The Book of Genesis vs. the Epic of Gilgamesh

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

     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

The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Hebrew Bible are considered by their audiences’ as two of the greatest literary works of ancient literature. The universal truths on The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Hebrew Bible, are most fundamental when viewed from both the contemporary and traditional audiences. Fundamentally, both audiences develop their own universal truths during the time in which the events transpired or by reading the scenic events from an anthology or other literary works.

While mortal characters contain differences that deal with mortality and age, the depiction of higher power and divine characters come in very different forms, but maintain similar overall behaviors. Due to the similarities in behaviors, the major events are depicted very similar and the outcomes are almost identical. The differences in the stories arise simply because of the context in which each story is written. The Epic of Gilgamesh was written in ancient Mesopotamia where religion was extremely polytheistic. The story in The Hebrew Bible is written with a monotheistic mindset. While these religions are different in terms of the number of gods, there are obvious similarities that arise between the divine figures in each story. The gods in The Epic of Gilgamesh represent different personalities and virtues, but there is

This relationship between humans and the divine for Genesis is a stark contrast to Gilgamesh’s story. In The Epic of Gilgamesh there isn’t one God, there are multiple gods.

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.

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 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.

While Genesis in the bible and The Epic of Gilgamesh have striking similarities in the sense of creation and the great flood, the interactions between the divine beings and humans differ greatly. One matter that impacts the entire relationship between gods and humans in both accounts is that the gods in the epic are not almighty beings like God in Genesis since they cannot control each other’s domain. Because of this, they must travel from place to place and work with other gods to carry out a certain task. The gods in The Epic of Gilgamesh act very much like humans and interfere more with their daily lives. In contrast, the all-powerful god in Genesis seems distant and far from having human-like characteristics and does not need to interact with other gods. At the same time, both stories display the reverence and fear humans have for the supreme beings because of their authoritative qualities.

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

Ancient world literature and early civilization stories turn around human’s relationship with higher beings. Ancient civilizations were extremely religious, holding the belief that their very lives were in the hands of their almighty god or goddess. This holds true for both the people of biblical times as well as those of the epic era. However, their stories have some differences according to cultural variation but the main structure, idea and theme are generally found correlative. It is hard to believe that that one work did not affect the others. The first great heroic epic poem of Gilgamesh and the Old Testament are two cultures that are hundreds of years apart. Upon studying the book of Genesis and the story of Gilgamesh; whereas one

Ancient world literature and early civilization stories are mostly centered on human’s relationship with higher beings. Ancient civilizations were extremely religious, holding the belief that their very lives were in the hands of their almighty god or goddess. This holds true for both the people of biblical times as well as those of the epic era. However, their stories have some differences according to cultural variation but the main structure, ideas, and themes are generally found correlative. It is hard to believe that one work did not affect the others. The first great heroic epic poem of Gilgamesh and the Old Testament are parts of two cultures that are hundreds of years apart. Whereas Gilgamesh is a myth and the book of Genesis is

These two stories are very similar in their context because they occur close together in history. The Epic of Gilgamesh was written around 600 B.C.E. but the historical events that the Epic of Gilgamesh talks about would have taken place around 2,700 B.C.E. which is when Gilgamesh lived. Similarly, the Book of Job was written around 1,000 B.C.E. but would have taken place around 2,000 B.C.E. Both of these stories happened within 700 years of each other but didn’t get written until many years later, 2,000 years later for the Epic of Gilgamesh and 1,000 years later for the Book of Job. While a 700 year difference may seem big when put into perspective of history the 700 years is an extremely small gap. By being so close to each other in time, this means that the context and advancement between the two aren’t significantly different.

The heroes in the two stories are heroes in different way but also similar ways. Utnapishtim from “the Epic of Gilgamesh” and Noah from “Noah and the Flood” had the same start in become a hero they both were chosen by their god to build an ark and survive the flood because they are both willing to do anything for their god. In “Noah and the flood” “Noah was a righteous man; he was blameless in his age; Noah walked with