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Noah ( / ˈ n oʊ . ə / ; Hebrew : נחַ , romanized :  Nōaḥ , lit.   'rest' or 'consolation') appears as the last of the Antediluvian patriarchs in the traditions of Abrahamic religions . His story appears in the Hebrew Bible ( Book of Genesis , chapters 5–9), the Quran and Baha'i writings , and extracanonically.

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96-646: Noah is a Biblical patriarch who built an ark to save each kind of animal from the Great Flood Noah may also refer to: Noah The Genesis flood narrative is among the best-known stories of the Bible . In this account, God "regrets" making mankind because they filled the world with evil. Noah then labors faithfully to build the Ark at God 's command, ultimately saving not only his own family, but mankind itself and all land animals, from extinction during

192-469: A tzadik like Abraham , he would not be considered so righteous. They point out that Noah did not pray to God on behalf of those about to be destroyed, as Abraham prayed for the wicked of Sodom and Gomorrah . In fact, Noah is never seen to speak; he simply listens to God and acts on his orders. This led some commentators to offer the figure of Noah as "the righteous man in a fur coat," who ensured his own comfort while ignoring his neighbour. Others, such as

288-598: A Mesopotamian account." What is particularly noticeable is the way the Genesis flood story follows the Gilgamesh flood tale "point by point and in the same order", even when the story permits other alternatives. The earliest written flood myth is found in the Mesopotamian Epic of Atrahasis and Epic of Gilgamesh texts. The Encyclopædia Britannica says "These mythologies are the source of such features of

384-713: A continuous history since the founding of the city in AD 330 by Constantine the Great . After Constantine the Great had enlarged Byzantium to make it into a second capital city in 330, it was thought appropriate that its bishop, once a suffragan of the Exarch of Thrace and Macedonia, the Metropolitan of Heraclea , should be elevated to an archbishopric. For many decades the heads of the church of Rome opposed this ambition, due to their existing papal claims, and because they defended

480-665: A curse at Canaan for Ham's misdeed, or how Noah realised what had occurred. In the field of psychological biblical criticism , J. H. Ellens and W. G. Rollins have analysed the unconventional behavior that occurs between Noah and Ham as revolving around sexuality and the exposure of genitalia as compared with other Hebrew Bible texts, such as Habakkuk 2:15 and Lamentations 4:21. Other commentaries mention that "uncovering someone's nakedness" could mean having sexual intercourse with that person or that person's spouse, as quoted in Leviticus 18:7–8 and 20. From this interpretation comes

576-453: A hero builds an ark to survive a divinely sent flood. Scholars suggest that the biblical account was influenced by earlier Mesopotamian traditions, with notable parallels in plot elements and structure. Comparisons are also drawn between Noah and the Greek hero Deucalion , who, like Noah, is warned of a flood, builds an ark, and sends a bird to check on the flood's aftermath. Tenth and final of

672-544: A mere human messenger and not an angel ( 10:72-74 ). Moreover, the people mock Noah's words and call him a liar ( 7:62 ), and they even suggest that Noah is possessed by a devil when the prophet ceases to preach ( 54:9 ). Only the lowest of classes in the community join Noah in believing in God's message ( 11:29 ), and Noah's narrative further describes him preaching both in private and public. The Quran narrates that Noah received

768-584: A new era of prosperity, when there was an easing (in Hebrew, naħah נחה) of the curse from Adam's time, when the Earth produced thorns and thistles even where men sowed wheat. It is said that Noah introduced the plow, symbolizing this relief. According to the Jewish Encyclopedia , "The Book of Genesis contains two accounts of Noah." In the first, Noah is the hero of the flood, and in the second, he

864-685: A permanent bureau at the EU headquarters, in addition to enhancing the long-established Patriarchal Centre in Pregny-Chambésy , Switzerland, and also his ecological pursuits which have won him the epithet of "the Green Patriarch". When the Ottoman Turks conquered Constantinople in 1453, the patriarchate ceased to function. The Patriarchate was restored by the conquering ruler, Sultan Mehmed II , who wished to establish his dynasty as

960-536: A pigeon to find out about the situation of the world and the bird returns with an olive branch. Deucalion, in some versions of the myth, also becomes the inventor of wine, like Noah. Philo and Justin equate Deucalion with Noah, and Josephus used the story of Deucalion as evidence that the flood actually occurred and that, therefore, Noah existed. Archbishop of Constantinople The ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople ( Greek : Οἰκουμενικός Πατριάρχης , romanized :  Oikoumenikós Patriárchēs )

