We (once) sent Noah to his people, and he tarried among them a thousand years less fifty: but the Deluge overwhelmed them while they (persisted in) sin. But We saved him and the Companions of the Ark, and We made the (Ark) a Sign for all Peoples! (Surah al-Ankaboot: 14-15)
These and other verses of the Qur’an inform us about a great flood that took place on the earth. This was such a great flood that it covered a major proportion of the earth’s surface and destroyed a civilization.
So then, what do scientists say about the news that the Qur’an informs? Do they also accept the existence of such a flood? What are the views of science and scientists concerning this issue? Now, let us see how this flood, which has been informed by the Qur’an, is proved by scientists:
The traces of a civilization that was annihilated at once and that occurred as a result of a natural calamity, dramatic migration or a war are preserved much better. For, in such calamities, the houses in which humans live and the tools that they use are buried into the soil in a short time and thus preserved without being touched for a long time. And upon being brought to light, important information is acquired about their past lives.
Many proofs about the flood of Noah are brought to light through this way. The flood which is thought to have happened around 3000 B.C destroyed all civilization at once and enabled a new civilization to be established. So, clear proofs of the flood have been preserved for thousand years for us to take lessons from it.
There are many archeological excavations for the research of the flood that affected the savannah of Mesopotamia. The traces of flood calamity that could have caused the great flood have been discovered primarily in four cities at the excavations of the region. These cities are important cities of the savannah of Mesopotamia; Ur, Uruk, Kish and Shuruppak. The excavations that were made in these cities showed that they were affected by a flood around 3000 B.C
Leonard Woolley is a very important researcher who researched this flood. He presided of an excavation project that was carried out collectively by the British Museum and Pennsylvania University. The excavations of Sir Woolley were carried out in the middle of the desert between Baghdad and the Persian Gulf. The excavations of Woolley are explained as follows in the Reader’s Digest: An important finding was revealed as they got deeper inside the earth; this was the king tomb of the city of Ur. Researchers founded many legendary works of art in the tomb of Sumerian kings and nobles. Helmets, swords, musical instruments, artistic handiworks that were made of gold and precious stones.
Workers got inside the muddy bricks about one meter and started to take out the pots and pans. And everything came to an end. There were no more pots or pans and ashes; only pure mud that was brought by water…”
Woolley continued to dig. Workers suddenly founded pieces of tools that had been made with emery rock along with pots and pans by the people of the age after digging into the clean layer of clay for about two and half meters. When the mud was cleaned well, a civilization came into sight. This showed that a great flood had occurred in the region. Besides, the microscopic analysis showed that a thick layer of clean clay was dumped onto the region by a great flood that was enough to destroy the old Sumerian civilization.Let us listen with care to the research results of Woolley, who presided the excavation:
