Critique of John McHugh's Astronomical Interpretation of Noah's Flood by Gary D. Thompson
Copyright © 2004-2008 by Gary D. Thompson
Critique of John McHugh's Astronomical Interpretation of Noah's Flood
During 2000 there was world-wide interest in the ideas of John J. McHugh that the Biblical flood story is traceable to the astronomical mythology of the ancient Sumerians i.e., to the story of the "Sumerian Noah" Ut-napishtim. Mainstream media carried news items concerning such and the idea was also discussed on various internet discussion groups.
(1) Background - The Source:
The source of the "Noah's Flood" hype was the Master of Science dissertation completed by McHugh in 1999, for the Department of Anthropology, Brigham Young University. The dissertation title is "The Deluge: A Mythical Story that was Projected onto the Constellations", and the dissertation is some 180 pages long. The Harold B. Library catalogue at Brigham Young University can be accessed at http://www.lib.byu.edu/byline/ and the Call Number for the dissertation is XX(2675993.2).
(2) Background - John McHugh:
At the time he completed the dissertation McHugh, who is not a Mormon, resided in Utah and was employed as an archaeologist. He first presented his ideas at an SBL conference held at Creighton University. His particular theory is based on his own translation of cuneiform texts and the principal cuneiform sources used (i.e., seen as providing support for the theory) are the Mul.Apin star catalogue, and the Enuma Elish creation story, and the eleventh tablet of the Gilgamesh epic. McHugh alone is responsible for his theory and supporting evidence - there was no team of researchers as stated in an ABC News story.
(3) Background - The Argument:
Unfortunately the local library service has proved unwilling to obtain a loan copy of McHugh's dissertation for me. It would also appear that only a few people have actually read the dissertation. The reproduction of his dissertation "Abstract" should suffice as basic information but so far is nowhere produced. Using second-hand sources (including media interviews or some persons quoting conversations or correspondence with McHugh) it is possible to construct a reasonable outline of his theory (but this method does not provide clarification of all key points of evidence).
McHugh claims that the events of the Noah's flood story were originally depicted amongst a set of Sumerian constellation figures. The Noah's flood story in Genesis was preceded by a Sumerian constellation tradition depicting Ut-napishtim's flood. McHugh holds that before the invention of writing the Sumerians were using a number of constellations as a picture-book to relate the basic themes later contained in the Noah's flood story. In the absence of writing the sky became a picture book (i.e., visual mnemonic) for the depiction of the Sumerian flood story. McHugh also believes the Sumerian story of Ut-napishtim's flood to be based on an actual Mesopotamian flood which occurred circa 6,000 BCE. As McHugh believes that all of the major themes in the Mesopotamian/Biblical flood story correspond to constellations computer software was used to simulate what the sky would have looked like to the early Sumerians circa 6,000 BCE.
The core of McHugh's theory seems to rely on several key positions:
(1) McHugh interprets a particular Sumerian cylinder seal depicting a crescent shaped ship and some human figures as a "flood scene" Specifically the cylinder seal depicts a scene involving a Ship (=Argo) and coming out of the ship is a man-animal (= Centaur) sacrificing a Beast upon an Altar. Smoke (= the Milky Way) is depicted rising from the Altar. Also depicted in the scene is a Raven (= Corvus) eating the flesh of a Water-snake (= Hydra). McHugh believes that this scene parallels the Biblical story of Noah and the Flood. He then tries to marshall evidence to demonstrate that this believed iconographic depiction of the story of the flood on the cylinder seal was also depicted in early Sumerian constellations.
