Perished Nations 2. English.doc

7/26/2019 Perished Nations 2. English.doc

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PERISHED NATIONS II

THE PEOPLE OF SABA AND THE ARIM FLOOD

Saba, built in southern Arabia in the 11th century BC, was a great

civilization.

The Quran relates the story of the Queen of Saba and the ro!hetSulay"an in considerable detail.

#owever, there is another story in the Quran regarding this !eo!le, whoa!!ear before us in a violent act of destruction.

The oldest te$ts to refer to the eo!le of Saba are the annual warchronicles fro" the ti"e of the Assyrian %ing Sargon &&. According tothese inscri!tions, Sargon "entions Saba as one of the states that !aystribute to hi". This record is the oldest te$t giving 'r" infor"ation aboutthe state of Saba.

Ancient te$ts that s!ea( of the !eo!le of Saba say that li(e thehoenicians they were a state that engaged in wide co""ercial activities,and that so"e of the "ost i"!ortant trade routes in northern Arabia werein their hands.

The Sabaeans were (nown in history as a civilized !eo!le. Theinscri!tions of the Sabaean rulers fre)uently s!ea( of *restoring,+

*endowing,+ and *building.+

The arib -a", the ruins of which have survived down to the !resentday, is a "aor indication of Sabaean technology. Than(s to that da", abright green world was built in the "iddle of the desert.

The ca!ital, that bene'ted fro" the da", was arib, which had grownwealthy because of its "any geogra!hical advantages.

The ca!ital stood close by the Adhanah /iver. The Sabaeans "ade use ofthis and built a da" here as they were constructing their civilization and

began irrigating the area. Agriculture !ros!ered, and they were thus ableto enoy high levels of well0being.

The ca!ital arib was one of the "ost beautiful cities of the ti"e. Theree( writer liny who travelled in the area and had great !raise for thisland, s!o(e in his wor(s of the way it was all so verdant.

The da" at arib was 12 "etres high, 23 "etres wide and 243 "etreslong. Calculations have shown that two wide !lains on both sides of thecity could be watered by "eans of it.


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These two !lains are so"eti"es described on Sabaean inscri!tions as*arib and the twin !lains.+ The e$!ression *two gardens to the rightand to the left+ in the Quran in all !robability refers to the i"!ressivevineyards and gardens in these two valleys. Than(s to the da" and itswatering facilities, the region beca"e fa"ous as the best irrigated and

"ost fertile in 5e"en.

6hen we e$a"ine the verses in the Quran in the light of these historicalfacts we can see enor"ous co"!atibility between the". Archaeologicaldiscoveries and historical facts are totally co"!atible with what is writtenin the Quran. The !eo!le refused to heed the warnings of the !ro!hetwho was sent to the" and were ungrateful for the blessings of od, andwere eventually !unished with a terrible catastro!he.

There was also a sign for Saba in their dwelling la!e" twogardens#one to the right and one to the left$ %Eat of &o'rLord(s ro)ision and gi)e than*s to Hi+" a bo'ntif'l land anda forgi)ing Lord$, B't the& t'rned awa& so -e 'nleashedagainst the+ the .ood fro+ the great da+ and e/!hangedtheir two gardens for two others !ontaining bitter0tastinglants and ta+aris* and a few lote trees$ That is how -ereaid the+ for their ingratit'de$ Are an& b't the 'ngratef'lreaid li*e this1 23'r(an4 56" 78079:

The eo!le of Saba lived in a stri(ingly beautiful area with fertilevineyards and gardens.

The country of Saba lay across trade routes and thus enoyed a high levelof !ros!erity, "a(ing it one of the "ost !ro"inent cities of the age.

6hat the !eo!le of Saba needed to do under such agreeable conditionswas to *eat of the sustenance !rovided by their 7ord and be grateful to#i"+. 5et they did not do so. As a verse !uts it, *they turned away fro"od8+

Their arrogance in their well0being caused the" to lose it. The wholecountry was 9attened in a terrible 9ood.

The vineyards and gardens of the !eo!le of Saba were suddenly leftunder the waters.

The !unish"ent visited on the !eo!le of Saba is described in the Quranas *Seyl al0Ari",+ or the Ari" :lood. This ter" in the Quran also tell usthe way this disaster occurred. The word *Ari"+ "eans *da"+ or *di(e.+*Seyl al0Ari"+ describes the way a 9ood occurs after a di(e has beenbreached.

The Christian archaeologist 6erner %eller agrees that the Ari" 9oodca"e about in line with the descri!tion of the Quran, and writes;


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:or 1,


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iven its enor"ous strategic i"!ortance, he who controlled the @ile alsocontrolled Egy!ts "ost i"!ortant source of trade and agriculture, inother words its very life. Ancient Egy!tian rulers built a "ighty (ingdo"by that "eans. They would later co"e to be (nown as *!haraohs.+

The Ancient Egy!tians !ossessed a deviant belief in a great "any gods.They were 'ercely devoted to that belief because of their terrible bigotry.