1056-623: A pre-flood tradition. Chen provides evidence that the sections of the Sumerian King List that mention references to the flood were all later additions added during the Old Babylonian Period through later updates and edits. The Flood as a watershed in early history of the world was probably a new historiographical concept emerging in the Mesopotamian literary traditions during the Old Babylonian Period, as evident by

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1152-556: A revelation to build an Ark , after his people refused to believe in his message and hear the warning. The narrative goes on to describe that waters poured forth from both the earth and the Heavens, destroying all the sinners. Even one of his sons disbelieved him, stayed behind, and was drowned. After the Flood ended, the Ark rested atop Mount Judi (Quran 11:44 ). Also, Islamic beliefs deny

1248-455: Is first among equals , or first in honor among all Eastern Orthodox bishops, who presides in person—or through a delegate—over any council of Orthodox primates or bishops in which he takes part and serves as primary spokesman for the Orthodox communion especially in ecumenical contacts with other Christian denominations. He has no direct jurisdiction over the other patriarchs or

1344-509: Is a self-governed polity within the Greek state subject to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in its political aspect and to the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople as regards to its religious aspect and is home to 20 monasteries and numerous other monastic communities. The ecumenical patriarch has a unique role among Eastern Orthodox bishops, though it is not without its controversy. He is primus inter pares ("first among equals"), as he

1440-576: Is also spoken of in the commentaries and in Islamic legends. Noah's narratives largely cover his preaching as well the story of the Deluge . Noah's narrative sets the prototype for many of the subsequent prophetic stories, which begin with the prophet warning his people and then the community rejecting the message and facing a punishment. Noah has several titles in Islam, based primarily on praise for him in

1536-494: Is believed to have been approximately 2700 BC, shortly before the earliest known written stories. The discovery of artifacts associated with Aga and Enmebaragesi of Kish , two other kings named in the stories, has lent credibility to the historical existence of Gilgamesh. The earliest Sumerian Gilgamesh poems date from as early as the Third dynasty of Ur (2100–2000 BC). One of these poems mentions Gilgamesh’s journey to meet

1632-464: Is considered an important prophet of God among Druze, being among the seven prophets who appeared in different periods of history. Noah is a highly important figure in Islam and he is seen as one of the most significant of all prophets . The Quran contains 43 references to Noah, or Nuḥ , in 28 chapters, and the seventy-first chapter, Sūrah Nūḥ ( Arabic : سورة نوح ), is named after him. His life

1728-542: Is less involved". In addition to the main story in Genesis, the Hebrew Bible (Christian Old Testament ) also refers to Noah in the First Book of Chronicles , Isaiah and Ezekiel . References in the deuterocanonical books include the books of Tobit , Wisdom , Sirach , 2 Esdras and 4 Maccabees . New Testament references include the gospels of Matthew and Luke , and some of the epistles ( Epistle to

1824-459: Is named as Nuraita ( Classical Mandaic : ࡍࡅࡓࡀࡉࡕࡀ ), while his son is named as Shum (i.e., Shem ; [ࡔࡅࡌ] Error: {{Langx}}: invalid parameter: |transl= ( help ) ). 2 Peter 2:5 refers to Noah as a "preacher of righteousness". In the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke, Jesus compares Noah's flood with the coming Day of Judgement : "Just as it was in the days of Noah, so too it will be in

1920-402: Is no ark in this account. According to Elaine Pagels , "Rather, they hid in a particular place, not only Noah, but also many other people from the unshakable race. They entered that place and hid in a bright cloud." The Druze regard Noah as the second spokesman ( natiq ) after Adam , who helped transmit the foundational teachings of monotheism ( tawhid ) intended for the larger audience. He

2016-424: Is not an official title of the patriarch nor is it usually used in scholarly sources on the patriarchate. The Orthodox Church is entirely decentralized: it has no central authority, earthly head, or single bishop in a leadership role. Because it has a synodical system canonically , it is significantly distinguished from the hierarchically organized Catholic Church , whose doctrine is papal supremacy and whose head

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2112-477: Is one of promoting and sustaining Church unity. This unique role often sees the ecumenical patriarch referred to as the "spiritual leader" of the Orthodox Church in some sources, though this is not an official title of the patriarch nor is it usually used in scholarly sources on the patriarchate. Such a title is acceptable if it refers to this unique role, but it sometimes leads to the mistaken belief that

2208-496: Is senior among all Orthodox bishops. This primacy, expressed in canonical literature as presbeia ("prerogatives", literally: "seniorities"), grants to the ecumenical patriarch the right to preside at pan-Orthodox synods . Additionally, the canonical literature of the Orthodox Church grants to the ecumenical patriarch the right to hear appeals in cases of dispute between bishops. However, whether these canonical rights are limited only to his own patriarchate or are universal throughout

