Gilgamesh was written thousands of years ago, but those who have read Gilgamesh notice something extraordinarily striking about the story of Utnapishtim’s immortality: there is a nearly identical flood story written in the Bible. Many things about the flood story in the Bible seem identical to the flood in Gilgamesh, but there are still many differences. The differences are seen before, during, and after the flood, making the two stories similar, but not quite identical. The floods described in Gilgamesh and in the Bible have an obvious relationship, but each is extremely different in some ways and exactly the same in others.…
The Epic of Gilgamesh Flood Story and the Noah’s Ark story from the Bible are similar in many ways. They are similar in the sense that they both got rid of their houses and all of their belongings. Noah received his message from God to start building the boat while Gilgamesh received his message in a dream. But in the story of Noah’s Ark, Noah was to build the boat to exact measurements which were 300 cubits for its length, 50 cubits for its width, and 30 cubits for its height. Where in the Epic of the Gilgamesh it was to be built “shall have her dimensions in proportion, Her width and length in harmony.” The story never tells how big the boat was for all living seeds. So as a reader we can picture Noah’s massive boat where we cannot do the same for Gilgamesh’s boat They were both were to build enormous boats that would be able to hold all forms of life. In the Epic of Gilgamesh Flood Story, Gilgamesh fills his boat with all forms of life along with silver and gold. Whereas Noah built the boat only to fit all animals and his family. The Epic of Gilgamesh fought through only six days and seven nights where Noah fought through forty days and forty nights. But we do know the Bible uses the number 40 as a way of saying a long period of time. Both Gilgamesh and Noah released a Raven and a Dove but Noah released 3 doves while Gilgamesh only released a swallow after the release of other two birds. The Gilgamesh Epic has close parallels with the account of Noah’s Flood. Its close similarities are due to its closeness to the real event. However, there are major differences as well. Everything in the Epic, from the polytheism to the absurd cubical ark, as well as the worldwide flood legends, show me that the Genesis account is the original, while the Gilgamesh Epic is a distortion.…
Gilgamesh is told to be the oldest existing story in the history of humankind, imminently, the story has many similarities to the bible. Bible is a text oof belief based lessons and the base of the religion of Christianity which has many similarities to Gilgamesh as in they both include the tales of worldly destruction with the reasons, destroyer and the saving. All similarities aside, the two texts can be contrasted as the bible is the root of world’s biggest universalizing religion and the Gilgamesh was not extracted as a manuscript and if man made errors are factored in, it may not have been comprehended as it was supposed to be. Gilgamesh and the bible can be compared and contrasted based on the stories, lessons and the effects on the evolution…
In Genesis chapters 13-19 tells a big account of one of one of the most interesting tales in the Old Testament Bible- the story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. In short, the tribe and families of Lot and Abraham and Lot grew out of the land of Bethel. Abraham gave Lot the first opportunity to pick when it was time to depart and split up. Of all the places, Lot had to choose the city of Sodom in the Jordan Valley (Cities of the Plain) and Abraham went to Canaan.1…
The Book of Genesis and The Epic of Gilgamesh have many clear similarities. One major, noticeable similarity is that in both stories, there are flood legends. There is the legend of Noah and the Ark in The Book of Genesis and the story of Utnapishtim in The Epic of Gilgamesh. In both stories, a higher power wants to wipe out the human race and decides to save one person who is then assigned to build an ark to hold himself, his family, and one of each animal. There are also many specifics about this flood that the two stories have in common, not just the basis of the tale. For example, both stories tell of a long storm. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, it says: "Six days and seven nights the wind and storm" (Gilg. Tabl. XI, 127). In The Book of Genesis, it says: “rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights" (Gen. 7:12). In both cases, the story is specific about the number of days the storm lasted. Noah and Utnapishtim make sacrifices to their respective higher power-- Noah to God and Utnapishtim to Enlil. In the story of Noah and the Ark, it says that he “"offered burnt offerings on the altar" (Gen. 8:20) which is a sacrifice to God. In the story of Utnapishtim, it says that he "offered a sacrifice" (Gilg. Tabl. XI, 155) by pouring a libation to Ea, which is a form of spiritual sacrifice.…
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.…
In a country with a strong Christian culture it is no surprise that a large number of people know the famous story of the Genesis flood but unknown to many is the striking resemblance it holds to an earlier flood story from the epic of Gilgamesh. Dissecting both stories the reader is revealed similarities but also numerous differences.…