The !eo!le of Ancient Egy!t were greatly in9uenced by their naturalenviron"ent. The countrys !hysical geogra!hy !rotected it very wellfro" e$ternal threats. Egy!t was surrounded by deserts, "ountainouslands and seas on all sides. There were two routes for an attac(er toenter the country, and it was a si"!le tas( for the Egy!tian Ar"y todefend the".

The Egy!tians re"ained isolated fro" the e$ternal world than(s to thesenatural factors. Dver the centuries, that se!aration turned into harshbigotry. Closed to new develo!"ents and refor", they clung 'ercely totheir beliefs.

7ife after death for"ed the "ost i"!ortant co"!onent of Egy!tian belief.&t was believed that the soul survived after the death of the body and thatthe soul of the deceased was held to account. Scales were brought andwitnesses su""oned, and the good and bad deeds of the deceased werediscussed. Then the udgeGgod reached his verdict. Those whose good

deeds weighed heaviest in the scales would lead a life of endless oy, andthose whose evil deeds weighed heaviest would suHer eternal tor"ent.

&t is i"!ossible not to see that the Egy!tians belief in the afterlife shows!arallels with "onotheistic belief and the true religion. This shows thatAncient Egy!tian civilization had once been !art of the true religion andits revelation. That religion was later corru!ted, however, and belief inone god turned into belief in "any.

6e (now that fro" ti"e to ti"e "essengers were sent to warn !eo!le ofthe oneness of od and to serve #i". Dne of these was the ro!het 5usuf,

whose life is set out in the Quran in so"e detail. The ro!het 5usuf"igrated to Egy!t with the eo!le of &srael and settled there. After hisdeath there began a !eriod of enslave"ent of the Children of &srael. Thatage would end with the sending of the ro!het usa as an a"bassadorand his leading the Children of &srael out of Egy!t.

The !haraohs of Egy!t were cruel, o!!ressive, warli(e and ruthless. Dnething they had in co""on was that they all regarded the"selves as greatbeings within the twisted Egy!tian !olytheistic syste", and could shedblood without a "o"ents re"orse.

#owever, one !haraoh in Egy!tian history was diHerent to the others.That !haraoh "aintained that there was but one Creator. :or that reason


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alone, he was subected to terrible !ressure by the riests of A"on, andeventually (illed. That !haraoh was A"enhote! &I, who rose to !ower atthe beginning of the 1=thcentury BC.

6hen A"enhote! assu"ed the throne in 1FJ< BC, he encountered a

conservativis" that had grown over the centuries, and was subected togreat strife. The reason for that !ressure was that he changed the!olytheistic Egy!tian religion, installing a belief in one god in its !lace,and e"bar(ed on wide0ranging changes in all areas. #owever, the leadersin the ca!ital, Thebes, fought A"enhote!. Those who su!!orted hi" leftthe city and "igrated to another region. #ere, A"enhote! changed hisna"e to Ah(0en0aton, which "eant the *servant of Aton.+ Aton, accordingto A"enhote!, was *the creator of the heavens and the earth,+ whichindicates that he believed in od alone.

Dther cruel !haraohs ascended the throne after A"enhote!. They setabout s!reading their traditional !olytheistic religion once again, and didall in their !ower to return to the !ast. A century or so later, /a"eses &&ca"e to the throne, who would enoy the longest reign in the history ofEgy!t. According to a great "any historians, it was /a"eses whoo!!ressed the Children of &srael and struggled against the ro!het usa.

The Ancient Egy!tians refused to give u! their !agan beliefs because oftheir blind fanaticis". essengers had co"e to warn the" to believe inone god, but the !eo!le of haraoh had always returned to their oldbeliefs. Eventually, od sent the ro!het usa as #is "essenger, at a

ti"e when the Children of &srael had been enslaved. The ro!het usawas charged with both calling the Egy!tians to the true religion and withguiding the" to the true !ath by freeing the" fro" slavery.

-e re!ite to &o' with tr'th so+e news of M'sa and Pharaohfor eole who belie)e$ Pharaoh e/alted hi+self arrogantl& inthe land and di)ided its eole into !a+s4 oressing onegro' of the+ b& sla'ghtering their sons and letting their

wo+en li)e$ He was one of the !orr'ters$ -e desired to show*indness to those who were oressed in the land and to +a*ethe+ leaders and +a*e the+ inheritors and establish the+


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level as everyone else. :urther"ore, if he freed the Children of &srael hewould lose so"e i"!ortant "an!ower.

:or all these reasons then, haraoh refused to listen to what the ro!hetusa told hi". #e accused the !ro!het and his brother #arun of trying to

disturb the established order and !ortrayed the" as cri"inals.

