This is an astonishing adventure in history from the creation scientists at Ken Ham’s Answers in Genesis (AIG) — the creationist ministry of Ken Ham (ol’ Hambo), the Australian entrepreneur who has become the ayatollah of Appalachia.
Their title is Çatalhöyük — The First City After Babel?, and the author is David B. Smith, described as having a master of divinity degree from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and also a master of arts degree in Bible and cognate studies from Hebrew Union College — Jewish Institute of Religion where he studied archaeology and ancient Near Eastern history.
You never heard of Çatalhöyük? Neither did we. We’ll be comparing Smith’s version of history against this article in Wikipedia: Çatalhöyük, which tells us:
[Çatalhöyük] was a very large Neolithic and Chalcolithic proto-city settlement in southern Anatolia, which existed from approximately 7500 BC to 5700 BC, and flourished around 7000 BC. … The prehistoric mound settlements were abandoned before the Bronze Age. … Excavation revealed 18 successive layers of buildings signifying various stages of the settlement and eras of history. The bottom layer of buildings signifies as early as 7500 BC while the top layer is of 5,600 B.C.
The title of Smith’s article suggests that Çatalhöyük was the first city after Babel. When was that? In Answers in Genesis — The Ice Age, we described AIG’s information about how many human generations passed from the Flood to Abraham’s birth, and they said that “God’s judgment occurred at Babel sometime during the days of Peleg, who was the fourth generation after the Flood.”
As everyone knows, according to the Ussher chronology, the world was created in 4004 BC, and the Flood was in 2348 BC. So right at the threshold, we have severe chronological problems — Çatalhöyük existed not only before the Flood, but also before the world was created. Nevertheless, Smith says Çatalhöyük existed not only after the Flood, but after mankind was disbursed from Babel. We’re confused, but we shall persevere. Here are some excerpts from Smith’s article, with bold font added by us:
What if you could go back in time to visit one of the first settlements after Babel? Well, it’s possible! In Turkey, archaeologists are unearthing an ancient town that was abandoned and frozen in time. Its unique wonders speak of mankind’s ageless ingenuity.
So-called “Stone Age” people were more sophisticated than you might think. They farmed, herded animals, manufactured tools, created art, and performed many of the same everyday tasks you do. They divided their time between rural, urban, and international activities as we do (well, except for the airplanes).
International activities? That’s nice. Let’s read on:
Usually, ancient cities have multiple levels from different time periods, with each new layer demolishing the lower levels. This mound in Turkey was “Stone Age” from top to bottom. … It was a scene from the early years after Babel, frozen in time.
Yeah, okay. Smith continues:
Since we know that the Hittites ultimately ruled this part of the world, perhaps these were some of the first descendants of Canaan, the Hethites, who left Babel (Genesis 10:15). It appears that once their numbers had grown to sufficient size, they settled in this spot known today as Çatalhöyük (Turkish for “forked mound”).
Speaking of populations after Babel, we rigorously calculated the numbers in Answers in Genesis — The Ice Age. At the time of the disbursal from Babel there were only 81 human families in existence, and they scattered all over the world. But somehow there were enough to build Çatalhöyük. Here’s more from Smith’s article:
Images of cattle appear on the plaster walls throughout the Çatalhöyük homes. Wall paintings indicate that these were most likely wild and hunted as part of a religious ritual.
Religious ritual? This should be interesting, because according to what we previously learned from AIG, if this city was built and settled shortly after Babel, it was only four generations — maybe a century or so — after Noah and the Flood. The religious practices in Çatalhöyük should reflect the ghastly experience of the Flood. But according to that Wikipedia article on Çatalhöyük:
A striking feature of Çatalhöyük are its female figurines. Mellaart, the original excavator, argued that these well-formed, carefully made figurines, carved and molded from marble, blue and brown limestone, schist, calcite, basalt, alabaster, and clay, represented a female deity. Although a male deity existed as well, “statues of a female deity far outnumber those of the male deity, who moreover, does not appear to be represented at all after Level VI.”
Egad — they not only had a male deity, but also a female deity! How could that have happened so soon after the Flood? Didn’t those people learn anything from the global disaster? For some reason, Smith doesn’t mention any of that.
We’re going to skip the rest of Smith’s article. You can read it for yourself if you want to. Oh wait — we can’t omit this:
What attracted them here? The Konya plain is the largest plain in Turkey. During the Ice Age in the years following the dispersion from Babel, it was covered by a massive inland lake.
Ice Age? What Ice Age? There’s nothing like that in the bible. As is typical of creationists, AIG merrily ignores or invents facts whenever they need to. Hey, Smith: Were you there?
Ah well, here’s how the essay ends:
We may never be sure exactly what happened, but who knows what new clues await? … It is an exciting time to be alive, as the history of the people who scattered from Babel is still being pieced together, including the amazing people of Çatalhöyük.
So there you are, dear reader. Now you know how things were after the Tower of Babel. AIG is a great source of information!
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