Longevity myths

Longevity myths are traditions about long-lived people (generally supercentenarians), either as individuals or groups of people, and practices that have been believed to confer longevity, but which current scientific evidence does not support, nor the reasons for the claims. While literal interpretations of such myths may appear to indicate extraordinarily long lifespans, experts believe such figures may be the result of incorrect translations of number systems through various languages, coupled along with the cultural and symbolic significance of certain numbers.
The phrase "longevity tradition" may include "purifications, rituals, longevity practices, meditations, and alchemy" that have been believed to confer greater human longevity, especially in Chinese culture.
Modern science indicates various ways in which genetics, diet, and lifestyle affect human longevity. It also allows us to determine the age of human remains with a fair degree of precision.
The record for the maximum verified lifespan in the modern world is 122+1⁄2 years for women (Jeanne Calment) and 116 years for men (Jiroemon Kimura). Some scientists estimate that in case of the most ideal conditions people can live up to 127 years. This does not exclude the theoretical possibility that in the case of a fortunate combination of mutations there could be a person who lives longer. Though the lifespan of humans is one of the longest in nature, there are animals that live longer. For example, some individuals of the Galapagos tortoise live more than 175 years, and some individuals of the bowhead whale more than 200 years. Some scientists cautiously suggest that the human body can have sufficient resources to live up to 150 years.
Several parts of the Hebrew Bible, including the Torah, Joshua, Job, and Chronicles, mention individuals with very long lifespans, up to the 969 years of Methuselah.
The Sefer haYashar narrates that all of the long-lived people belonged to a special class and that Methusaleh was the last member. Methusaleh also lived long enough to evangelize with his grandson Noah in the antediluvian world.
Some Christian apologists explain the extreme ages in the Hebrew Bible (or Old Testament) as ancient mistranslations that converted the word "month" to "year", mistaking lunar cycles for solar ones: this would turn an age of 969 years into a more reasonable 969 lunar months, or about 78.3 solar years. Donald Etz says that the Genesis 5 numbers were multiplied by ten by a later editor.
Both these interpretations introduce an inconsistency: they would mean that the ages of the first nine patriarchs at fatherhood, ranging from 62 to 230 years in the manuscripts, would then be transformed into an implausible range such as 5 to 18+1⁄2 years. Others say that the first list, of only 10 names for 1,656 years, may contain generational gaps, which would have been represented by the lengthy lifetimes attributed to the patriarchs. Nineteenth-century critic Vincent Goehlert suggests the lifetimes "represented epochs merely, to which were given the names of the personages especially prominent in such epochs, who, in consequence of their comparatively long lives, were able to acquire an exalted influence".
Those biblical scholars that teach literal interpretation give explanations for the advanced ages of the early patriarchs. In one view, man was originally to have everlasting life, but as sin was introduced into the world by Adam, its influence became greater with each generation and God progressively shortened man's life. In a second view, before Noah's flood, a "firmament" over the earth (Genesis 1:6–8) contributed to people's advanced ages. The Bible's own (brief) explanation for these ages approaches the question from a different angle, explaining instead the relative shortness of normal lives in Genesis 6:3 (CSB): "And the Lord said, 'My Spirit will not remain with mankind forever, because they are corrupt. Their days will be 120 years.'"
Conservative apologist William Lane Craig believes that the longevity myths should be understood as 'mytho-history', where the ages of culturally significant figures were exaggerated to make a political or theological point. He points to similar practices found in neighboring cultures such as the Babylonians and argues that both Hebrews and Babylonians were aware that human longevity was biologically unfeasible. Similar arguments were made by professor Robert Gnuse.
Here are some more modern examples of Christian longevity claims:
Ibrahim (إِبْرَاهِيم) was said to have lived to 168–169 years. His wife Sarah is the only woman in the Old Testament whose age is given. She died at 127 (Genesis 23:1). In the Quran, Noah allegedly lived for 950 years with his people.
According to 19th-century scholars, Abdul Azziz al-Hafeed al-Habashi (عبد العزيز الحبشي) lived 673–674 Gregorian years, or 694–695 Islamic years, between 581 and 1276 AH (equivalent to 1185–1859 AD).
In Twelver Shia Islam, Hujjat-Allah al-Mahdi is believed to currently be in Occultation and still alive (age 1155).
Chapter 2 of Falun Gong by Li Hongzhi (2001) states,
Extreme lifespans are ascribed to the Tirthankaras, for instance:
The term xian refers to deified persons who have achieved immortality. The Old Man of the South Pole is a common archetype and symbol for longevity.
These include claims prior to c. 150 CE, before the fall of the Roman empire.
The Egyptian historian Manetho, drawing upon earlier sources, begins his Egyptian king list with the Graeco-Egyptian god Hephaestus (Ptah) who "was king for 9,000 years".
A book Macrobii ("Long-Livers") is a work devoted to longevity. It was attributed to the ancient Greek author Lucian, although it is now accepted that he could not have written it. Most examples given in it are lifespans of 80 to 100 years, but some are much longer:
According to one tradition, Epimenides of Crete (7th, 6th centuries BC) lived nearly 300 years.
Some early emperors of Japan are said to have ruled for more than a century, according to the tradition documented in the Kojiki, viz., Emperor Jimmu and Emperor Kōan.
The reigns of several shahs in the Shahnameh, an epic poem by Ferdowsi, are given as longer than a century:
In Roman times, Pliny wrote about longevity records from the census carried out in 74 AD under Vespasian. In one region of Italy many people allegedly lived past 100; four were said to be 130, others up to 140.
Age claims for the earliest eight Sumerian kings in the major recension of the Sumerian King List were in units and fractions of shar (3,600 years) and totaled 67 shar or 241,200 years.
In the only ten-king tablet recension of this list three kings (Alalngar, [...], kidunnu, and En-men-dur-ana) are recorded as having reigned 72,000 years together. The major recension assigns 43,200 years to the reign of En-men-lu-ana, and 36,000 years each to those of Alalngar and Dumuzid.
This list includes claims of longevity of 130 and older from the 14th century onward. All birth year and age claims are alleged unless stated otherwise.
The following cases have been documented in detail over time.
According to a 2021 review, there is no clinical evidence that any dietary practice contributes to longevity.
Traditions that have been believed to confer greater human longevity include alchemy.