Noah and Herakles

Re our post:

 

Herakles (Nimrod) Threatens Nereus (Noah)

 

http://westerncivilisationamaic.blogspot.com.au/2013/09/herakles-nimrod-threatens-nereus-noah.html

John R. Salverda has commented:

Dear Damien,

Here is a remark on the Noah and Nimrod as Nereus and Herakles post, it was too long for a regular comment:

OK, there may have been some "Nimrod" in Herakles. There was certainly some Gilgamesh in him. "The story of Heracles was an early variant of the Babylonian Gilgamesh epic which reached Greece by way of Phoenicia. Gilgamesh has Enkidu for his beloved comrade, Heracles has Iolaus. Gilgamesh is undone by his love for the goddess Ishtar, Heracles by his love for Deianeira. Both are of divine parentage. Both harrow Hell. Both kill lions and overcome divine bulls; and when sailing to the Western Isle Heracles, like Gilgamesh, uses his garment for a sail. Heracles finds the magic herb of immortality as Gilgamesh does, and is similarly connected with the progress of the sun around the Zodiac." (the quote is from Robert Graves "The Greek Myths"). And I'm certainly not opposed to connecting Nereus with Noah. Many ancient "sea gods" can probably be traced back to Noah. Including the Philistine god Dagon, a form of Enki. Which leads me back to the old standby identification with Herakles, Samson. The Philistine fish god was the famous nemesis of Samson, and this enmity is, in my view, also a very likely origin for the icon of Heracles confronting the Merman. Furthermore, many of the enemies of Heracles are characterized as the "son of Poseidon" another famous god of the sea and likely candidate for identification with Dagon.

The story of the death of Samson, seems to occur in the Greek myth of Heracles, in more than one place. Samson, of course, was led a captive to the temple of Dagon where he pushed apart the pillars, killing all who were present. Heracles has the story of Busiris, a son of Poseidon, who tries to offer him up in a temple Herakles summons up his strength and kills the thousands who were there as attendees. Herodotus tells us - which he himself did not believe possible; “The Greeks tell many tales without due investigation, and among them the following silly fable respecting Hercules:- Hercules, they say, went once to Egypt, and there the inhabitants took him, and putting a chaplet on his head, led him out in solemn procession, intending to offer him as a sacrifice to Zeus. For a while he submitted quietly; but when they led him up to the altar and began the ceremonies, he put forth his strength and slew them all. ... Besides this, how is it in nature possible that Heracles, being one person only and moreover a man (as they assert), should slay many myriads?" (“Histories” Book II, p. 45). In this story the land of "Egypt" is plausibly a corruption for the land of "Jacob" and Heracles is Samson.

The story of pushing upon the pillars was also known to the Greeks as a story of Hercules; "But since we have mentioned the pillars of Heracles, we deem it to be appropriate to set forth the facts concerning them. When Heracles arrived at the farthest points of the continents of Libya and Europe which lie upon the ocean, he decided to set up these pillars to commemorate his campaign. And since he wished to leave upon the ocean a monument which would be had in everlasting remembrance, he built out both the promontories, they say, to a great distance; consequently, whereas before that time a great space had stood between them, he now narrowed the passage, in order that by making it shallow and narrow he might prevent the great sea-monsters from passing out of the ocean into the inner sea, and that at the same time the fame of their builder might be held in everlasting remembrance by reason of the magnitude of the structures. Some authorities, however, say just the opposite, namely, that the two continents were originally joined and that he cult a passage between them, and that by opening the passage he brought it about that the ocean was mingled with our sea. On this question, however, it will be possible for every man to think as he may please." (Diodorus Siculus, "Library of History" 4. 18. 4,5). Notice how Diodorus gives Herakles the motivation of protecting us from sea-monsters (again Dagon?) in his manipulation of the pillars.

