Raehaneh Tork Michele Rivera English 251 Compare and Contrast Flood in Genesis vs Flood in The Epic of Gilgamesh A major flood was a significant event in both The Epic of Gilgamesh and Genesis in the Bible. Both floods occurred with the intention of wiping out the human race which gives this flood a symbolic meaning of the rebirth of the human race and establishes the mighty power of God. The flood that occurred in both stories have plenty of similarities but also share differences in the stories intentions of the flood. Both the flood in Epic of Gilgamesh and Genesis’s outcome was to wipe out the human race under similar conditions which was due to the observation of a higher power seeing mankind to be a sinful race. A few major …show more content…
During his travels he met a man named Utnapishtim who told Gilgamesh a story about how he has achieved immortality and survived the flood that intended to destroy the earth. The storm went on for “‘Six days and seven nights, came the wind and flood, the storm flattening the land” according to Utnapishtim. Gilgamesh then learns that Utnapishtim was infact the king of the city Shuruppak. One day a set of gods named Anu, Enil, Ninerta, Ea and Ennugi came to the conclusion that they needed a flood to destroy the city due to the amount of noise that was made by the human race which was highly disturbing to the Gods. Due to the fact that this Epic talks multiple gods, its considered to be a polytheistic world. Later, Ea tells Utnapishtim to build a boat and to bring seeds of every individual species and his …show more content…
The story of Noahs Ark initiated when God observed sin and evil ways of living from man kind and wanted to wipe out the human race and said "I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth. . . " (Gen. 6:7). Personally, this appears to be a more rational reason to “Wipe out man kind” opposed to Gods being irritated by noise.Fortunately a man named Noah stood out to God since Noah was a pure follower. In this case, God decided to put faith into Noah by instructing him to build an ark and to bring his family and two of each animal onto the ark to preserve the life of the earth and just get rid of man kind. The unity of time was not explicitly inscribed into the bible but from the bible it is known that Noah was 500 years old when he had his three children Shem, Japheth and Ham (Genesis 5:32) and Noah was around 600 years old when he completed the Ark and went in with his family, which brings the unity of time to build this ark to be around 100
It contains useful comparisons and historical data to help support his analysis. The author considers the story to hold very value for Christians. It concerns the typical myths that were tied to pagan people. Despite that theory, there have been many Christians who have studied the afterlife and creation in the epic. He suggests an interesting thought when he starts to explain the story. The author hints that maybe the main character, Gilgamesh, was a historical figure. The base analysis for his line of thought is the story of the flood found in the bible. After looking at the lengths of time of each story, he considers it to not be a problem. To provide some evidence, the author shows a chart of a series of questions about each flood and compares the two. The most striking comparison in the chart was the command to build a boat; "O man of Shuruppak, son of Ubar-Tutu, tear down thy house, build a ship; abandon wealth, seek after life; scorn possessions, save thy life. Bring up the seed of all kinds of living things into the ship which thou shalt build. Let its dimensions be well measured."17 The text from the quote can almost match what the bible said. In both stories the person was commanded to build a boat because a flood is coming due to man’s sins or man’s wickedness. In the conclusion of the article, the author says a bold statement; “the widespread nature of flood traditions throughout the entire human race is exce...
Perhaps the most popular comparison with Noah's Flood is that of an ancient Babylonian story of a similar flood. A quick look at the text does show some key similarities between them however there are also some pointed differences. I will show you both and let you decide whether there is or is not a connection.
Gilgamesh later endeavors to find Ut-Napishtim hoping to gain the knowledge of immortality for himself — but fails . Genesis says: “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them .” The Epic of Gilgamesh and Genesis both have a God or Gods who are upset with their human creations and elect to kill them all by flooding. Both cultures must have experienced a huge flood and made nearly identical stories about that event, or one of the storytellers is appropriating the story.
The theme in Gilgamesh, Genesis and Sur 11 are comparably the same in that the people in each story were with sin and wickedness. In all three literatures, the people in the beginning were mean and sinful. The people in the Epic of Gilgamesh were evil and when Gilgamesh came to power he did not known what to since it was his first time beinging king. So, he would rule in a stern way to keep the people from sin. On Genesis God wanted to flood the Earth from the people who were sinful. God asked Noah to build an ark and to take his family and two of each animal.
The Sumero-Babylonian version of the epic of Gilgamesh, after two and a half millennia of dormancy, was resurrected by British archaeologists in the nineteenth century. Amid the rubble of an Assyrian palace, the twelve clay tablets inscribed the adventures of the first hero of world literature – King Gilgamesh, whose oral folk tales go back to at least 3000 years before Christ (Harris 1). Tablet XI contains the story of the Flood. In this essay let us compare this flood account to the more recent Noah’s Flood account in Genesis of the Old Testament.
...Creation/Flood accounts. It is important also to realize that the majority of this paper has dealt with the similarities and not many of the contrasts of the narrative accounts. Also, while there may be differences, there is no reason to think each is speaking of a different flood, but rather of the same flood, interpreted through each group’s “own theology and worldview” As we enter into our study of the Biblical Genesis account of the flood, this understanding of other literature at the time, helps us make sense of the authorial intent. I think it is clear after looking at the similarities that the author had a theological purpose rather than a scientific one. Many times we interpret this portion of Genesis haphazardly. If we spend a little time to get familiar with critical scholarship , our own hermaneutical method would prove more honest and compelling.
