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when was the great flood

People use the phrase “the Great Flood” for different things, so there is no single universally agreed date.

Below are the main ways it is understood:

1. Biblical “Great Flood” (Noah’s Flood)

In many Christian and Jewish traditions, “the Great Flood” refers to the flood described in Genesis (Noah’s Ark).

  • Some conservative biblical chronologies place this flood around 2300–2500 BCE , with one well‑known calculation giving about 2348 BCE.
  • Other Christian writers argue for a slightly earlier date, around 3000 BCE , based on archaeological and geological interpretations.
  • Many modern scholars, including some Christians, view the Genesis flood as theological narrative or mythic history rather than a precisely datable global event, and so they do not assign it a firm calendar year.

In online forums, you’ll see everything from “it never happened” to detailed year‑by‑year biblical reconstructions claiming exact dates.

2. Chinese “Great Flood” of Gun–Yu

In Chinese tradition, “the Great Flood” often refers to the legendary flood controlled by the culture hero Yu the Great, associated with the origins of the Xia dynasty.

  • Traditional accounts put this flood around 2200 BCE , during the time of Emperor Yao and Shun.
  • Geological work at Jishi Gorge on the Yellow River has identified a massive outburst flood dated to around 1920 BCE , which some researchers suggest could be the real event behind the legend.

3. Global “flood myths” and scientific proposals

Many cultures have stories of a catastrophic flood, so some researchers talk about a more general “Great Flood” in a mythological or comparative sense.

  • A number of flood myths are thought to preserve memories of major regional floods or tsunamis , not a single worldwide event on one specific date.
  • One controversial hypothesis links many flood myths to a huge oceanic impact and tsunami around 2800–3000 BCE , suggested by features like the Burckle Crater and coastal deposits, but this idea is not a mainstream scientific consensus.
  • Other writers place a “universal flood” near 3000 BCE based on arguments from river deltas, early city foundations, and historical timelines, though these claims are debated.

4. Why there is no single answer

Because “when was the great flood” can mean different things, any precise date depends on what you accept as your starting point.

  • If you follow a literal biblical chronology , you will likely see dates in the mid‑3rd millennium BCE (around 2300–2500 BCE).
  • If you focus on Chinese history , the Great Flood of Gun–Yu is usually dated around 2200–1900 BCE.
  • If you work from myth comparison and geology , you get a range of possible large floods or tsunamis over several thousand years, not one universally accepted “Great Flood date.”

Quick HTML table of major “Great Flood” dates

html

<table>
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th>Tradition / Idea</th>
      <th>What “Great Flood” Means</th>
      <th>Approx. Date Often Given</th>
      <th>How It’s Viewed Today</th>
    </tr>
  </thead>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>Biblical (Noah)</td>
      <td>Genesis global flood narrative [web:1]</td>
      <td>~2348 BCE or ~3000 BCE (varies) [web:1][web:7]</td>
      <td>Literal history for some believers; theological or mythic narrative for many scholars [web:6]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Chinese Great Flood</td>
      <td>Flood of Gun–Yu, linked to Yu the Great and early Xia dynasty [web:3]</td>
      <td>Traditional ~2200 BCE; geological flood ~1920 BCE [web:3]</td>
      <td>Legend likely rooted in a major Yellow River flood event [web:3]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Global flood myths</td>
      <td>Many cultures’ deluge stories [web:5]</td>
      <td>Often placed broadly 3000–2000 BCE in speculative models [web:5]</td>
      <td>Generally seen as mythic memories of various local disasters [web:5]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Impact/tsunami hypothesis</td>
      <td>Huge ocean impact causing massive tsunamis and myths [web:5]</td>
      <td>Proposed around 2807 BCE [web:5]</td>
      <td>Interesting but controversial and not mainstream [web:5]</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

Forum and “latest news” angle

Recent online discussions and videos often revisit the Great Flood in light of new geology papers, YouTube documentaries, and debates between young‑earth creationists, old‑earth Christians, and skeptics.

  • Some threads argue the flood is scientifically impossible as a global event, while others defend it using alternative models of geology and climate.
  • Popular history and mystery channels regularly release new content asking whether Noah’s flood or similar stories could connect to real post‑Ice‑Age sea‑level rise or regional megafloods.

TL;DR: There is no single agreed‑on calendar date for “the Great Flood.” For Noah’s Flood, some religious chronologies say around 2348 BCE, Chinese tradition puts its Great Flood near 2200 BCE, and modern scholars generally see many different big floods and myths rather than one precisely datable global event.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.