Talk:Flood myth

North American native peoples

@DougWeller, hello! I'm massively ignorant on this, but of course it's on topic etc. For WP:LEAD purposes, if more of these are added, we might go in a "many North American native peoples have Flood myths..." direction, but I don't think we're there yet. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 11:45, 30 March 2025 (UTC)

i'LL leave this to you to decide. DougWeller (talk) 11:19, 19 December 2025 (UTC)

This article is scientifically incorrect

The Great Flood is not a myth. There are biblical and 'scientific Bold' evidence for the flood. One fact I can remember is there are oceanic fossils on top of Mt. Everest. Rubydee7 (talk) 13:50, 22 September 2025 (UTC)

Yep. That was the seaflor millions o fyears ago. , Sacredt texts are not evidence foir facts. Doug Weller talk 14:13, 22 September 2025 (UTC)

There are absolutely myths with great floods in them, like in the Bible. There is also stuff like an Outburst flood. Note that Genesis flood narrative is a separate article. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 14:25, 22 September 2025 (UTC)

It is not a "myth" the great flood. correct that. Noah's ark is a true story. Not a myth.

• What I think should be changed:
• Why it should be changed:
• References supporting the possible change (format using the "cite" button):

~2025-43445-99 (talk) 11:10, 28 December 2025 (UTC)

On this website, Noah's Ark is indeed part of a myth, specifically the Genesis flood narrative. But the internet is vast, there are other websites to read. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 11:21, 28 December 2025 (UTC)

References

Last Glacial Period

(Let me preface this by saying that I only have very superficial knowledge in this area.)

The article suggests that there is a viable scientific hypothesis that says that the myth is a memory of the Last Glacial Period's end. To me, a layperson, this seems like a strong claim. Strong claims are okay when they are backed by strong sourcing.

This claim is only backed by several popular-science sources and one journal article (by Jeffrey I. Rose).

The journal article is problematic; it is about a specific region (Arabia / Persian Gulf) and it mentions myths only in passing. To be specific:

Albeit epiphenomenal, it is interesting to note that the oldest known version of the ubiquitous Near Eastern flood myth, the “Eridu genesis” [...], was written by the inhabitants of [the Gulf] region. The link between flood mythology and marine incursion into the Arabo-Persian Gulf basin has already been thoroughly explored by a number of authors [...] and does not require any further elucidation.

This doesn't seem like a strong source. Indeed, one of the comments attached to the article (by Geoff Bailey) notes: I am skeptical about the relevance of mythology[...]. The author responds:

In regard to the place of the Near Eastern deluge myth in this discussion, I agree with Bailey insofar that it should be relegated to anecdotal. However, I do not think we should dismiss its relevance outright. While it is not valid to start with the premise that the ubiquitous flood story might be rooted in an actual event, it is scientifically permissible to switch the question around and ask whether marine incursion into the Gulf basin impacted the development of local folklores, particularly given that the population living along the northern coast became fully literate within three millennia of the final inundation. During the last phase of postglacial flooding, the shoreline was ingressing at a pace of multiple kilometers per generation; therefore, it is reasonable to suppose this would have left an impression on incipient sedentary communities (trying to) settle along the rapidly advancing shoreline. Epigraphic evidence suggests this was indeed the case [...]

So, the author of the sole scholarly source cited for those theories admits this is speculation on his part. Can anyone find better sources? Or, if there are none, reduce/remove the coverage of this topic to uphold WP:DUE? Thank you.

—Janhrach (talk) 19:09, 24 April 2026 (UTC)

Better sources are always better, but my reading is that "are speculated to have" does not say/imply "there is a viable scientific hypothesis." Fwiw, the source in the article is a partial re-print of The Rocks Don't Lie by David R. Montgomery. It says

"At the end of the last glaciation, some 10,000 years ago, giant ice-dammed lakes in Eurasia and North America repeatedly produced huge floods. In Siberia, rivers spilled over drainage divides and changed their courses. England’s fate as an island was sealed by erosion from glacial floods that carved the English Channel. These were not global deluges as described in the Genesis story of Noah, but were more focused catastrophic floods taking place throughout the world. They likely inspired stories like Noah’s in many cultures, passed down through generations." To me, this doesn't seem like a very strong claim. While we can't know what people told each other 10 000 years ago, it seems to me very plausible that big-ass floods that disrupted their lives would leave a mark in their stories. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 05:27, 25 April 2026 (UTC)

Thanks.

Also, I realized that in Special:Diff/1350897428, I forgotten that Montgomery's article doesn't mention the Gulf Oasis theory, which is the topic of Rose's article. This means that I accidentally conflated distinct theories in the comment above.

—Janhrach (talk) 15:55, 25 April 2026 (UTC)

Citation from pseudoarchaeologist - Undue weight

The Historicity > Comets section of this article heavily cites Ignatius L. Donnelly, who is a noted pseudoarchaeologist. The section ends with a quotation that celebrates Donnelly's work as groundbreaking and indicates his hypothesis is well-supported by evidence, which is unlikely to be the case:

"[...] 'but Donnelly has outdone Whiston, for he has shown that our planet has suffered not only from a cometary flood, but from cometary fire, and a cometary rain of stones.'"

I am a new editor (today is my first day!), so I won't make edits until I'm more acquainted with this topic and Wikipedia style conventions, but I believe this section of the article should be edited in the interest of WP:UNDUE.

For this section, it may be more appropriate to cite Donnelly's hyperdiffusionism hypothesis, which "purports to detect prehistoric catastrophes in the mythologies of multiple unrelated cultures[...]" rather than his claim that a great flood was caused by a comet.

Recommended additions

To counterbalance this, and in the interest of WP:DUE, I would like to see more information added that helps compile scholarly analysis and reasoning of the flood myth occurring in numerous cultural myths across the globe, including scholarly discussion of whether there was one real flood or multiple that inspired the stories (to @Gråbergs Gråa Sång's point). To me, this is the most fascinating angle on this topic! Glikethecar (talk) 04:26, 26 May 2026 (UTC)

Should we add the Five Suns Aztec myth to this?

In the Five Suns myth, during the fourth stage of the Sun, rain goddess Chalchiuhtlicue rules the world, but it ends with her unleashing 52 years of rain and flooding the earth, with people turning into fish.

Could be an addition to the North American section.

(I could do it, I just wanted to check if it has been discussed here) Not A Superhero (talk) 04:38, 19 July 2026 (UTC)

If you have something decently academic that calls that a flood myth to cite and summarize, I see no problem. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 05:37, 19 July 2026 (UTC)

‘Eden’

In the mythologies section, there is a link to another article through ‘Eden’. The problem is, the article is German; I looked it up at the time and it seemed there wasn’t any existent English article by the same name. Could anyone assist me with this and tell me why there is only a German article of that name? Swaggyopackem (talk) 09:59, 5 August 2026 (UTC)

Probably an error. The article of the German Wikipedia (which is actually more detailed) corresponds to English Wikipedia's article Edin. Edin is a possibly legendary "Desert Canal" which is mentioned in the Gudea cylinders (22nd century BCE). The toponym Eden in the Book of Genesis is thought to derive from that of the Canal. Dimadick (talk) 13:01, 5 August 2026 (UTC)

Alright cheers 👍 Swaggyopackem (talk) 13:10, 5 August 2026 (UTC)