2304-687: Is strange that the table, which assumes that the population is distributed about the Earth, precedes the account of the Tower of Babel , which says that all the population is in one place before it is dispersed. Genesis 5:1–32 transmits a genealogy of the Sethites down to Noah, which is taken from the priestly tradition. A genealogy of the Canites from the Jawhistic tradition is found in Genesis 4:17–26. Biblical scholars see these as variants on one and

2400-632: Is the archbishop of Constantinople and primus inter pares (first among equals) among the heads of the several autocephalous churches that comprise the Eastern Orthodox Church . The ecumenical patriarch is regarded as the representative and spiritual leader of the Eastern Orthodox Christians worldwide. The term ecumenical in the title is a historical reference to the Ecumene , a Greek designation for

2496-715: Is the pope . His titles primus inter pares . 'first among equals', and "ecumenical patriarch" are of honor rather than authority, and in fact the ecumenical patriarch has no real authority over churches other than the Constantinopolitan. The ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople is the direct administrative superior of dioceses and archdioceses serving millions of Greek, Ukrainian, Rusyn and Albanian believers in North and South America, Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand, South Korea, as well as parts of modern Greece which, for historical reasons, do not fall under

2592-428: Is the father of mankind and a husbandman who planted the first vineyard. "The disparity of character between these two narratives has caused some critics to insist that the subject of the latter account was not the same as the subject of the former." The Encyclopedia Judaica notes that Noah's drunkenness is not presented as reprehensible behavior. Rather, "It is clear that ... Noah’s venture into viticulture provides

2688-530: The Ahmadiyya understanding of the Quran, the period described in the Quran is the age of his dispensation , which extended until the time of Ibrahim (Abraham, 950 years). The first 50 years were the years of spiritual progress, which were followed by 900 years of spiritual deterioration of the people of Noah. Indian and Greek flood-myths also exist, although there is little evidence that they were derived from

2784-543: The Anglican rite of baptism, which asks God, "who of thy great mercy didst save Noah," to receive into the Church the infant about to be baptised. In medieval Christianity , Noah's three sons were generally considered as the founders of the populations of the three known continents , Japheth /Europe, Shem /Asia, and Ham /Africa, although a rarer variation held that they represented the three classes of medieval society –

2880-494: The Classical era , commentators on Genesis 9:20–21 have excused Noah's excessive drinking because he was considered to be the first wine drinker; the first person to discover the effects of wine. John Chrysostom , Archbishop of Constantinople , and a Church Father , wrote in the 4th century that Noah's behavior is defensible: as the first human to taste wine, he would not know its effects: "Through ignorance and inexperience of

2976-633: The Flood . Afterwards, God makes a covenant with Noah and promises never again to destroy the earth with a flood. Noah is also portrayed as a "tiller of the soil" who is the first to cultivate the vine. After the flood, God commands Noah and his sons to "be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth". The story of Noah in the Pentateuch is similar to the flood narrative in the Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh , composed around 1800 BC, where

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3072-985: The Jebusites , the Amorites , the Girgashites, the Hivites , the Arkites, the Sinites, the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites ;– spread out from Sidon as far as Gerar , near Gaza , and as far as Sodom and Gomorrah (10:15–19). Among Shem's descendants was Eber (10:21). These genealogies differ structurally from those set out in Genesis 5 and 11. It has a segmented or treelike structure, going from one father to many offspring. It

3168-742: The Middle Ages , they played a major role in the affairs of the Eastern Orthodox Church, as well as in the politics of the Orthodox world, and in spreading Christianity among the Slavs . Currently, in addition to the expansion of the Christian faith and the Eastern Orthodox doctrine , the patriarchs are involved in ecumenism and interfaith dialogue , charitable work, and the defense of Orthodox Christian traditions. Within

3264-542: The Millet of Rum , which included all Orthodox Christians under Ottoman rule, regardless of their ethnicity in the modern sense. This role was carried out by ethnic Greeks at their great peril, in the midst of enormous difficulties and traps and inevitably with mixed success. Several patriarchs were summarily executed by the Ottoman authorities, most notably Gregory V , who was lynched on Easter Monday 1821 in revenge for

