Fzrat Oniversitesi Orta Do{!u Arqsttrmalan Dergisi Cilt: Ill. Saw: 2. Elar.tif. 2005 101

'fHJE: INVJE:N'fOJR OF WJRHING IN 'fHJE: CONTEXTS OF RELIGIOUS, HISTOID CAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL DA 'fA

Din!, Tfirihl ve Arkeolojik Veriler Baglammda Yazmm Mucidi

Bahattin DAR'fMA•

OZET

Yazr, insanilk tarihinde gen;ekle~tirilen en ilnemli ke~iflerden biri ve hatta en onemlisidir. insanoglu, hemen her tiirlti geli~imini bu ke~if sayesinde kaydetmi~tir. Bugtin, bilim-teknik, ktilttir ve uygarhk alanlannda gelinen seviyenin temelinde hi9 tartl~masrz bu ke~if yatmaktadrr.

Bu gtinkti mevcut bilgilerimize gore insanilk alemine bOyle bir hizmeti sunanlarm Stimerler oldugu bildirilmektedir. Bu dogru olmakla birlikte i~in i9ine islilmt kaynaklardaki bilgiler girince konu az da olsa farkh bir boyut arzetmektedir.

islilmf eserlerdeki rivilyetlerle, tarihi bilgiler ve arkeolojik bulgular birlikte ele ahndrgmda yazmm, bir peygamber olarak Stimerlere gonderilen ldris (as) tarafmdan k~fedildigi, dolasryrsryla kendisine ililht gorev verilen bir ki~i tarafmdan ortaya konduguna gore soz konusu ke~fin tevkffi (iliihl, yani Allah tarafmdan) olabilecegi akla gelmektedir. Mevcut veriler bu d~Unceyi destekler niteliktedir.

Anahtar kelimeler: Yazr, ke~if/icatlicad, Stimerler, Orta Asya, Mezopotamya, Ttirk9e, Adem, ldris, Enok/Ehnilh/Hanilh, Nilh.

ABSTRACT

Writing is almost one of the important, perhaps the most important, invention carried out in the history of the mankind. There is no doubt that the invention of the writing lies in the foundations of today's science, technique, culture and civilisation levels.

According to curret and available knowledge at hand, it is known by everbody that such a great invention was conducted by the Sumerians, but when the knowledge in the Islamic resources are considered, the topic gains more importance, but a different aspect.

When the hearsays in the Islamic resources and archaeological findings are evaluated together, it could be stated that the writing was invented by ldris (pbuh) sent as a prophet to the Sumerians. So this invention can be a divine phenomenon.

Key words: Writing, ldris, Enok, pen/pencil, Sumerians, Mesopotamia, Turkish, invention, Adam, Noah.

o Assoc. Prof., Faculty of Divinity University of Yiiziincil Yll/YiiziincU Y1l Oniversitesi ilahiyat Fakiiltesi. Van-Turkey. e~mail: bahagani@mynet.com.tr

102 Bahattin D/\RTMA The Inventor ofWriti11g In The Contexts ofReligious ..

INTRODUCTION

Writing is almost one of the most important topics that concerns all aspects of the human life directly or indirectly; but it is also the basic element that contributes to the development of the civilisation. With the invention of the writing the human beings have achieved vital important developments in every field of the life surrounding them. One of the most important contributions to today's science and technique advancing amazingly and dazzling us and will do so in the future was the invention and development of the writing.

According to current and available knowledge at hand, there is almost an agreement,1 about this invention2 that Sumerians invented the writing first, whereby it ended pre-historic periods and and started historical periods. Yet when the Islamic resources ~sidered about the inventor of the writing, the topic gains more importance, but different aspects.

