4. Historical Model (Ishmael)

In the novels "Ishmael" & "The Story of B", Daniel Quinn gives a very different view of history than the one that is universally taught us in schools & accepted in our culture.

The Agricultural Revolution

Daniel Quinn proposes that the modern environmental crisis has its origins in the agricultural revolution that began about ten thousand years ago.

At that time, humans developed a vision of themselves as the pinnacle of creation--a species for whom the entire earth was intended. salvation depends upon our reclaiming our ability to live in harmony with the natural world.

12,000 Years Old Unexplained Structure in Turkey

This possibly pushes back the date of the invention of agriculture but is in the area north of the fertile crescent, still supporting Quinn's theory. People have also searched for a literal Garden of Eden in this area lending some credence to the story presented in Ishmael.

Göbekli Tepe, is a huge hilltop archeological site (possibly 50 times larger than Stonehenge), erected on the highest point of an elongated mountain ridge some 15 km northeast of the town of Şanlıurfa, in southeastern Turkey and 500 miles away from Istanbul, Turkey. It is the most astonishing archaeological discovery in modern times and also thought to be the oldest advanced civilization on Earth.

Recent theories suggest that the 'temples' at Gobekli Tepe were created by hunter gatherer groups (thousands of bones of wild game have been found in the oldest structures) and seem to be the oldest known demonstration of an organised religion. This is still contentious, but it would seem that groups of hunter gatherers created this site for a religious, mythical purpose, galvanising these previous disparate nomadic bands into forming larger communities. It is very possible that the need for more food, and a surplus of food led to the 'invention' of agriculture. Interestingly, all the modern strains of wheat can be traced back to wild Einkorn wheat which grew close enough to Gobekli Tepe to support this theory. Other theories suggest that the brains behind these constructions and religion were an elite group of hunter-gatherers who may have been the fore-runners of our taker culture. This then reverses the idea that agriculture came before organised religion, and was in fact a by product of it.