Sumer was first settled between 4500 and 4000 BC by a non-Semitic people who did not speak the Sumerian language. These people now are called proto-Euphrateans or Ubaidians, for the village Al-Ubaid, where their remains were first discovered. The Ubaidians were the first civilizing force in Sumer, draining the marshes for agriculture, developing trade, and establishing industries, including weaving, leatherwork, metalwork, masonry, and pottery. After the Ubaidian immigration to Mesopotamia, various Semitic peoples infiltrated their territory, adding their cultures to the Ubaidian culture, and creating a high pre-Sumerian civilization.
I don’t really understand how this is relevant for my point, especially since you cut off the quote right before the following sentence:
The people called Sumerians, whose language became the prevailing language of the territory, probably came from around Anatolia, arriving in Sumer about 3300BC.
In any case, the linked Onion article makes fun of creationists based on the premise that the Biblical literalist date of creation falls after the invention of the Sumerian cuneiform and the beginning of documented history. This is simply incorrect, as the standard creationist chronology leaves plenty of time between the creation and the earliest Sumerian writing. (Thus providing another data point for my observation that while creationists themselves are silly enough, most people who rail against them in the contemporary public discourse usually do it from a position of even greater ignorance.)
Thus providing another data point for my observation that while creationists themselves are silly enough, most people who rail against them in the contemporary public discourse usually do it from a position of even greater ignorance.
While I agree that some militant atheists overplay their hand, I think it’s still a bit of a stretch to call them even more ignorant than creationists.
Yes, it’s simply shocking that the Onion, a parody newspaper, simplified the facts to make a joke. The point is that archaeological data shows there was a civilization already flourishing in Sumer at the supposed time of young Earth creation, regardless of the existence of written language.
Well, there is plenty of archaeological evidence about many other civilizations that existed before that too. I even mentioned some of them in one of my above comments. My point is that it’s stupid to scoff at people from the position of supposed intellectual superiority while displaying elementary ignorance of the topics at hand. It’s not like I’m objecting about some obscure little details—anyone with even the most rudimentary knowledge of the ancient Near Eastern chronology and the actual claims of the creationists should be immediately aware that the premise of the joke doesn’t hold water.
John, when people thought the earth was flat, they were wrong. When people thought the earth was spherical, they were wrong. But if you think that thinking the earth is spherical is just as wrong as thinking the earth is flat, then your view is wronger than both of them put together.
From Encyclopedia Britannica:
I don’t really understand how this is relevant for my point, especially since you cut off the quote right before the following sentence:
In any case, the linked Onion article makes fun of creationists based on the premise that the Biblical literalist date of creation falls after the invention of the Sumerian cuneiform and the beginning of documented history. This is simply incorrect, as the standard creationist chronology leaves plenty of time between the creation and the earliest Sumerian writing. (Thus providing another data point for my observation that while creationists themselves are silly enough, most people who rail against them in the contemporary public discourse usually do it from a position of even greater ignorance.)
While I agree that some militant atheists overplay their hand, I think it’s still a bit of a stretch to call them even more ignorant than creationists.
Yes, it’s simply shocking that the Onion, a parody newspaper, simplified the facts to make a joke. The point is that archaeological data shows there was a civilization already flourishing in Sumer at the supposed time of young Earth creation, regardless of the existence of written language.
Well, there is plenty of archaeological evidence about many other civilizations that existed before that too. I even mentioned some of them in one of my above comments. My point is that it’s stupid to scoff at people from the position of supposed intellectual superiority while displaying elementary ignorance of the topics at hand. It’s not like I’m objecting about some obscure little details—anyone with even the most rudimentary knowledge of the ancient Near Eastern chronology and the actual claims of the creationists should be immediately aware that the premise of the joke doesn’t hold water.
— Isaac Asimov