3360-953: The Watchers ". In 10:1–3 of the Book of Enoch (which is part of the Orthodox Tewahedo biblical canon ) and canonical for Beta Israel , Uriel was dispatched by "the Most High" to inform Noah of the approaching "deluge". There are 20 or so fragments of the Dead Sea scrolls that appear to refer to Noah. Lawrence Schiffman writes, "Among the Dead Sea Scrolls at least three different versions of this legend are preserved." In particular, "The Genesis Apocryphon devotes considerable space to Noah." However, "The material seems to have little in common with Genesis 5 which reports

3456-406: The rainbow was set in the clouds (ib. viii. 15–22, ix. 8–17). Two injunctions were laid upon Noah: While the eating of animal food was permitted, abstinence from blood was strictly enjoined; and the shedding of the blood of man by man was made a crime punishable by death at the hands of man (ib. ix. 3–6). Noah, as the last of the extremely long-lived Antediluvian patriarchs, died 350 years after

3552-537: The 'Petrine principle' by which all Patriarchates were derived from Saint Peter and were unwilling to violate the old order of the hierarchy for political reasons. In 381, the First Council of Constantinople declared that "The Bishop of Constantinople shall have the primacy of honour after the Bishop of Rome, because it is New Rome" (canon iii). The prestige of the office continued to grow not only because of

3648-549: The 10th century BC. Two of these, the Jahwist , composed in the 10th century BC, and the Priestly source , from the late 7th century BC, make up the chapters of Genesis which concern Noah. The attempt by the 5th-century editor to accommodate two independent and sometimes conflicting sources accounts for the confusion over such matters as how many of each animal Noah took, and how long the flood lasted. The Oxford Encyclopedia of

3744-409: The Ark and the Flood as symbolic. In Baháʼí belief, only Noah's followers were spiritually alive, preserved in the ark of his teachings, as others were spiritually dead. The Baháʼí scripture Kitáb-i-Íqán endorses the Islamic belief that Noah had a large number of companions, either 40 or 72, besides his family on the Ark, and that he taught for 950 (symbolic) years before the flood. According to

3840-569: The Ark came to be compared to the Church : salvation was to be found only within Christ and his Lordship, as in Noah's time it had been found only within the Ark. St Augustine of Hippo (354–430), demonstrated in The City of God that the dimensions of the Ark corresponded to the dimensions of the human body, which corresponds to the body of Christ ; the equation of Ark and Church is still found in

3936-612: The Bible, the lifespans "fall far short of the briefest reign mentioned in the related Mesopotamian texts." Also, the name of the hero differs between the traditions: "The earliest Mesopotamian flood account, written in the Sumerian language , calls the deluge hero Ziusudra ." However, Yi Samuel Chen writes that the oldest versions of the Epic of Gilgamesh never mentioned the flood, just mentioning that he went to talk to Utnapishtim to find

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4032-509: The Books of the Bible notes that this story echoes parts of the Garden of Eden story: Noah is the first vintner, while Adam is the first farmer; both have problems with their produce; both stories involve nakedness; and both involve a division between brothers leading to a curse. However, after the flood, the stories differ. It is Noah, not God, who plants the vineyard and utters the curse, so "God

4128-489: The Earth because of humanity's misdeeds and then remake it using the microcosm of Noah's ark . Thus, the flood was no ordinary overflow but a reversal of Creation . The narrative discusses the evil of mankind that moved God to destroy the world by way of the flood, the preparation of the ark for certain animals, Noah, and his family, and God's guarantee (the Noahic Covenant ) for the continued existence of life under

4224-596: The Hebrews , 1 Peter and 2 Peter ). Noah became the subject of much elaboration in the literature of later Abrahamic religions, including Islam ( Surahs 71 , 7 , 11 , 54 , and 21 of the Quran) and the Baháʼí Faith ( Kitáb-i-Íqán and Gems of Divine Mysteries ). The Book of Jubilees refers to Noah and says that he was taught the arts of healing by an angel so that his children could overcome "the offspring of

4320-474: The Mesopotamian flood-myth that underlies the biblical account. The Noah story of the Pentateuch is quite similar to a flood story contained in the Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh , composed c.  1800 BCE . In the Gilgamesh version, the Mesopotamian gods decide to send a great flood to destroy mankind. Various correlations between the stories of Noah and Gilgamesh (the flood, the construction of

4416-613: The Orthodox Church is the subject of debate, especially between the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Russian Orthodox Church . Historically, the ecumenical patriarch has heard such appeals and sometimes was invited to intervene in other churches' disputes and difficulties. Even as early as the fourth century, Constantinople was instrumental in the deposition of multiple bishops outside its traditional jurisdiction. This still occurs today, as when in 2006