Hence the aim of this article is to discuss and clarify this important topic. In doing so the author first explains the Sumerians a little and then attempts to identify the inventor of the writing by bringing evidence from different resources. An important note is that since the development of the writing is a separate topic from the current one, this topic is not included in this article. 3

1 Turk Ansiklopedisi X/[, Ankara, 1964, 75 (<;:ivi YaZISr article); Bilgi,, Emin, "SUmerler", TUrk Ansiklopedisi XXX, Ankara, 1981, 126; Kramer, Samuel Noah, History Begins at Swner, (Tarih Sumer'de Ba,lar), (translated by Hamide Koyukan), istanbul, 1999, p. 445; the same author, Sumerians (Their History, Culture and Character), (Siimerler), (translated by bzcan Buze), istanbul, 2002, p. 396; Ko,ak, GU!bin, "SUmer Silindir MO.hUrleri", Bilim ve Teknik, number 403, June 2001, p. 87; Say1h, Aydm, Mlslrltlarda ve Mezopotamyaldarda Matematik, Astronomi ve Tip, Ankara, 1982, p. 4; Yeni TUrk Ansiklopedisi X, istanbul, 1985, 3777 (Si.imerler article); Crawford, Harriet, Sumer and The Sumerians, Cambridge University, 2002, p. 151. See also, Tansug, Kadriye- lnanh, Ozel, "SUmerlerin Di.inya GOrti~i.i ve Bfi.bil Edebiyatma Toplu Bir Bak1~", Review of Faculty of Language History-Geography University of Ankara, vol. 7, number 4, Ankara, December 1949, p. 552.

2 Akurgal, Ekrem, Anadolu Kii.ltiir Tarihi, Ankara, 7111 edition, December 1998, p. 6. 3 See also for the development of writing, Gtinaltay, M. Semseddln, Yaktn $ark Elam ve

Mezopotamya, Ankara, 1987, pp. 396-402; Kramer, Tarih Siimer'de Ba,lar, pp. 445-446; Engin, Ann, Sii.mer Tii.rkleri, istanbul, pp. 27-28, 36; Dsttiner, Ali Cengiz, "Mezopotamya'da Stimer Uygarhg1", TUrk Dii.nyast Ara$tlrmalart, number 128, October 2000, pp. 81-83.

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THE SUMEIRIANS

a. Etymologic meaning of the word 'Sumer'

As guessed different views about the origin and meaning of the word 'Sumer' exist.

1. It is stated that the name Mat Sumeri (the Country of Sumer) is used by the Akads, the people of Sumer is called $umerii, $umeraiu or Sumerfi (the Sumerians) in the Akad language that includes Babil and Asur dialects. According to the Sumerians resources they call themselves Keng-Kengir4

2. According to Langdon the word 'Sumer' (su-m-er) is a Turkish word and it was claimed to mean "water soldier/water man". The reason for being called in this way is that the Sumerians located along the Tigris and Euphrates improved the bogged places to do farming. The word, for the first time, was seen as a scripture engraved on an ornamanted decanter presented to the Nippur temple by Lugal-Zaggisi, an Erek Khan5

b. The Places where the Sumerins lived

The Sumerians lived in the south part of Mesopotamia. This area, 26000 km2

, includes the places from Basra to today's the borders of Baghdat,6 yet the Sumerians are not the natives of Mesapotamia. To some they emigrated here in the 5000s BC,7 for some in 4000s BC,8 and for some in 3500s BC;9

and they disappeared between 1900-1800s BC. 10

c. The Sumerians' Homeland

Although there are various views about the Sumerians' homeland, most of the researchers hold the view that the homeland of the Sumer ians are the Central Asia." Some of the clues (evidence) about Sumerians' coming to Mesopotamia from the Central Asia come as follows:

4 Engin, Siimer Tilrkleri, p. 29. 5 Bilgh;, XXX, 116. Sec also, Benne Landsberger, "Mczopotamya'da Medcniyclin

Dogu~u", (translated by, Mebrurc Osman Tosun), Review of F'aculty of Language History­Geography University of Ankara, vol. :-3, number 2, March~ April 1944, p. 422.

6 Kramer, Stimerler, p. 13; the same author, Sumerian Mythology, (Siimer Mitolojisi), (translated by, Hamide Koyukan), istanbul, 1999, p. 63. Sec also, Bilgi<;, XXX, 115.