For all the images of Heracles vs. Nereus, there is very little story about it. But, of what story there is, I must admit that it is very reminiscent of the story of Gilgamesh; "Herakles took hold of him as he lay sleeping, and bound him fast as Nereus changed himself into all sorts of shapes; he did not let him loose until Nereus told him where the apples and the Hesperides were." (Apollodorus, The Library 2. 114). Take note that Herakles like Gilgamesh confronts Nereus as Ut-Napishtim in order to find a way to Hesperidies as Eden.

Now, I do realize that there is a large school of thought that identifies Gilgamesh with Nimrod. However, I am unaware of any legends in which Nimrod confronted Noah.
 

-John R. Salverda

Herakles (Nimrod) Threatens Nereus (Noah)

Taken from: http://www.theparthenoncode.com/features/37NoahsPartIII.htm

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HERAKLES/NIMROD THREATENS NEREUS/NOAH, BRINGS HIS RULE TO A HALT, AND PUSHES HIM OUT OF THE WAY
PLUS: WHAT THE REBEL HERAKLES—NIMROD—GILGAMESH IS AFTER, AND WHAT HE FEARS

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Now we’re going to take a look at how Greek vase-painters pitted Herakles/Nimrod against Nereus/Noah in various scenes to depict the takeover of Zeus-religion—the Greeks’ contrary, man-centered religious outlook.

In the above scene, Herakles/Nimrod threatens Nereus/Noah with his club. It’s as if Herakles is saying, “Stay out of the way, Noah, or you’ll get some of this.” Note the serpent attached to Herakles’ belt in the back. The desire to get back to the serpent’s enlightenment is literally “behind” what is going on here.

In the above vase-scene, Nereus/Noah is headed somewhere, but Herakles/Nimrod, who leads the rebellion against his rule, surprises him from behind, making him turn his head. Herakles is literally “strong-arming” Nereus/Noah. Herakles grabs the wrist that holds the scepter, because that is what this is about: taking Noah’s authority and putting a stop to his rule.

In this larger view of the same vase-scene, it looks as if Herakles/Nimrod is saying to Noah as he grabs him from behind, “Hey, where do you think you’re going? It’s over for you. I’m in charge now.”

The scene on this black-figure cup expresses the same theme in a different way. Herakles/Nimrod comes from behind Nereus/Noah and brings his momentum to a halt. Notice how Herakles/Nimrod is leaning back and using his feet for brakes. He’s putting a stop to Noah’s rule. Poseidon, a “brother” of Zeus, advances. He will take over—as Nereus/Noah is stopped and pushed out of the picture. Note that Poseidon now has the trident, once an attribute of Nereus/Noah.

Here we see Nereus/Noah depicted as an old man carrying a trident, a symbol usurped by Poseidon, a “brother” of Zeus and son-in-law of Nereus (Poseidon married his daughter, Amphitrite) who replaced Nereus/Noah as Zeus-religion grew.

This polychrome relief from a small altar again carries the message that Herakles/Nimrod is bringing the momentum of Nereus/Noah to a stop. Herakles comes from behind and grabs Noah by his hair, figuratively bringing Noah and his rule to a halt.

In this scene, Herakles ushers an unresisting Nereus/Noah out of the way. Note again the serpent coiled into Herakles’ belt.

In this similar scene by a different artist, Herakles again pushes an unresisting Nereus/Noah out of the way.

In this scene, Herakles pushes Nereus/Noah out of the way, knocking loose the fish he held in his hand as a symbol of his authority as the one who brought humanity through the Flood. Herakles doesn’t care what Noah has done. His only concern is what he himself is going to do now. What does Herakles want? What is he after?

This ancient shield-band panel tells us what Herakles/Nimrod is after. On it, Noah is called “Halios Geron” meaning “The Salt-Sea Old Man.” He has a snake and a flame emanating from his head, telling us what Herakles is demanding to know—where he can find the enlightenment of the serpent.
Herakles could be saying to Noah, "You tell me where to find the enlightenment of the serpent or else!"

