Young-earth "proof" #28: The oldest historical records go back less than 6000 years.
28. What does the age of the oldest known historical records have to do with the age of the earth? If, in fact, they go back 6000 years, what of it?
Records couldn’t be kept until writing was invented. Of course, we do have cave art which goes back 20,000-30,000 years, but I guess that doesn’t count!
As long as man lived by hunting and gathering there really wasn’t much need for dissertations and record-keeping. The invention of agriculture, of course, eventually concentrated
humanity into centers that, in turn, gave rise to cities ruled by kings, and the state began to collect taxes. Bureaucrats have a great need for records! Trading between organized states also presented a need for records. As a result, the art of writing evolved. People eventually discovered that writing was good for other things, and written accounts of mythology and the affairs of state developed.
Consequently, historical records entered the scene quite late in man’s existence. How Dr. Hovind gets a young-earth out of that is beyond me!