# Flood myths, or lack thereof **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 14, 2002, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flood-myths-or-lack-thereof/132164 "2002-10-14T00:54:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sugaree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@sugaree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sugaree)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2002, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flood-myths-or-lack-thereof/132164/1 "2002-10-14T00:54:06Z")
I vaguely recall reading that there are cultures that do not have any native deluge myths. A quick google search shows that it is easy to find the ones that do, but difficult to totally rule out the floodless ones! Would any of you happen to know off the top of your head any societies that did not have a primeval flood story? ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2002, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flood-myths-or-lack-thereof/132164/2 "2002-10-14T01:20:21Z")
I had read the oposite - that every culture had such a myth. But I have no site either. ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2002, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flood-myths-or-lack-thereof/132164/3 "2002-10-14T01:29:35Z")
Inuit? Polynesians? I’d venture that any culture that has no flood myth has never experienced a flood. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2002, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flood-myths-or-lack-thereof/132164/4 "2002-10-14T01:48:20Z")
IIRC, there are no native flood myths in Polynesia, or at least no myth which posits a world-destroying deluge. They are accustomed to finding that one or another island might have been wiped clean by storm or tsunami, but they know that most other habitations are unaffected. ---
**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2002, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flood-myths-or-lack-thereof/132164/5 "2002-10-14T03:38:20Z")
Are you certain about Polynesia? While Hawai’i is not Polynesia, I think it’s generally accepted that Hawai’ians came from Polynesia, and there is a flood myth in Hawai’ian culture. This doesn’t mean, of course, that the flood myth didn’t arise until after the arrival of the first immigrants, but I would expect the most ancient myths of both to match. Tangentially and IIRC, one of the reasons there is such a strong LDS presence there is due to a commonality between biblical and Hawai’ian myths up to the flood, and this commonality leads some to believe Polynesians are one of the Lost Tribes (although the reason why the CoJCoLDS would take such interest in a possible Lost Tribe escapes me). I can’t find my copy now, but there is a [book](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/080481032X/qid=1034565364/sr=2-1/103-9702270-8246238?v=glance) written by King David Kalakaua which delineates a creation and flood story quite similar to that of Christianity. ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2002, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flood-myths-or-lack-thereof/132164/6 "2002-10-14T03:38:24Z")
I would be very interested in hearing the flood myths of the original inhabitants of Tibet, Nepal, the Alto Plano, Mongolia, or any of the various deep deserts of the world. Tris ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2002, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flood-myths-or-lack-thereof/132164/7 "2002-10-14T04:40:48Z")
Do the Egyptians have a worldwide flood myth? ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2002, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flood-myths-or-lack-thereof/132164/8 "2002-10-14T10:57:26Z")
Put “No flood myth” into Google, complete with quotes. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2002, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flood-myths-or-lack-thereof/132164/9 "2002-10-14T14:27:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by chique \* > \*\*Are you certain about Polynesia? While Hawai’i is not Polynesia, I think it’s generally accepted that Hawai’ians came from Polynesia, and there is a flood myth in Hawai’ian culture. This doesn’t mean, of course, that the flood myth didn’t arise until after the arrival of the first immigrants, but I would expect the most ancient myths of both to match. > \*\* Hawaii was one of the last island chains in the Pacific that was settled. While I am not familiar with Polynesian mythology, I can tell you that the ocean levels increased dramatically (50 metres or so) at a time when islands in Polynesia, Micronesia and Melanesia were populated. I can look up the deatailed information if anybody is interested, but Pacific islanders knew about raising sea levels, without a doubt.