7 Engin, Sii.mer TUrkleri, p. 29; YildJZ, Nuray, Eskir;ajfda Yazt Malzemeleri ve Kitabtn 0/urumu, Ankara, 2000, p. 4.

8 Engin, Siimer Tiirkleri, p. 125.

89.

9 Bilgi<;. XXX, 119: Ustliner, pp. 79, 80. 10 Bilgi<;, XXX, 1!5. 11 Bilgi<;, XXX, 119; Kramer, Siimerler, p. 64; Gtinaltay, pp. 203, 204; OstUner, pp. 79,

104 Bahaltin DARTMA Th<! Inventor of Writing In The Contexts ofReligious ..

1. The Sumer language is not a flexible language like Semitic and Indo­European ones, but it is an agglutinative language. The roots of the words in the Sumerian do not usually change. The words are not in the base (nominative) form, but they include some pre and post-affixes. The affixes can be sepatated from the roots and the roots do not lose their basic meaning. In this respect the Sumer language has some structural similarity with the Turkish, Hungarian and some Caucasusian languages, that are part of Ural­A! taic languages. Besides this, there are some common words between the Sumer and Turkish languages. For instance, F. Hommel, a German philologist, and Lenghin, an expert on Sumerian, state that about 350 words are similar or have close meanings in the Turkish and Sumer languages. 12

The Sumer language, as a sentence structure, is a complex and confusing one, but it is close to the Turkish language, that has a logical order in sentence formation; far away from the Semitic and Indo-Europan languages .. The word order in the complex languages is in the form of subject, adverbs (indicatig manner, time, place and and), object, subordinating clause, verb, but in the Semitic and Indo-European languages the word order is subject, verb, adverb, object and subordinative clauses. 13

2. The Sumerians wore thick and heavy clothes named konakes made from the wool. It is known that these types of clothes are not worn in hot places like Mesopotamia, but in the cold places. For that reason, these thick and heavy clothes must have been worn in cold places and plateaus that implicitly purpot to homeland of the Sumerians.

3. The Sumerians built their temples as many-layered and used brics (plan-contex) produced by imitating construction stones. Since these brics were used in high altitudes, this means that they emigrated from high places that also means cold places.

4. One of the most important evidence about the Sumerians' homeland, Central Asia, is the work "CHALDEA ZODAiC'' that means "MINTIKATULBURUC". Since this work has a picture/skech of certain part of the sky, this gives clues about where the nation did the mentioned work lived. The analysis of this chaldea zodaic/mmttkatiilburuc imagined by

12 Bilgic;, XXX, 128; Dstliner, p. 89. See also, Caferoglu, Ahmet, Til.rk Dili Tarihi /, Y<J edition, istanbul, 1984, 16, 44-48; Tuna, Osman Nedim, Siimer ve Tii.rk Dillerinin Tdrihi ilgisi ile Tiirk Dili'nin Ya.rz Meselesi, Ankara, 1990.

13 Benno Landsberger, "Stimerler", (translated by Mebrure Osman Tosun), Review of Faculty of Language History-Geography University of Ankara, vol. l, number 5, Julay­August Ankara, 1943, 94-96; Bilgi9, XXX, 127; Kramer, Sumerler, pp. 35-36, 64, 40l. See also, Gunaltay, pp. 393, 394, 395; Sayth, M1mlllar ve Mezopotamyal!lar, p. 4.

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Sumerians the for the first time means that the people have done it must have been lived in the east located between 40 and 46 latitudes of the Casbian Sea, in the South Pole. This is because the star groups drawn on this chaldea zodaic/mantJkatUlburuc could only be seen and drawn between these latitudes at that time. The place located in the east of Caspian Sea and between the 40 and 46'h latitudes is called Central Asia; that is Tiirkistan. 14