According to Greek “myth,” Nereus/Noah told Herakles where he could find the enlightenment of the serpent that the hero so desperately craved. That place, the serpent-entwined tree with its golden apples, symbolizing the serpent’s enlightenment, is depicted on the above vase. This is the ancient paradise called Eden in Genesis and the Garden of the Hesperides in Greek art (See Chapter 18 of TPC). The women represent the peace and pleasure of paradise. From left to right: Hygeia (Health), Chrysothemis (Golden Order), Asterope (Star Face), and Lipara (Shining Skin).

As we look further to the right in the scene, we see that Herakles has made it there. Of course, Herakles didn’t really get back to the ancient garden; it is a figurative artistic statement: the Greeks will not live under Noah and his God any longer, but will re-embrace the “enlightenment” of the ancient serpent, and live by the fruit of its tree. Zeus-religion celebrates the great change in the post-Flood religious paradigm. Noah and his God are out. The serpent and its enlightenment are back in. Humanity has decided this: man is now the measure of all things.

The eleventh and final tablet (pictured above) of the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Mespotamian hero (pictured above), tells the story of a Deluge very similar to the Genesis account of Noah’s Flood. In great fear of death and in search of the meaning of his life, Gilgamesh seeks after the one human believed to be immortal, Utnapishtim, survivor of the world-engulfing Flood. Utnapishtim is the Noah of Genesis and the Nereus of Greek religion. The hero Gilgamesh is the Nimrod of Genesis and the Herakles of Greek religion.
In Genesis 6:9, we read, "Noah is a just man." The ancient Greek poet Hesiod wrote in his Theogony, "And Sea begat Nereus, the eldest of his children, who is true and lies not: and men call him the Old Man because he is trusty and gentle and does not forget the laws of righteousness, but thinks just and kindly thoughts." Utnapishtim (ut nephis tam) in Shemitic/Hebrew means "a living beacon of righteousness."

Greek artists knew of the Epic of Gilgamesh, and they naturally expressed the hero’s fear of death and his demand for knowledge from Noah in terms of his Greek counterpart, Herakles. On the above vase, the hero clings to Nereus/Noah as he looks with dread over his shoulder at the monstrous figure, Kerberos, representing death and Herakles’s fear of it. Nereus/Noah gestures as if he is responding to the plea of Herakles/Nimrod. It appears that the vase-artist is depicting these very words of Gilgamesh from the epic: “Oh woe! What shall I do Utnapishtim? Where shall I go? The snatcher has taken hold of my flesh, in my bedroom, death dwells, and wherever I set my foot, there too is death.”

By the time Greek religion became systematized, Herakles/Nimrod/Gilgamesh had figuratively gotten back to the serpent’s enlightenment in the ancient garden, and overcome his great fear of death. On this reconstructed metope from the temple of Zeus at Olympia, we see that Herakles/Nimrod (pictured with his father, Hermes/Cush) now has Kerberos under control. There is no need for Herakles to fear death any longer: he has conquered the world on behalf of his ancestors in the way of Kain, and they have made him an immortal god as a reward for what he has done for them.
The 12 Labors of Herakles on the Temple of Zeus at Olympia chronicle and celebrate mankind's rebellion after the Flood.
CLICK HERE TO SEE THEM ALL RESTORED IN COLOR BY COMPUTER

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PART I
37 IMAGES OF NEREUS/NOAH (OUT OF THEIR VASE AND SCULPTED CONTEXTS)
PART II
A SHORT PICTORIAL REVIEW OF WHAT GREEK RELIGIOUS ART CHRONICLES AND CELEBRATES
PART III
HERAKLES/NIMROD THREATENS NEREUS/NOAH, BRINGS HIS RULE TO A HALT, AND PUSHES HIM OUT OF THE WAY
PLUS: WHAT THE REBEL HERAKLES—NIMROD—GILGAMESH IS AFTER, AND WHAT HE FEARS
PART IV
IN A DIFFERENT ARTISTIC TRADITION, HERAKLES/NIMROD IS PICTURED AS SEIZING THE AUTHORITY OF NEREUS/NOAH
PART V
THE BEGINNINGS OF ZEUS-RELIGION: THE ZEUS-WORSHIPPER, PELEUS, ABDUCTS THETIS, A DAUGHTER OF NEREUS/NOAH
PART VI
GREEK ARTISTS MAKE NEREUS/NOAH AN UNWILLING WITNESS TO THE RISE AND TAKE-OVER OF ZEUS-RELIGION

