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Longevity myths are cultural traditions and lore about exceptional, improbable, or impossible human longevity, with or without eternal youth. These stories include sincere beliefs of claims of extreme age as well as sincerely and insincerely exaggerated claims of extreme age. Each category of belief is based on a different motivation for claiming exceptional age.

Patriarchs

Stories of exaggerated longevity have been around since the earliest civilizations. The first longevity myths were probably the patriarchal/matriarchal claims, which are often an attempt to link humans to the gods or to God due to fuller life. In many cases, the ages of ancestors were exaggerated, in order to extend a genealogy further back into the past and bring it closer to the creation of the world, or the dawn of time.

The early Sumerian kings, Biblical patriarchs and other Biblical personalities, and other characters in folklore are given extreme ages that exhibit a decrease over time. Demographic study of modern human longevity gives odds of trillions to one against humans today reaching 130. Both scientific studies and longevity myths indicate that the nature of human biology was significantly different in the ancient past: scientific studies claim human life expectancy has increased overall since the Stone Age but do not rule out much older human lifeforms, while longevity myths imply that life expectancy has decreased within the historical period.

Sumerian

Extreme ages were typical in Sumerian genealogies; age claims were often rounded to the nearest 3,600 years. Documenting groups of people who had lived for hundreds of years was common in Sumer as well as the Indus Valley.

• Three kings are recorded as having reigned 72,000 years each.
• The Sumerian King List assigns 43,200 years to the reign of En-men-lu-ana, and 36,000 years each to those of Alalngar and Dumuzid.

Template:Biblical longevity

Biblical

The Biblical upper limit of longevity has been categorized by Witness Lee as having four successive plateaus of 1,000, 500, 250, and finally 120 years. Biblical figures may have exceeded these plateaus occasionally (such as in the Septuagint); in recent history, so did Jeanne Calment of France, who was 122 in 1997 and was the only modern person documented beyond scientific doubt to have exceeded 120 years.

In the narrative of Noah's flood, God states that humans would not be permitted to live more than 120 years (Genesis 6:3). This was originally taken as designating the fourth upper limit. Reformers John Calvin and Martin Luther first promoted the alternative explanation that 120 years referred to the amount of time left before the flood.

With the advent of modern accountable record-keeping, age claims fell to modern levels sometime after the death of Moses. The lifespans of kings from the eleventh to sixth centuries B.C. range normally from 30s to 70s, and people claimed as "old" after Moses have modern lifespans, such as Eli (98), Anna (84+), and Barzillai (80+).

• Methuselah, the oldest patriarch, had the age of 969 (Genesis 5:27), or 720 in the Samaritan Pentateuch. His name having been interpreted as "when he dies, it will be sent", with his year of death being the year of the flood, is taken as having prophetic character.
• Noah, with the age of 950, is the oldest patriarch in the Samaritan Pentateuch.
• Adam, the first man, was assigned the age of 930. Allegorists take this as representing a perfected life of 1,000 years, but cut short by 70 years, which is then given as the average longevity of man.
• Cainan, in a textual variation, appears in the Septuagint Greek version of the second patriarch list, and in the New Testament book of Luke, but not in the Masoretic Hebrew text.
• Enoch had the age of 365 and was then reportedly taken bodily into heaven. This being the number of days in a year is interpreted by allegorists as indicating his having lived "a full life".

Interpretations

Biblical apologists that assert literal translation give explanations for the advanced ages of the early patriarchs. In this view, first, man was originally to have everlasting life, but as sin was introduced into the world by Adam and Eve, its influence became greater with each generation and God progressively shortened man's life; "four falls of mankind" (according to Witness Lee) correspond to four observable plateaus in longevity upper limits. Second, before Noah's flood, a "firmament" over the earth (Genesis 1:6–8) could have greatly contributed to man's advanced age. Third, biological DNA damage may cause genetically accelerated aging; experimentation with lengthening telomeres on worms has yielded increased worm life spans by about 20% and this may slow aging at the cost of increasing cancer vulnerability.