4512-744: The Orthodox Church of Constantinople, he is known as the "archbishop of Constantinople, New Rome ". The Ecumenical Patriarchate is also sometimes called the Greek Patriarchate of Constantinople to distinguish it from the Armenian Patriarchate and the extinct Latin Patriarchate , which was created after the Latin capture of Constantinople in 1204, during the Fourth Crusade . The see of Byzantium, whose foundation

4608-463: The Patriarch Abraham had his roots. The Hurrians inherited the Flood story from Babylonia". The encyclopedia mentions another similarity between the stories: Noah is the tenth patriarch and Berossus notes that "the hero of the great flood was Babylonia's tenth antediluvian king." However, there is a discrepancy in the ages of the heroes. For the Mesopotamian antecedents, "the reigns of the antediluvian kings range from 18,600 to nearly 65,000 years." In

4704-594: The Patriarchate, are also cited by human rights groups. However, in 2004 Patriarch Bartholomew, with the help of the Turkish government, succeeded, after eighty years, in altering the composition of the twelve-member Standing Synod of Metropolitan Bishops in Constantinople so that it can include six bishops from outside Turkey. He has also been convening biennially in Constantinople convocations of all bishops in his jurisdiction. The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople has suffered attacks from 1993 to 2004, including desecration of patriarchal cemeteries as well as assaults on

4800-416: The Phanar" or "Roman Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople" ( Turkish : Fener Rum Ortodoks Patriği ; Phanar is the neighbourhood in Istanbul where the patriarchate is located). According to Turkish law, still in force today, he is subject to the authority of the Republic of Turkey; however, Turkey allows the Standing Synod of Metropolitan Bishops to elect the patriarch. To be electable, Turkish law requires

4896-417: The Quran, including "Trustworthy Messenger of God" ( 26:107 ) and "Grateful Servant of God" ( 17:3 ). The Quran focuses on several instances from Noah's life more than others, and one of the most significant events is the Flood. God makes a covenant with Noah just as he did with Abraham, Moses , Jesus and Muhammad later on ( 33:7 ). Noah is later reviled by his people and reproached by them for being

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4992-470: The United Kingdom in a dispute with his superior in Moscow, though the result of that appeal – and the right to make it – were both rejected by the latter. The ecumenical patriarch has no direct jurisdiction outside the Patriarchate of Constantinople granted to him in Orthodox canonical literature, but his primary function regarding the whole Orthodox Church is one of dealing with relations between autocephalous and autonomous churches. That is, his primary role

5088-400: The absence of his legates . In the sixth century, the official title became that of "archbishop of Constantinople, New Rome, and ecumenical patriarch". The current patriarch (since 1991) is Bartholomew I who has become better-known than any of his predecessors in modern times as a result of his numerous pastoral and other visits to numerous countries in five continents and his setting up of

5184-416: The archdioceses in North America, Asia, Africa and Oceania where growing Greek and other migrant communities have gradually constituted a significant orthodox diaspora. After the proclamation of the Republic of Turkey on 29 October 1923, the Turkish state only recognises the patriarch as the spiritual leader of the Greek minority in Turkey , and officially refers to him as the "Greek Orthodox Patriarch of

5280-405: The ark, the salvation of animals, and the release of birds following the flood) have led to this story being seen as the source for the story of Noah. The few variations include the number of days of the deluge, the order of the birds, and the name of the mountain on which the ark rests. The flood story in Genesis 6–8 matches the Gilgamesh flood myth so closely that "few doubt that [it] derives from

5376-403: The biblical Flood story as the building and provisioning of the ark, its flotation, and the subsidence of the waters, as well as the part played by the human protagonist." The Encyclopedia Judaica adds that there is a strong suggestion that "an intermediate agent was active. The people most likely to have fulfilled this role are the Hurrians , whose territory included the city of Harran , where

5472-409: The birth of Noah." Also, Noah's father is reported as worrying that his son was actually fathered by one of the Watchers . The righteousness of Noah is the subject of much discussion among rabbis. The description of Noah as "righteous in his generation" implied to some that his perfection was only relative: In his generation of wicked people, he could be considered righteous, but in the generation of

5568-442: The candidates to be Turkish citizens. Since the establishment of modern Turkey, the position of the ecumenical patriarch has been filled by Turkish-born citizens of Greek ethnicity. As nearly all Greek Orthodox have left Turkey (see Population exchange between Greece and Turkey and Istanbul Pogrom ), this considerably narrows the field of candidates for succession. Human rights groups have long protested against conditions placed by

5664-410: The civilised world, i.e. the Roman Empire , and it stems from Canon 28 of the Council of Chalcedon . The patriarch's see , the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople is one of the most enduring institutions in the world and has had a prominent part in world history. The ecumenical patriarchs in ancient times helped in the spread of Christianity and the resolution of various doctrinal disputes. In

