Humanity existed long before Yahweh

It must be wonderful to be a palaeontologist and find amazing things like this recent site in the Sahara desert. Dated to 9000 years old these human remains offer us a view into a long extinct tribe that habited the area during a period when it was lush and green.

The skeletons are of a mother and two children; we don't know how they died but it was most probably from an infection by some microbe that they had no inkling even existed. We don't know if they died a painful death or if they simply slipped away in their sleep, but it is clear from the posture and arrangement of the bones that these people were strongly linked somehow.

It sends a chill down my spine when I think that there are almost certainly people walking around today in Africa or perhaps elsewhere who are direct ancestors of these individuals or more probably the survivors of whatever plague killed this particular family.

We like to think we are superior, some with our modern gods and others with our scientific advancements but when the soil was examined around these bones the team discovered a very high concentration of pollen grains, strongly suggesting that the bodies were laid on a bed of flowers.

The humanity of this scene jumps out and grabs you by the throat; we are not superior to these people, we ARE these people, we are not special nor are we destined for any more noble a fate, their legacy is our DNA, in a sense it belongs to them, we're just looking after it whilst we briefly dance in the sunshine.