Leonard W. King, an expert on Semerians, reveals the reasons for Sumerians emigration from the Central Asia to Mesapotamia as follows: American Raphael Pumpelly conducted excavations at Anau of Ttirkistan (near Merv) and Dr. Hubert Schmidt carried out research on Sumerians state that the homeland of the Sumerians must be sought beyond the mountains (Turkistan) located in the east of Babil platues. The excavations done near Askabat (the capital city of TUrkmenistan) indicate the existence of some advanced cultural structure in the pre-historic period and these cultural structures show so much and amazing similarity with the first culture found in the west (Mesapotamia) of the Iranian plateau. These excavations indicate that great restlessness occured with the result of the climate changes (drought) in Turkistan. This reason indicates Sumerians emmigration ... Because of the scarcity the migration age was confirmed by the research done by Sir Aurel Stein at East Turkistan, Roten and Taklamakan sandy places. 15

There are various views about the ways (route) the Sumerians followed while coming from the Central Asia to Mesapotamia. According to E. A. Speiser they emigrated from the East (Turkistan) by sea, in Kramer's view from the mountainous region in the east (Altay and Tann mountains, etc.) by land 16 After this brief inf01mation about the Sumerians, now we tum to the part about the invention of writing.

THE INVENTION OF WRITING

Researchers state that the Sumerians invented the writing in the second half of the 4"' millenium BC; that is, it was invented and improved between 3500 and 3000s BC. 17 For some researchers, the discovery or invention of

14 Ganaitay, pp. 200-201. 15 Engin, Siimer Tiirkleri, p. 34. 16 En gin, Siimer Tiirkleri, p. 125. 17 Kramer, Tarih Siimerde Ba~lar, p. 13; Engin, St7mer 1l7rkleri, p. 29; Gtinaltay, p. 400.

106 Bahattin DARTMA. The Inventor of Writing In The Contexts of Religious ..

the writing occured during the 3200s BC18 and for some others it happened in the 3100s BC. 19

It is understood that the Sumerians invented and improved the writing before the Noah's Flood between the years 3500 and 3000s BC. Hence here it is important to identify the time during which the Noah's Flood occured.

There are diverse views about the occurence time of the Noah's Flood. One of these views states that it happened in the 4000 and 5000s BC 20

Another view claims that it happened in the 2700s BC.21 In the bronze age, during which archeology, wood and nail used, it was stated that the Edom region where Noah (p.b.u.h.) lived became desolate suddenly in the 2700s and as from 2600s BC other people came and settled here?2 Besides this, the English archaeologist Sir Leonard Wooley and his team excavated in Ur, one of the historical city of Mesapotamia, from 1922 to 1934, explored one King's tomb dating back to 4000"' BC, found clay tablets in that tomb consisting the names of the Kings before the occurence of the Flood and mud layer having 3 m. to 3.70 m. thickness23

. While explaining his studies, he states this view:

" ... As a result, when the top of the city hill is analysed, after several layers, we found a complex part consisting of volcanic glasses and the Sumer remains. 4,9 m under this brick layer we found the old remains belonging to the city Ur before the Flood and the history of these remains go cleary back to 3200s BC24

•

18 TiirkAnsiklopedisi XII, 75. 19 Bilgiq, XXX, 120, 128. 20 GtirbUz, Ali, "Nllh'un Gemisi Agn Dag1'nda rru?", Zafer, number 107, November

1985, p. 16; Sarbay, Ahmet, "Niih (as)'m Gemisi Nerede?", Tarih ve Medeniyet, number 16, istanbul, June 1995, p. 59; Caymaz, Tayfun, "Tufan Mitosu", Bilim ve Otopya, number 25, istanbul, Julay 1996, p. 15.

21 Mehrftn, Muhammed Beyyfim1, Dirfis&.tii.n Tdrfhiyyetii.n mine'l-Kur'fmi'l-Kerlm If,

Daru'n-Nehzati'l- 'Arabiyye, Beyxut, 1988, s. 94, IV, s. 92; Caymaz, p. 15. See also, Benno Landsberger, "Stimerlerin Ktilttir Sahasmdaki Ba~anlan", (translated by, Mebrure Osman Tosun), Review of Faculty of Language History-Geography University of Ankara, vol. 3, number 2, January-February 1945, p. 137.

