logical assumption is that the bible was written during the time cultures were merging and used the story with minor changes. We can see this very easily as we look at the timeline. Impracticality. Assuming the biblical account is to be believed, we must consider what it is saying. It said 2 of every animal was taken upon the ark. One scholar breaks it down like this"with one pair from each genera, living and fossil, he lists 7428 mammals, 4602 birds and 3724 reptiles on the ark. This totals to 15,754 animals on the ark"This number varies a lot but it is usually around 15,000 to 20,000 that are calculated. Some people claim around 250 but this is to try an justify it logically. This is also false. If you look at the original context and scripture the word "kol" is used in Hebrew which translates to all[14]. So the verse was literally meaning , he took all animals. Another debate is if the flood was global or local. Even if it was a local flood the number of animals in the local populace still rises to over 1,000. Okay so lets break this down logically. This is best worded logically by scientist whom have broke this down realistically. "Evolution is not capable of producing the millions of species observed today from the 15,000 different kinds of animals on the Ark" [15] Remember this is just with 15,000. This is even if it were possible (which it is not). To hold 15,000 animals on a boat for 40 days and 40 nights, plus the food it takes to feed them, and the chance of keeping them calm is physically impossible. It would take a boat the size of a city or even bigger. The way Christians try to justify this is using a play on words by saying the flood was a local flood, and only 200 animals were on the ark. If it is already scientifically impossible to get millions and millions of species from 15,000 animals in the elapsed time frame as it is, it is even more so impossible to arrive at millions of species from 200 in that same time frame. In ClosingEssentially the biblical account of the flood does not line up with history, nor is even physically possible. Accounts of a global flood in a epic novel ( which was stated as a story and nothing more), is recorded 1,500 years prior to the bible being written. Then the exact same story shows up in the bible 1,500 years later. This is not a coincidence, but a prime example of cultures mixing and the bible taking stories from Mesopotamia and the ancient Sumerians. The biblical account of the flood is not historically or realistically possible. [1] http://www.historiasiglo20.org...[2] http://edsitement.neh.gov...[3] http://www.aina.org...[4] http://www.icr.org...[5] http://historum.com...[6] http://www.thenagain.info...[7] http://creation.com...[8] http://www.ancienttexts.org...[9] http://carm.org...[10] http://www.ancient.eu.com...[11] http://www.ushistory.org...[12] http://www.gci.org...[13] http://christianity.yoexpert.com...[14] http://www.biblestudytools.com...[15] http://www.icr.org...