Jots & Tittles

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Noah Knew the Trick: Sailing Is for the Birds

Columbus didn’t discover America, birds did. Sure, he set sail without so much as a magnetic compass, on a sea most thought would end abruptly somewhere out in the unknown, but he doesn’t deserve all the credit. Who knows what would have happened if Columbus hadn’t observed a flock of birds and followed them to land? In doing so, he used an ancient, well-attested and now much neglected mariner’s trick as old as the Bible itself.

Noah knew the trick. In the Flood account in Genesis 8, Noah releases the dove from the Ark three times. The first time, the dove “can find no resting place” and returns to Noah, signaling that no land is near. A week later, Noah sends the dove out again. This time, the bird returns bearing an olive branch, indicating that the waters are receding. When Noah sets the dove free one week later, it never returns, having found dry land. Noah knows his long boat trip is nearly over.

Ancient Near Eastern Flood accounts record early examples of mariners’ reliance on birds to find land. The practice continued, in one form or another, well into the 19th century. According to a pair of fifth-century Hindu manuscripts, Hindu merchants took birds with them on sea voyages: “When the ship was out of sight of land, they would set the shore-sighting bird free. And it would go to the East and to the South and to the West and to the North, and to the intermediate points, and rise aloft. If on the horizon it caught sight of land, thither would it go, but if not, it would come back to the ship again” (Kevaddha Sutta of Digha).

In the southern hemisphere, the Polynesian sailors who discovered the Hawaiian Islands probably did so by following flocks of migrating birds. Kupe, an explorer from Raiatea in the Society Islands, is credited with using birds to discover New Zealand sometime before 1350. In the northern hemisphere, a Swede named Gardar used the bird technique to rediscover Iceland in 874 (it had been discovered by the Vikings ten years earlier and settled by a few Irish monks).

In the 14th to the 19th centuries, a period of exploration and colonization, the Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, French and British knew the technique well. According to some historians, Columbus altered his course when he saw a flock of birds because he had heard that the Portuguese had discovered the Azores that way. Portuguese explorer Pedro Cabral, ostensibly on his way to India, discovered Brazil in 1500 by following a flock of furobuchos.

The fixed migration routes of birds have aided travelers on land, too. According to legend, Alexander the Great got lost in the desert while searching for an oasis. He was saved when his guide spotted some birds they could follow to water.

So maybe it is time to toss a few crackers out in gratitude to one of the greatest navigational aids in the history of humankind. Considering all they have accomplished, it seems a little credit is, for the birds.

Thanks to Shelley Wachsmann of the Institute of Nautical Archaeology in College Station, Texas, for informing us of James Hornell’s “The Role of Birds in Early Navigation,” Antiquity 20 (1946), pp. 142–146, the basis for this report.

The Good News, and the Bad

A recent study on sex in America may not encourage the faithful. According to an article in February’s American Demographics magazine, those who attend weekly religious services report less sexual activity than those who do not.

Of the denominations, Catholics are slightly more sexually active than Protestants, but both Christian groups are about 20 percent less active than Jews and agnostics. Among Protestants, Baptists are more active than Presbyterians and Lutherans. More than 10,000 respondents have already participated in this ongoing survey, conducted by social scientists at the University of Chicago.

Are American Churches Half Full or Half Empty?

Weekly church attendance is higher in the United States than in most other developed nations. According to a University of Michigan study, 44 percent of Americans attend church once a week (not counting funerals, christenings or baptisms), compared to 27 percent in Great Britain, 21 percent in France and 16 percent in Switzerland.

Ronald F. Inglehart, a researcher at the 023University of Michigan Institute for Social Research and director of the World Values Survey, said these figures debunk the myth that Americans are more materialistic than people from other countries. The study also found that 53 percent of Americans believe religion is very important.

The role of religion in other developed countries has been waning, according to Inglehart. “The collapse of religion in northern European countries is particularly striking,” he observed. “Not only has weekly church attendance plunged, but Latin American countries are now sending missionaries to save the souls of their former colonizers.”

