The Yahwist And The Flood Of The Black Sea

The flood story is one of the most well known and most repeated apocalyptic stories throughout time. Though, there is no evidence of an event at the time other than the sudden filling of the Black Sea basin by water flowing into it at an unimaginable rate, archeology suggests that this event was the cause of much change about 5200 BC. This flooding of the Black Sea may have been the basis of the flood story in Genesis. This historical event has served as the inspiration for countless stories and has most notably been represented in biblical literature. The Biblical literature addresses the themes of re-creation and the covenant and each of these things are represented differently by different authors because each author had a different message or focus serving as their purpose for the story.
The flood story found in Genesis has two main sources, the Yahwist and the Priestly. The Yahwist source was written around 1000 BC and the Priestly source which is dated at around 539 BC. Irving Finkel, an Assistant Keeper of Ancient Mesopotamian script,

The flood stories present a path towards a new creation wherein YHWH God will reestablish order. This narrative suggests that humanity is wicked. After this we are introduced to Noah, through whom YHWH will offer humanity another chance. This re-creation story reminds humans that our behavior matters to the deity and commending the upright and faithful behavior of Noah. The Yahwist writers were writing during the fall of the northern kingdom. Their focus on creation and re-creation is due to the fact that they believe that the kingdom was destroyed because of the wicked acts of humans. The Priestly author’s intent was to re-centralize worship in Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile. Their emphasis on recreation was intended to reunite the monarchy and re-centralize worship in