5760-462: The days of the coming of the Son of Man . For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man." The First Epistle of Peter compares the power of baptism with the Ark saving those who were in it. In later Christian thought,

5856-441: The descendants of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, from whom the nations branched out over the Earth after the flood. Among Japheth's descendants were the maritime nations (10:2–5). Ham's son Cush had a son named Nimrod , who became the first man of might on earth, a mighty hunter, king in Babylon and the land of Shinar (10:6–10). From there Ashur went and built Nineveh . (10:11–12) Canaan's descendants – Sidon, Heth ,

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5952-435: The direct heirs of the Eastern Roman emperors, and who adopted the imperial title Kayser-i-Rûm "caesar of the Romans", one of his subsidiary titles but a significant one. In 1454 he bestowed the office upon an illustrious Byzantine scholar-monk who was well known for his opposition to union with the Latin West, Gennadius Scholarius , who became Patriarch Gennadius II. The patriarch was designated millet-başı ( ethnarch ) of

6048-440: The fact that the flood motif didn't show up in the Ur III copy and that the earliest chronographical sources related to the flood show up in the Old Babylonian Period. Chen concludes that the name of Ziusudra as a flood hero, as well as any hinted references of a flood, in the Old Babylonian Version of the Instructions of Shuruppak were later developments during the Old Babylonian Period, originating from updated information added to

6144-504: The five apostolic sees of the Pentarchy , the ecumenical patriarch is regarded as the successor of Andrew the Apostle . The current holder of the office is Bartholomew I , the 270th bishop of that see. Autocephaly recognized by some autocephalous Churches de jure : Autocephaly and canonicity recognized by Constantinople and 3 other autocephalous Churches: Spiritual independence recognized by Georgian Orthodox Church: Semi-Autonomous: The ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople

6240-423: The flood hero, as well as a short version of the flood story, although Chen writes that his was included in texts written during the Old Babylonian Period. The earliest Akkadian versions of the unified epic are dated to c. 2000–1700 BC. Due to the fragmentary nature of these Old Babylonian versions, it is unclear whether they included an expanded account of the flood myth; although one fragment definitely includes

6336-531: The flood, at the age of 950, when Terah was 128. The maximum human lifespan, as depicted by the Bible, gradually diminishes thereafter, from almost 1,000 years to the 120 years of Moses . After the flood, the Bible says that Noah became a farmer and he planted a vineyard . He drank wine made from this vineyard, and got drunk ; and lay "uncovered" within his tent. Noah's son Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father naked and told his brothers, which led to Ham's son Canaan being cursed by Noah. As early as

6432-420: The function of the patriarchate, since clergy coming from abroad are not eligible to apply for residence and work permits. In its early days the Turkish state promoted a rival Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate , whose congregation, however, has remained limited. Expropriation of Church property and the conditions of state control imposed on the Orthodox Theological School of Halki that have led to its closure by

6528-414: The idea of Noah being the first person to drink wine and experience the aftereffects of doing so. Quran 29:14 states that Noah had been living among the people who he was sent to for 950 years when the flood started. Indeed, We sent Noah to his people, and he remained among them for a thousand years, less fifty. Then the Flood overtook them, while they persisted in wrongdoing. The Baháʼí Faith regards

6624-400: The jurisdiction of the Church of Greece . His actual position is patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Constantinople , one of the fourteen autocephalous and several autonomous churches and the most senior (though not oldest) of the four orthodox ancient primatial sees among the five patriarchal Christian centers comprising the ancient Pentarchy of the undivided Church. In his role as head of

6720-456: The medieval commentator Rashi , held on the contrary that the building of the Ark was stretched over 120 years, deliberately in order to give sinners time to repent. Rashi interprets his father's statement of the naming of Noah (in Hebrew – Noaħ נֹחַ). "This one will comfort us (in Hebrew– yeNaĦamenu יְנַחֲמֵנו) in our work and in the toil of our hands, which come from the ground that the Lord had cursed" Some interpret this as meaning Noah heralded

6816-422: The obvious patronage of the Byzantine Emperor but because of its overwhelming geographical importance. The Council of Chalcedon in 451 established Constantinople as a patriarchate with ecclesiastical jurisdiction over Asia Minor (the dioceses of Asiane and Pontus) and Thrace as well as over the barbaric territories, non-converted lands outside the defined area of the Western Patriarchate (Old Rome) and