Some literary critics explain these extreme ages as ancient mistranslations that converted the word "month" to "year", mistaking lunar cycles for solar ones. This would turn an age of 969 "years" into a more reasonable 969 lunar months, or 78½ years of the Metonic cycle; but for consistency, the ages of the first nine patriarchs at fatherhood, ranging from 62 to 230 years in the manuscripts, would then be transformed doubtfully into the range of 5 to 18½ years.

Other literary critics suggested that "years" was translated correctly but the numbers were mistranslated.

Others believe that some of the numbers have a symbolic meaning, such as 930 (1,000 less 70), and 365 (the days in a year).

Still others say that the first list, of only 10 names for 1,656 years, may contain generational gaps, which would have been represented by the lengthy lifetimes attributed to the patriarchs.

Japanese

Age exaggeration tends to be greater in the earliest, least documented periods in many cultures. The early emperors of Japan often ruled for more than a century, according to tradition.

This form of reduced patriarchal or nationalist longevity myth inflated the ages of emperors, resulting in the traditional dating of Japanese history to 660 BC.

• Emperor Jimmu (traditionally, 13 February 711 BCE – 11 March 585 BCE) lived 126 years, 27 days, on the proleptic Julian and Gregorian calendars, but the form of his name dates from some centuries later than his traditional lifespan.

Chinese

The early emperors of China often ruled for more than a century, according to tradition. Lucian also wrote about the "Seres" (a Chinese people), claiming they lived for 300 years.

Korean

• Taejo of Goguryeo (47? – 165) is generally accepted as having reigned in Korea for 93 years beginning at age 7. After his retirement, the Samguk Sagi and Samguk Yusa give his age at death as 118.

Religious

In some religious traditions there are claims that, if one follows a certain philosophy or practice, one can become immortal or at least live to an extreme age. Some Taoists claimed to have lived to over 200 years; these claims were related to Taoist practice. Swami Bua claims to be a different age each time he is interviewed, but generally claims to have been born around 1889 (age approximately 120).

Lacking actual evidence, such claims seem intended merely to imply meditation leads to extreme longevity. Scientific evidence shows some life expectancy benefit from meditation, spiritualism, and faith, but measurable longevity tends to fall within the normal span; science also shows that human life expectancy has increased lately, but there are no studies proving this general increase is linked to religion, philosophy, practice, meditation, etc.

• Saint Kentigern, patron saint of Glasgow in Britain in the Middle Ages, died shortly after 600 at the alleged age of 185. Today his age is given as 85 rather than 185.
• Saint Servatius, bishop of Tongeren in continental Europe, was consecrated at the alleged age of 297, and is said to have lived for 375 years. This claim is based on attributing him as present during the life of Christ.
• Saint Shenouda the Archimandrite, a Coptic saint, is said to have lived 348-466 AD, reaching 118 years.

Alchemists

Fountain of Youth myths describe some natural source, potion, or other secret that provides healing and particularly longevity and youthful health (eternal youth). The Fountain of Youth reputedly restores the youth of anyone who drinks of its waters. Unlike stories rooted in patriarchal, ancient, and communal beliefs, Fountain of Youth myths are anchored in individual wishes for longer and healthier lives.

The New Testament, following older Jewish tradition, attributes healing to the Pool of Bethesda when the waters are "stirred" by an angel. Herodotus attributes exceptional longevity to a fountain in the land of the Ethiopians. The lore of the Alexander Romance and of Al-Khidr describes such a fountain, and stories about the philosopher's stone, universal panaceas, and the elixir of life are widespread.

The more recent Fountain of Youth tradition traces from medieval and Renaissance times, and seems to follow popular fears after the Black Death, which began in the 1340s. The idea that humans could transform their own substance using techniques such as alchemy became popular during the 15th and 16th centuries. Consequently, Spanish conquistadors, already searching for storied cities of gold, added the idea of finding a "Fountain of Youth". Juan Ponce de León explored Florida in 1513 in hopes of finding such a supernatural source.

The desire to avoid death was exploited by charlatans and snake oil salesmen who sold potions that promised longevity. It was common to locate a very old person and then to claim that person as an example of successful use of the potion.

