[Avodah] mabul

[Zev Sero]

On 3/11/2011 1:26 PM, Micha Berger wrote:
> Both R' Eliezer and R' Yehushua both describe the flood (RH 11b) as
> falling through the heaven onto the earth. Rebbe (Pesachim 94b) is
> described as arguing against the ages of Rome when he said the mazalos
> move and the galgal is fixed (which was the Babylonian theory). So there
> were tannaim who didn't buy into Ptolemy.

None of which has to do with the shape of the earth itself.  It's my
contention that the Tana'im, being in EY and knowing of the Greeks'
discoveries, knew that the earth was a globe, and they were probably
also aware of its size, which the Greeks had measured pretty accurately.
They may not have all known or agreed about the precise theory of
galgalim, which was all speculation in any case, whereas the shape and
size of the earth can be proven.  Veharaaya, we now know that they were
all wrong about the galgalim, but right about the earth.

Whereas the amora'im in Bavel hadn't necessarily heard about these
discoveries, and thus we find some who thought the earth was flat and
some who knew it was round.

-- 
Zev Sero        If they use these guns against us once, at that moment
zev at sero.name   the Oslo Accord will be annulled and the IDF will
                 return to all the places that have been given to them.
		                            - Yitzchak Rabin