Ancient people lived more than two hundred years: truth or fiction

Not only in the Bible, heroes lived to a serious age of 900 years. Other ancient texts also mention similar centenarians. Today, such an age seems incredible to us. Are people really living up to such solid numbers?

It depends on how you count. Scientists say that the whole point is the difference in approaches. Some suggest that numbers have a symbolic meaning. Others argue that the Middle East understanding of the year is very different from ours. The year was measured not by the movement of the Earth around the Sun (12 months), but by the orbit of the Moon (1 month) or the change of season (3 months). In this case, everything is greatly reduced. The life expectancy of the biblical Adam in translation to the familiar years falls from 930 to 77 years. But if we take this point of view as correct, then it turns out that he gave birth to his son Seth at 11 years old. But this is not so surprising. But how Enoch gave birth to Methuselah at the age of five is not entirely clear.

Astronomical explanations were also used. According to them, the period of rotation of the Earth has changed and the year according to the previous calculation is not at all equal to the current one.

Another explanation is given by the hypothesis of a water canopy. It was proposed by D. Whitcomb and G. Morris. The longevity of biblical heroes is explained by the fact that before the Great Flood there was a water canopy that covered the Earth from harmful radiation. Thanks to him, people lived to a very old age. After the flood, he was gone, and with an increase in radiation, the lifespan began to decrease. Gradually, the duration reached 70 years. The disadvantage of this version is that it is not supported by any physical and geological data. Archaeological excavations also do not find centenarians.

A study of the remains of people of the Bronze Age indicates that the average life expectancy was no more than 40 years. How then to explain the incredible lifetimes of the forefathers?

Carroll Hill, in his article on the study of numbers, writes that "the numbers in the book of Genesis can have both real and symbolic meaning."

As in the Book of Genesis, in the List of kings of Sumer and Akkad, the list of rulers who existed in Mesopotamia, the rule of individual rulers is several tens of millennia. For example, Alulim, the ancient mythical king of the Sumerians ruled 28,800 years. Experts believe that the square number system was used. Moreover, as in the Bible, in the List, the duration of government and the life of people after the flood is significantly reduced. If Adam lived for more than 900 years, then Noah reached the age of 500, and Abraham - up to 170.

A researcher at Brandeis University Dwight Young noted that certain intervals are a multiple of 60. Other large numbers are squares. For example, 900 - square 30, 625 - square 25, 400 - square 20, etc.

In the Mesopotamian system of counting, ordinary and sacred numbers existed. The ordinary were used in simple life, the sacred - in relation to the gods and names of people. The name could have a numerical expression. The most important were the numbers 60 and 10. They were considered the highest symbols of the expression of truth. Therefore, the Mesopotamia Ball adopted a six-decimal number system.

How were things in other cultures?

In Asian camps, centenarians were commonplace. Of course, they did not reach biblical proportions, but Dr. Xu Wenze of the Qing Dynasty, who lived to be 300 years, is mentioned in medical records. Or Guy Yul from the Han Dynasty, lived to be 280 years old. Taoist monk Hue Cao reached 290.

Buddhists explain this by a right life, which includes a healthy diet, spiritual and mental development. Messages about modern centenarians often come from rural areas, where documentation is not always preserved.

The oldest person in Russia is Tanzilya Bisembeeva. March 14 this year, she turned 123 years old. She lives in the Krasnodar Territory. The woman has three sons, and she gave birth to the youngest at 66 years old.

Watch the video: Why Dont Humans Live for More than 100 Years? Physicist Geoffrey West (May 2024).