(2) The human figures depicted on the cylinder seal supposedly represent constellations (both aquatic and other constellations). McHugh argues that we have a ship-constellation, a sea-monster constellation, a river constellation, a "water-god" constellation, and a flood-hero constellation related to illustrating a deluge-myth. He holds that some of the key constellations for the depiction of the flood story in the sky are Aquarius, Argo, Capricornus, Orion, and Pisces. The main "characters" of the story were illustrated by the constellations Aquarius, Argo and Orion. Aquarius (Gu.la) depicts the benevolent god Ea (lord of the Apsu) who warns Ut-napishtim (= the flood hero) of the impending flood waters (= Apsu). (However, in another description of McHugh's beliefs Aquarius is held to represent the flood waters.) The constellation Orion (or mulSIPA.ZI.AN.NA "The True Shepherd of Anu" in Mesopotamia) depicts the flood hero Ut-napishtim. (The river constellation Eridanus leads from the foot of the constellation Orion into the stellar waters of the Apsu. Such was used by McHugh to identify Orion as depicting Ut-napishtim who was described as "dwelling far off at the mouth of the rivers.") McHugh also holds that the original flood-ship was the constellation Magur (= Argo). It appears that McHugh relies on Argo as the Sumerian ship-constellation. It seems that McHugh believes that Argo was the first Ark (= Magur ship). McHugh further holds that the Magur ship was later adopted by the ancient Greeks as the ship-constellation Argo. (How McHugh establishes Argo in the Sumerian sky is not clear from the second-hand sources I am reliant upon. Some past Assyriologists, such as Carl Bezold, have made the simplified association of the Babylonian star name mulNUNki, the star of the city of Eridu (= Canopus (alpha Carinae)), with the modern constellation Argo. However, Bezold is not implying that Argo (or a ship) was constellated in this region in the Babylonian sky.)
(3) Using the Mul.Apin star-list (which comprised material from circa 1,000 BCE) McHugh apparently connects the star name mulMA.GUR8 ("the star of the MAGUR-ship") in the Path of Ea, as being connected to the ark of the flood. He would identify the Magur "flood boat" with the position of the Greek constellation Argo (or in the region of Argo). He believes the original Magur ship-constellation was adopted in Greek constellation iconography as the (enormous) ship-constellation (that was renamed) Argo (and located by the Greeks in the same region of the sky). According to McHugh by 700 BCE (i.e., during the Assyrian period) precessional changes had noticeably affected the visibility of the southern stars and so to keep all the flood myth characters depicted in the visible sky the constellation depicting the Ark was changed from Magur (or Argo) to the Pegasus-square (i.e., Iku). (Thus the reason why only a partial ship has been constellated by the later Greeks.) According to McHugh the original Magur ship constellation (Argo) was replaced in the Assyrian version of the Gilgamesh text (and other Epic texts of the Assyrian period). The reason for choosing Iku was to have a ship that was located in the Apsu region. This change in constellations also led to the change in depiction of the Ark from a crescent shape to a square. With the change in constellations from Magur (Argo) to Iku (Pegasus-square) the iconography of the Ark changed from crescent shaped Magur ships to coffin or box shaped depictions.
(4) McHugh's theory involves the concept of the "flood waters of the Apsu" being represented in the sky. The constellations in this region are: Goat-fish, Water-god, Fish[es], Field, Rivers (Eridanus has two distinct streams), and Ibex.
To pour water on John McHugh's thesis:
(1) There is no evidence that the Sumerians (or later Babylonians or Assyrians) depicted the stars that the ancient Greeks constellated as Argo, as a ship. The Greek constellation Argo is unknown in Mesopotamian tradition. No multiple star ship-constellation appears in any known Mesopotamian star-list. Also, no known Mesopotamian star-list is older than the second millennium. Samuel Kramer's assertion in his "The Sumerians" (1963) that we have a list of about 25 stars from Sumer is probably based on Ernst Weidner's article "Fixsterne" in "Reallexikon der Assyriologie". However, Weidner was wrong and the earliest star-lists mentioned by him date from the Old Babylonian period. The English solicitor Robert Brown Junior made several mistaken identifications of Mesopotamian ship constellations in his "Primitive Constellations" (2 vols., 1898-99). Though full of errors, and long outdated, the book is still popularly used. As example: Theony Condos' book "Star Myths of the Greeks and Romans" (1997) used Brown to connect the origin of the Greek Argo with the Mesopotamian "Ship of the Canal of Heaven". Brown's attempts to reconstruct the "Euphratean Planisphere" pivoted on the circular "astrolabes" and are full of errors. One of his identified constellations in the outer ring (southern division of Ea) - for the fifth month Dumuzi - is the "Ship-of-the-Canal-of-Heaven". The identification of such a constellation is fallacious. (For reliable discussions of "astrolabes" (more properly "star calendars") see: Albert Schott, Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft, 88 (1934) 302-337; and Christopher.Walker & Herman. Hunger, Mitteilungen der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft zu Berlin, 109 (1977) 27-34.)