It is at this point in the poem that Gilgamesh becomes quite fearful of the afterlife and begins his search for immortality. He sets out to find Utnapishtim, who was granted eternal life by the gods after the great flood of Mesopotamia. Gilgamesh hopes that Utnapishtim will have the answers he needs to be granted eternal life. After overcoming many hurdles, the tired Gilgamesh finally reaches Utnapishtim. Utnapishtim then tells Gilgamesh the story of the flood, and the reason he was granted immortality. The Gods intended to destroy humankind. Ea, the god of wisdom, informed Utnapishtim about the flood, and encouraged him to build a boat and fill it with his family and the seed of every living creature. Utnapishtim did exactly that and he and his gathered creatures were able to survive the flood. The Gods regretted the damaged they had done and were grateful that Utnapishtim saved so many. For this, he was granted eternal
“Tear down your house, I say, and build a boat… then take up into the boat the seed of all living creatures”(p.146). “The Epic of Gilgamesh” and “Noah and the Flood” are two similar stories about a flood that wiped out all the living creatures on Earth except for a certain group of mankind. These people in the stories communicate with the gods, that going along with their theology if there is one or more gods, and they both survive the flood. Regardless of the differences of communication, theology, and the flood from “The Epic of Gilgamesh” and “Noah and the Flood” they have the same storyline with different twists.
God warned Noah to build a boat. God was going to flood the world because of global man’s wickedness. “^5 The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the Earth, and every inclination of the
In Atrahasis’ version of the flood, Enki, the god who loved mankind and by telling Atrahasis about the flood went against the other gods commands Atrahasis to “The boat that you build… Roof it like the Apsu so that the sun cannot see inside it! Make upper decks and lower decks.” (Myths from Mesopotamia, Atrahasis, p. 30) The god Enki gives Atrahasis very detailed instructions on building the ark. Similarly, in the Genesis version, God instructs Noah to “Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above; and put the door of the ark in its side; make it with lower, second, and third decks.” (Genesis 6:16, How the Babylonian Flood Became the Story of the Great Deluge in the Genesis, p.19) In both stories, the instructions on building the amphibious vehicle both men are to use escaping the flood greatly resemble each other, specifically in the instructions of building a roof, and even more alike in mentioning to add upper and lower decks. These instructions repeat themselves in both stories and in the same order, suggesting the Babylonian version either impacted the Genesis story, or that both were recorded from the same
The Epic of Gilgamesh records a story of a world-wide flood and pre-dates Genesis. So some claim that this invalidates the Genesis record. But P.J. Wiseman presents an interesting theory in this regard in his book Ancient Records and the Structure of Genesis (New York: Thomas Nelson, 1985).
The flood story that is told in The Epic of Gilgamesh has the same principle as the story of Noah told in the book of Genesis in the Bible, but there are some major differences. In the epic, Utnapishtim is immortal and, although Noah was extremely old when he died, he wasn’t immortal. Utnapishtim was a human, but because he saved mankind, Enlil said, “Hitherto Utnapishtim has been a human, now Utnapishtim and his wife shall become like us gods.” (Gilgamesh 11.206-207) In the Biblical story, God told Noah that he was going to send a flood and asked him specifically to make the ark in order to save mankind. In Genesis 6:13-22, God tells Noah why he’s flooding the earth and exact instructions to build the ark. “13 So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. 14 So make yourself an ark of cypress[a] wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. 15 This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high.[b] 16 Make a roof for it, leaving below the roof an opening one cubit[c] high all arou...
A good number of people know the famous story of the Genesis flood, but do they know how it resembles to the Gilgamesh flood story? It is mind bending how the main stories are so alike. The main theme is the biggest similarity between the two. They also differ greatly in the smaller details in the events that take place. In both stories the number of days for events are different, but the same basic event takes place. Along with many other similarities and differences. The stories are very much the same, but when comparing the details within they are very different.
As human beings, we are designed to belive in something. Although the belief in a higher power or religion is diverse, many theologies share common themes. “The Epic of Gilgamesh” and the Hebrew book of “Genesis” are seemingly polar opposites. Christianity, demonstrated in Genesis, is monotheistic, and the Hebrews base their faith on their relationship with God. On the other hand, Sumerian philosophy, found in Gilgamesh, is polytheistic, and the Sumerian people base their theology on fear. Ancient polytheistic literature forms an archetypical pattern of the mortals trying desperately to please the gods. A mortal’s entire existence rests in the hands of the sometimes childish gods. In spite of this, these two stories
Gods and goddesses reign over the entire world in The Epic of Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh, son of Lugulbanda and Ninsun, rules as king in the city of Uruk he himself built. He also constructs temples for the god Anu and his daughter Ishtar. He travels to the ends of the Earth to find Utnapishtim, the survivor of the flood that was meant to demolish all life. He returns from his travels, and he writes everything down on a tablet. This world Gilgamesh lives in has its similarities and differences of religion compared to modern day; they have people of authority that mortals seem to contest and disagree with for the most part.