Some extreme examples showing the percentage of weekly church attendance are Norway and Denmark, both 5 percent; Sweden, 4 percent; and Russia, 2 percent; compared to Ireland, 84 percent; the Philippines, 68 percent; and Poland, 55 percent.

Then Val Kilmer Said to Ralph Fiennes, “Let My People Go!”

Move over, Mickey, there’s a new Toon in Toontown: An animated Moses is due to hit the big screens later this year when DreamWorks SKG releases its feature-length cartoon The Prince of Egypt. Highlights will include Pharaoh’s wife (not daughter!) saving baby Moses, the ten plagues, the burning bush, lots of sibling rivalry between Moses and Ramesses, and a talking camel. If you don’t remember all of these events from the Bible, don’t worry, they’re not all there.

The filmmakers invited 360 religious leaders from around the world to serve as consultants, at least one of whom contacted our offices seeking tips on how to portray the parting of the Red Sea.

Val Kilmer will be the voice of Moses and Ralph Fiennes, the voice of Ramesses. Listen also for filmstars Jeff Goldblum, Steve Martin and Michelle Pfeiffer, and for the merry melodies of Stephen Schwartz (of Godspell and Pocahontas fame), certainly one of the few songwriters with Bible and cartoon experience.

Good for the Soul—and the Body

Is there a link between faith and healing? A survey of 300 HMO professionals concludes that more than 94 percent believe the answer is yes: Personal prayer, meditation and other spiritual practices can aid medical treatment and speed up recovery. The survey, conducted by the John Templeton Foundation, reveals that not only do these health care executives believe faith and religious practices can have an impact on well-being, but 74 percent believe that God, or some higher power, sometimes intervenes to improve the medical condition of the seriously ill.

The recent findings are supported by dozens of clinical studies on the relationship between faith and healing. A sampling of the results reveals that open-heart surgery patients are three times more likely to survive if they rely on their religious faith for strength. Religious hip-fracture patients, when discharged 024from the hospital, can walk longer distances than non-religious patients.

Among elderly patients, those who claim no religious affiliation stay in the hospital more than twice as long as religious patients. Invalids visited daily by chaplains have shorter hospital stays and use fewer pain medications. Depressed people with strong religious faith also recover faster, as do anxious patients whose therapy includes prayer. Going to church regularly might not improve your sex life (see “The Good News, and the Bad”), but people who attend religious services at least once a week have stronger immune systems, remain physically active longer in life, and have lower mortality rates (35% lower for women, 25% lower for men) than those who attend less frequently.

More To Be Desired Are They than Gold…

A series of coins with designs based on quotations from the Bible has been issued by the Bank of Israel. The first two issues feature King Solomon’s judgment and Miriam. The latest issue (shown above) features a lion on one side and pomegranates on the other. It takes its imagery from Song of Songs 4:3, 8: “Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon; your mouth is lovely. Your temples behind your veil are like the halves of a pomegranate…Come with me from Lebanon, my bride…Descend from the crest of Amana, from the top of Senir, the summit of Hermon, from the lions’ dens and the mountain haunts of the leopards.” The lion symbolizes the tribe of Judah, and the pomegranate represents the fecundity of the land.

Only 1,500 of the two lion and pomegranate coins, of two different weights, will be minted in gold; they cost $225 and $110. The bank will also mint 3,500 silver coins, again of two different weights, costing $42 and $25. (To order, call toll-free 1-888-421-1866.)

Deion Sanders Scores One for Christianity (and Zondervan)

Dallas Cowboy cornerback Deion Sanders used to give away watches when he made a touchdown on a punt return. Last fall, when he ran 83 yards to score a touchdown during a game against the Chicago Bears, Sanders changed that practice. He sent his teammates, coaches, agents, friends and family NIV Quest Study Bibles instead. (Zondervan Publishing House donated the Bibles.) Says Sanders, who converted to Christianity last summer: “I have learned that in anything you attempt to do in life, it is important that you are equipped with the necessary tools.”

Noah Knew the Trick: Sailing Is for the Birds