6912-503: The office is thus the equivalent of an Orthodox pope. There is, however, no Orthodox notion equivalent to the papacy: the Orthodox churches operate in the synodical system, whereby ecclesiastical matters are settled by the competent synod of bishops, in which each bishop has one vote. The five patriarchs of the ancient Pentarchy (Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem, in that order) are to be given seniority of honour, but have no actual power over other bishops other than

7008-429: The other autocephalous Orthodox churches, but he, alone among his fellow primates, enjoys the right of convening extraordinary synods consisting of them or their delegates to deal with ad hoc situations and has also convened well-attended pan-Orthodox synods in the last 40 years. His unique role often sees the ecumenical patriarch referred to as the spiritual leader of the Orthodox Church in some sources, though this

7104-406: The other three patriarchates, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem, gave it appellate jurisdiction extraterritorially over canon law decisions by the other patriarchs and granted it honours equal to those belonging to the first Christian see, Rome, in terms of primacy, Rome retaining however its seniority (canon xxviii). Leo I refused to accept this canon, basing himself on the fact that it was made in

7200-543: The outbreak of the Greek Revolution . In the 19th century, the rising tide of nationalism and secularism among the Balkan Christian nations led to the establishment of several autocephalous national churches, generally under autonomous patriarchs or archbishops, leaving the ecumenical patriarch only direct control over the ethnically Greek-originated Orthodox Christians of Turkey, parts of Greece and

7296-470: The patriarch is a validly consecrated bishop in Roman ecclesiology, and there is merely an imperfect ecclesial communion between Constantinople and Rome, which exists nevertheless and which may be improved at some point in history. The Ecumenical Patriarch bears the name: "(name), by the grace of God Archbishop of Constantinople, New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch" The (arch)bishopric of Constantinople has had

7392-420: The patriarchate was invited to assist in declaring the archbishop of the Church of Cyprus incompetent due to his having Alzheimer's disease . Additionally, in 2005, the Ecumenical Patriarchate convoked a pan-Orthodox synod to express the Orthodox world's confirmation of the deposition of Patriarch Irenaios of Jerusalem . In 2006, the patriarchate was invited to hear the appeal of a Russian Orthodox bishop in

7488-654: The portions of the Sumerian King List which mention the time before the flood are stylistically different from the King List Proper. Chen writes that Old Babylonian copies tend to show a separate pre-flood tradition which is apart from the King List. Further, the Ur III copy of the King List as well as similar documents indicate that the King List Proper once existed independent of a flood narrative or

7584-494: The power of the synod they are chairing (and in which they also wield one vote). In 2007, the patriarch gave his approval to the Ravenna Document , a Catholic–Orthodox document re-asserting that the bishop of Rome is indeed the prōtos ("first") of the Church, as in "first among equals", although future discussions are to be held on the concrete ecclesiological exercise of papal primacy. According to Lumen Gentium ,

7680-457: The pre-Flood ( antediluvian ) Patriarchs, son to Lamech and a mother whose name is unmentioned, Noah is 500 years old before his sons Shem , Ham and Japheth are born. The Genesis flood narrative is encompassed within chapters 6–9 in the Book of Genesis , in the Bible . The narrative indicates that God intended to return the Earth to its pre-Creation state of watery chaos by flooding

7776-410: The priests (Shem), the warriors (Japheth), and the peasants (Ham). In medieval Christian thought, Ham was considered to be the ancestor of the people of black Africa. So, in racialist arguments, the curse of Ham became a justification for the slavery of the black races. Isaac Newton , in his religious works on the development of religion, wrote about Noah and his offspring. In Newton's view, while Noah

7872-439: The promise that he would never send another flood. After the flood, Noah offered burnt offerings to God. God accepted the sacrifice, and made a covenant with Noah, and through him with all mankind, that he would not waste the earth or destroy man by another deluge. "And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth". As a pledge of this gracious covenant with man and beast

7968-423: The proper amount to drink, fell into a drunken stupor". Philo , a Hellenistic Jewish philosopher, also excused Noah by noting that one can drink in two different manners: (1) to drink wine in excess, a peculiar sin to the vicious evil man or (2) to partake of wine as the wise man, Noah being the latter. In Jewish tradition and rabbinic literature on Noah , rabbis blame Satan for the intoxicating properties of

8064-486: The same list. However, if we take the merged text of Genesis as a single account, we can construct the following family tree, which has come down in this form into the Jewish and Christian traditions. According to the documentary hypothesis , the first five books of the Bible ( Pentateuch / Torah ), including Genesis, were collated during the 5th century BC from four main sources, which themselves date from no earlier than

