The spectre of desertification—the spread of desert conditions—hangs over the Old Testament. Here’s the prophet Isaiah, who is believed to have lived around 740-720 BC:
“The city of Babylon… will be like the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah… Only desert creatures, hoot owls and ostriches will live in its ruins.” (Isaiah 13:19-21) “The Nile River will dry up and become parched land. Its streams will stink, Egypt will have no water…” (Isaiah 19:5) “Fortress cities are left like a desert where no one lives. Cattle walk through the ruins, stripping the trees bare.” (Isaiah 27:10)
Stalagmites
Iraqi stalagmites provide evidence of this long-term drought.
A study by Professor Ashish Sinha of California State University reveals climate change and desertification well into the Biblical era. Analysis of stalagmites from Kuna Ba cave in northern Iraq shows that wet conditions were succeeded by a ‘mega-drought’ between about 675-550 BC—the time of the fall of Jerusalem and the Kingdom of Judah.
Scientists analysed the ratio between two oxygen atoms, or isotopes, in the mineral deposits in the stalagmites. Thorium-230 dating established the timeframes of the changing climatic conditions.
Empires
In Saharasia—The 4000 BCE Origins of Child Abuse, Sex Repression, Warfare and Social Violence in the Deserts of the Old World, geographer James DeMeo documents how patriarchy arose in the Middle East, North Africa, Arabia and Central Asia in the period following 4000 BC in response to long-term drought and desertification.
The first patriarchies coalesced into violent empires and satellite states such as Babylon, Assyria, and the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah.
Researchers have suggested that the 675-550 BC mega-drought caused the downfall of the dominant power in the region, the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Arising in 911 BC, it once stretched from the Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf. It was the largest empire in the world at the time. It went into decline in the 7th century BC and ceased to exist after 609 BC.
Jeremiah
This is the period when Jeremiah lived. Knowing that desertification was actually happening in the prophet’s lifetime adds a shrill note to his words as they reach down to us across the centuries:
“How long will the grounds be dry and the pasturelands parched? The birds and animals are dead and gone. And all of this happened because the people are so sinful”. (Jeremiah 12:4) “Idols can’t send rain and showers don’t fall by themselves. Only you control the rain, so we put our trust in you, the Lord our God.” (Jeremiah 14:22)
In the violently competitive world of the biblical era, the kingdoms of Israel and Judah perished. It is difficult at this remove of time to grasp the fear, hatred, and trauma that gripped these societies as they rose and fell in the millennia preceding the advent of Christ.
Their trauma is still with us today—and we cannot reach the New Earth without resolving it.
Photo by Hoyt Roberson on Unsplash
