antediluvian

[Rob Pratt]

On Wed, 12 Dec 2001, Marc LeBrun wrote:

> ...
> 
> (More interesting numbers: "Methuselah was an antediluvian patriarch 
> described in the Old Testament as having lived 969 years and whose name is 
> synonymous with great age.  He may well have evolved from a character of 
> earlier Sumerian legend who lived for 65,000 years.  To the Old Testament 
> scribes this was perhaps too tall a tale, so they may have cut him back to 
> a more conservative lifespan." --www.giantbottles.com)
> 
> Cheers!

Note that Methuselah, Noah's grandfather, died in the year of The Flood
but wasn't on the ark.

Rob Pratt
Department of Operations Research
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

rpratt at email.unc.edu

http://www.unc.edu/~rpratt/