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User:CPO675/Sandbox 1: Difference between revisions
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=== Antiquity interpretation === | === Antiquity interpretation === | ||
There is another interpretation | There is another interpretation that is the only one to accurately fit the verses on a literal plain reading, which is discussed below. This fits a prevalent antiquity (and pre-antiquity) view that was present across the region, and also held in biblical cosmology and later Christian/Jewish exegesis at the time of Mohammad, that this refers to a somewhat magical cosmic ocean surrounding the Earth. | ||
This likely originates from ancient Mesopotamian myths, such as the ancient Akkadian myth of the Abzu, the name for a fresh water underground sea that was given a religious quality in Sumerian and Akkadian mythology. Lakes, springs, rivers, wells, and other sources of fresh water were thought to draw their water from the Abzu underground sea, while the Ocean that surrounded the world was a saltwater sea. This underground sea is called Tehom in the Hebrew Bible. For example, Genesis 49:25 says, "blessings of the heavens above, and Tehom lying beneath".<ref>Wensinck, Arent Jan (1918). "The Ocean in the Literature of the Western Semites". Verhandelingen der Koninklijke Akademie van Wetenschappen te Amsterdam. Afdeeling Letterkunde. Nieuwe reeks. dl. 19. no. 2. page 14</ref> Wensinck explains,<ref>Wensinck, Arent Jan (1918). "The Ocean in the Literature of the Western Semites". Verhandelingen der Koninklijke Akademie van Wetenschappen te Amsterdam. Afdeeling Letterkunde. Nieuwe reeks. dl. 19. no. 2. page 17</ref> "Thus it appears that the idea of there being a sea of sweet water under our earth, the ancient Tehom, which is the source of springs and rivers, is common to the Western Semites". | This likely originates from ancient Mesopotamian myths, such as the ancient Akkadian myth of the Abzu, the name for a fresh water underground sea that was given a religious quality in Sumerian and Akkadian mythology. Lakes, springs, rivers, wells, and other sources of fresh water were thought to draw their water from the Abzu underground sea, while the Ocean that surrounded the world was a saltwater sea. This underground sea is called Tehom in the Hebrew Bible. For example, Genesis 49:25 says, "blessings of the heavens above, and Tehom lying beneath".<ref>Wensinck, Arent Jan (1918). "The Ocean in the Literature of the Western Semites". Verhandelingen der Koninklijke Akademie van Wetenschappen te Amsterdam. Afdeeling Letterkunde. Nieuwe reeks. dl. 19. no. 2. page 14</ref> Wensinck explains,<ref>Wensinck, Arent Jan (1918). "The Ocean in the Literature of the Western Semites". Verhandelingen der Koninklijke Akademie van Wetenschappen te Amsterdam. Afdeeling Letterkunde. Nieuwe reeks. dl. 19. no. 2. page 17</ref> "Thus it appears that the idea of there being a sea of sweet water under our earth, the ancient Tehom, which is the source of springs and rivers, is common to the Western Semites". | ||
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==== '''Pre-Islamic poetry''' ==== | ==== '''Pre-Islamic poetry''' ==== | ||
The fact that the Qur'an addresses | The fact that the Qur'an addresses its audience with the claim of the two (specific not general) seas, without giving more explanation or context about what they are or where, also suggests the initial audience were acquainted with its meaning. We can see these views were also prevalent in Arabia at the time of Mohammad's preaching as this poem from a contemporary of Muhammad mentions the Earth being settled on the waters: | ||
