Compare And Contrast Hebrew And Babylonian Myths

The mythology/fables of the ancient text are often aligned with that of the biblical scripture. However, the text of the two sources also conflict. Both accounts of creations give contribute to a deity. Ancient mythology gives credit to gods and goddesses who are often written to be in battle or conflict and the end result is creation, whereas, Biblical writers give all credit to God. The theologies, mythology, and biblical accounts, give explanations that begin with contingent events that make creation its outcome. Both accounts characterize chaos before the creation. The two versions agree on the chronological order of creation. The Sabbath day is original to Biblical text even through its origins are obscure. There has been no distinct text for Near Eastern mythology that contradicts the Biblical tale.

Creation stories are symbolic accounts of how the world and its inhabitants came about. These stories first developed in oral traditions, so there are multiple accounts of them from different cultures and societies. The Babylonian Creation story, the Genesis Creation story, and the Sumerian story of the Creation of Enkidu are examples of these and the similarities are interesting. As Dennis Bratcher states, “Because of many parallels with the Genesis account, some historians concluded that the Genesis account was simply a rewriting of the Babylonian Story. As a reaction, many who wanted to maintain the uniqueness of the Bible argues either that there were no real parallels between the accounts or that the Genesis narratives were

The narrative of the creation of the world in Genesis mirrors elements of other ancient creation stories, including that of the ancient Egyptians. This should hardly be surprising for two reasons: The first is that Egyptian culture (including its religion) remained one of the most important influences in the world at the time during which the earliest versions of Genesis were being

Throughout the plot of these four creation stories, it is visible that each culture has varying beliefs on how land was developed. For example, Cherokee Indians conclude that land was created by a water beetle who sculpted soft mud, where as Hawaiians believe that land emerged from the slime in the ocean. Both Europeans and West Africans teach that a supreme being used his or her powers to form land. In Genesis, God was responsible for the land, whereas in the Golden Chain story, a creature called Obatala was deemed accountable for creating the land. One similarity betweens these stories is that they all begin in an almost identical setting. In every myth except for

One parallel between Greek and Egyptian creation stories is that they both begin with a God or Gods being created from the universe. The creation of

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

There is a lot of evidence to prove and explain how the Israelite people might have known or heard some Babylonian myths. This evidence is shown through similarities in the Genesis creation myths and many Babylonian myths. As an example, there are many similarities shown throughout the Gilgamesh story that relates to the Noah story in Genesis. Some similarities include the heroes character, the order to build a boat, the number of animals, the means of the flood, and the action of sacrificing after the flood. These are only a few of the many similarities interpreted in these stories.

People have been trying to explain the existence of humans and the origins of our world since ancient times. There are many different theories and myths that attempt to describe the earliest beginnings of our present world. In the Ancient Near East one of the most popular creation myths was the Babylonian creation myth also known as Enuma Elish. Hebrew nomads like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and David lived in tents while traveling to different locations in search of water and pastures for their livestock. Nomads were constantly moving and searching for other places which would have allowed them to hear many different creation myths throughout the Ancient Near East. These nomads would have been

In Genesis, the first book of The Bible the Christian and Jewish creation story is told. God spoke and his Word was done. He made the heavens and the earth. He made light and drove away the dark. On the earth he created the waters and lands and man and beast.

Although there are echoes of Mesopotamian and Greek creation myths all through Genesis, especially the order in which creation transpired, all three also represent the universe as a three tiered dome including heaven, earth, and the underworld. However, the differences are also plentiful. Both the Greeks and Sumerians/Babylonians believed in a polytheistic monarchy whereas the Israelites (particularly after their exile from Babylon) adopted a non-pagan retelling focusing on a single gods omnipotence , however through much of Genesis 1:1-31 we find the LORD addressing another presence; "Let us make man in our likeliness ." evidently their was some difficulty in the complete abortion of a polytheistic belief system when evolving the new creation story.

In this essay I will compare and contrast the Babylonian creation story found in the Enuma Elish with the creation accounts presented in Genesis, the Jahwist and Priestly source. The reason for this comparative essay is to show that the creation stories in the Jahwist and Priestly sources of Genesis, and that the Enuma Elish have some similarities along with major differences. Including but not limited to a chaotic primitive state, the creation of mankind, the idea of “image”, and the division of primitive waters. I will then close the essay by stating what we can learn from the comparisons between these accounts.

One reason that both Greek and Genesis creation stories are different is because the Gods in both stories create the universe in different ways. For example, “one half of the shell rose into the air and became the sky and the other became the earth.”(Greek) another example is, “in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” This shows that both stories are different because the earth was created in different way in both stories. Another difference that both creation stories have is that they both have different amounts of time in which they created the earth. For example, “with the wing she laid a golden egg and for ages she sat upon the egg.”(Greek) another example is “God saw all that he made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning – the sixth day.” This shows that both creation stories are different because it took ages to create the world in the Greek creation story, but in Genesis it only took 7 days to make the

The tales of Gilgamesh and Noah are as memorable as they are incredible. They materialize the beliefs of two cultures telling very similar yet very different stories. Gilgamesh, a mighty warrior overwhelmed by grief of his passed friend, went an an epic adventure to find the secret of eternal life. Noah, a morally right and genuine man saved the future of the entire human race and every animal through great endurance and faith. The personality traits, reasons for journeys, and stories of origin of each myth have a plentiful amount of both commonalities and diversities.

Since the beginning of time, societies have created stories to explain the mystery of the origin of man and the universe. In the Babylonian text, Enuma Elish and the book of Genesis-which originated in the same part of the world-one finds two very different stories about the creation of man. These two creation stories contrast the two societies that created them: the chaotic lives of servitude of the Babylonians and the lives of the recently freed Jewish people.

Throughout history many civilizations and cultures have had their own ways of explaining the world and its creation. Each of these civilizations has created unique descriptions and accounts of such events. However, when comparing them to each other, are they really different? Look at the ancient Greco - Roman creation myths as told by Hesiod in his Theogony and Works and Days and Ovid’s Metamorphoses, when compared to the creation myths as seen in the Old Testament’s book of Genesis they may not be as different as one would think. Taking a more in-depth look at both Genesis and Hesiod’s and Ovid’s work more closely, the reader can see that on multiple occasions the myths have almost identical similarities which reflect their views in