Rating: 
Summary: A fascinating, albeit controversial, book
Review: In 1970, Bill Ryan, a geologist on Glomar Challenger, was working with a team to extract core samples from a variety of sites in the Mediterranean Sea. What they found countered all expectations they had previously developed. What they found was indication that the Mediterranean had experienced periods of extreme drought followed by a rapid saltwater flood. Working with Walter Pitman, an oceanographer, they began to develop explanations for the evidence they were uncovering. In a conversation with some colleagues on their work, it was jokingly suggested that this might be Noah's Flood. The Mediterranean flood was too long ago for any human to have witnessed it and passed it down in oral legend. But that got them thinking . . . Could there be another source for this story? Noah's Flood presents an interesting tale of the voyage of discovery that Ryan and Pitman found themselves on. In their investigations, they discovered a possible [probable?] source for story of Noah, indeed for the all the flood legends known through history. Of course, for those of us who grew up immersed in Western culture, the story of Noah is the most well-known and the most compelling; however, it's not the only flood story in history. Written in an engaging style, Noah's Flood begins with a summary of other searches for evidence of Noah, continues through the work of Ryan and Pitman, and ends in a potential reconstruction of the flood itself. Have we found the Flood? The authors present convincing evidence (convincing for me, anyway); however, they've created a storm of controversy in other circles (take a look at any journal on creation science, for example). For me, this forms a piece of other research (like the consistency of Indo-European languages, or some of the discussions on development in ???'s book, Guns, Germs, and Steel) that just seems to fit. For others, it flies in the face of the literal evidence of the Bible (and if you believe Thomas Kuhn's thesis on the change of paradigms, Ryan's and Pitman's book certainly won't change anything). As in all things, you'll need to read it and decide for yourself.
Rating: 
Summary: Finding the truth
Review: This was an excellent book and did an outstanding job of relaying the facts to the reader. I am totally convinced that this was Noah's flood. However, the authors left out information that would actually support the biblical narrative. For one thing, they disregard the fact that looking at various other cultures, the biblical narrative is the closest to the origninal and to their scientific findings. What is more, if you take the biblical narrative in its historical context and learn what the words meant to the early Hebrews (The Bible wasn't written in English), everything fits together really nicely. Also, they acknowledge that every language known to the Hebrews would have spread from the same region shortly after the flood, but they completely ignore the biblical story of the tower of Babel, which, surprise, comes right after the flood. It is obvious that there is a non-christian slant on the authors' opinions, but with a little bit of pulling out the facts and detective work, your faith in the Bible can only be strengthened. If I was vindictive I'd knock the book down for it's non-christian slant, but the authors did an outstanding job of getting the point across given their presupposition that the Bible is wrong. Peace out, and enjoy.
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Summary: From a legend to the reality
Review: I am a strong believer that all the legends, epic poems, fantastic stories, and the sacred books have a reality hidden in the depth and puzzle of extraordinaries. Since universally described in many scripts and the sacred books, I believe the flood should have been a terrestrial event, and it should have watched in terror by some people of the time. As a citizen living on the Black Sea coast, I am thrilled with the fact that life was pretty well going on the Black Lake some miles in the north and several hundred feet beneath the current surface. Now I understand better why people are so awkward about it. They stay away from it, pray for its calmness, and send the fishermen to sea by great anxiety. The book is very excellently written in such a manner that you feel like you are getting closer and closer to the roam of the giant Bosphorus falls, which is said to be the reason of the great flood in that basin. The ideas, facts and places coincide well with each other and the rest. As a local of Anatolia, I had no doubt about anything they have discussed in their book. It is a book about how we go from legends to realities. I liked it so much, and recommend it to everyone who is interested in ancient cultures and Noah's flood.
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Summary: The Last Word on the Greatest Disaster
Review: Authors Ryan and Pitman tread ground that has been covered by many before, namely the searh for an event that can be said to have inspired the story of the Flood. It is likely that this search would have died out were it not for the fact that at least seven versions of this myth exist in independant cultures separated by thousands of years and hundreds of miles; slightly different accounts of the Flood show up in the Bible, the epic of Gilgamesh and many other ancient literary sources. Starting from a wild hypothesis that emerged when strange facts came up during Mediterranian core-drilling surveys, Ryan and Pitman weave a compelling theory from a skein of disparate facts. Pages of references in the back of the book lend scholarly weight to what might otherwise be considered scientific heresy. All things considered, this is a solid and compelling read.