In August 2006, popular American magician David Copperfield promoted waters he had discovered at what he called a true Fountain of Youth, amid a cluster of four small islands in the Exuma chain of the Bahamas, which he had purchased for roughly $50 million.

Village elders

The village elder myth reflects a preliterate societal respect for aging, patriarchy, etc., that leads to exceptional age claims intended to venerate the oldest person in the village.

This is probably a reduced version of the patriarchal myth, which attributes longevity to a former era. Village elder stories suggest an understanding that persons in the immediate era do not generally attain the ages of the ancients, but that an exceptional claim on behalf of one village elder is culturally appropriate.

The stories originally centered on the tribal chieftain, but in locations of distributed societal power, an elderly woman began to be substituted as the central figure. The village elder represented a source of pride and of oral tradition, and a person to commemorate. Often the elder claims a link to a famous historical figure or era, to give an authority to oral tradition that is entirely similar to that of pseudepigraphy.

The ages claimed tend to be limited by credibility. Most such claims are for ages of less than 200 years old, with the majority in the range of 140 to 160. These popular tales continue to exist even today in places such as Bangladesh.

Rome

While Rome was a literate society for the upper class, many of the poorer and remote regions of the empire were not. Even in times when written records came into existence for the upper class in Ancient Rome, reports from the countryside continued the same pattern of overestimation of age. The ancient Greek author Lucian is the presumed author of Macrobii (long-livers), a work devoted to longevity. Most of the examples Lucian gives are what would be regarded as normal long lifespans (80-100 years); but Lucian adds that

• Tiresias, the blind seer of Thebes, was alive for 600 years.
• Nestor lived three centuries.

Epimenides of Crete (7th, 6th centuries B.C.) is said to have lived 154, 157 or 290 years.

Nationalists

An extension and adaptation of the fountain of youth concept is the idea that a particular place, rather than a substance, carries what is needed to attain extreme age, and that a person seeking extreme longevity needs to move to a special district (one example is Goust). This story differs from the Fountain of Youth in that it focuses on an entire village, a mountain region, or a particular nation or national treasure. Such a location can also be called a Shangri-La, named after a mountain area in 20th-century fiction that contained an entire village of long-lived (or eternally lived) people.

Ascribing unique longevity to a particular "village of centenarians" is common across many cultures. Nationalist pride often contributes to motivate such tradition. The nationalist outgrowth idea became widespread in the rise of nationalism in the 20th century. As popular ideas became focused on one nation versus another, extreme age claims became a source of national pride. Many populations have reputations of producing unusual number of individuals with exceptionally high ages.

Other longevity myths are race-based or family-based, proposing unproven beliefs that a certain race or tribe tends to live longer than others. Many people tend naturally to believe that their own family members live a very long time.

America

Many people in the 1950s falsely claimed to be Confederate veterans, in a myth of Southern longevity; in 1973 a woman claimed to be a Confederate widow at 117.

In another wave of American longevity claims, Americans were faced with 1960s Soviet claims that the Soviet communist "lifestyle" resulted in extreme longevity, and that Shirali Muslimov was in his 160s. The 1970 U.S. census listed 106,000 people claiming to be 100 years old or older, some over 130. Longevity myths fell somewhat out of vogue in the later 1970s, when both American and Soviet experts came forward to debunk both sides.

• Walter Williams claimed to be a Confederate soldier aged 117 in 1959; research that year by New York Times reporter Lowell K. Bridwell indicated that Williams was then really 105.
• Sylvester Magee, allegedly 126, and Charlie Smith, allegedly 125, were featured by Time Magazine in 1967. Both claims may have been put forth by publicity-seeking individuals, while the national media chose to elevate these unsubstantiated claims in the context of Cold War ideology. Smith claimed an 1842 birth and died in 1979, but his marriage certificate indicated he lived only to 105, and the 1900 census indicated he lived only to 100.

Brazil

RankBrasil, a Brazilian competitor of Guinness, has made several unsubstantiated claims.