It would appear the only Mesopotamian star-list to make a reference to a ship is Mul.Apin which lists mulMA.GUR8 (and identified as epsilon Sagittauri denoted as "bark[-star]" in Mul.Apin by Hermann Hunger and David Pingree (1989).) (The term mulMA3.GUR8 meaning "the star of the Magur ship" is given in Planetarium Babylonicum by Felix Gössmann (1950.) who makes the different identification of alpha + beta Capricorni. The latter constellation studies of Erica Reiner, David Pingree (Babylonian Planetary Omens 2, 1981) and Hermann Hunger and David Pingree (Mul.Apin, 1989) often have different conclusions to it.) There is no indication that McHugh identifies the original Magur boat with mulMA[3].GUR8 listed in the Mul.Apin series.
A reference to a single star as identified by Hunger and Pingree does not infer a constellation. As two astral names appear in the one statement the single[two] star designation for Ma.Gur does not seem to make it a significant star name/asterism. That Ma.Gur is absent in all star lists earlier to Mul.Apin (i.e., the "astrolabes") does not seem to trouble McHugh. He still uses very late texts to consolidate "the original flood ship, the constellation Ma.Gur. Neither does the contradictory star identifications for Ma.Gur apparently trouble McHugh. Also, in early Sumerian myth Ut-napishtim's ark was a perfect cube.
(2) There is no evidence that the Mesopotamian sky was widely constellated until the late 2nd millennium BCE (i.e., the Cassite Period) - when the omina series Enuma Anu Enlil was being completed circa 1,300 BCE. The purpose of comprehensively constellating the night sky was to use the constellations as reference points in the description of celestial omens. (As example: Enuma Anu Enlil, Tablets 50-51.) Earlier, the stars and constellations were primarily used as calendrical aids for marking the months of the Babylonian lunar calendar - at least from the Old Babylonian Period (circa 1,800 to 1,500 BCE). The systematization of important constellations (and some planets) which rose heliacally in the twelve months of the Babylonian year were listed in circular then tabular texts called the "Twelve Times Three". The use of planets indicates that these texts were perhaps used to predict heliacal risings for a single year only. (See: "Mesopotamian Cosmic Geography" by Wayne Horowitz (1998).)
(3) The iconography of cylinder seals is not a simple subject for interpretation. To argue a case on the basis of a sole cylinder seal is questionable to say the least. The appearance of "Aquarius", "Pisces", and "Capricornus" on Cylinder Seals of the Sumerian and Akkadian period (circa 3,200-2,000 BCE) does not equal the identification of these symbols as being necessarily astral in character and denoting constellations. This tends to be popularly done though. The written evidence provides no justification for invoking descriptive astronomy (i.e., constellation figures) as an aid to the explanation of seal designs of the Sumerian and Akkadian period. However, such an approach may be legitimate for seal designs of the Old Babylonian period. The reason for the difference is we have evidence of (much) later Babylonian usage of such e.g., great gods representing the planets and figures symbolizing the signs of the zodiac. (See: "Cylinder Seals" by Henri Frankfort (1939). Also, the undisciplined speculations comprising the book "Hamlet's Mill" (1969) should not mislead us into believing there is evidence that Neolithic societies world-wide were aware of a 12-constellation equal-division zodiac (and also precession). There is no evidence for a 12-constellation zodiac of equal divisions in Mesopotamia until circa 500 BCE. (A lot of these ideas are inherited from the now discredited Panbabylonism movement of Hugo Winckler and Alfred Jeremias circa 1900-1914. From the bibliography in "Hamlet's Mill" it is clear that Hertha von Dechend was influenced by the ideas of Panbabylonism.)
(4) There is no evidence that the Greek ship-constellation Argo was borrowed from Mesopotamia. Where Argo is the Mesopotamians had a number of constellations including BAN (the Bow) and KAK.SI.KI (the Arrow), NUN.KI (Canopus), NIN.MAH (Goddess of Motherhood), and GAN.UR (the Harrow). If any borrowing of the constellation Argo by the Greeks took place then Egypt seems the more likely origin. Plutarch identified Argo as the Egyptian constellation "Boat of Osiris". The stars that the Greeks used to form the constellation Argo didn't all disappear from Mesopotamian skies by circa 700 BCE. As McHugh dates the flood to circa 6,000 BCE we are talking in terms of water craft as boats. Boats did not become ships (i.e., employing use of sails, and oars instead of paddles) until circa 3,000 BCE ("The Sea Craft of Prehistory" by Paul Johnstone (1980). A clay model of the oldest known sailing vessel (a sailing skiff) was found in a grave at Eridu, in southern Mesopotamia and dates circa 3,500 BCE ("A History of Seafaring" by George Bass (1972)).
