Flood Myth in the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Biblical Flood Myth of Genesis

Multiple differences are seen in between the two stories of the flood; as stated, a major difference is that Gilgamesh is a an epic told to entertain, when Genesis is a religious text. Another difference is the length of the rains and floods. In The Epic of Gilgamesh the rains only

Throughout the Genesis Flood, Atrahasis Flood and the Epic of Gilgamesh flood, there are many different ways to interpret the different views of The Flood. These different narratives in these stories have their own explanation on how this myth took place and the different beliefs that occurred during this flood. The way you portray each narrative is based on what exactly your beliefs are.

Once they are able to leave the ark, Noah and Utnapishtim prepare a sacrifice to their divine being(s). When God smells the aroma from the sacrifice, he is pleased with the sacrifice and blesses Noah. Similarly, when the gods in Gilgamesh smell the aroma, they also bless Utnapishtim. After the flood, the Babylonian gods and the God of Noah both regret creating a flood.

Both the story of “Noah and the Flood” in the book of Genesis in The Hebrew Bible and the flood story in The Epic of Gilgamesh detail a grand flood in which a man saved life from extinction by building an ark, earning fame and immortality in some form. The theme of completing this grand task for a moral purpose holds true to both stories, but the depiction and actions of the divine and mortal characters in the stories contain different similarities and differences.

This quote describes how long God will have the rain go for. It also gives orders to Noah from God to collect all the animals. Noah and his family are the only ones chosen by God to survive the massive flood. After living right outside Houston for so many years, the flood in Gilgamesh seems more realistic because it only rains for 6 days and nights. I can’t imagine it raining here for 40 days and nights. God Promises Noah he will never flood the earth again by creating a rainbow. He describes it by saying:

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,

The Mesopotamian society thought the Great Floods was “sent by the gods to destroy the impertinence of men” while the Egyptians saw it “as a gift rather than a challenge.” Both cultures had many myths about the Great Floods thus documenting the waters importance to

God said to Noah, “And I behold, I establish my covenant with you and with your seed after you; and with every living creature with you. And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there anymore be a flood to destroy the earth.” That’s when God made an everlasting covenant between himself and every living creature of all flesh on earth. Even though, in the story of Gilgamesh, the Gods decided that it was wrong to punish mankind, they still did not make a covenant with man. Instead of making a pact with humans they granted immorality to Utnapishtim and his wife. In both stories they settled the flood in different ways separating the stories.

Each translation of the flood is very much different. In the Anthology, it is not as straightforward about the flood happening. “ Upon you he shall shower down in abundance, he shall pour upon you a harvest of riches” (Foster, 144) , where one would have to read more to realize there is a flood about to happen, whereas in N.K. Sanders translation, it deliberately states “So the gods agree to exterminate mankind” (Sanders, 20) , which is more blunt about the extermination of mankind or the flood. The Anthology hints toward it by using words such as: pour, shower, and harvest, but it is not as deliberately obvious as Sanders translation. Also in the Epic where it talks about the building of the boat, Sanders version says “ Tear down your house, I say, and build a boat” , which obviously tells

The Genesis flood store describes a large scale flood that covers all of the mountains and rids the world of man and his wicked flesh. It has been argued that the rising sea level of the Mediterranean, which followed the last deglaciation covered what is now the Bosporus Strait and flowed into the Black Sea around 7,600 years ago. It is thought that this massive flood served as the inspiration for the great flood described in The Book of Genesis. While this evidence is not conclusive it adds a new perspective on flood stories. Atrahasis is a creation and flood story that is much older but it is now reasonable to wonder if this too was not based on an actual flood. Currently, there is no evidence directly linking the myth to actual flooding. However, it was common for the Tigris and Euphrates rivers to flood during the time of this myths creation.

Someone once wrote “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”(Noah and the flood pg.171). “ The uproar of mankind is intolerable and sleep is no longer possible by reason of the babel” (the Epic of Gilgamesh pg.147). Both stories from two different cultures but despite the differences in the heroes, their gods, and the flood stories in “Noah and the Flood” and “The Epic of Gilgamesh,” both of these stories appear to refer to the same historical event the great flood.

The very Hebrew words used to describe the flood show the absolute scope of it, which is ultimately revealed as a destruction of

Dramatazation of the floods scene was depicted to catch the eye the viewer , individuals and creatures passed on, and they died in extensive numbers (Genesis 7:21-23). This is significantly depicted in the movie, individuals climbing to high ground,

Many scholarly theories of the phenomena of the great flood was about flood local or not. Also the reason the flood was brought on and on theories is the one Christians believe which is that it was a global event brought on by God to cleanse the world of wickedness.­ There are two scientific theories one is flooding around the area that is now the Black Sea which is the noah thoery, and the other one is that the devastating floods was cause by a comet that struck the Earth. the black sea thoery is that ­When the European glaciers melted, the Mediterranean Sea overflowed converting the Black Sea from fresh to saltwater and flooding the area, the other thories is that a huge comet crashed into the ocean off the coast of what is now Madagascar.

Cargill uses statistics from an article on the United States Geological Survey website (n.d), stating ”if all of the water in the atmosphere rained down at once, it would only cover the ground to a depth of 2.65 centimeters, about 1 inch”. Lorence G. Collins (2009) uses scientific evidence to refute a worldwide flood. Collins argument lies in the sedimentary rocks and the red beds interlayered in with them. According to Collins (2009), these red beds are red “because they contain red hematite (iron oxide) which formed from magnetite grains that were oxidized while the muds were exposed to oxygen in open air”. If a worldwide flood happened, red beds would be even across every region as the muds would be exposed to oxygen and open air at the same time. Collins (2009) deems otherwise, stating “red beds.. could not possibly have formed all at the same time” because “no multiple worldwide climatic conditions are described.. in repeated cycles occurring over and over again in that flood year”. The amount of water in the atmospheric system, and the difference in the sedimentary rocks below disprove Noah’s Ark and the biblical flood. After his science-based arguments, Cargill goes to disprove other explanations of how a worldwide flood could