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Today I think I unravelled some of the
geographic elements
of my quest to find some clues to this mystery
in the ancient past.
Like Steinbeck I will seek out some answers
by going to the
biblical past. But whereas East of
Eden seeks out some moral answers
I will try to find some geographic
clues.
I place the "Garden of Eden" at the time of
8000 to 6000 yrs. BP
(6000-4000 BC).
Here I show the lower Tigris-Euphrates, most
recently the scene of the
Gulf War,
beginning with the "Garden of Eden":
At which time the
temperature was warming
culminating in an era warmer than present,
equatorial weather
patterns
having reached farther north than at
present, and the westerly
storms of the north being confined to latitudes
higher than at present. Hence,
Drying climate, 4000 BC
Sea level rise in Gulf of Persia, 4000 BC
Irrigated society, 3500 BC
Rain storms, climatic oscillation.
Millennial-scale warming,
terminating with a period of climatic
disturbance and flooding
in the lower
latitudes (Nile, Arizona, Morocco, Israel,
Mesopotamia),
followed by a drought; general, worldwide,
climate-driven
shock to early societies living in "edenic"
geography of
plenty
with "fertile crescent" survivors organizing into
more
centrally
administered culture based on irrigation.
A great flood in about 3150 BC. Abrupt
cooling at higher latitudes, possibly related to
oceanic
effects, especially in Northern Europe,
corresponding to
peak of megalith cultures. Probable
oscillation in
sea level
at 3000 BC followed by 10-15 ft. alluvial
deposition in river
valleys.
The area today compared to Mesopotamian
times:
The area as of this week, when the US sent
missiles to destroy radar emplacements at
Talil airfield, site of
the ancient city
of UR OF THE CHALDEES.
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