Methuselah

According toBible, Methuselah wasoldest person who ever lived. He reportedly reachedage969 years. AccordingGenesis 5:27:

And alldaysMethuselah were nine hundred sixtynine years:he died. (ASV)

HementionedGenesis assonEnoch andfatherLamech. His name has becomegeneral synonymany living creaturegreat age. A close reading ofdates inOld Testament reveals that Methuselahsaidhave diedyear ofGreat Flood. Accordingfundamentalists who readbiblical accounts literally,reason forlongevityMethusalehother figures infirst several chaptersGenesisthatprotective layer coveredEarthfiltered out harmful ultravioletother rays fromsun. Such scholars maintain thatwater fromGreat Flood came from this layer,that thiswhy itno longer present inatmosphere.

Robert Heinlein wrotescience fiction series about rejuvenation andproject called'Howard family' that was workingextendhuman lifespan beyond 150 years -first volume was called Methuselah's Children.

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• Methuselah isbottle sizechampagne, equivalenteight ordinary bottles.
• Methuselah isname of4700-year-old bristlecone pineCalifornia. It isoldest known living tree.
• A Methuselah isconfigurationConway's GameLife which'alive' forlarge numbergenerations before reverting toquiescent state.
• Methuselah isnickname of12.7-billion-year-old extrasolar planet PSR B1620-26 b. See Methuselah (planet)details.