Gilgamesh Vs Genesis Essay

816 Words2 Pages

Gilgamesh and Genesis are both stories that have been passed down for thousands of years. These two tales are portrayed with different people in different settings but both of them also share many similarities together. The floods are brought upon earth as punishment from god. God also calls on both of the men to build massive boats capable of holding their families and animals. After the floods subside from earth the men are the only human beings left along with their families. In this paper I will break down the similarities and differences between Gilgamesh and Genesis. In Genesis God has become tired of the sinful earth. As he watches earth he speaks to Noah, “…behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth” …show more content…

In Genesis the storm goes on for “a hundred and fifty days the waters had abated and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest upon the mountains of Ar'arat” (Genesis 8.3). This could be symbolic of how sinful the earth had actually become. God had to be sure that there was zero sin on the earth so that Noah could start civilization on a fresh start. In Gilgamesh the storm only lasted seven days and the entire earth was wiped out. The gods of Gilgamesh didn’t intend on rebuilding the human race so they turned all humans into clay. This shows that Genesis’s god cared much more about the human …show more content…

Gilgamesh is different because of the gods’ personalities and priorities. The gods only look for self-gain and don’t care about the human race. They went into hiding during the storm and planned on exterminating the human race. On the contrast in Genesis god is caring and wants to fix the sin on the earth. He protects Noah while he is on the ship and looks for the greater good of mankind. He makes sure the earth is rid of sin by raining for 40 days. Genesis has a loving god while Gilgamesh has a selfish

Show More
Related

  • Analyzing the Epic of Gilgamesh by F. Lorey through a Creationists Viewpoint

    811 Words  | 2 Pages

    It contains useful comparisons and historical data to help support his analysis. The author considers the story to hold very value for Christians. It concerns the typical myths that were tied to pagan people. Despite that theory, there have been many Christians who have studied the afterlife and creation in the epic. He suggests an interesting thought when he starts to explain the story. The author hints that maybe the main character, Gilgamesh, was a historical figure. The base analysis for his line of thought is the story of the flood found in the bible. After looking at the lengths of time of each story, he considers it to not be a problem. To provide some evidence, the author shows a chart of a series of questions about each flood and compares the two. The most striking comparison in the chart was the command to build a boat; "O man of Shuruppak, son of Ubar-Tutu, tear down thy house, build a ship; abandon wealth, seek after life; scorn possessions, save thy life. Bring up the seed of all kinds of living things into the ship which thou shalt build. Let its dimensions be well measured."17 The text from the quote can almost match what the bible said. In both stories the person was commanded to build a boat because a flood is coming due to man’s sins or man’s wickedness. In the conclusion of the article, the author says a bold statement; “the widespread nature of flood traditions throughout the entire human race is exce...

    Read More

  • Theme Of Sin And Wickedness In The Epic Of Gilgamesh

    111 Words  | 1 Pages

    The theme in Gilgamesh, Genesis and Sur 11 are comparably the same in that the people in each story were with sin and wickedness. In all three literatures, the people in the beginning were mean and sinful. The people in the Epic of Gilgamesh were evil and when Gilgamesh came to power he did not known what to since it was his first time beinging king. So, he would rule in a stern way to keep the people from sin. On Genesis God wanted to flood the Earth from the people who were sinful. God asked Noah to build an ark and to take his family and two of each animal.

    Read More

  • Flood Stories of the Epic of Gilgamesh and Book of Genesis of the Christian Bible

    951 Words  | 2 Pages

    After reading the two stories I concluded that forty days and forty nights was too long for it to rain without stopping; that is why the flood in Gilgamesh is more realistic. The length of the rains in the flood story in The Epic of Gilgamesh is easier for someone to believe than the length of the rains in Genesis. Even though the stories were different there was many similarities in the stories.

    Read More

  • Gilgamesh Epic Essay

    877 Words  | 2 Pages

    Every culture has a different story of their origin. Each story varies in setting, main characters, and religious aspects. Although the stories are different, the sole purpose is the same for each – to explain how each civilization came to be. In order for a civilization to fully understand their past, they must critically break down the components of their origin story. Creation stories establish appropriate relationships within society by the revelation of the punishment laid out by the gods on unsatisfactory vassals, the importance of a hero figure, and the exposure of human survival based on nature.

    Read More

  • Biblical Flood of Noah in Genesis and the Gilgamesh Flood

    1667 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Sumero-Babylonian version of the epic of Gilgamesh, after two and a half millennia of dormancy, was resurrected by British archaeologists in the nineteenth century. Amid the rubble of an Assyrian palace, the twelve clay tablets inscribed the adventures of the first hero of world literature – King Gilgamesh, whose oral folk tales go back to at least 3000 years before Christ (Harris 1). Tablet XI contains the story of the Flood. In this essay let us compare this flood account to the more recent Noah’s Flood account in Genesis of the Old Testament.

    Read More

  • Image Of God In The Bible

    1400 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the first book of the Bible, Genesis, God can be seen as having a sort of bi-polar attitude. In the beginning chapters God is shown as a caring person when he is creating the earth and when he talks about how he wants Adam and Eve to succeed and do well and how he gives Adam a companion, Eve because he feels Adam will be lonely. As the book unfolds God becomes very angry with how his world is turning out. Sin has been introduced and humans seem to be falling away from the righteous. This upsets God and he creates an idea that he will flood the world so that only Noah and the people and animals inside the ark will live. His intentions seem horrible, trying to kill humans because they have sinned, but in reality he is trying to free the world of sin so that the remaining humans will live wonderful lives free of pain and despair. The flood can be seen as both a positive and negative thing. To non-believers they may find fault in the idea that God felt that he had to punish the world as a result of how sinful the people of earth had become. To help promote their ideas they could use statements from the Bible such as this one when God's feelings are stated about how he seems to be dissatisfied with the people of earth, "The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain" (Genesis 6:6). It can also be revealed when God states, "I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth" (Genesis 6:13).