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Summary: Archeology as Detective Story
Review: Archeology is not one of my major interests, yet I found this book both fascinating and compelling; Pitman has created a compelling narrative, combining historical, archeological and scientific discoveries. The story begins with the discovery and translation in the early 19th century of the ancient Persian histories and legends. One of these- the legend of Gilgamesh, an ancient Persian king- stunned the Western world with its tale of a great flood that closely paralled the Biblical flood told of in Genesis. The second piece of the puzzle came from geological research in the 1960s and 70s. This was the stunning discovery that the Mediterranean was once a desert that had been turned into a sea in one cataclysmic event. This in turn suggested that there may well have been other such events during the time of human habitation, including one massive flooding that was the basis of all the flood stories found in all the cultures of Europe and Asia. Starting from that discovery, the authors explore the geological, historical and linguistic data in search of the event or events that became the basis for all flood legends of the Mideast, and explore the possibility that it was just such a flood that motivated a great exodus of people that eventually populated areas as far away as Western Europe and China. The authors have been deeply involved in this research from the beginning, with one (Ryan) having been aboard the Glomar Challanger in the 1970s when the evidence of the great Mediterranean deluge was discovered. They do an excellent job not only of explaining the scientific data, but of sharing the real excitement of discovery that they have felt. Highly recommended for students of geology, archeology, ancient history, classics and biblical studies, as well as the casual educated reader looking for an excellent tale of scientific and historical discovery.
Rating: 
Summary: Okay biology, bad history
Review: The authors seem to know their marine biology, but less about archeology. No details in the Gilgamesh or Noah stories (40 days rain, doves, mountains of Ararat, animals on an ark, only survivors, etc.) correspond necessarily to a Black-Sea-rising scenario; the stories fit just as well with other floods, from later times and closer to Sumeria. Besides, even in the best examples of bardic retelling (the Trojan War and Kosovo) the distortions after 600 years make the original event almost unrecognizable, but the period between the Black Sea flood and the first known writing of the Gilgamesh epic is closer to 4000 years. In fact the authors would have done better to claim that the Black Sea flood is the source of the Atlantis legend, since at least they would have had a single detail on their side (Servius's statement that the Bosporus was sometimes called the Pillars of Heracles). I mention that only to show how easy it is to derive a Stunning Speculation from a single fact, like "Black Sea flood". Since they can't show why the Black Sea flood should be Noah's flood, the sensationalist title and jacket are deceptive advertising. The redeeming feature is that the Black Sea flood by itself was an interesting story.
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Summary: Interesting Theory Stretched Beyond Endurance
Review: William Ryan and Walter Ptiman have written an interesting book, Noah's Flood, concerning the possible flooding of the Black Sea about 7,600 years ago. Their scientific description is easy to follow and fun to imagine and they give plenty of bits and pieces of evidence derived from many sources, from past scientific explorations to mythology. The theory, itself, is important and this book presents a clear case for it with enough background to put the flooding into a context both as an event and as scientific discovery. Where the book goes too far is in giving it the title of Noah's Flood because now time most be spent justifying this said title. The authors do go out of their way to explain how this flooding likely resulted in the Noah story of the Bible (as well as the flood story in Gilgamesh) many millenia later. As most cultures have a version of the flood myth without the need for knowing about the Black Sea, it is quite likely there is no need for such a dramatic explanation of a common myth. It could, cynically, be see as a way to sell more books. That is too bad as the actual story around the Black Sea flooding is interesting enough.
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Summary: Interesting, but Boring...