(5) The celestial boats in Mesopotamian mythology are not connected with a deluge legend. They serve the mundane purpose of providing a means of transportation for the gods/goddesses. Also, more than one celestial ship exists in Mesopotamian mythology - the gods/goddesses didn't have to borrow. As example: The god Enki (the planet Saturn) rides the cosmic waters in the "Great Boat of Heaven" (the Magur-boat).
(6) The Mesopotamian texts preserve a number of different views of the Apsu. Usually it indicated the waters of the underworld beneath the earth that contained a freshwater ocean (the sweet water sea). According to "Hamlet's Mill" by Giorgio de Santillana and Hertha von Dechend (1969) the Babylonians named the Pisces-Canopus region of the sky "the sea". The Pegasus-square (Babylonian iku "the field") joined Pisces which was connected to the depth of the salt sea and Canopus which was connected to the depth of the sweet water sea. (The authors do not identify which cuneiform text(s) make these identifications.) Where McHugh has "the flood wave" of the Apsu" (Enki and the World Order) Samuel Kramer has "great flood-wave of the sea" ("Myths of Enki, the Crafty God" edited by Samuel Kramer and John Maier (1989).
(7) McHugh, however, has not proposed a new theory of Noah's flood. Some 100 years ago the identical ideas were vigorously promoted by both PanEgyptian and PanBabylonism enthusiasts (e.g., Gerald Massey and Heinrich Zimmern). Nearly 120 years ago the English poet, spiritist, and amateur Egyptologist Gerald Massey in his book "The Natural Genesis" (2 vols., 1883) believed he had demonstrated that the Noah's Ark story was written in the stars by the ancient Egyptians. Like McHugh, Massey makes use of the three water "signs" Aquarius, Capricornus, and Pisces. The twist is that Massey used Egyptian mythology to "prove" his case. At the start of the 19th century the Panbabylonists (who formed a special part of the Star Myth school) also got into the act but of course used Mesopotamian mythology. The German Assyriologist and Panbabylonist Heinrich Zimmern in his book "The Babylonian and the Hebrew Genesis" (1901) argued the place of the Babylonian flood was in the sky and was transferred to an earthly scenario.
The test for McHugh's theory will be the use of rigorous evidence and the absence of excessive speculation. The problem with previous approaches - such as Panbabylonism - is that it had to argue that its tenets were implied in widely divergent material (as there were never any direct supporting statements contained in texts). The Noah's Ark in the stars idea may need baling out.
Appendix: The Basis for the Mistakes of Robert Brown Junior
Robert Brown Junior mistook the early circular "three stars each" texts (commonly called "astrolabes" or "planispheres" but actually functioning as star calendars) as representing the standard Mesopotamian scheme of constellations. On the basis of three small fragments of these circular "star calendars" (Sm. 162, Sm. 608, and Sm. 94) he attempted to re-establish what he believed was a complete standard Babylonian "planisphere." His speculative and erroneous reconstruction of such was based on his belief that the "planispheres" set out an ecliptic based scheme with the 12 stars in the Path of Ea (outer ring) marking southern constellations, the 12 stars in the Path of Enlil (inner ring) marking northern constellations, and the 12 stars in the Path of Anu (middle ring) marking the 12 zodiacal constellations along the ecliptic. On the basis of his mistaken "planisphere" reconstruction Brown believed the constellations, including a 12-constellation zodiac scheme, in something like their present form, originated in Mesopotamia in the late 3rd millennium BCE. He denied (quite incorrectly) that anyone in Mesopotamia was inventing the 12-constellation zodiac as late as circa 500 BCE. Brown was unaware of the star lists of the Mul.Apin series. Mul.Apin tablet 1 (BM 86378) was not published until 1912 by Leonard King (CT 33, Plates 1-8) and it was perhaps first discussed by Franz Kugler in his Supplement 1 (1913) to his Sternkunde und Sterndienst in Babel. The first section of Mul.Apin tablet 1 lists considerably more stars in the Paths of Enlil, Anu, and Ea than are found in the "planispheres." (He was also misled by the limited listing of stars/constellations in the Paths of Enlil, Anu, and Ea through Tablet 82-5-22 512.)
This web page was last updated on: Sunday, August 26, 2007, 11.30 am.
This web page was created using Arachnophilia 4.0 and FrontPage 2003.
You can reach me here by email: