Ancient Civilization Under the Persian Gulf

The world’s attention is on Egypt and the Middle East, an area of the world with amazing biblical history. Most likely missed in the days leading up to Christmas was a Fox News report from December 8, 2010 that reviews the stunning evidence that the remnants of a vast civilization may lie under the Persian Gulf.

The teaser is this quote: “In recent years, archaeologists have turned up evidence of a wave of human settlements along the shores of the Gulf dating to about 7,500 years ago. But how could such highly developed settlements pop up so quickly, with no precursor populations to be found in the archaeological record? Jeffrey Rose, an archaeologist and researcher with the University of Birmingham in the U.K., believes that evidence of those preceding populations is missing because it’s under the Gulf.”

The article explained that these visible settlements are evidence of a huge civilization now submerged beneath the waters of the Persian Gulf, possibly for as long as 100,000 years. They say that the waters rose rapidly covering once dry land about eight millennia ago. Citing 60 new sites that apparently appeared very rapidly, Rose declared, “These new colonists may have come from the heart of the Gulf, displaced by rising water levels that plunged the once fertile landscape beneath the waters of the Indian Ocean.”

Predictably, these settlements are the earliest “outside Africa,” which is the secular researcher’s committed view of the appearance of earliest humans on planet earth. It should be noted that age estimates for humans on earth are randomly wild in speculation. Also, the best evidence for the most liberal estimates of humankind’s age is within the range of 40,000 years, as found even among evangelical “old earthers” such a Hugh Ross.

Amazingly, the Fox article said, “Historical sea level data show that, prior to the flood, the Gulf basin would have been above water beginning about 75,000 years ago. And it would have been an ideal refuge from the harsh deserts surrounding it, with fresh water supplied by the Tigris, Euphrates, Karun, and Wadi Baton Rivers, as well as by underground springs.”

Citing extremely early settlement of the region, Rose adds, “That raises the possibility that humans were established on the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula beginning as far back as 100,000 years ago or more … That is far earlier than the estimates generated by several recent migration models, which place the first successful migration into Arabia between 50,000 and 70,000 years ago … The presence of human groups in the oasis fundamentally alters our understanding of human emergence and cultural evolution in the ancient Near East.”

Let me condense this into biblical relevance without getting into conflicts over either the age of earth or the age of man.

First, advanced civilization appeared in the region much earlier than thought. Second, there had been a huge flood that likely obliterated extensive human settlements. Third, biblical rivers are cited as watering the area, specifically, rivers which are found in the Bible listed in the Genesis account of the Garden of Eden.

In view of these factors, a biblical relationship is evident. The mention of the Tigris, Euprates, Karon and Wadi Baton Rivers correspond precisely with those mentioned in Gen. 2:10–14 as being in the immediate vicinity of the Garden of Eden. The Tigris is called Hiddekel in the Bible. Based on lingering tradition, the Karon and Wadi Baton correspond to the Pison and Gihon. According to a Smithsonian magazine article of several years ago, two huge dried-up riverbeds are clearly visible from satellite pictures.

One way or another, the specific area of southern Iraq and Iran are clearly indicated.

That same Smithsonian article suggested what these more recent researchers postulated: that a huge civilization dwelt under the area of the present Persian Gulf, actually calling it the likely location of the Garden of Eden based on the rivers’ references. That could be the initial spreading civilization, as the Bible teaches, beginning with Adam and Eve in Eden. The discovery of enormous flooding in the area aligns with Genesis 6 where Noah and his family survived a water catastrophe in the Ark.

While we await further excavation and interpretation of findings, we may be assured that Genesis has it right as to the human creational venue and flood references. Secular findings make enjoyable reading of the modern archaeologist’s spade, especially since we’ve read God’s ancient Scriptures.

Dave Virkler