Comparing The Creation Stories Of Ancient Israelite Views Of God And God 's Creative Work Essay

“Arjuna, the Mighty Archer”, a story from the Mahabharata of ancient Hindu culture, and “The Creation and the Fall”, a story from the book of Genesis from ancient Hebrew culture, demonstrate the similarity of the ancient Hebrew and Hindu cultures by means of the shared cultural value of deference.

     With the discovery of texts from ancient civilizations, many people have come to believe that various texts are common to one another. Examples of these texts are the creation stories from the Hebrews found in the Bible, The Hymn of Ra from the Egyptians, and the Enuma Elish stories from the Babylonians. In addition to these stories are the flood stories. These stories have caused many discussions among scholars involved with ancient civilizations.

To study Genesis in terms of its literary and historical content is not to say that we are in any way being irreverent in our reading of this part of the Old Testament. In other words, it is possible to read Genesis in both a spirit of appreciation for its position as the opening exegetical narrative of the Bible and as a document that reflects literary and historical realities and influences during the time when it was being written down. This paper examines some of the contemporary sources that influenced the two sets of writers who recorded the events of Genesis.

Often a topic of debate, there are several different takes on the creation story existent in literature. Dependent on one’s religion, different beliefs about how the world we live in was created may arise. Looking deeper into the literature, one will realize there are also many similarities between creation stories. Based on the strong possibility that Genesis was influenced by the Enuma Elish, there are similarities that stem from the fact that they both describe the creation of a new world as well as differences in their interpretations and approaches to creationism.

    The Enuma Elish, often known as The Creation Epic, is often considered the primary source of Mesopotamian cosmology. However, to view the Enuma Elish as a cosmological myth obscures the true intent of the epicís author. The cosmological elements of the Enuma Elish are secondary to the authorís effort to explain the supremacy of Marduk, to justify absolute oriental monarchy, and to defend Babylon as the axis mundi.

In the book of Genesis, we are introduced to everything. From the creation stories to the sagas in between Genesis is an opening to the old testament and an opening to the book of exodus. This essay will contrast each creation story and describe each stories interest, explain how Genesis 12: 1-3 links the stories of 2: 4b-11 with the ancestral narratives in 12-50 and connect the sagas of Abraham/Sarah, Isaac/ Rebecca and Jacob/ Racheal.

Within “Enuma Elish,” the Babylonians gave an account of how they believed the world was formed. The gods were viewed as most important, and supposedly had absolute power, however, these gods were not preexisting, nor all powerful. “I shall appoint my holy chambers / I shall establish my kingship”(V.32.7-8). The gods were believed to rule over everything that occurred in the universe. Contrary to the most high God, the gods depicted in Enuma Elish were self centered, arrogant bigots. According to this myth, humans were created to serve the gods. “I shall create humankind, they shall bear the gods’ burdens that those may rest”(VI.33.6-7-8). Marduk, the creator god, was viewed as a hero, because of his overthrowing of Tiamat and Apsu. “He is indeed the son, the Sun, the most radiant of the gods”(VI.35.87-88). Though Marduk

Evolutions of civilizations can occur because of differences in people’s religion, culture, or geographic setting of the settlement. The relationship between the world of the gods and that of men was perceived differently by the Sumerians, Egyptians, and Hebrew ancient civilizations. This is demonstrated by the way each group viewed the process of creation. They had different thoughts on the creation of their gods, the universe and of man. This essay will discuss the relationship between humans and their gods in three different ancient civilizations: Sumerian, Egyptian and Hebrew.

There are many huge differences between Enuma Elish and Genesis. The importance of humans is a huge distinguishing factor between the two. In Enuma Elish, the first time man is mentioned in the tablets of Enuma Elish is in the sixth tablet. Man was created to do the dirty work for the gods, but in Genesis God created the

This essay will compare and contrast the Biblical creation myths with other creation myths from Greece and the Ancient Near East. It will first discuss the initial creation of the universe followed by the creation of mankind and finally the recreation of man whilst drawing parallels to Sumerian and Babylonian texts, The Old Testament and Hesiods Theogony. In paying particular attention to the chronology of each myth it will be shown that the creation myths regarding the universe and mankind evolved from as far back as the Sumerian stories.

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.

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.

1.What are three things that you noticed about the Egyptian creation myths?  How do these myths compare to the Enuma Elish?

God’s role in the Bible is characterized in several different ways, with dramatically competing attributes. He takes on many functions and, as literary characters are, he is dynamic and changes over time. The portrayal of God is unique in separate books throughout the Bible. This flexibility of role and character is exemplified by the discrepancy in the depiction of God in the book of Genesis in comparison to the depiction of God in the book of Job. On the larger scale, God creates with intention in Genesis in contrast to destroying without reason in Job. However, as the scale gets smaller, God’s creative authority can be seen in both books, yet this creative authority is manifested in entirely distinctive manners. In Genesis, God as

Most comparisons between Genesis and ancient Creation or Flood stories can be classified as comparative religious studies. They generally involve one text isolated from its original historical context (e.g., the Babylonian creation myth Enuma Elish or the Flood tablet of the Gilgamesh Epic) and one related biblical narrative. On the basis of currently available evidence, their earliest-known written form can be dated only to the first half of the first millenium B.C.