{{Quote|Poem attributed to Zayd b. 'Amr, as found for example in Ibn Al Jawzi's Al Muntazam,<ref name="IbnalJawzi">https://shamela.ws/book/12406/736</ref> and Ibn Ishaq's biography of Muhammad (as translated from Ibn Ishaq by Guillaume<ref name="Guillaume">https://www.justislam.co.uk/images/Ibn%20Ishaq%20-%20Sirat%20Rasul%20Allah.pdf</ref> and transliterated by Bravmann<ref name="Bravmann">Bravmann, M. M. (1977) Studies in Semitic Philology, Leiden: Brill p.439</ref>)|daḥāhā falammā raʾādā istawat ʿalā l-māʾi arsā ʿalayhā l-jibālā / | {{Quote|Poem attributed to Zayd b. 'Amr, as found for example in Ibn Al Jawzi's Al Muntazam,<ref name="IbnalJawzi">https://shamela.ws/book/12406/736</ref> and Ibn Ishaq's biography of Muhammad (as translated from Ibn Ishaq by Guillaume<ref name="Guillaume">https://www.justislam.co.uk/images/Ibn%20Ishaq%20-%20Sirat%20Rasul%20Allah.pdf</ref> and transliterated by Bravmann<ref name="Bravmann">Bravmann, M. M. (1977) Studies in Semitic Philology, Leiden: Brill p.439</ref>)|daḥāhā falammā raʾādā istawat ʿalā l-māʾi arsā ʿalayhā l-jibālā / | ||
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Karen C. Pinto, a scholar who wrote a book on medieval Islamic maps, focusing on a distinct tradition of maps known collectively as the Book of Roads and Kingdoms (''Kitab al-Masalik wa al-Mamalik'', or KMMS)<ref>[https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/M/bo17703325.html ''Medieval Islamic Maps: An Exploration''.] Karen C. Pinto. Edition, illustrated. Publisher, University of Chicago Press, 2016. ISBN, 022612696X, 9780226126968</ref>, shows this view, known as the encircling ocean ([https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/al-bahr-al-muhit-SIM_1064 al-Baḥr al-Muḥīṭ]), was also part of Islamic folklore and art: | Karen C. Pinto, a scholar who wrote a book on medieval Islamic maps, focusing on a distinct tradition of maps known collectively as the Book of Roads and Kingdoms (''Kitab al-Masalik wa al-Mamalik'', or KMMS)<ref>[https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/M/bo17703325.html ''Medieval Islamic Maps: An Exploration''.] Karen C. Pinto. Edition, illustrated. Publisher, University of Chicago Press, 2016. ISBN, 022612696X, 9780226126968</ref>, shows this view, known as the encircling ocean ([https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/al-bahr-al-muhit-SIM_1064 al-Baḥr al-Muḥīṭ]), was also part of Islamic folklore and art: | ||
<big>(((EDITORS: Are you able to add | <big>(((EDITORS: Are you able to add Picture 4 into this quote box above the text please)))</big> | ||
{{Quote|{{cite web| url=https://scholarworks.boisestate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1116&context=history_facpubs | title=In God's Eyes: The Sacrality of the Seas in the Islamic Cartographic Vision | author=Karen C. Pinto | publisher=ESPACIO, TIEMPO Y FORMA Serie VII · historia del arte (n. época) | date=2017}}|[add | {{Quote|{{cite web| url=https://scholarworks.boisestate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1116&context=history_facpubs | title=In God's Eyes: The Sacrality of the Seas in the Islamic Cartographic Vision | author=Karen C. Pinto | publisher=ESPACIO, TIEMPO Y FORMA Serie VII · historia del arte (n. época) | date=2017}}|[add Picture 4 here] | ||
...The crossing of this multivalent encircling sea is dangerous and forbidden to ordinary people because it separates the mundane earth from the heavenly cosmos. Only exceptional humans like Dhū ’l-Qarnayn (Alexander the Great), Khiḍr (the mythical green man), King Solomon and the perfect Sufi who has succeeded in extinguishing his individualistic identity can attempt such a crossing. | ...The crossing of this multivalent encircling sea is dangerous and forbidden to ordinary people because it separates the mundane earth from the heavenly cosmos. Only exceptional humans like Dhū ’l-Qarnayn (Alexander the Great), Khiḍr (the mythical green man), King Solomon and the perfect Sufi who has succeeded in extinguishing his individualistic identity can attempt such a crossing. | ||