Comparing the Epic of Gilgamesh and Genesis

There are many various depictions of The Great Flood. The Aborigines have an account of the Flood which includes a woman whose third son was killed and so she speared the “eye” of the sea. The Mayan interpretation presents the theory that the Flood destroyed wooden people that were created by the gods in an attempt to create human beings. Two very well-known clarifications are in The Bible and The Epic of Gilgamesh. Although they are about the tantamount occurrence, there are many differences, including who told who to constitute the ark, what was on the ark, and how elongated the flood persevered.

In The Epic of Gilgamesh and the Old Testament the common theme, the wrath of the gods, connects the two literature works to Mesopotamia civilization. This theme was not only a written impression of that time period but a literal belief felt by the people of Mesopotamia.

Have you ever wondered what it was like to live 4,000 years ago? When people feared monsters, giants and Gods? The flood stories of Gilgamesh and Genesis are very similar and happen at about the same time, which means there could be two different people who wrote about the same thing. Both of the stories tell about a huge flood that almost destroyed humanity but in different ways. In both of the stories they each talk about a boat that survives the flood. They both have a God or Gods who control what happens.

Many cultures have stories of a great flood, and probably the best known story is of Noah's Ark. The next most notable is the Sumerian story of Ut-Napishtim found in the Epic of Gilgamesh. In the ancient Babylonian depiction of the flood story, the god Enlil creates a flood to destroy a noisy mankind that is disturbing his sleep. Gilgamesh is told by another god, Ea, to build an ark (Monack 1). The Epic of Gilgamesh has broadly the same structure and plot as Noah's Ark, suggesting the possibility that the Biblical account has drawn influence from the archaeologically older Sumerian depiction. University professor Alexander Heidel concludes that these accounts are undeniably

‘I now establish My covenant with you and your offspring to come, and with every living thing that is with you. – birds, cattle, and every wild beast as well – all that have come out of the ark, every living thing on earth. I will maintain My covenant with you: never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”(Genesis pg. 174) This is Gods way of letting Noah know that he will never again flood the earth again.

The Hebrew Flood story of Noah and his obligation to preserve man kind after God had punished all living creatures for their inequities parallels The Epic of Gilgamesh in several ways. Even though these two compilations are passed on orally at different times in history the similarities and differences invoke deliberation when these stories are compared. Numerous underlining themes are illustrated throughout each story. Humans are guilty of transgressions and must be punished, God or Gods send a flood as punishment to destroy this evil race, a person is selected by the gods to build a craft that will withstand the flood and allow this person to create a new race. An

In the Epic of Gilgamesh, the stories reminded me of the Holy Bible because many of their stories are similar. For instance, in the Holy Bible, it starts off with “In the beginning...Now, the serpent was more cunning...You shall not eat of every tree of the garden”. Which meant that there was a snake and it had tempted Eve into consuming a plant of the tree which God had specified that they should not eat to where they get banned out of the garden. As to in the Epic, it says “A snake smelled the fragrance...While going back it sloughed off its casing.”. Where the snake had stolen the plant of eternal life from Gilgamesh and consumed it. So, the comparison in between the two stories is the snake was the culprit of good will and luxury.

These two stories have differences throughout the plot, containing both major and minor differences. One major difference between the two was the reason for the flood. In The Epic of Gilgamesh the flood happened because humans were too noisy, while in Genesis 6-9 all men had evil thoughts and therefore had to be killed. Another major difference was who informed the “chosen one” of the upcoming flood. The goddess Ea told Utnapishtim in a dream, and the almighty God himself told Noah one day while going for a walk.

The Gilgamesh Epic is an ancient Mesopotamian story about life and the suffering one must endure while alive. Included in the story, is a tale of a great flood that covered the earth, killing all but a select few of it's inhabitants. This story of a great flood is common to most people, and has effected history in several ways. It's presence in the Gilgamesh Epic has caused many people to search for evidence that a great flood actually happened. It has also caused several other religions and cultures to take the same basic story, claiming it for their own.

Many people know about the flood that happened in the Bible but are not aware that there was a flood before that, in the book Gilgamesh. The flood in the Bible occurred in 400 B.C. which was long after the flood in Gilgamesh which was written before 2000 B.C. There are many similarities and differences between these floods ranging from why the floods occurred to how the floods ended. These differences distinguish the biblical version from the ancient version. The characters in Gilgamesh resemble those of The Bible. This starts at the very beginning of the epic with Enkidu, who resembles Adam in many different ways.

Between the stories “Noah and the Flood” and the Epic Of GIlgamesh, there are a few important similarities. The first main similarity is the fact that the gods from both stories were mad at their people, and decided to exterminate mankind. In the Epic, Enlil’s naps were disturbed by how noisy the people were, whereas God in “Noah and the Flood” stated that his people were becoming wicked and he said he regretted making man on Earth. When the gods decided to wipe their people out, they both appointed one person to hold the fate of the Earth’s people. At this point, the gods realized they had to get all of the animals onto a boat (or ark) to float above the wretched waters that lie below. So, they gave their prophets very specific measurements for their boat/ark. After the flood the two had to know when the flooding and the storm were done, so they both got the idea to

There are many similarities between the flood account in Gilgamesh and the flood in the Bible beginning most importantly with a God choosing a “righteous” man to build a boat or ark to avoid the great flood that will wipe out the wickedness and sin. In both accounts, a couple of each animal species were taken to be on the ark and after the flood birds were used to try to find dry land. Also, the gods or God promised not to destroy humankind again. Another story that is relatable is Harry Potter. In both stories, the hero starts out in his ordinary world for Harry that’s under the stairs and Gilgamesh’s kingdom of Uruk.

Uta-napíshtim told Gilgamesh about the story of the flood that the gods brought down upon the humans. This story was very similar to Noah’s story in The Hebrew Bible. Both Noah and Uta-napíshtim were given a warning of the flood, they were told to build a boat. They loaded both their families and animals to the boat. In “The Epic of Gilgamesh” the flood took seven days while the story of Noah took an entire year.

“The Epic of Gilgamesh” is a very old poem that may even date back to “The Bible”. In both stories there is a flood that takes place and wipes out most of earth’s creation. There is a serpent that is in both stories and plays a big role that leads the characters to their downfall. Although the serpents share many similarities in the stories, they are very different.

Firstly, the reason for the floods in both stories involve the wiping out of mankind. In the story of Genesis, God believed the mankind became lawless. “The Lord saw how great was man’s wickedness on earth, and how every plan devised by his mind was nothing but evil all the time.” (Genesis). Although God created mankind, the actions of them did not please him and he no longer believed they were worthy living on earth any longer, which concluded him creating a massive flood to wipe them out. In comparison, the flood story in Gilgamesh shares a similar storyline. The gods believed that the humans were too loud and wild; resulting to their lack of sleep. “In those days the world teemed, the people multiplied, the world bellowed like a wild bull, and the great god was aroused by the clamour.” (The Story of the Flood). Therefore, the flood was constructed to wipe out humankind so that the gods can