22 Sank~tofUu, El<rem, "Kur' fin ve Arkeoloji l~tgmda Hz. NGh ve TGffi.n Olayma Yeni Bir Yakla~tm", htamf Ara!Jllrmalar, vol. 9, numbers 1-2-3-4, Ankara, 1996, p. 202.

23 Engin, Siimer TUrkleri, pp. 85, 100; Warshofsky, Fred, "Niih, Tufftn ve Gen;ekler", Bilim ve Teknik, vol. Jl, number 121, Ankara, 1977, p. 17, (from Readers Digest); Sarbay, "Nfih (as)'tn Gemisi Nerede?", Tarih ve Medeniyet, p. 58.

24 M. $Ukrti, "Arkeoloji bntinde Tfifan", Hl1kimiyel-i Milliye, 6 May 1933, number, 1235, Saturday, p. 3; Warsbofsky, p. 17. See also, Ay, Eyyub, "il1thl Mesajm Kadim

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If the history of the Ur remains go back to 3200s BC, this means that the Flood took place after that date (3200s BC) and the invention of writing. It was also stated that the documents written until the Flood were tried to keep safely not to be damaged and wasted by the Flood. 25

In the literatue of archaeology before the occurence of Noah's Flood the kings were named Er Stilaler I (ES-1) and the number of them till the Flood was ten. Around Horsahad, a city of Iraq, a tablet was found in 1932 and named W.B-444 by archaeologists, the thickness of which is 20.5 em. According to the inscriptions on this tablet 'there were ten rulers in the world and the last one of them was the Noah's himseif.'26 The sources also state that these rulers were also religious leaders. It goes on to say that the 7"' of the rulers named Enok (Ehnuh/Haniih) was Idris (p.b.u.h.)?7

According to this finding Noah (p.b.u.h.) must have been charged as a prophet after three prophets (manager, administrator)?8 The news 'ldris

Medeniyetlerdeki izdU~Um1eri: Kur'&n'm Arkap1anma Akeolojik Bir Yakla~1ri1", isldmt Ara§ttrmalar, vol. 9, numbers 1-2-3"4, Ankara, 1996, p. 194.

25 Benne Landsberger, "Mezopotamya'da Medeniyetin Dogu.yu", p. 419; Bilgi9, XXX, 126.

26 GUnaltay, p. 209; Sarbay, Ahmet, "Nuh Aleyhisse1amm Gemisi Nerede?", Tarih ve Dii.yiince, February 2003, p. 52. NO:h's (p.b.u.h.) other names in other cultures: Urbaradudu, Ziyudsudu, Ulnapi~tim (Utanapi?tim), Xsisutrus/Xisuthros, Atraha.l:iis. See, Kramer, Tarih Sumer'de Ba;·lar, p. 190, 191, 237; Gonaltay, p. 209,461.

