That the flood actually occurred and that it was a global, not regional, event is attested to by the fact that flood stories are documented as history or legend in almost every region on earth. H. S. Bellamy in his book titled Moons, Myths and Men estimates that altogether there are over 500 Flood legends worldwide.
Some of the cultures with flood legends are Southwest Tanzania in Africa, China, Chaldea (modern Iraq), India, Australia, and Greece, the Toltec natives of Mexico, the Aztecs and the Incas in South America, and in North America, the Ojibwe natives who have lived in Minnesota, as well as the Delaware Indians.
One famous flood account known as The Epic of Gilgamesh was found in ancient Babylon. It was written on stone and produced by the Sumerians. While there are many similarities the differences are significant. The details are too many for this lesson but if you are interested you can read about the differences in “Is the Biblical Flood Account a Modified Copy of the Epic of Gilgamesh?” on the Internet at http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/gilgamesh.php. Summarizing his article, author and researcher Richard Deem, compares the Biblical account with The Epic of Gilgamesh: “The story is a rather silly myth that bears little resemblance to reality. In contrast, the Genesis account is a logical, seemingly factual account of a historical event. It lacks the obvious mythological aspects of the Gilgamesh epic.”
These flood tales are frequently linked by common elements that parallel the Biblical account including the warning of the coming flood, the construction of a boat in advance, the storage of animals, the inclusion of family, and the release of birds to determine if the water level had subsided. The overwhelming consistency among flood legends found in distant parts of the globe indicates they were derived from the same origin (the Bible’s record), but oral transcription has changed the details through time.
Ancient historians also documented the flood. Josephus, who was a contemporary of Jesus, stated that, in the country called Carroe, there were “in it the remains of the ark, wherein it is related that Noah escaped the deluge, and where they are still shown to such as are desirous to see them.”1 In Antiquities of the Jews, Josephus wrote: “the Armenians call this place, the Place of Descent; for the ark being saved in that place, its remains are showed there by the inhabitants to this day.”
Josephus says that “Hieronymus the Egyptian also, who wrote the Phoenician Antiquities, and Mnaseas, and a great many more, make mention of the same. Nay, Nicolaus of Damascus, in his ninety-sixth book, hath a particular relation about them; where he speaks thus: “There is a great mountain in Armenia, over Minyas, called Baris, upon which it is reported that many who fled at the time of the Deluge were saved; and that one who was carried in an ark came on shore upon the top of it; and that the remains of the timber were a great while preserved. This might be the man about whom Moses the legislator of the Jews wrote.”
Berossus the Chaldean published the Babyloniaca (History of Babylonia) some time around 290-278 BC. In it, he writes, “It is said, there is still some part of this ship in Armenia, at the mountain of the Cordyaeans; and that some people carry off pieces of the bitumen, which they take away, and use chiefly as amulets, for the averting of mischiefs.”
These are but a few of the ancient historians who chronicle the fact of the flood. In his online article THE HISTORICAL EVIDENCE FOR NOAH`S ARK , Professor Richard M. Riss quotes from more than a dozen ancient sources to argue for the historicity of the flood. Please access his article on line for details.