I sat on the rooftop, talking to my best friend, Tommy. When we hang out, we talk about the universe, the big bang, human evolution, biblical stories and ice creams.
All of a sudden, Tommy asked, “who was the first person on earth?” I said, Adam! He turned towards me in awe. It was like he wasn’t happy with the answer. Like, that cannot be completely true. But his eyes kind of believed what his ears heard.
But was it really Adam? How did the first man on earth survive? What happened to their heirs? It is a daunting question, and I have tried my best to find an answer for Tommy and for all of you.
(PS: I’m making Tommy up, I don’t have a best friend. Like all the shut-ins in the universe, I am completely alone.)
Adam, Eve, & Mankind
I understand that the man did not fall from the sky. But it does not hurt to read what the sky (The Book of Genesis) has to say about it. So, I told Tommy that God was so bored, so one day, he (she/they?) decided to create playthings.
One day God took some clay from a pale blue planet called earth and created the first man called Adam, and placed him in the Garden of Eden. Adam was feeling lonely, so God created a woman to keep him company. They had all the happiness in Eden, but they went out on a little adventure and ate the fruit of knowledge.
Angry with their act of disobedience, God condemned both Adam and Eve to earth. That’s how both Adam and Eve came to this little ( read big) planet called earth. So, the first person on earth was not a single person. They were a couple (did you think everyone’s single like you?)
Adam In Different Religions
Anyways, the myth of Genesys is accepted by Christianity, Islam, and subsequently Judaism. In christianity, Adam was created overnight based on his boredom. However, can Adam actually be a man who belonged to a race which was slowly getting exhausted and later entirely swept away.
According to the Holy Quran, It is believed that Adam lived almost 6000 years ago, however, he was not the first man on earth; instead he was the progenitor of a new race after his whole race degenerated. He then became the precursor of a new time and civilization. He was called khalifah which in Arabic means successor.
It is also believed that he was appointed the first Prophet of God. After listening to this, Tommy was quite frustrated by the different definition of Adam from different religions. “Just tell me one name?”.
“No, it is not necessary that what you believe is the truth, it might be just a part of the faith of many people across the world.” By stating this out loud, I also informed Tommy that Khalifah was given knowledge and advice by God to guide men and become their leader.
There is no concept of instant birth in Islam instead it is God who inspire all development and guide man to act accordingly.
A Long Long Time Ago…
Tommy said, “that is a myth. But who do you think was the first person on earth to evolve?” I said, “like, in the human evolution from the monkeys?” Tommy chuckled, “yes, from the monkeys.”
The First Life On Earth
A long, long time ago (presumably 3.5 billion years), the first life was born underwater when the global continents were still forming. No oxygen was in the air, and these lives were not visible to the naked eyes.
The earliest forms of life are microscopic organisms also called microbes, proof of which has been found on rocks. There was a type of carbon molecule in the lifeform signalling that it is a living thing.
The rocks on which there has been life proof are called stromatolites dating back to almost 3.5 billion years ago. Currently scientists are evaluating the stromatolites which are reefs so that more about the earliest life forms can be identified.
Time moved forward, the earth changed, and so did these unseeable life forms. But, even until 1.8 or 800 million years ago, the largest part of life was a slime (no, not that anime again).
It was the cyanobacteria that set the platform for change and transformation at least 2.4 billion years ago.
Oxygen took form once the cyanobacteria made food from water and energy of the sun thus, becoming the first photo-synthesisers. Leading to a sudden rise in oxygen making the environment more suitable for some while intolerable for others.
The Monkey Lineage
The Homo sapiens are what we call the modern man. Before Homo Sapiens, there were Neanderthal men and the Hominins. The Homo Sapiens are the Hominins that are alive in today’s time.
Also, other ideas suggest that there was no first person on earth. Instead, multiple beings evolved at once.
According to this idea, the homo sapiens separated from the Chimpanzee family. As a result, the evolution happened to not one, but to a group of males and females. And that is how our grandpas, grandmas, me and Tommy came to be, after millions of years of evolution.
It was 55 million years ago that Primates first appeared on earth. According to the records acquired from fossils which were created in the Creataceous Period almost 55 million years ago. It was from the Old World monkeys from North America or Africa that an isolated group drifted to South America.
Tommy Didn’t Know He Was A Homo Sapiens.
“So, the species we belong to is Homo Sapiens?” Tommy Asked. I replied, “you didn’t know?”. Well, we all are Homo Sapiens, so we were the first Homo Sapiens whose skeleton the archaeologists found in Morocco; and guess what, it is 300000 years old, and they did not have an iPhone like you and me.
According to archaeologists and scientists, the first Homo Sapiens lived during the same time as the Neanderthals and the Denisovans. But there are lots of tedious arguments about that.
It Was Old ‘Lucy’, Not Scarlett Johansson
Who was the first person on earth? Some theories suggest that it was Lucy( I’m not talking about that sci-fi movie starring Scarlett Johansson). Lucy was the first Hominin, who split from the rest of the human family, including the Chimpanzee and the Gorilla.
It is unknown who our Great great great ancestor is, but some scientists like to think Australopithecus Afarensis is the proper answer. They walked on two legs and took shape in Ethiopia in late November 1974. One of them was identified as a small bodied and small brain hominin when a skeleton was found nicknamed Lucy.
It is unknown who our Great great great ancestor is, but some scientists like to think Australopithecus Afarensis is the proper answer.
The fossil of Lucy Found in Ethiopia suggests that she, indeed, walked upright and could use tools made of stone like Tommy here. Lucy had hair all over her body when she was alive, 3.18 million years ago.
Lucy was probably the same height as the modern human, and she was probably the first Hominin to split and start the human evolution leading to me, Tommy and the person reading this gibberish.
It Was Vandal Savage
Tommy was now excited. He said, “do you remember that Justice League animated episode?” I asked, which one? He replied, “the one with Vandal Savage.” Sixty-five million years ago, a catastrophic asteroid hit the earth and Dinosaurs and anything that weighed around 25 kilograms died.
Some Chimpanzees who lived far were alive. A bunch of them came to the asteroid, and most of them died due to radiation, except for one Chimpanzee who lived and became Vandal Savage. Vandal Savage was the first human being on earth and the first metahuman. Tommy interrupted, “no, that wasn’t how it happened; the story was different; you made it up.”
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):
Tommy kept annoying the rest since I ruined his Justice League nostalgia. He kept asking me these questions. You know how Tommy can be.
1. When Was The 1st Person On Earth?
I will go with the popular archaeological assumption and say that it was Lucy. Lucy was the first ever Skeleton of the Homo Sapiens dating back to 300000 years.
2. Who Was The First Person To Die On Earth?
If Adam was the first man on earth, it was basically him to die first. You know how men can be; they are less careful and die too young.
3. Who Created Earth?
4.5 billion years ago, after the solar system settled down when the force of gravity pulled dust and swirling gas and formed this blue planet. Or it could also be an old dude with silver hair and a beard like Gandalf in Lord of The Rings.
Homo Sapiens Sapiens!
I was laughing so hard, and Tommy was acting annoyed. It was late at night. I heard some footsteps on the stairs; It was dad. He yelled at me, “who are you talking to?” I said, “no one”. Then I asked him, “Hey dad, who was the first person on earth?” Dad replied, “it was me, your dad; now come downstairs; the dinner is getting cold.”
I followed him downstairs, whispering to myself, “Homo Sapiens Sapiens!”
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