Posted on 01/15/2008 8:53:15 AM PST by forkinsocket
The effects of the Indian Ocean tsunami of December 2004 are only too well known: It knocked the hell out of Aceh Province on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, leveling buildings, scattering palm trees, and wiping out entire villages. It killed more than 160,000 people in Aceh alone and displaced millions more. Similar scenes of destruction were repeated along the coasts of Southeast Asia, India, and as far west as Africa. The magnitude of the disaster shocked the world.
What the world did not know was that the 2004 tsunami—seemingly so unprecedented in scale—would yield specific clues to one of the great mysteries of archaeology: What or who brought down the Minoans, the remarkable Bronze Age civilization that played a central role in the development of Western culture?
Europe’s first great culture sprang up on the island of Crete, in the Aegean Sea, and rose to prominence some 4,000 years ago, flourishing for at least five centuries. It was a civilization of sophisticated art and architecture, with vast trading routes that spread Minoan goods—and culture—to the neighboring Greek islands. But then, around 1500 B.C., the Minoan world went into a tailspin, and no one knows why.
In 1939, leading Greek archaeologist Spyridon Marinatos pinned the blame on a colossal volcanic eruption on the island of Thera, about 70 miles north of Crete, that occurred about 1600 B.C. The event hurled a plume of ash and rock 20 miles into the stratosphere, turning daylight into pitch darkness over much of the Mediterranean. The explosion was recently estimated to be 10 times as powerful as the 1883 eruption of Krakatau in Indonesia, which obliterated 300 towns and villages and killed at least 36,000 people.
(Excerpt) Read more at discovermagazine.com ...
No it didn't.
The Muslims are still there.
Always thought the tale of Noah’s Ark was a “result” of a tsunami...not the predecessor of one.
Excellent article. Thanks for posting.
No, it wasn't. It rained for 40 days and 40 nights.
ML/NJ
“The effects of the Indian Ocean tsunami ...on the Indonesian island of Sumatra...”
“the 1883 eruption of Krakatau in Indonesia, which obliterated 300 towns and villages...”
Not to self: Cancel move to Indonesia.
It has been speculated that this event provides the background for the events portrayed in “Exodus.” That would get the attention of any Pharoah. But so far as I know, Egyptian records don’t reflect it. Yet Egyptologists get bent out of shape by the Biblical claim that the events of the Passover actually occured, because there is no Egyptian “record” of them.
Ping
Maybe.
“Did a tsunami wipe out the cradle of civilization?”
No, but it did damage the patio furniture a bit....
Maybe the one in the Indus Valley. Their ark ended up stuck way up in the mountains.
The wave that destroyed Atlantis [Destroyed by a giant tsunami?]
BBC On-Line | Friday, 20 April 2007 | Harvey Lilley
Posted on 04/22/2007 8:53:44 AM EDT by yankeedame
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1821546/posts
(in particular)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1821546/posts?page=18#18
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1821546/posts?page=19#19
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1821546/posts?page=47#47
Layers of mystery: Archaeologists look to the earth for Minoan fate
Worcester Telegram & Gazette | Sunday, October 28, 2007 | Judy Powell
Posted on 11/04/2007 1:04:25 AM EST by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1920708/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=thera
New Ice-Core Evidence Challenges the 1620s age for the Santorini (Minoan) Eruption
Journal of Archaeological Science, Volume 25, Issue 3, March 1998, Pages 279-289 | 13 July 1997 | Gregory A. Zielinski, Mark S. Germani
Posted on 07/29/2004 3:25:45 AM EDT by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1180724/posts
For one thing, Plato is the only surviving ancient source for the Atlantis legend, and he placed it outside Gibraltar, referred to as the Pillars of Hercules, and explicitly described the Americas as lying beyond Atlantis. There’s nothing in the Atlantis story to suggest any other location. Furthermore, the caldera which is the harbor of the island of Santorini is over 100,000 years old; the only major Theran eruption recorded in ancient sources (and remember, Minoan and Mycenaean societies were literate) dates to circa 200 BC, which is AFTER PLATO and AFTER HERODOTUS (who also writes quite a bit about Santorini / Thera / Calliste). Still furthermore, radiocarbon dates on the island are off by hundreds of years due to the preponderance of C12 in the volcanic soils. Still furthermore, the Greenland ice core data matches an Alaskan volcano, not Thera.
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Considering the fact that the ancient egyptians changed their history on a whim, I don’t know why we trust it to determine the timelines of ancient history.
A settlement on the island of Thera was destroyed during the Bronze Age. From ash from that explosion which landed on Greenland, an estimated date of 1628 B.C. was calculated about 20 years ago. The Minoans and Mycenaeans may have been literate, but we have no historical texts from either society. Most of the surviving Linear A and Linear B records are palace records (inventories and the like).
There were a number of chaotic periods in Egyptian history, known as “Intermediate Periods.” Exodus took place either during the second or third “intermediate period.” Probably during the 3rd, which was c. 1150 BC. Most Eqyptian histories note that the New Kingdom was already in decline, exhausted by constant warfare in its Asian possessions. Egypt’s control over Palestine and Syria was lessening, and local tribes were assuming autonomy. Due to chaos and internal instability, there are few surviving records from this time. That the Israelites would take advantage of the situation to make a “prison break” to Canaan is not surprising. Nor is it surprising that there is no Egyptian record of it.
This is well after the eruption of Thera, but coincides with massive volcanic eruptions elsewhere.
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