8160-647: The secret of immortality. Starting with the Old Babylonian Period , there were attempts to syncretize Utnapishtim with Ziusudra, even though they were previously seen as different figures. Gilgamesh meeting the flood hero was first alluded to in the Old Babylonian Period in "The Death of Gilgamesh" and eventually was imported and standardized in the Epic of Gilgamesh probably in the Middle Babylonian Period. Gilgamesh 's historical reign

8256-632: The secular government of Turkey on the ecumenical patriarch, a religious office. The same policy also applied to the institution of the Islamic Caliphate, which was abolished by Turkey. For example, the ecumenical status accorded him traditionally within Eastern Orthodoxy, and recognized previously by the Ottoman governments, has on occasion been a source of controversy within the Republic of Turkey. This policy results in problems in

8352-456: The setting for the castigation of Israel’s Canaanite neighbors." It was Ham who committed an offense when he viewed his father's nakedness. Yet, "Noah’s curse, ... is strangely aimed at Canaan rather than the disrespectful Ham." In Mandaeism , Noah ([ࡍࡅ] Error: {{Langx}}: invalid parameter: |transl= ( help ) ) is mentioned in Book 18 of the Right Ginza . In the text, Noah's wife

8448-440: The speculation that Ham was guilty of engaging in incest and raping Noah or his own mother. The latter interpretation would clarify why Canaan, as the product of this illicit union, was cursed by Noah. Alternatively, Canaan could be the perpetrator himself as the Bible describes the illicit deed being committed by Noah's "youngest son", with Ham being consistently described as the middle son in other verses. Genesis 10 sets forth

8544-580: The spiritual leader of the Greek minority in Turkey, and refer to him as the Roman (literally Rûm ) Orthodox patriarch of Fener ( Turkish : Fener Rum Ortodoks Patriği ). The patriarch was subject to the authority of the Ottoman Empire after the conquest of Constantinople in 1453, until the declaration of Turkish Republic in 1923. Today, according to Turkish law, he is subject to the authority of

8640-537: The state of Turkey and is required to be a citizen of Turkey to be patriarch. The patriarch of Constantinople has been dubbed the ecumenical patriarch since the sixth century. The exact significance of the style, which has been used occasionally for other prelates since the middle of the fifth century, is nowhere officially defined but, according to the Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church,

8736-533: The story of Gilgamesh’s journey to meet Utnapishtim . The "standard" Akkadian version included a long version of the flood story and was edited by Sin-liqe-unninni sometime between 1300 and 1000 BC. Yi Samuel Chen, analyzing various texts from the Early Dynastic III Period to the Old Babylonian Period, argues that the flood narrative was only added in texts written during the latter Old Babylonian Period. Observations by experts indicate that

8832-462: The text from the burgeoning Antediluvian Tradition. Noah has often been compared to Deucalion , the son of Prometheus and Hesinoe in Greek mythology . Like Noah, Deucalion is warned of the flood (by Zeus and Poseidon ); he builds an ark and staffs it with creatures – and when he completes his voyage, gives thanks and takes advice from the gods on how to repopulate the Earth. Deucalion also sends

8928-606: The title has been criticized in the Catholic Church as incompatible with the claims of the Holy See . The monastic communities of Mount Athos are stauropegic and they are directly under the jurisdiction of the ecumenical patriarch, the only bishop who has jurisdiction over them. Athos, officially the "Autonomous Monastic State of the Holy Mountain” ( Ancient Greek : Αυτόνομη Μοναστικὴ Πολιτεία Ἁγίου Ὄρους ),

9024-458: The wine. In the context of Noah's drunkenness, relates two facts: (1) Noah became drunken and "he was uncovered within his tent", and (2) Ham "saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without". Because of its brevity and textual inconsistencies, it has been suggested that this narrative is a "splinter from a more substantial tale". A fuller account would explain what exactly Ham had done to his father, or why Noah directed

9120-591: Was a monotheist, the gods of pagan antiquity are identified with Noah and his descendants. An important Gnostic text, the Apocryphon of John , reports that the chief archon caused the flood because he desired to destroy the world he had made, but the First Thought informed Noah of the chief archon's plans, and Noah informed the remainder of humanity. Unlike the account of Genesis, not only are Noah's family saved, but many others also heed Noah's call. There

9216-543: Was later ascribed to Andrew the Apostle, was originally a common bishopric. It gained importance when Emperor Constantine elevated Byzantium to a second capital alongside Rome and named it Constantinople . The see's ecclesiastical status as the second of five patriarchates were developed by the Ecumenical Councils of Constantinople in 381 and Chalcedon in 451 . The Turkish government recognizes him as

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