Research Backs Biblical Description of Ancient Middle East
A Christian physicist pointed to new research that proves the Bible's description of some parts of the Middle East as a natural oasis covered by lush greenery and vegetation, until climate change left the region high and dry and transformed its landscape into a desolate wasteland.
Dr. Jake Herbert of the Institute for Creation Research is referring to the research made by a team from the University of Arizona, which described a climate pattern that produced a "Green Sahara" 5,000 to 11,000 years ago. Nowadays, there is 10 times more rainfall there.
The study titled "Rainfall Regimes of the Green Sahara," published in Science Advances, stated that "the Sahara desert received high amounts of rainfall, supporting diverse vegetation, permanent lakes and human populations." Annual rainfall in the Sahara currently ranges from 35 mm to 100 mm.
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While earlier research has long acknowledged that the Sahara was much greener in the past, what was not explained is how wet the area was before it dried up. This can be determined by examining ancient lake sediments which cannot be applied to the Sahara as its lakes have dried up a long time ago and the sediments have been blown away.
What the team did was collect marine sediments off the coast of West Africa. This revealed the ancient rainfall patterns and the extent of the Green Sahara. Leaf wax that was washed to the ocean and preserved in marine sediments was also examined to determine rainfall patterns.
Herbert wrote in his article "More Evidence of a Wet Sahara" that the findings coincide with what the Bible already knew: that the whole plain of Jordan near the Dead Sea and even Egypt was "well watered like the garden of the Lord" (Genesis 13:10). It also described Canaan as "a land flowing with milk and honey (Exodus 3:8)."
