The Biblical Flood and The Epic of Gilgamesh Flood
In Genesis of the Old Testament the account of the Flood approximates the account recorded on Tablet 11of the Sumero-Babylonian version of the epic of Gilgamesh, discovered in the 1800’s by British archaeologists in Assyria.
N.K. Sandars in the Introduction to his book, The Epic of Gilgamesh, sums up the involvement by the pagan gods in the Sumero-Babylonian Flood narrative:
In the Gilgamesh flood Ishtar and Enlil are as usual the advocates of destruction. Ishtar speaks, perhaps in her capacity as goddess of war, but Enlil prevails with his weapon of the storm. Only Ea, in superior wisdom, either was not present, or being present was silent, and with his
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In Column 2 of Tablet 11 the Sumero-Babylonian Flood narrative continues with the measurements and construction of the ark:
One acre was its whole floorspace; ten dozen cubits the height of each wall;
ten dozen cubits its deck, square on each side.
I [Utnapishtim] laid out the contours, drew it all.
I gave it six decks
and divided it, thus, into seven parts.
Its innards I divided into nine parts.
I struck water-plugs into it.
I checked the poles and laid in all that was necessary.
I poured 24,000 gallons of bitumen into the kiln;
the same amount I laid on the inside.
The basket-bearers brought on three shars of oil
in addition to the shar of oil consumed in the seed-meal
and the two shars of oil stowed away by the boatman.(Gardner 231)
On the seventh day the ark was completed. It was launched, and then loaded with “all my kin and family” and with “the animals of the fields.” This ark has twice the number of floors as Noah’s ark. After the Jewish Old Testament establishes reasons for the Flood, then it proceeds with specific building instructions to Noah in Genesis 6:14:
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.
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.
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.
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
The next discrepancy lies in the amount of time it rained. Noah’s story emphasized rain for forty days and forty nights. The number forty also appears in several other biblical stories. Gilgamesh’s rainfall lasts for just six days and nights. However, the numerical system of the Mesopotamians is based on the numbers six, ten, and sixty. So the story directly relates to the numerical system of the time, (Lecture, 9/13/1999). Perhaps this number was adopted because of its wide use.
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.
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
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
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,
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
creation story.[footnoteRef:5] They suggest several similarities and differences in the flood epic narrative from ancient Mesopotamia and the Genesis narrative[footnoteRef:6] and have attempted to make comparisons between the flood stories in Gilgamesh and Genesis on ?literary grounds?, in terms of flood traditions in both the Hebrew tradition and the Mesopotamian tradition. [4: W. G. Lambert, ?A NEW LOOK AT THE BABYLONIAN BACKGROUND OF GENESIS,? The Journal of Theological Studies 16, no. 2 (1965): 101.] [5: W. G. & A. R. MILLARD LAMBERT, Atra-Hasis: The Babylonian Story of the Flood. With The Sumerian Flood Story by M. Civil (Oxford Clarendon Press, 1970), 101.] [6: Ibid., 25?27.]
This term paper compares the flood story in the book of Genesis in the Old Testament of the Bible and the flood story in Gilgamesh. It identifies links
Both Gilgamesh and Noah build arks because of an impending devastation of the earth by rain and flooding. Shamash had warned, "In the evening, when the rider of the storm sends down the destroying rain, enter the boat and batten her down." (p. 147) God told Noah, "For in seven days' time I will make it rain upon the earth, forty days and forty nights, and I will blot out from the earth all existence that I created." (p. 172) Both boats were built to detailed specifications in order to withstand the torrents of rain. Following the cessation of the rain, both Noah and Gilgamesh send out birds as a test of the recession of the waters so that they can safely exit onto the land. Gilgamesh sends first a dove, then a swallow, and then a raven, who, "…saw that the waters had retreated, she ate, she flew around, she cawed, and she did not come back." (p. 148) Noah first sends a raven which, "…went to and fro until the waters had dried up from the earth. " (p. 173) He then sends a dove that returns to the ark having found no resting place. After seven days Noah again sends the dove which returns with an olive leaf in its bill. "Then Noah knew that the waters had decreased on the earth. He waited still another seven days and sent the dove forth; and it did not return to him any more." (p. 173) Both Noah and Gilgamesh, immediately upon leaving their boats, make a sacrifice. Gilgamesh says, "Then I threw everything open to
Gilgamesh had a different way of building his ark he had everyone's help and despite knowing that almost everyone was going to be wiped from existence he threw a party.” He gave the shipwrights wine to drink as though it were river water, raw wine and red wine and oil and white wine. There was feasting then” (The Epic of Gilgamesh pg. ). Noah took the whole thing more serious the Gilgamesh ever did, but he still managed to have the boat done in seven
Similar Themes in Ancient Flood Narratives: the Story of Atrahasis and the Book of Enoch