Many people all over the world have read the famous story of Genesis; after all it is one of the most widely read books in the world. The main concept from the Gilgamesh flood story and the Genesis flood story is the biggest similarity of the two. They also differ in smaller details in the events that take place. The stories are particularly the same, but when comparing the details within, the two flood stories highly stories highly differ. In both versions of the flood story something angers God (Genesis) and the gods (Gilgamesh). Looking closely at both stories, the reason for taking out humanity immensely differs. The humans are so wicked and evil: “It repented the Lord that he had made man on earth, and grieved him at his heart (“Genesis …show more content…
In both, an inclemency rages and wipes out everyone and everything accept the passengers on board the ark. In the Gilgamesh story the gods cry and that engenders the incredibly destructive flood. “The great gods of heaven and hell wept” (“From Epic of Gilgamesh”26). The rains last for six days and six nights in the Gilgamesh version, and determinately when the waters receded the boat landed on Nisir “On the mountain of Nisir the boat held fast, she held fast and did not budge.”(From Epic of Gilgamesh”27). On that mountain of Nisir the boat strongly withheld for seven days. In the Genesis story God sends down the flood with his divine potency.” And on the seventh day the waters of the Flood came upon the earth.”(“Genesis 6-9” 46). The rain transpires for longer in the Genesis story than the Gilgamesh story. “The rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.” (“Genesis 6-9” 46).as the waters receded it landed on Mt. Ararat. It is here for approximately two and a moiety months later until the other mountain tops surface. In both you have the same fundamental storyline, but as one can optically discern the more minuscule details are
In both Gilgamesh and Noah and the Flood, man’s wickedness leads to death, destruction, and rebirth all caused by billions of gallons of water sweeping the earth’s surface. The flood in both stories destroys most of mankind. The floods represent rebirth and a new beginning for mankind, as well as the gods and God’s wrath. In Gilgamesh the gods decide to destroy mankind by flooding the earth for six days and nights. Utnapishtim is chosen to build a boat in order to restart mankind after the flood. In the Bible God also decides to flood the earth due to the increase in wickedness. God chooses Noah to build an ark and store seven pairs of every clean animal and two of every other kind of animal on it
The general idea of both stories follows the idea of punishment for one’s unacceptable behavior. In the first flood myth, the idea of four monsters morphing into one large beast is presented. This large beast is supposed to represent society as a whole. When society adapts malicious intentions and negative traits, a higher being decides whether or not a “cleansing” of society is necessary to improve the planet. Similarly, the story of Genesis follows the idea that humans have begun to behave in an irrational and shameful manner, so God creates a flood to punish the humans who had behaved poorly. “Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways.”
In both texts, each of the main characters, Noah and Uta-napishti, were ordered to build an ark or a boat due to an incoming flood. In Genesis, God tells Noah, “Make yourself an ark of cypress wood, make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch” (Genesis 6:14). Noah obeys God’s orders and indeed builds an ark. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Uta-napishti
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 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 similarities between The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Bible are prevalent, especially when taking into account the historical and geographical significance in each text. The best example highlighting the similarities between the two works lies within the flooding stories; both Utanapishtim and Noah experience a flood that destroys everyone and everything on earth except for them and those they save. Both stories follow a related path along the divine decision to destroy human kind. While the storylines essentially mirror each other, the wording is seems to reflect across the works as well. In Gilgamesh, Utanapishtim describes that "when the seventh day arrived, [he] brought out a dove and set it free.
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
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.
So there are many differences between the two flood stories, but there are some similarities as well. The Book of Genesis begins by God seeing how much corruption and violence there is in the world and it is all stemming from man. He decides to destroy all that remain on the planet except one man, his wife, his sons, his son’s wives, and a male and female from each species of animal. In Gilgamesh, there are multiple Gods who saw how brutal man was and came to a consensus to exterminate all the living things on earth. But there was one God, Ea, who didn’t want this to happen.
Although the stories are similar they are not identical. In Genesis God sent the Flood to destroy humankind because of man’s wickedness. Unlike The Gilgamesha where the reason was never said however the sender of the flood was a secret council of gods the idea was brought up by Enlil , the god of earth wind and air. God favored Noah because he was a righteous man therefore, he was chosen to build the ark that was three hundred cubits long, fifty cubit wide, and thirty cubits high, about three stories. Utnapishtim was chosen out of the cleverness of Ea, the god of wisdom and crafts. God came directly to Noah to tell him about the Flood where as Ea was swore to secrecy so “he repeated their plans to the reed fence” so he would no break the oath to the group. The boat Utnapishtim was directed to build was a rectangle shaped measuring one acre and about 6 stories high. When the floor came in Gilgamesh it was only rainwater however the Flood in Genesis was rain water as well as ground water. Both floods did indeed wipe out all of humankind but the did not last equal as long. After the flood Utnapishtim was gifted the gift of eternal life where as Noah was to multiply and have rule over the animals.
The stories of “Genesis” and Gilgamesh were written centuries a part, yet there is one undeniable similarity between them. There is a section of each text that talks of a flood that the gods brought down upon the earth to kill all living things, but there was an ark that saved each species. The flood stories within these two texts have analogous events within them, but there is one difference that sets the two stories apart. There are many elements of the stories that gives the reader a deeper understanding of just how different the two stories are. These include the reason for the flood, how the individuals were chosen to be saved, how they were awarded, and the ultimate acts of the individuals at the conclusion of the flood. The relationship between the gods and the humans is the pivotal difference between the two stories by the fact that it encompasses all these differences.
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 Story of the Flood it took him seven days to finish the boat. Then in Genesis 6:9-8:23 God said that he would send the rain in seven days. Also in Genesis 6:9-8:23 it put more emphasis on the cubic diameter of the ark, in the other narrative they put more of an emphasis on how the boat was made and what is consisted of. In the narrative of The Story of the Flood it explains how even the gods were terrified of the flood that they fled to the highest heaven. (76) But both of the narratives they brought their families and some animals. Noah was only allowed on set of each animal one male and one female. While in the other narrative they stated, “take up into the boat the seed of all living creatures.” (71) During the flood there were many differences, in The Story of the Flood the attention was more set on the darkness of the flood and how the Queen of Heaven stated “Alas the days of old are turned to dust because I commanded evil; why did I command this evil in the council of all the Gods? I commanded wars to destroy the people, but are they not my people, for I brought them forth? Now like the spawn of fish they float in the ocean.” (72) Also stated in the both of the narratives the wind blew to have the floods subside. They also both seen the tops of the mountains. They both also set forth birds to see if the floods were
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
In the beginning, in Zeus’s account, humans came from a stone age whereas in Genesis, humans came from Adam and Eve. Also, in preparation for the flood and who and who wasn’t going perish, God (in Genesis) wanted to save the creatures while in Zeus, all would perish with humanity. Though in both accounts certain people were saved, in Genesis they’re safe haven was is a boat whereas in Zeus, in a box. In both floods told in both stories, it is told that all was swept under the waters leaving nothing behind; conversely, in Zeus’s account, it explains that only the peak of mount Parnassus was dry and untouched by the waters, acting as an escape from the destruction, while in Genesis, the only way to survive was to be on the boat for there was no land above the surface of the water. Finally, while in the Genesis story it rained for forty days and forty nights while in mythology, it only rained for nine days and nine nights, thus contributing to the amount of damage both stories