Similarities Between Gulf And The Gilgamesh Flood

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.

When comparing the Genesis Flood narrative to that of the Gilgamesh Flood narrative, there are many similar symbols throughout both narratives. In the Genesis version of the flood, God had chosen to send the flood because the humankind he had created was evil and he saw their wickedness. “For my par, I am going to bring a good of waters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die” (Genesis 6:18). This excerpt from the narrative shows that one God had chosen to send the flood to destroy all humankind that he had originally created. Just like this narrative, the Gilgamesh Flood narrative, a God by the name of Enlil orders a flood to destroy humankind. “Decided that the great gods should make a flood” (Gilgamesh XI 109). This quote states how that a flood was to be sent for the city of Shuruppak. In the Genesis narrative there was a righteous man by the name of Noah that was chosen to build the ark. “Make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in the ark and cover it inside and out with a pitch” (Genesis

Rosenberg notes that Gilgamesh is probably the world's first human hero in literature (27). The Epic of Gilgamesh is based on the life of a probably real Sumerian king named Gilgamesh, who ruled about 2600 B.C.E. We learned of the Gilgamesh myth when several clay tablets written in cuneiform were discovered beginning in 1845 during the excavation of Nineveh (26). We get our most complete version of Gilgamesh from the hands of an Akkadian priest, Sin-liqui-unninni. It is unknown how much of the tale is the invention of Sin-liqui-unninni, and how much is the original tale. The flood story, which appears in the Sin-liqui-unninni version, is probably based on an actual flood that occurred in

     The two main stories largely discussed are the Genesis and Gilgamesh flood stories. Although different in regards to the details, the main plot is similar between the two stories from two different civilizations. Because of this similarity, many

And we also see the difference of the two flood stories in Bible and in Gilgamesh. These

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

Gilgamesh was said to be written around 3300 to 2990 B.C., while the Bible was said to be written around the 6th century B.C. The Bible has around 40 contributors, but only one real author, which is God. According to the authors of “Who Were the Authors”, “Humanly speaking, the Bible was written by approximately 40 men of diverse backgrounds over the course of 1500 years.” God guided these men to write this piece of literature for future Christians. The Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew while the New Testament was originally written in Greek. No specific person has ever been named to be the author of Gilgamesh, which was written in cuneiform, as it is one of the oldest pieces of literature in the world. Pictured in Figure 1, is one of the original tablets. The Bible and the Epic of Gilgamesh can be compared in many ways; however, the most common way is by the similarities and differences in the floods that occur. “This [Gilgamesh] story contains the closest parallels to the biblical account…” writes Lloyd Bailey. Both Gilgamesh and the Bible have two big floods that change humanity in more ways than one. To really understand and compare the floods in the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Bible, both pieces of literature need to be thoroughly examined in every way that their natural disasters are similar and different: the creators and their reasons for making the floods, the hero of the flood, the period of grace, the two arks and their passengers, and the bird scene.

The floods in Genesis and The Epic of Gilgamesh are in no doubt different but in so many ways similar. The two men are given a task to save humankind from a flood and succeed and are rewarded. The major basic events that take place in the stories a similar however the smaller details of them and how they are carried you are different. They two also tells us a lot about the relationship between humans to Divinity.

The Epic of Gilgamesh has many similarities to the Bible, especially in Genesis and it’s not just that the both begin with the letter “g”’! One major similarity being the flood story that is told in both works. The two stories are very similar but also very different. Another being the use of serpents in both works and how they represent the same thing. A third similarity being the power of God or gods and the influence they have on the people of the stories. Within these similarities there are also differences that need to be pointed out as well.

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 theme of religion is prevalent throughout The Epic of Gilgamesh. Readers can see that the stories found in Gilgamesh often run parallel to those found in the Bible. The great flood, a magic plant, and deceitful snakes are found in both Gilgamesh and the Bible. In the epic, humans are obedient to the gods and religion is an important part of everyday life. One foundational story found in the Bible is that of Noah’s Ark talked about in Genesis. Gilgamesh also has an adventure concerning a flood, “Utanapishtim spoke to Gilgamesh, saying: ‘ I will reveal to you, Gilgamesh, a thing that is hidden…a city that you surely know… The hearts of the Great Gods moved them to inflict a Flood (Tablet XI 9-14). In both stories, the sin of man angered their God or gods which caused them to punish all of mankind. There are also some similarities regarding the “magic plant” and “magic tree.” In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve are instructed by God to not eat from the fruit of the “Tree of Knowledge” at the beginning of

Compare/Contrast of “Gilgamesh” and “Noah” “The Epic of Gilgamesh” has been a huge interest in people since the nineteenth-century with its theme of a universal flood and is parallel to the story Noah and the flood. The Epic of Gilgamesh dates back to 2000 b.c. and “Noah and the flood” dates to 400 b.c. People have many different myths on how the world was created while these two myths focus on a flood that destroys mankind. “There have been numerous flood stories identified from ancient sources scattered around the world.

Society today is fascinated with learning about the history of human culture and society with new information and revelations being made almost daily. Although with new technology discovering the past is becoming easier and easier, due to the massive span of human existence, relatively little, in regards to the grand span of things, is truly known. As time continues to pass, ancient artifacts continue to deteriorate and history is lost. When The Epic of Gilgamesh was rediscovered in the nineteenth-century, a whole new perspective on life in the past was opened. This story allowed greater insight into the large flood that occurred many years ago and helped to put the Hebrew Bible into a time perspective.

Archaeological findings of the Ancient West Asian Athrahasis epic and Sumerian flood story and Gilgamesh epic which pre-dates the Bible, parallels to the Genesis account of creation and flood narratives. The main problem it poses is the findings of remarkable similarities between the parallels. This has been interpreted variously by scholars, giving rise to two opposing positions: the minimalist and the maximalist positions.

The first flood myth recorded was in the Gilgamesh epic. Gilgamesh was a demigod who sought after immortality after his best friend Enkidu dies. During this quest he aims to find Utnapishtim, the one man that survived the great flood of the gods. According to Moran, the flood was not a part of the original Gilgamesh epic (1995). The ancient Mediterranean flood story states that Utnapishtim was chosen by the gods because mankind was intolerable. The deity Ea warns Utnapishtim to build and ark and save the human race. Following the completion of the ark, it begins to rain for 6 days and 6 nights. Concluding the rain, Utnapishtim’s boat is trapped on a mountain top for 7 additional days. At the end of his ordeal, Utnapishtim offers a sacrifice to the gods, but Enlil is enraged that he escaped their efforts. Ea comes to Utnapishtim rescue and convinces the gods that he escaped without any assistance. As a reward for his survival, the gods grant Utnapishtim immortality. Moran argues that the story found it’s way to be attributed with the epic because it demonstrates that