There was an ancient world! That FACT has been established by archaeologists by the artifacts they have dug up from the ground. Sometimes layers of earth and previous structures were turned up fifteen to twenty feet underground. As archaeologists dug yet deeper, they would find entirely different cities of even earlier eras. Was there a “world that then was” of which humanity has known very little about? Let us explore from some ancient manuscripts, then proceed to archaeological finds that verify an ancient “Golden Era” of advanced technology that pales modern discoveries.

The Bible

The Bible is one of the oldest pieces of literature known to man. It is sixty-six books in one. From the beginning of the writers until all sixty-six books were bound together was a period of over 1,500 years. It claims to be inspired by a Great Creator God that smashes the theory of evolution into a billion pieces.
Let us read some of its claims and let archaeology either confirm or deny its accuracy! “For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell [Greek word is tartaros - meaning a place of restraint], and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; and spared not the OLD [or ancient] WORLD, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly” (2 Peter 2: 4-5).
These verses clearly say there was an old or ancient world that was affected by angels that sinned or broke this Creator God’s laws. They somehow influenced humanity to become so evil that God destroyed that ancient world by a great Deluge of water, a flood.
Notice also: “Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep [or died], all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing [or emerging] out of the water and in the water: Whereby THE WORLD THAT THEN WAS, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which ARE NOW, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men” (2 Peter 3: 3-7).
These verses confirm that there was a previous civilization before the flood that was caused to perish. The sifting and churning of water, followed by sedimentary soil and rock formations covered the evidence of this civilizations existence until explorers and archaeologists of the 19th, 20th centuries began to find the evidence. This progression of evidence has continued to be unearthed into the 21st century.
Other scriptures also confirm fallen angels were the major problem before the flood!
“And the angels which keep not their first estate, but left their own habitation, He has reserved in everlasting [age-lasting] chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day” (Jude 6).
Certain angels left their original place in the spirit realm and interfered with humanity – which was a no, no. This happened in the days of Jared found in Genesis 5.
God created mankind with knowledge built into him; otherwise, how would he be able to communicate with God after he was deceived by Satan?
“And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sowed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where are you? And he said, I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. And He said, Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded you that you should not eat? And the man said [he had a vocabulary], The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat [he had reasoning abilities to cast blame off himself]. And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that you have done? And the woman said [a knowledge of communicable language], The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat” (Genesis 3: 7-13).
Our first parents were definitely created with the knowledge and capability of speaking a language fluently. If there was one language spoken by everyone, the acquisition of knowledge would be easier than everyone speaking different languages.
The angels that left their first estate understood God’s technology to a great degree. After all, if God created them, He must have educated them. The results of their interfering in human affairs became devastating for those who live in the world that then was! Something happened that was so devastating that they never recovered and had to be destroyed. What was it?
“And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them. That the sons of God [angels – Job 38: 7] saw the daughters of men that they were fair [beautiful]; and they took them wives of all which they chose. And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. There were GIANTS in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, MEN OF RENOWN” (Genesis 6: 1-4).
Giants were produced as a result of angelic and human women co-habiting. They are the “men of renown” discussed in the Iliad and Odyssey Greek literature. They are described as mythical, but they are based upon a former truth – activities before the flood.
Two other resource materials further shed light on that time period – the world that then was.