37 Images of Noah in Ancient Greek Art (in VI Parts)



Taken from: http://www.theparthenoncode.com/features/37NoahsPartI.htm

(Links to Parts II Thru VI at Bottom of Page)

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PART I: A Quick Summary
37 IMAGES OF NOAH (OUT OF THEIR VASE-SCENE AND SCULPTED CONTEXTS)

The Greeks knew exactly who Noah was—they called him Nereus, the "Wet One." Greek artists chronicled the rise of their contrary, man-centered outlook from his lifetime. Nereus/Noah appeared on many black-figure vases, as above, where the artists painted in mostly dark colors on the clay background. These artists almost always painted Noah’s hair white to emphasize his age.

Nereus/Noah also appeared on many red-figure vases, where the artists painted the vase black, and then chipped away the paint to let the figures come through in the color of the clay, as above.
A few of the images in this section are repeated, but in all, there are 37 different images of Noah here.

Above, we see five more images of Nereus/Noah. These images and all the sculpted and painted ones shown here come from museums throughout the world. In all cases, the curators have identified this aged figure as Nereus.

Here we see three different vase-depictions of Nereus/Noah. On all three he looks very old, he is seated as if on a throne, and he holds a scepter, a symbol of rule. The simple artistic communication is this: Here is the old man who ruled by virtue of his age and stature.

Here we see five more vase-images of Nereus/Noah.

Here are five more vase-images of Nereus/Noah. At the top left, the face of Noah is partly obscured (intentionally, as we shall see) by an elbow of Herakles.

Artists often depicted Nereus/Noah on vases with the bottom half of a fish and/or holding a fish, signifying that this fish-man had brought humanity through the raging waters of the Flood.

Above, we see three more vase-images of Noah where the artists have given him the bottom half of a fish as a reminder of his having come through the great Flood. The average date for the vase-paintings in this total collection of thirty-seven is about 450 BC. The oldest one, on the bottom left above, dates to about 625 BC. The latest image, the sculpted image of Nereus/Noah, below, from the Altar of Zeus at Pergamum, dates to about 190 BC.

Above we see, left to right: the face of Nereus/Noah sculpted on the Altar of Zeus at Pergamum, a polychrome relief of his upper body from a small altar, and Herakles/Nimrod accosting him on an ancient shield-band panel.

While Genesis doesn’t name Noah’s wife, the Greeks called her Doris and sometimes depicted her observing key events with her husband, as above.

Above, Nereus/Noah and his daughter, Amphitrite, are pictured on a red-figure vase.

On this partially damaged vase-depiction, Nereus appears as a very old seated spiritual figure. Two of his daughters run to him. These were known as the Nereids, and according to the ancient poet Hesiod, Nereus had fifty of them. According to Genesis, Noah lived 350 years after the Flood, plenty of time to father fifty daughters by his wife, Doris.

Above, two of his daughters, with out-stretched arms, run toward the "Old Man of the Sea."

Here again, we see Nereus/Noah, seated and holding his scepter, pictured with two of his daughters.
Now it is time to move on to Part II, a short pictorial review of what Greek religious art chronicles and celebrates. Then, beginning with Part III, we will put these images of Nereus/Noah into their historical contexts.

