Bible And Gilgamesh Comparison Essay

The parallels between The Epic of Gilgamesh, translated by Benjamin R. Foster, and the Genesis stories, from The Hebrew Bible, are uncanny. The overall theme of these stories talks about divine intervention and questions the human condition of mortality. Both of these infamous literary works address the fact that humans are the only known species capable of abstract thinking, moral judgment, and meta-cognition. While continuous belief compares this ability with the divine, the human life is limited whereas the supernatural is not. Theodore Hiebert raises this same awareness in “The Eden Narrative: A Literary and Religio-historical Study of Genesis 2-3” by saying, “wisdom and immortality are a stable pair in the ancient Near East, and that they are used both in Mesopotamian myths and in Genesis to explain the human condition and to mark the line between human and divine” (p. 2). The literal and metaphoric resemblances will force critical readers to wonder if the antecedent Gilgamesh story influenced the stories in Genesis. Genesis’s creation story of Adam and Eve bears strong resemblance to Aruru’s creation of Enkidu, and the harlot Shamhat seduction of Enkidu to enlightenment and human
They not only question mortality, but they also question the decisions of the divine. Why are the fates of some favored over the fates of others? The gods favored Gilgamesh over Enkidu, and flooded the entire earth while saving only Utanapishtim and his wife. Comparably, God allows Jacob to be blessed over Esau and saves only Noah and his family during the flood. Both Eve and Enkidu are seduced and tricked into enlightenment, then eventually punished for playing the fool. Whether Gilgamesh influenced the stories of Genesis, or their striking resemblances are coincidental, the critical reader cannot denounce their