The few hundred years after the flood are crucial years for anyone who believes in a young earth; for in that time populations had to increase and disperse, and the arts and crafts of civilization had to be taken up again, after the destruction of the former order. The author shows that, in fact, the interval need not have been very long. In particular, no more than about 200 years need be allowed between the flood and the beginning of the dynastic period in Egypt.