27 ibn ish&k, Muhammed b. ishfik b. Yesilr, Sfretii ibn lshilk, el-Miisemma bi Kitdbi'l­Miibtede'i ve'/-Meb'asi ve'l-Meijazi, (cd. crit., Muhammed Hamidullah), Konya, 1981, p. I; cl"Vilkidi, Muhammed b. cOmer, Tdrfhu FiitUhi'l-Cezfra ve'l-Hdbar ve Diydn Bekrin ve'l" 'Irak, (ed. crit., Abdu1'aziz Feyyaz Harfuj), D~ru'l-Beji\'ir, Drmajk, 1996, p. 216; ibn Sa'd, Muhammed b. Sa"d b. Ment e1-Basri ez-ZUhri, et"Tabakiitu'l"Kiibra!, D§.ru S&d1r, Beyrut, s. 54; Ya'kOb1, Ahmed b. Eb1 Ya'kOb b. Ca'fer b. Vchb, Tarihu'l-Ya'kabi, Diiru Sfulrr, Beyrut, 141211992, pp. 11, 13; Tabcrt, EbO Ca'fcr Muhammed b. Ccrir, Kasasu'l-Enbiya', (ed. crit., Cerna! Bcdri\n), I" edition, Kahirc, 14141!994, p. 90; Mcs'Odi, Ebu'l-Hascn Ali b. el-Huscyn b. Ali, MiirUcu'z-Zeheb ve Mecddinu'l-Cevher l, (cd. crit., Muhammed Muhyiddin Abdulhamid), Bcyrut, 1989, s. 39; es-Semcrkandi, Ebil'I-Leys Nasr b. Muhammed b. 'Ahmed b. ibrilhim, Bahru'lfU!Um II, (ed. crit., cAli Muhammed Mua"vvaz, "Adil 'Ahmed cAbdu'l­MevcO:d, Zekeriyyft' cAbdu'l-Mecid en-NG.ti), D:lru'l-Ktittibi'1-~ilmiyye, l~t edition, Beyrut, 1993, s. 326; ibnu'l-Cevzi, EbG.'1"Ferec "Abdurrahman b. cAli b. Muhammed, el-Muntazamfl Tfirfhi'l"Umem ve'l-Mii!Uk I, (ed. crit., Muhammed "Abdulkildir cAtfl, Mustafa "Abdu1kfldir 'Ati\), Di\ru' 1-KOtiibi'I-'ilmiyye, Bcyrut, 1992, s. 233; ibn Kcsir, Ebu'I-Fidi\' ci-Hafrz, e/­Bidilye ve'n-Nihilye, (ed. crit., Ahmed EbO MUlhim, Ali Necib Advey, Fu'ftd es"Seyyid, Mehdi Nfis!l'uddin), Beyrut, 51

h edition, 1989, I, 92; Vehbe ez"ZGhayli, el"Ktssatu'l" Kur'dniyye, pt edition, Bcyrut, 1992, p. 41; ~Abdull'ettfth Tabbfira, Md'a'l"Enbiyfl' ft'l­Kur'fini 'l-Kerfm, 181

h edition, Beyrut, 1993, pp. 56"57. 28 Sarbay, "Nilh(as)'m Gemisi Nerede?", Ttirih ve Medeniyet, p . .'59; the same author,

"Nilh Aieynisse1amun Gemisi Nerede?", Tarih ve Diijiince, p. 52.

108 Bahattin DARTMA. The Inventor of Writing In The Contexts ofReligious ...

(p.b.u.h.) is the grandfather of Noah's fathe?-9 (7"' order in time-line)' confirms this view. The view about the existence of ten muslim-leaders from Adam to Noah30 and the news about descending from Ikime (v. 1071725) 'there are ten muslim generations from Adam to Noah '31 completely agree with the information written on the WB-444 tablet. In one of the hadith the Prophet Mohammed (p.b.u.h.) states the following view about the Idris (p.b.u.h.) "the first person wrote by pen/pencil is Idris (p.b.u.h.) (that is Ehnuh or Hanuh)."32

When all this information was gathered, we can claim that Idris (p. b.u.h.) became33 a prophet before Noah (p.b.u.h.) and located in the 7"' order in the time-line, and he was also charged as the prophet of the Sumerians and invented the writing. Besides, since the invention of the writing is carried out by a prophet, the invention can be a divine event.

Yet it is known that there is long time-line (centuries) from Idris to Noah (p.b.u.h.). Yet today's avarege life-lenght of a person is considered, it seems impossible to see only three prophets in such a logn time. Yet considering the fact that people u.sed to live longer in the old ages -e.f Noah (p.b.u.h.) lived 95034 years and Ibrahim (p.b.u.h.) lived 200 years/ seeing three prophets in such a long time is possible.