• Maria do Carmo Geronimo (5 March 1871? - 14 July 2000), 129 years, 101 days.
• Maria Olivia da Silva (28 February 1880? - ), 144 years, 330 days.
• Ana Martinha da Silva (27 August 1880? - 27 July 2004), 123 years, 337 days.
• Rosalina Francisca da Silva (6 August 1886? - ), 138 years, 170 days.
• Joana Ribeiro da Silva (25 May 1888? - ), 136 years, 243 days.

China

• Chen Jun (陈俊) was said to have lived for 443 years in Yongtai county, Fujian province.
• A wire story erroneously announced in 1933 that China's Li Ching-Yuen (李青云, Li Qing Yun), born in 1680, had died at age 256, attributing longevity to his genealogy. (If the dates were correct, Li would have been 252 or 253; Li himself claimed to be born in 1734, age 199.)
• Still within the context of Marxist ideology but perhaps motivated more by nationalism, Du Pinhua of the People's Republic of China (22 April 1886? – 11 December 2006) was attributed a lifespan of 120 years, 233 days, perhaps to counter the relatively verified supercentenary claims of Japan's Kamato Hongo.

Cuba

In Cuba, local nationalism fueled unverified claims quite recently, such that the world's oldest man was claimed to be Benito Martínez. Recently, the fountain of youth myth was also invoked to explain Cuba's longevity.

Ecuador

A National Geographic article in 1973 treated with respect some claims that have subsequently been disproven, including the high mountain valley of Vilcabamba, Ecuador, where locals had claimed ancestors' baptismal records as their own.

England

English claims in prior centuries include:

• Thomas Carn (1381?-1588?), allegedly 207.
• Henry Jenkins, allegedly 169, apparently concocted to support testimony in a court case about events a century before.
• Thomas Parr (1483?-1635), allegedly 152. According to P. Lüth, the results of Parr's autopsy by William Harvey suggest that Parr was probably under 70 years of age. It is possible that Parr's records were confused with those of his grandfather.
• Katherine Fitzgerald (1464?-1604), allegedly 140, with significant evidence of being at least centenarian.

Italy

In Roman times, Pliny wrote about longevity records from the census carried out in 74 AD under Vespasian. In one region of Italy many people allegedly lived past 100; four were said to be 130, others even older.

Japan

The Okinawa diet has some reputation of linkage to exceptionally high ages.

Pakistan

The 1973 National Geographic article on longevity also reported, as a very aged people, the Burusho or Hunza people in the Hunza Valley of the mountains of Pakistan, without any documentary evidence being cited. Apparent age "heaping" suggested unreliability, because significantly often, the oldest ages ended in 0 or 5, indicating the ages were guesses, not real measurements.

Soviet

The Caucasus mountain region of Azerbaijan did not merely claim to have a 168-year-old; it also claimed hundreds of people aged over 120. Instead of one village elder, the entire village had become a "village of centenarians." Abkhazia is also an example.

The Caucasus was the subject of extreme claims for decades, inspired by Stalin's desire to believe that he would live a very long time. The fountain of youth concept was invoked by Dannon, which featured elderly yoghurt eaters of the Caucasus in its advertising. Longevity myths fell somewhat out of vogue in the later 1970s, when both American and Soviet experts came forward to debunk both sides.

• Shirali Muslimov (26 March 1805? – 4 September 1973) was allegedly aged 168 years, 162 days, based solely on a passport. National Geographic carried but recanted the claim.
• In 2003, health officials in Chechnya declared that Zabani Khakimova was at least 124 years old; she died later in 2003.
• In 2004, The Moscow (Russia) Times reported that 122-year-old Pasikhat Dzhukalayeva, also of Chechnya, claimed to have been born in 1881, without a birthdate.

