The sky sank lower toward the north. The sun, moon, and stars changed their motions. The Earth fell to pieces and the waters in its bosom rushed upward with violence and overflowed the Earth. Man had rebelled against the high gods, and the system of the Universe was in disorder. The planets altered their courses, and the grand harmony of the Universe and nature was disturbed. — The Ch'in-ting-ku-chin-t'su-shu-shi-ch'eng, China The last element I wish to discuss is more a critique of the "local flood" arguments, using the literature as a guide. The very language of the myths themselves implies that the floods were not local but did in fact cover the earth. In the Torah, God informs Noah that He is about to "destroy all flesh under the sky in which there is breath of life," and that, when the waters come, they swell "fifteen cubits higher" than the "highest mountain." Assuming Everest was at its current height, the water in the Torah would have had a depth of 29,050 feet. In the Mahābhārata, Brahma (the Fish) informs Manu that the "dissolution of all moving and unmoving things of earth is near," and that, when the Deluge came, "all was sea." These myths are full of interesting contradictions, if we are to believe they refer only to local floods.