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PART II
A SHORT PICTORIAL REVIEW OF WHAT GREEK RELIGIOUS ART CHRONICLES AND CELEBRATES
PART III
HERAKLES/NIMROD THREATENS NEREUS/NOAH, BRINGS HIS RULE TO A HALT, AND PUSHES HIM OUT OF THE WAY
PLUS: WHAT THE REBEL HERAKLES—NIMROD—GILGAMESH IS AFTER, AND WHAT HE FEARS
PART IV
IN A DIFFERENT ARTISTIC TRADITION, HERAKLES/NIMROD IS PICTURED AS SEIZING THE AUTHORITY OF NEREUS/NOAH
PART V
THE BEGINNINGS OF ZEUS-RELIGION: THE ZEUS-WORSHIPPER, PELEUS, ABDUCTS THETIS, A DAUGHTER OF NEREUS/NOAH
PART VI
GREEK ARTISTS MAKE NEREUS/NOAH AN UNWILLING WITNESS TO THE RISE AND TAKE-OVER OF ZEUS-RELIGION

Noah and Our Time: A Sobering Parallel

Like the people in Noah's time who laughed and mocked as he built the ark, the end of this age will come when the overwhelming majority are unprepared.

Jesus Christ used the example of Noah's day to reveal the attitudes that would predominate near the end: "But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be" (Matthew 24:37-39 [37] But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
[38] For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
[39] And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
See All...).
Here we see history and prophecy working together. The meaning is clear: The attitude of people in Noah's day would prevail again just before Christ's second coming. As in the former case, God would be deemed as far away, unconcerned about human activities on earth, with life appearing to go on as always (2 Peter 3:3-6 [3] Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
[4] And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
[5] For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
[6] Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
See All...). Like before, people would be unconcerned as to their true spiritual condition and blind to God's impending judgment.
The key to the example Christ gave is to understand that people can be so concerned about the cares of this life that they ignore their Creator (Matthew 6:33But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
See All...; Luke 21:34-35 [34] And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.
[35] For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.
See All...). It happened before, and it is happening again.
The apostle Paul similarly foretold the overall self-seeking mind-set that would dominate people's thinking in the last days: "But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come. For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God, having a form of godliness, but denying its power" (2 Timothy 3:1-5 [1] This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
[2] For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
[3] Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
[4] Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
[5] Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
See All...).
This perfectly describes the overall attitude and outlook of our age. Such thinking will prevent the vast majority of humanity from believing God and the biblical warning signs indicating Christ's imminent return. Like the people in Noah's time who laughed and mocked as he built the ark, the end of this age will come when the overwhelming majority are unprepared.

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Taken from: http://www.ucg.org/booklet/are-we-living-time-end/what-time-end/noah-and-our-time-sobering-parallel/

What does the story of Noah's Ark foreshadow in the New Testament?

 

 

 

Question:

I have seen Noah's Ark listed one of the "types" in Scripture--something that occurred, but that also foreshadowed something else that would come later.
What exactly, then, does the Ark of Noah foreshadow?

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Answer:

The flood is explicitly used typologically twice in the New Testament.
Jesus, speaking of the final judgment (Matthew 24:37-41), says it will be like "the days of Noah".

For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left.

1 Peter 3:20b-22 says that the flood prefigured the sacrament of baptism.

God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water. And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you—not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him.

Over the centuries Christians have found additional typology in this story:

• The ark has "rooms" for the animals (Genesis 6:14); Jesus says that his father's house has "many rooms" (John 14:2).
• The ark had one door (Genesis 6:16); Jesus claimed to be "the door" to salvation (John 10:9).
• God invited Noah to come into the ark (Genesis 7:1); Jesus said, "Come to me, all you that are weary" (Matthew 11:28).
• The ark was made of wood (Genesis 6:14) just as the cross was.
• Because God saved him, Noah "remained alive" (Genesis 7:23); Jesus gives us eternal life (John 10:28).

This is only a sample; you can find longer lists here and here. Some of the connections are more explicit in the King James Bible; newer translations use different phrases that don't always match up, but the similarity should still be apparent.

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Taken from: http://christianity.stackexchange.com/questions/15427/what-does-the-story-of-noahs-ark-foreshadow-in-the-new-testament



Neanderthals Interbred With Modern Humans



Scientists Lied and Real Neanderthals Died! Neanderthal DNA 99.97% Identical to that of Evolutionary Scientist’s!