Exhibitors

In the "P. T. Barnum" longevity stories, one claims to be a great age to attract attention to oneself and/or to obtain money. Barnum himself exhibited Joice Heth as 161; her autopsy indicated she was under 80. The exhibitionist tradition was carried on by Robert L. Ripley, who regularly reported supercentenarian claims in Ripley's Believe It or Not!, usually citing his own reputation as a fact-checker to claim reliability. Ripley reported that:

• Yaupa (1769?-1899) of Futuna continued to work his farm at the age of 130.
• Horoz Ali of Cyprus lived to 120.
• Francisco Huppazoli (1587-1702) of Italy lived 114 years and fathered 4 children after age 98.

Despite the evidence of the extremes of verified modern longevity, as established by Guinness and the Gerontology Research Group, stories in reliable sources still surface regularly, repeating longevity myths stating that these limits have been exceeded, even at extremely unlikely odds.

The odd wire correspondent looking for a captivating filler reports extreme undocumented claims to this day: in early 2000, a Nepalese man claimed to have been born in 1832, citing as evidence a card issued in 1988. In December 2003, a Chinese news service claimed incorrectly that Guinness had recognized a woman in Saudi Arabia as being 131. A claim from South America was for Javier Pereira (said to have been determined to be 167 years old by a dentist looking at his teeth).

See also

• Hayflick limit
• Human nature
• Methuselah's age
• William Thoms
• Elixir of life

References

1. Lee, Witness (1987). Life-Study of Genesis. Vol. II. pp. 227, 287, 361, 481.
2. "The Cultural Dictionary of the Bible", John J. Pilch, Liturgical Press, 1999, p. 144-146
3. "The Waters Above the Firmament: Or The Earth's Annular System", Isaac Newton Vail, Ferris and Leach, 1902, p. 97.
4. Joeng et al., 2004.
5. Weinstein and Ciszek, 2002.
6. "Making Sense of the Numbers of Genesis", Carol A. Hill, Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith, volume 55, 4 December 2003, p. 239.
7. Morris, Henry M. (1976). The Genesis Record: A Scientific and Devotional Commentary on the Book of Beginnings. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House. p. 159. Such an interpretation would have made Enoch only five years old when his son was born!
8. Noah's Ark and the Ziusudra Epic, chapter 7, R. M. Best, 1999.
9. Zondervan NIV Study Bible notes on Genesis 5:5. 2002.
10. Long lived populations: Extreme old age. J Am Geriatr Soc 30:485-87
11. "The Anti-Aging Plan: Strategies and Recipes for Extending Your Healthy Years" by Roy Walford (page 27)
13. ^ Alexander Leaf, (Jan. 1973). "Search for the Oldest People". National Geographic, pp. 93-118.
14. P. Lüth “Geschichte der Geriatrie” (1965), S. 153 + 154
15. Thomas Parr NNDb.com Retrieved on: 10 January 2008
17. Ripley Enterprises, Inc. (September 1969). Ripley's Believe It or Not! 15th Series. New York City: Pocket Books. p. 112. The Old Man of the Sea / Yaupa / a native of Futuna, one of the New Hebrides Islands / regularly worked his own farm at the age of 130 / He died in 1899 of measles — a children's disease
18. Ripley Enterprises, Inc. (September 1969). Ripley's Believe It or Not! 15th Series. New York City: Pocket Books. p. 84. Horoz Ali the last Turkish gatekeeper of Nicosia, Cyprus, lived to the age of 120
19. Ripley Enterprises, Inc. (September 1969). Ripley's Believe It or Not! 15th Series. New York City: Pocket Books. p. 56. Francisco Huppazoli (1587-1702) of Casale, Italy, lived 114 years without a day's illness and had 4 children by his 5th wife — whom he married at the age of 98

External links

• Boia, Lucian. Forever Young: A Cultural History of Longevity from Antiquity to the Present (2004). ISBN 1861891547
• Thoms, William J. The Longevity of Man. Its Facts and Its Fictions. With a prefatory letter to Prof. Owen, C.B., F.R.S. on the limits and frequency of exceptional cases. London: F. Norgate, 1879.
• Validation of Exceptional Longevity
• http://www.demogr.mpg.de/
• http://www.grg.org/Adams/G.HTM
• http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,908667-1,00.html

• Articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases from May 2009
• Longevity myths
• Demography
• Folklore