Now bringing the evidence from different sources and seeing to what extent these evidneces are in conformity with one another will be more helpful to understand the topic:

29 Buhfu:l, Muhanuned b. isma'il, Sahihu'l-Buhdri, istanbul, 1981, Enbiya', 5. 30 ibn Sa'd, Tabaktit l, 42; es-Semerkandl, Bahru'l-'Ulam l, 550. 31 ibn Sa'd, Tabaktit l, 42, 53. 32 ibn Hibbftn, EbU Hatim Muhammed ei-BUstf, el-ihsanfi Takrfbi Sahfhi Ibn Hibbtin ll,

(tert!b, 'Ala'Uddln 'All b. Belban), (ed. crit., ~u'aybu'l-Ama'ut), I" edition, Beyrut, 1986/1406, 66 (number, 361); ibn Hacer el-Askalanl, Ahmed b. Ali, Fethu'l-Btirf bi $erhi Sahfhi'l-Buhtiri VI, Beyrut, Dfiru'l-Marife, 375; el-Kastalanl, Ebu'l-Abbas Sihi.buddln Ahmed, ir~tidu's-Stiri li $erhi Sahihi'l-Buhtiri Vll, Daru'l-Fikr, !"edition, 1990, Beyrut, 286; 'Aclfinl, ismiill b. Muhanuned, Ke~fu'l-Hafa' ve Muzflu'l-ilbas amma l~tehera Mine'l­Ehtidisi ala Elsineti'n-Ntis l, 2"d edition, Beyrut, 1932!1351, s. 267. See also, el-YakObl, Tarih l, II; ibnu'l-Cevzl, el-Muntazam l, s. 234; ibn Keslr, el-Bidaye l, s. 92.

33 Qur'an: Meryem (19), 56; Enbiya' (21), 85. 34 Qur'an, Ankebut (29), 14. 35 Malik b. Enes, el~Muvatta, (ed. crit., Be~~ar c A vvftd Macrfif, MahmO.d Muhammed

Halll), I" edition, Beyrfit, 1992/1412, el-Catal', 23; Buhfu:l, Muhanuned b. isma"'l, , el­Edebu'l-Mufred, (ed. crit., Muhammed Fu'ad 'Abdulbakl), 3" edition, Daru'l-Be>il'iri'l­islamiyye, 1989/1409, 60111250, p. 428.

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BEFORE CHRIST [BC]

Arheaologic and Historical Evidence: eThe Noah's Flood (2700s BC).(Utnapi~tim)

®Before the Flood in the world ten men served as mlers (leaders) ®The first of these leaders is Adam, the seventh is Idris and tenth is Noah. ®The writing was invented and improved by the Sumerians 3500-3000s BC. (Enok)-

(Adam)

CONCLUSION

Islamic Evidence:

10 -(Nuh)eThere are ten muslim t leaders father/ generation from

Adam to Noah (pbuh). 9 eidris is the grand father of Noah's t father 8 Idris (that is, he is the 7'" leaders).

t

7 0The first person used pen/pensil t writing is Idris (Ehnfih/Hanuh).

6

i 5 i 4

t 3

t 2

t I (Adem)

The topic can be sunnnarised as follows: the invention and improvement of the writing before the Noah's Flood (2700s BC) happened in 3500-3000s BC by tbe Sumerians, who emigrated from the Central Asia to Mesapotamia. According to archeaologic evidence and historical knowledge ten men served as rulers (leaders) before the Noah's Flood; these rulers were religious man at the same time. The seventb of these rulers was Idris (p.b.u.h.) and tenth was Noah (p.b.u.h.). Similarly, according to Islamic resources too between Adam (p.b.u.h.) and Noab (p.b.u.h.) in total ten men served as rulers, all of them are muslim. Tbe seventh of these was Idris, invented the writing and was the grandfather of the Noah's father.

It is bighly possible tbat the Sumerians and the Idris (p.b.u.h.) lived at the same age and on the same geographical region. We arrive at this conclusion by bringing evidences together. Wben current historical, religious and archeaologic evidence at hand were evaluated, it is possible to claim tbat

110 Bahattin DARTM!\. The Inventor of' Writing In The Contexts ofReligious ...

the writing was invented by the prophet ldris sent as prophet to the Sumerians. Since ldris (p.b.u.h.) was endowed with the power of propherhood, it is possible to say that the invention of the writing is a divine phenomenon. This is because it is widely known that the prophers have some superhuman powers and abilities.

REFERENCES

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