The Epic of Gilgamesh is an ancient piece of literature written around 1900 B.C.E in ancient Mesopotamian. It is considered to be one of the oldest written pieces of literature on earth. The Old Testament was written around 1000 B.C.E and is the foundation for two of the world’s largest religions; Christianity and Islam. Although written many years apart The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Old Testament share similarities.…
After reading the flood story of Gilgamesh and the flood story in Genesis it is obvious that there is a relationship between the two. If someone were to tell you a summary of one, they would ultimately be telling you a summary of the other. But just because the overviews are the same does not mean that they are not different. The Epic of Gilgamesh and the story of Genesis have very minor differences, but these differences make each story distinct.…
Most stories we hear of the past are about heroes that are in search for something of meaning. History is a way to not only let the stories of the past move on to future generations, but also teaches us the morals and values of these epics. Epics are long narrative poems in elevated language that follows the journey of an important figure, or hero, whose journey is important to the history/culture of a people. The hero usually faces adversity and returns home significantly transformed. Epics are also a great way to give us an idea of a lifestyle and the thoughts of a lifetime that we never experienced. The epic of Gilgamesh is about a man who is on a desperate search for immortality after feeling fear he never thought was possible from the death of his good friend, Enkidu. Gilgamesh then goes on a journey in order to preserve himself. In the Book of…
My purpose is to show that Milton's Adam differs from that of Genesis. The two pieces of literature describe God's creation of earth and mankind. In the two stories, the description of Adam is different. In Milton's Paradise Lost, Adam converses indirectly with God through the archangel Raphael, whereas in Genesis, God talks to Adam, but Adam does not speak back. Another point where Milton's Adam differs from that of Genesis is in the character of Adam. A third point of difference occurs at the point where Eve is presented. Both stories have different ways of describing the creation of woman.…
In both The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Genesis, a flood is sent down in order to wipe out the human population. In both, the flood has survivors who replenish the human race, but their goals are different. Although a major flood is present in Gilgamesh and The Genesis, it differs in the reasons behind it and why.…
Christian and Jews alike serve the same one true and living God the Great I AM, the God who created the heavens and the earth, the God that breathed life into the nostrils of man.…
This is the book of beginnings. The origin of all things begins in chapters 1 and 2. The heavens and the Earth, the animals and man and all of creation is formed by the hand of God. The first human, Adam, is put in garden, Eden without a mate and given the job of naming all the animals. In naming all the animals he finds that they all have mates but he doesn't. God then puts him to sleep to remove on of his ribs and form him a mate, Eve. She falls for temptation of Satan, the serpent, to desire to be wise as God and take the forbidden fruit. She gives the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil to her husband with her, Adam who takes and they realize they have been tricked and now they know good and evil and have began the dying process phyically and have died spiritually by eternal separation from the creator, God.…
The Message We Are Supposed to Get Genesis 22:1-19 Introduction: There are passages in the Scripture whose meaning is not immediately obvious, whose message is not immediately clear. They disrupt our simple formulas and predictable solutions which we seek force the Bible. We forget that there are strange things. And none is stranger than what is asked of Abraham in Genesis 22—to sacrifice his son Isaac. For example, how many of us have thought the message of the Bible was primarily moral instruction? The Bible tells us what to do and how to do it. We will be saved as we strive to live according to God’s commands. To be sure, moral instruction is a part of the Bible’s goal. Here in Genesis 22, we see that Abraham is tested by the Lord to discern his character. But is morality the core message? After all, at first glance it seems that morality is being thrown out the window when God asks Abraham to sacrifice his own son? Surely there is more going on here than simple obedience. Others of us think the primary message of the Bible is about a heavenly escape. The Bible informs me about “how to be saved.” By that, we mean the Bible instructs us on how we can rid ourselves of this world and all of its problems. Our aim is to pursue life on a higher plane and eventually leave this world behind. Well, there is truth here too. We recognize that the Bible does have a message of salvation. But is it salvation by leaving this world behind? The life of Abraham might lead us to that conclusion. After all, he was asked by God to leave his family, his country and his old ways behind to go to a new land. However, when God asks Abraham to sacrifice his son, he is asking him to put that entire future promised to him at risk. Maybe an “other-worldly” escape is not the focus of the Bible either. Okay, so if it not moral instruction or heavenly escape what is the message we are supposed to get? At the very least, Genesis 22 challenges any superficial reading of the Bible because it…