Allie Darling
9/8/13
The Flood Stories of Ancient Near East are very interesting and show what was going on throughout many parts of the East when the floods came through. Some are very similar and sometimes make you think that they are actually the same story while others make you wonder if they are even talking about a flood. One similarity of the flood stories is that In the story of Epic of Gimgamesh and in the flood story from the Book of Genesis both have people who get on ships to brave the flood. In the Epic of Gimgamesh It says “O man of Shuruppak, son of Ubartutu; Tear down the house and build a boat” In the Book of Genesis it says, “Noah and his company in the ark survived.” Both of these stories talk about how Utanapishtim and Noah bring people or animals on to a ship to survive the flood. Another similarity of these two stories is that at the end of the floods they are both acknowledged by their own Gods. Utanapishtim actually becomes a God after the flood. It says, “Previously Utanapishtim was a human being. But now let Utanapishtim and his wife become like us, the Gods!” In the Book of Genesis it says, “God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him: “I now make my covenant with you and with your descendants after you” This is saying that Noah was rewarded by God and to all of his descendants because of what Noah did. Both of the stories have two people getting rewarded by their own God.
One thing that is different between these stories is that in the story of the Sumerian king List, it talks about the rulers, or Kingships, of the land while the story of the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Book of Genesis talk about people and beings that went through the flood and had to try to survive the flood.
Another Similarity of these stories is that in the story of the Epic of Gilgamesh and the story of the Book of Genesis talks about how Utanapishtim and Noah both sent birds to look for land but both came back