7eading "e"bers of the !eo!le of haraoh also refused to obey thero!het usa and #arun. They refused to abide by the religion that hadbeen revealed to the". They had no intention of abandoning the religionof their ancestors.

At that !oint, od visited a nu"ber of disasters on their heads.

haraoh and those close to hi" were so fanatically devoted to their!olytheistic syste" and !agan beliefs, in other words *the religion oftheir ancestors,+ that they were totally unwilling to give it u!. @ot eventhe "iracles !erfor"ed by the ro!het usa could turn the" fro" theirsu!erstitions. They o!enly stated the fact. According to Sura J, verse 1F4;

The& said4 %No +atter what *ind of Sign &o' bring 's tobewit!h 's4 we will not belie)e in &o'$,

&n the face of that obstinacy, od visited a nu"ber of disasters on the" sothey could have a taste of suHering while still in this world. The 'rst ofthese was drought and scarcity of cro!s.

-e sei@ed Pharaoh(s eole with &ears of dro'ght and s!ar!it&of fr'its so that hoef'll& the& wo'ld a& heed$ 23'r(an4 9"75:

The Egy!tians had based their agricultural syste" on the @ile, for whichreason changes in natural conditions did not aHect the". #owever thearrogance of haraoh and his close circles towards od and their refusalto recognize #is !ro!het led to a totally une$!ected disaster beingin9icted on the". &n all !robability, water levels in the /iver @ile dro!!edenor"ously for various reasons, and the irrigation canals fro" the river

were unable to carry enough water to the 'elds. E$tre"e heat led tocro!s drying u!. &n this way, haraoh and his !ro"inent followersencountered a disaster ste""ing fro" a "ost une$!ected source>the/iver @ile itself. Sura =F, verse


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-es!ite all these things that had ha!!ened to the", haraoh and his!eo!le still refused to ta(e the advice given to the" and turn to od. &nother words, they re"ained '$ed in their arrogance.

5et that would not last longK8

Since haraoh still refused to acce!t the "ight of od, des!ite everythingthat had ha!!ened, od told the ro!het usa to lead the Children of&srael out of Egy!t. They obeyed the ro!het usa and set out with hi"to leave Egy!t. But haraoh could not acce!t their de!arture without his!er"ission. #e therefore gathered his ar"y together and set out to followthe Children of &srael.

haraoh and his ar"y caught u! with the Children of &srael ust as theyreached the sea. 6hen the Children of &srael saw this, so"e of the"began to rise u! against the ro!het usa. According to the DldTesta"ent, they said, *why did you ta(e us away fro" our ho"eland,there we were slaves but we could lead our lives, now we will die.+ TheQuran describes that wea(ness of theirs in these words;

And when the two hosts !a+e into sight of one another M'sa(s!o+anions said4 %-e will s'rel& be o)erta*en, 23'r(an4 =?"?7:

According to Sura 42, verse 24, the ro!het usa reassured those !eo!le

who were afraid they would be reca!tured, saying,

Ne)er M& Lord is with +e and He will g'ide +e$

At that !oint od again showed his su!!ort for the ro!het usa. 6hatha!!ened ne$t is described in the Quran;

So -e re)ealed to M'sa4 %Stri*e the sea with &o'r staC$, Andit slit in two4 ea!h art li*e a towering !liC$ And -e bro'ghtthe others right ' to it$ -e res!'ed M'sa and all those who

were with hi+$ Then -e drowned the rest$ There is !ertainl& aSign in that &et +ost of the+ do not belie)e$ Tr'l& &o'r Lord isthe Al+ight&4 the Most Mer!if'l$ 23'r(an4 =?" ?50?>:

As haraoh and his "en began to enter the sea, od "iraculously closedthe waters over their heads. The Quran states that as haraoh realizedthat he was about to die he stated that he believed in od;

-hen he was on the oint of drowning4 he Pharaoh said4 %Ibelie)e that there is no god b't Hi+ in who+ the tribe ofIsrael belie)e$ I a+ one of the M'sli+s$, 23'r(an4 7" G:


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5et haraoh and his ar"y were not saved fro" drowning. This fact isre!orted in the verses thus;

-hat4 now -hen re)io'sl& &o' rebelled and were one of the!orr'ters1 Toda& we will reser)e &o'r bod& so &o' !an be a

Sign for eole who !o+e after &o'$ S'rel& +an& eole areheedless of O'r Signs$ 23'r(an4 7" G70G=:

So od e$acted retribution fro" the" and drowned the" in the sea,because they reected #is signs and failed to ta(e warning fro" the".

:ollowing haraohs violent death, the !eo!le of &srael set out for the land!ro"ised the" by od;

And -e be'eathed to the eole who had been oressed theeastern+ost art of the land -e had blessed4 and its

western+ost art as well$ The +ost e/!ellent -ord of &o'rLord was f'l

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