    Read More

  • Comparing Gilgamesh, Noah And The Great Flood

    763 Words  | 2 Pages

    The three tyrannical tides of The Epic of Gilgamesh, Noah and the Flood, and The Great Flood end with humanity in a watery grave, yet they share more than that and differ just as much. Each includes, obviously, a flood, a reason for the flood, gods, survivors, and how the survivors persevered through the ordeal. While these elements are the same, the details are widely varied and give each story its own personality.

    Read More

  • Flood Stories in Epic of Gilgamesh and the Genesis Flood of the Christian Bible

    826 Words  | 2 Pages

    The two stories closely parallel each other, though Gilgamesh was written down before 2000 BCE and the version in Genesis was compiled ca. 400 BCE. Biblical writers probably knew of the much older myth but revised it so that it fit with their own history and worldview. They intended it to fit with their own mythology. Despite the many similarities between the two stories, this difference in intention is revealed in a number of motifs that distinguish the biblical story from the ancient myth:

    Read More

  • Ancient Stories Of The Flood

    821 Words  | 2 Pages

    The closest parallel to the Biblical story of the flood occurs in the Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh, our fullest version of which is furnished by an Akkadian recension prepared, in the seventh century B.C. for the great library of King Ashurbanipal at Nineveh. The story itself is far older. We have fragments of versions dating as much as a thousand years earlier, and we possess also portions of a Summerian archetype.

    Read More

  • Comparing the Epic of Gilgamesh and Genesis

    1018 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Theme of Knowledge in Gilgamesh and Genesis

    947 Words  | 2 Pages

    In addition to having with different languages, customs, and traditions, ancient Greeks, Hebrews, Middle-easterners or Romans have very different beliefs about the divine. For example, Old Testament is monotheistic, while Gilgamesh outlines many deities. Both texts have fundamental links in the relationships between deities and mankind, and the idea of knowledge. The Bible and Gilgamesh are literary texts that conjunctively parallel and contrast each other in various aspects such as wisdom. Knowledge is a prominent characteristic that is central in Gilgamesh and Genesis which builds a link between omniscient divine and mortals, but also distinction of power.

    Read More

  • A Comparison of the Flood of Genesis and Gilgamesh

    1428 Words  | 3 Pages

    The flood of Gilgamesh was written before 2000 B.C, while the Genesis story was written in 400 BC Which was much later then the Gilgamesh flood.  Biblical writers probably knew of the much older flood but revised it so that it fit with their own history and worldview.  They most likely intended the original story with their own mythology. Despite the many similarities between the two stories, the differences are revealed in a number of different topics that distinguish the biblical version of the story from the ancient version.

    Read More

  • Comparing The Flood In The Epic Of Gilgamesh And Genesis

    762 Words  | 2 Pages

    As human beings, we are designed to belive in something. Although the belief in a higher power or religion is diverse, many theologies share common themes. “The Epic of Gilgamesh” and the Hebrew book of “Genesis” are seemingly polar opposites. Christianity, demonstrated in Genesis, is monotheistic, and the Hebrews base their faith on their relationship with God. On the other hand, Sumerian philosophy, found in Gilgamesh, is polytheistic, and the Sumerian people base their theology on fear. Ancient polytheistic literature forms an archetypical pattern of the mortals trying desperately to please the gods. A mortal’s entire existence rests in the hands of the sometimes childish gods. In spite of this, these two stories

    Read More

  • Obedience and Arrogance in Epic of Gilgamesh and Book of Genesis of the Holy Bible

    1239 Words  | 3 Pages

    One obvious distinction between "The Epic of Gilgamesh" and Genesis can be traced back to the cultures of the authors. The Gilgamesh epic comes from a culture and religion that is polytheistic. The author (and thus the characters in the epic) believed in a pantheon of gods and goddesses, each possessing human attributes and vices. The Hebraic culture that gave us Genesis revolved around the belief in one Almighty God. The Hebrew God was above man in every way: He was omniscient and all-powerful and yet retained compassion for the humans He had created. While Noah had but one God to serve, Gilgamesh was responsible to many. It seems that many human-like gods each command less respect than one all-powerful God. This idea can be examined by looking at Ishtar's advances to Gilgamesh. This goddess desired the mortal Gilgamesh and he responds by shunning her, thereby being disobedient to his gods. Gilgamesh may be king of Uruk and two-thirds god but that does not make  him an equal. "Come to me Gilgamesh, ...

    Read More

  • The Flood of Noah and the Flood of Gilgamesh

    1845 Words  | 4 Pages

    Almost all myths around the world have the particular section on the “Great Flood.” It has been universal, indicating that at some point in their lifetime, all of the cultures experienced a flood that almost wiped their civilization out. However, many of the flood myths of different cultures take different features in time period, area that they happened, heroes, and the story itself. But, surprisingly, the flood myths in Bible and Gilgamesh are almost similar except for the slight differences for the names of the heroes, shapes of the arks, and story itself. Besides few small details of the story, though, everything else is very parallel to each other.

    Read More

More about Gilgamesh Vs Genesis Essay

Open Document