Adam as the First Man of Civilisation

Thank you so much for sharing with me your thoughts about Adam. (see article, page 67 The Scribe No. 74)

Your ideas make a coherent and convincing story that accords reasonably well with the scientific evidence. If I understood you correctly, it all started about 10,000 years ago, at the end of the last Ice Age, when men migrated from Africa to Aden.

In Aden, they first started to cultivate wild wheat, to herd animals and to live in settlements. This marked a distinct surge in cultural and technological progress that culminated in the building of cities and the invention of writing about 5,000 years ago.

When water became too scarce in Aden to support the growing population, men migrated up the two opposing coasts of the Arabian peninsula. This accords with old traditions picked up by the pre-Islamic Arabs.

Looking back to the heroic age, early men called its leader Adam, and gave him the title of the first man. This was echoed by the Torah when it describes God as breathing the breath of life, or a soul, into Adam.

I hope that is a fair summary.

Lucien Gubbay
London