The Eternal Flames of a Fiery Furnace

Among the tales from the ancient world that seem to derive their dramatic power in part from a natural gas seep is the Old Testament story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. It is in the Book of Daniel that the story of these three Jewish men and their encounter with a “fiery furnace” is found. Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego and Daniel were taken captive during the period known as the Babylonian exile when Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian king, besieged Jerusalem. These men had impressed Nebuchadnezzar and so had been promoted to administrative positions despite their having remained faithful to their Jewish beliefs. Nonetheless, when Shadrach, Meshach,

and Abednego refused to bow down in worship of a nine-storey tall golden statue Nebuchadnezzar had ordered built, the king became enraged. Their explanation that they could not worship his idol due to their devotion to their God did nothing to calm Nebuchadnezzar, who ordered them cast into a “fiery furnace,” where he fully expected them to perish. According to the biblical account, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were rewarded for their devotion to God with divine intervention that permitted them to emerge from the furnace unharmed. Their guards, however, fell victim to the force of the heat and flames and died at the mouth of the furnace.

Some scholars believe that the “fiery furnace” of Judeo-Christian scripture was, in fact, Baba Gurgur, a natural gas seep near Kirkuk, Iraq. According to some estimates, the eternal flames at Baba Gurgur have been burning for over 4,000 years, although locals will claim that they have been burning since life began. While we will never know just when these gas seeps first ignited, what is clear is that Baba Gurgur burns atop one of the world’s richest oil fields. In 1927, when the first well was spudded in here, it took ten days to bring the oil that erupted from it under control. Until 1948, it carried the distinction of being the largest oil field in the world.

In the centuries that intervened between

the reign of Nebuchadnezzar and the reign of the oil derricks, Baba Gurgur came to be considered something of a holy place, a place pilgrims, especially women hoping to be blessed with children, would visit in order to make sacrifices and pray for divine favour. To determine whether or not such favour had been granted, these pilgrims would scratch the ground, hoping flames would erupt to signal that their wishes would be granted. Today’s understanding that these flames indicate the almighty power of petroleum rather than divine incandescence has served to elevate the site’s significance, making it a hot-point of contention in the re-shaping of the Middle East.