Review: Ryan and Pitman, regale us, in narrative form with their geological exploits during the 90s which show that a localized flood of the Black Sea area around 7500 B.C is the origin of the various myth legends that appear in many ancient cultures' lore. The Interesting: * That they would choose "Noah's Flood" as a title, since they are essentially showing that the Biblical account of the flood was lifted from earlier Mesopotamian myths (Epic of Gilgamesh) - and was not in fact a global flood as described in the Bible. * They provide a good glimpse of ancient civilization around the Black Sea area, and the various peoples, myths and languages that originated there. * They provide an interesting theory about how the flood, by dispering these people, set in motion a chain reaction of events which changed the face of Europe and the world. The Boring: Although told in a narrative, it was slow moving, tedious and a bit jumbled. Only a geologist will appreciate the detailed description they provide of how they took endless core samples of the Black Sea. And, without an "executive summary" of sorts I found it hard to fully understand how all of the details purported to fit together. With their own work and others, instead of just explaining what they found, - they take the reader through the scientific process in painstaking detail. The book would have been much more readable if they had hired a professional "novelist" to write it, - nevertheless it was interesting and put me on to other related materials.
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Summary: Myth and Fact: A fantastic partnership rather than oppositio
Review: Once upon an eon, a catestrophic event occurred: the ice caps and glaciers melted, raising the level of the salt water oceans 400 feet above the level of an inland fresh water lake, now known as the Black Sea. All that held the world wide sea level was a natural earthen dam now known as the Bosphorus. Suddenly, 7600 years ago, the Aegean/Meditranean Sea burst this fragile dam, and huge volumes of water poured into the inland lake. As much water poured through in a single day, as pours from the Great Lakes over Niagra in a year, and this continued for a year. Was this the Flood of Noah and Gilgamesh? Ryan and Pitman use all the tools of modern archaeology, geology, linguistics, Biblical and Sumerian exegesis, oceanography, and inductive/scientific reasoning to derive this conclusion. And just this summer, remains of human wooden habitat and tools were found on the pre-flood lakeshore of this fresh water lake. Most convincing is the flow from the Mediteranean of salt water into the Bosphorus below a contrary flow of fresh water from the Black Sea out. The authors trace the resulting diaspora via archeology, linguistics, et al, and show how the survivors spread their talents and languages North and South from this disaster. They convince the reader of the truths found beneath 4000 years of Biblical and Sumerian oral traditions. A fascinating read as the authors make the most esoteric scientific findings easily ascertained without "dumbing down." Like the Jesus Seminar, the authors wade through the myths and assemble the truth. Science does not displace faith, and faith is made a reassurence for scientific insight.
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Summary: The scientific foundation of myth
Review: This book is an absolute gem: a highly readable scientific detective story. During the last ice age, the fall in global sea levels cut the Black Sea off from the Mediterranean. With evaporation exceeding inflows, the level of the lake fell by perhaps as much as 500 feet. Fed by glacial melt water, overtime the Black Sea became a fresh water lake. Then some 7,500 years ago as global sea levels rose following the end of the ice age, the Mediterranean again breached the Bosporus Strait, and salt water poured into the fresh water lake, killing all life and raising the sea level to its current mark. The bulk of the flooding took place in a matter of weeks. If this were the whole story, it would be interesting enough, but Ryan and Pitman push it further. They argue that 7,500 years ago Neolithic farming communities that spoke the proto Indo-European language inhabited the Black Sea region. The rapid flood triggered mass migrations of early Indo-European farmers out of the region and gave birth to the flood myths found not only in the Bible, but also in many other cultures where flood myths pre-date the Old Testament version such as the Gilgamesh epic. If Ryan and Pitman are correct, the Black Sea may turn out to be the long sort for homeland of the Indo-European language The first part of this story is now well-verified scientific fact. The second part is much more speculative, but it is speculation that is consistent not only with the flood mythology, but also significant archeological, linguistic, and genetic evidence. Ryan and Pitman do a wonderful job of documenting the mass of evidence is a manner that is engaging and accessible to the lay reader. The book opens with the discovery of pre-Biblical flood myths in the 1830s and proceeds in a temporal fashion through the gradual accumulation of evidence that ultimately, provides overwhelming support for the Black Sea flood hypothesis. At the end of the book, which was written in 1997, Ryan and Pitman state that their more speculative migration and myth hypotheses would be strengthened if evidence could be found of Neolithic farming communities on the sea floor of the Black Sea. That evidence is now at hand. In September 2000, Robert Ballard, famed as the discoverer of the Titanic, found the first evidence of well-preserved structures 300 feet below the current level of the Black Sea. With more evidence likely to follow, this book is a must read for anyone interested in the history of the ancient world and its relevance to our civilization.
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