Posted by Chris Parker

May 10 2010

A DNA study discussed in the article below proves that Neanderthals interbred with “modern” humans; thus Neanderthals belong in our species, Homo sapiens.
Metaphorically speaking, science has murdered the “Neanderthal”. They robbed him of his humanity. They portrayed him as little more than an animal; unable to speak, to sing, to create tools, to love their children or to care for their dead.
They were literally considered sub-human or non human. They were drawn as “hairy” (a sure sign of primitiveness), stooped, knuckle draggers. Science told us that those primitive “things” were wiped out by the smarter “humans” or often “modern humans”-a term that should soon be extinct.
I do not exaggerate about the impact of science’s assault on Neaderthal. In the recent history of the world, considering Black people sub-human aided the continuation of the instutution of slavery and considering people of Jewish descent an inferior species led directly to the Holocaust.
With the dehumanization of Neanderthal, the religion of evolution was boosted. Science needed primitive half-men to support their theory of man’s descent from apes. But, it was always a lie and though it has now been proven to be a lie, science is still attempting desperately to hold on to it.
Humans are one of the most genetically similar species living. The DNA of each person alive today is 99.99% genetically identical to that of the next person. A West African population of only 55 chimpanzees had twice the genetic diversity as the entire human race one geneticist pointed out.
Christians who had knowledge of this area of science have wondered what was going to become of the “Neanderthal as primitive cave-man” if ever DNA from Neaderthal was sequenced. If the account in Genesis is true, then we would expect that the DNA analysis would prove creationists correct and evolutionists wrong; that men were men and that there had been no evolution of mankind.
The initial conclusions from a study of Neanderthal DNA appeared to uphold the evolutionary view. The researchers erroneously concluded that there was No genetic connection between Neaderthal and “people”. That was a very popular conclusion, however, now that’s been flipped on its head. here is a quote from the article describing the new conclusions:
 

Svante Paabo, the geneticist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, who spearheaded the study, said he now sees his ancestors in a new light. His initial research on a different type of DNA that contains far less information had concluded – incorrectly, it turns out – that Neanderthals have no genetic connection to people alive today.

The real conclusion is that Neanderthal was 99.97% identical to “modern” humans. Since only 60% of the actual genome was recovered, one can attribute the tiny difference either to errors in the science or one might conclude that men were very slightly more genetically diverse prior to the flood. Recent science articles have stated that we share 4% of our genes with Neanderthal. Other scientists insist that Neanderthal couldn’t speak. Scientists argued up to this year whether pollen found in Neaderthal graves indicated that they buried their dead with flowers. (Not very apelike behavior).
Some might argue that science or scientists didn’t “lie”. At worst, perhaps, maybe they were wrong but this was not intentional. We would say; there couldn’t have been evidence that Neandethal was sub-human, since as we all now know–he wasn’t it. There couldn’t have been evidence that he looked as he was portrayed, so to portray him that was was not “truth” and was now known by all to be obviously untrue. Lie: “a false statement made with deliberate intent to deceive; an intentional untruth; a falsehood. 2.something intended or serving to convey a false impression..dictionary.com
The false impression they wanted to create? That Neanderthals were primitive biologically- a fact that if true would have disproved Genesis. That evolution is true.
A recent comment on Panda’s Thumb, an evolutionary website wondered how the initial “wrong” conclusions were going to be spun by the “creos”. No doubt it is his along with the Darwinist’s heads that are now spinning….s8int.com
Study suggests humans mated with Neanderthals

