Comparing the Epic of Gilgamesh and Genesis

The Flood Narrative (Genesis 6-9) and the Epic of Gilgamesh, Tablet XI have certain parallels that are undeniable, yet many noticeable differences. The parallels are strange yet oddly common in any flood narrative and the differences often lie behind the reasons, responses, and decisions made by the main characters.

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.

The Epic of Gilgamesh: story of the flood is a story telling of the time when the Sumerian gods flood the Earth hoping to get rid of the annoying humans. Throughout the story, Utnapishtim would be the preserver of life; by building a ship that would carry two of every animal. In Genesis 6-9, the Hebrew God chose to cleanse humanity by flooding the Earth, and in this story Noah would be instructed by the Lord to build an ark and put two of every animal with this ark. These stories of the flood have many differences, one major difference being that The Epic of Gilgamesh is a fictional story of Sumerian gods, while Genesis is a religious book with in the Bible. Although there are many differences between Genesis’ and Gilgamesh’s story of the flood, there are significantly more similarities linking the two stories.

God tells Noah that he, along with his family and two of every kind of animal. The gods in Gilgamesh do not tell Utanapishtim who he can or cannot take with him on the ark. Utanapishtims’ ark was carrying him along with his family, the craftsmen of the city, animals, food, gold jewels, and many other valuables. The reason for these two men to be chosen to survive the flood was because they were the good in mankind in both stories. Therefore, they want them to restart mankind and restart it the right way without evil and so much

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

The floods in The Epic of Gilgamesh and Genesis 6-9 are very similar. In both the flood were sent to wipe out all humankind. Both floods however could be seen as symbols as a rebirth or a new beginning to what was see by God and the gods as a crumbling world. Both heroes in the story were chosen to build a boat to save a

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.

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

In the ‘Epic of Gilgamesh’ and ‘The Biblical Flood Story’ have a very similar plot line, but many several key differences. In both stories a flood occurs, which were caused by the God/s( This shows that in Gilgamesh they were polytheistic while in the Biblical version they were monotheistic. ) to destroy the people of the earth. For both flood stories, a specific person is chosen to build an arc but for different reasons. In the Biblical story, Noah builds the arc due to his righteous character but in Gilgamesh, Utnapishtim built the arc to save himself. Later on in both stories birds are released making them seem very similar. In the end, the stories are separated because of the covenants

“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.

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.