Two Other References

Two other resource materials further shed light on that time period – the world that then was. The Book of Jasher is mentioned twice in the Bible as an historical reference book of past events - Joshua 10: 13 and 2 Samuel 1: 18.
Book of Jasher 4: 18: “And their [humanity] judges and rulers [fallen angels] went to the daughters of men and took their wives by force from their husbands according to their choice, and the sons of men in those days took from the cattle of the earth, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and taught the MIXTURE of animals of one species with the other, in order to provoke the Lord; and God saw the whole earth and it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted its ways upon the earth, all men and all animals.” The “fallen angels” taught gene splicing, genetic engineering of animals and plants. They created new species - half horse and half human, etc. They lusted to corrupt everything that God had created. They corrupted the animal, bird, and human genetic line. They were creating monster creatures like the movie “The Isle of Dr. Moreau.”
What happened to the righteous men and women before the flood came to destroy all flesh that had been corrupted? V.20: “And all men who walked in the ways of the Lord died in those days, before the Lord brought the evil [flood] upon man which He had declared, for this was from the Lord, that they should not see the evil which the Lord spoke concerning the sons of men.” God provided a “place of safety” [the grave] from the coming destruction!
When Noah entered the ark, people began to say they had repented and wanted to turn to the Lord. Noah saw through their charade. Jasher 6: 19 told why they had become so evil in part: “And Noah, with a loud voice, answered them from the ark, saying, have you not all rebelled against the Lord, and said that He does not exist?” The Book of Jasher is mentioned twice in the Bible as an historical account.
Book of Enoch 6: 1-2, 6: “And it came to pass when the children of men had multiplied that in those days were born unto them beautiful and comely daughters. And the angels, the children of the heavens, saw and lusted after them, and said to one another: ‘Come, let us choose us wives from among the children of men and BEGET us children.’ V. 6 And they were in all two hundred; who descended in the days of Jared [Genesis 5: 15, 18-20] …”
Book of Enoch 7: 1-6: “And all the others [angels] together with them took unto themselves wives, and each chose for himself one, and they began to go in unto them and to defile [cross-breed] themselves with them, and they taught them charms and enchantments, and cutting of roots, and made them acquainted with plants. And they [human women] became pregnant, and they bare GREAT GIANTS, whose height was three thousand ells [18-20 feet tall]: Who consumed all the acquisitions of men. And when men could no longer sustain them, the giants turned against them and devoured mankind. And they began to sin against birds, and beasts, and reptiles, and fish [by genetic engineering or gene splicing], and to devour one another’s flesh [cannibalism] and drink the blood. Then the earth laid accusation against the lawless ones.” God brought the great Deluge that destroyed the civilization before the flood, especially the GIANTS and other humans with defective genetics caused by angels and humans cross-breeding.

If the Earth Tipped on Its Axis

The earth at one time was warm from one pole to the other. However, when God pronounced He would create a flood to destroy their pre-flood civilization, that was to all change. The earth was surrounded by a vapor canopy high above it. It was designed to filter out harmful cosmic rays from the sun that helped keep their climate perfect. The Hebrew word firmament is #7549-7554 in the Hebrew section of the Strong’s Concordance. It means “an expanse or visible arch of the sky; to pound the earth or expand it by hammering; to overlay with thin sheets of metal [probably hydrogen].” Could it be that God separated the water above from the water below with some thin transparent metal? It was so high that the water in the heavens would more than likely become ice. Before the flood, possibly it did not rain, rather a mist came up from the ground to water the plant life. The Book of Enoch seems to indicate it did rain however. This activity was accomplished on the first day while the waters separating from the ground to form land and sea happened the second day. There are also underground oceans called aquifers. Because of this canopy of protection and the increased pressure of the air, people lived longer, plants and animals grew much larger than today. What would happen if something disturbed both of these reservoirs of water?
The Sumer civilization south of Ur of the Chaldeas had advanced knowledge of the planets and constellations. Archaeological digs have uncovered cuneiform tablets showing the nine planets we recognize plus the sun, moon, and a tenth planet that has an elliptical orbit billions of miles out into space to return between our sun and the earth every 3600 to 4000 years. Could God have used the passing of this planet to cause a gravitational shift from 11 degrees to 23.5 degrees on its axis. This would have caused the torrential rains and broke open the deeps. It would have shattered the canopy surrounding the earth sending projectiles made up of ice into outer space - comets! Of course, this is all speculation based upon serious scientific research.
The worldwide even temperature before the flood was to suddenly change. Evidence of this uniform weather has been unearthed - tropical vegetation in the frozen tundras, woolly mammoths quick frozen with fresh tropical food still in their mouths and stomachs, etc.
Traditions, such as Greek mythology, have described that there were god-like men, giants, before the flood. They and their progenitors, fallen angels, led the world that then was to a superior civilization than ours today. That civilization ceased to exist because of the great Deluge of waters. Egyptian records stated that the reign of the “gods” before the flood was greatly superior to ours with use of miraculous powers. Of course, these “gods” were fallen angels and their off-spring, the giants.
Greek mythology makes sense when we understand what happened in “the world that then was.” Cannot we realize that Noah and his family would have brought over tales of what they witnessed with their own eyes? As the population expanded, word of these tales would be passed on to the next generation - thus Greek mythology about a highly advanced civilization that covered the whole world would logically persist.
The Quiche Indians of Guatemala have a book they claim is sacred to them called the Popol Vuh. It recorded: “The first race of men before the Flood possessed all knowledge; they studied the four quarters of heaven and the round surface of the earth” (Delia Goetz and Sylvanus G. Morley, Popol Vuh). The Book of Enoch stated there were portals where you could go into the heavens. Of course, that canopy was destroyed when the flood occured to allow the large volume of water to fall and will be restored when Christ comes (Acts 3: 18-21).