By KAREN KAPLAN
Los Angeles Times
Published: Thursday, May. 6, 2010

LOS ANGELES — The first modern humans to leave Africa 80,000 years ago encountered Neanderthal settlements in the Middle East and – on at least some occasions – chose to make love instead of war, according to an international team of scientists who have pieced together the genetic code of humanity’s closest relatives.
Traces of that ancient DNA live on in most human beings today, the researchers report in Friday’s edition of the journal Science.
The finding, which was made by analyzing DNA from Neanderthal bones and comparing it to that of five living humans, appears to resolve a longstanding mystery about the relationship between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens, who coexisted in Europe and western Asia for more than 10,000 years until Neanderthals disappeared about 30,000 years ago.
“We can now say with absolute certainty that we’ve got these Neanderthal genes,” said John Hawks, an evolutionary geneticist at the University of Wisconsin who was not involved in the study. “They’re not ‘them’ anymore – they’re ‘us.’”
Svante Paabo, the geneticist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, who spearheaded the study, said he now sees his ancestors in a new light. His initial research on a different type of DNA that contains far less information had concluded – incorrectly, it turns out – that Neanderthals have no genetic connection to people alive today.
Now, Paabo said, “I would more see them as a form of humans that were a bit more different than people are from each other today.”
Most important, scientists said, knowing the precise structure of the Neanderthal genome will help answer the fundamental biological question: What makes us human?
Neanderthal DNA is 99.7 percent identical to that of people, according to the analysis, which involved dozens of researchers. Something in the remaining 0.3 percent must make us unique.
“It’s not about understanding Neanderthals,” said genome biologist Ed Green, who led the study as a research fellow in Paabo’s lab and is now at the University of California at Santa Cruz. “It’s understanding us.”
By lining up the Neanderthal genome with DNA from humans and chimpanzees, Green and colleagues identified small changes that are unique to humans. Some were in genes involved in energy metabolism, skeletal structure and brain development, including four that are thought to contribute to conditions such as autism, Down syndrome and schizophrenia.
The researchers constructed the Neanderthal genome from three bone fragments found in Croatia’s Vindija Cave. Using a sterile dentistry drill, the scientists removed 400 milligrams of bone powder – an amount equivalent to the size of an aspirin.
Extracting DNA from ancient bones was a dicey proposition.
For starters, 95 percent to 99 percent of the DNA the team found came from microbes that colonized the bones after the Neanderthals died more than 38,000 years ago. To address that problem, the scientists discarded DNA fragments with letter combinations that were especially common in microbes.
In addition, the Neanderthal DNA was badly degraded, which caused sequencing machines to misread some of the chemical letters in the sequence. The researchers developed a computer program to correct those mistakes.
The researchers took special precautions to keep their own DNA out of the Neanderthal samples. Workers wore full-body suits, including masks and gloves. The air pressure inside the lab was kept high so that nothing could blow in accidentally, and the room was irradiated after the researchers went home, Green said.
After four years of work, the team identified 4 billion fragments of Neanderthal DNA and organized them into a draft genome. The sequence is 60 percent complete.
“It is a very poor quality for a human genome, but it is outstanding for a 30,000-year-old extinct hominid,” said Eddy Rubin, who has sequenced samples of Neanderthal DNA at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory but was not involved in the Science study.
To look for evidence of gene flow between humans and Neanderthals, the researchers sequenced the DNA of five people who now live in southern Africa, western Africa, France, China and Papua New Guinea. Since they didn’t think Neanderthals genes had passed to humans, they expected to find the same degree of difference between the Neanderthal genome and all five people.
Instead, they discovered that the Neanderthal DNA was slightly more similar to the three people living outside of Africa. Even more surprising, the relationship was just as strong for the individuals from China and Papua New Guinea as for the person from France, who lives in the Neanderthals’ old stomping grounds.
The simplest explanation is that a small group of humans met the Neanderthals 50,000 to 80,000 years ago after they left Africa but before they had spread throughout Europe, Asia and beyond. The logical meeting place was the Middle East, which connects northeast Africa to the Eurasian continent.
“The contact must have happened early for the Neanderthals genes to have spread so widely and uniformly,” Henry Harpending, an anthropologist at the University of Utah, who was not involved in the study.
The amount of mixing was small – only 1 percent to 4 percent of the DNA in non-African humans originated in Neanderthals, according to the study. The researchers said none of that DNA is functional; in fact, the particular 1 percent to 4 percent is different in every individual.
Interbreeding may well have continued in Europe, but that would be harder to detect because both populations there were large and any small Neanderthal contribution would be too dilute to see, Paabo said.

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Taken from: http://s8int.com/WordPress/2010/05/10/scientists-lied-and-real-neanderthals-died-neanderthal-9997-identical-to-evolutionary-scientists/

Noah and the Archangel Raphael



Raphael

RAPHAEL, răf’ ĭ əl (רָפָאֶל; ̔Ραφαήλ, divine healer). Raphael was “one of seven holy angels who present the prayers of the saints and enter into the presence of the glory of the Holy One” (Tobit 12:15). In the same passage from Tobit, Raphael is said to have told Tobit: “When you and your daughter-in-law Sarah prayed, I brought a reminder of your prayer before the Holy One; and when you buried the dead, I was likewise present with you” (12:12). He goes on to say: “So now God sent me to heal you and your daughter-in-law Sarah” (12:14).
The seven angels were Raphael, Gabriel, Uriel, Michael, Izidkiel, Hanael, and Kepharel. These were the seven archangels, the princes of the angelic host, the only angels permitted to enter within the radiance of God’s glory (cf. Luke 1:19, where Gabriel describes himself as one that stands in God’s presence). These angels heard the prayers of the saints, brought the requests to God, and then stood ready to execute God’s answer. Raphael served as a guardian angel for Tobit, protecting him from death for burying Jews who had been massacred in Nineveh, and acting as his traveling companion in his journey from Nineveh to Ecbatana. Raphael’s chief function, however, was as a healer of men’s diseases. He cured the blindness of Tobit and expelled the demon from Sarah, the woman who later married Tobit’s son Tobias.
In the Book of Enoch, Raphael and Michael are commissioned to punish the fallen angels, the angels who had married human wives in the time of Noah. Raphael was told to bind Azazal hand and foot and throw him into a pit (Enoch 10:4; cf. 2 Pet 2:4). Even in this mission, however, Raphael is acting as a healer, for the purpose of this action was that he might heal the earth that had been defiled by these evil angels. According to the Book of Noah, a treatise on medicine mentioned in the Jewish midrashim, men were afflicted with various diseases after the Flood, and God sent Raphael to disclose to Noah the use of curative plants and roots to heal them. Another Jewish tradition names Raphael as the third of the angels who appeared to Abraham (Gen 18:2-22). Raphael imparted to Sarah the strength to conceive even though she was past the age of childbearing. He is not mentioned in the canonical books of the Bible.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915)

ra’-a-el, ra’-fa-el (repha’el, from rapha’ ’el, "God has healed"; Rhaphael): The name of the angel who, as Azarias, guides Tobias to ECBATANA and RAGES (which see). The purpose of his mission is, in accordance with his name, to cure Tobit of blindness, and to deliver Sarah, the daughter of Raguel, from the power of the evil spirit Asmodaeus (Tobit 3:8; 12:14). Later, in addition, when he reveals himself (Tobit 12:15), he declares that he is "one of the seven holy angels, which present the prayers of the saints, and go in before the glory of the Holy One." These seven angels are derived, according to Dr. Kohut, from the seven Am-shaspands (Amesha-spentas) of Zoroastrianism (compare Re 4:5). At the head of the elaborate angelology of the Enoch books there are "four presences," and Raphael is one of them (En 40:9; 54:6). In the first of these passages Raphael is the healer; in the second, he with Michael, Gabriel and Phanuel lead the wicked away to punishment. These four presences seem related to the four "living creatures" of Ezekiel (1:5) and of the Apocalypse (Re 4:6). While this is the general representation of Raphael’s position in Enoch, in 20:3 he is named among the angels who "watch," whose number according to the Greek text is seven. Raphael shared in the function assigned to the archangels, in the Oracula Sibyllina, of leading souls to the judgment seat of God (II, 215, Alexandre’s text). He occupies a prominent place in Jewish medieval writings; he with Michael and Gabriel cured Abraham (Yoma’ 37a); according to the book Zohar, Raphael conveyed to Adam a book containing 72 kinds of wisdom in 670 writings. The painters of the Renaissance frequently depicted Raphael.

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Taken frokm: http://www.biblicaltraining.org/library/raphael