There are many strange similarities between ancient texts of different cultures. Within these narratives, there are different trappings, but many of the stories remain eerily similar across cultural boundaries; within The Epic of Gilgamesh and the Old Testament of the Bible, for instance, there are a number of different stories that are remarkably similar. The story of Gilgamesh and the plant of eternal life are very similar to the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. However, perhaps the most similar of the stories contained within the Gilgamesh epic and the Old Testament of the Bible is the shared stories of a Flood. Even the Qu’ran, another ancient text from the same region shares a great flood story with Gilgamesh and the Old Testament, however, this discussion will focus on Gilgamesh and the Old Testament, and the various similarities and subtle differences between the texts. To discuss the similarities and differences between the Old Testament (sometimes called the Hebrew Bible) and The Epic of Gilgamesh, it is important to first understand the separate stories as they are written in their respective texts. For the purposes of discussion here, the King James Version of the Bible has been used. However, the text and translation is relatively similar across all the major translations of the Bible. When discussing the Flood, God says to Noah: “And God said to Noah, ‘The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch...And behold, I Myself am bringing floodwaters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is... ... middle of paper ... ...i). There are very real similarities between the stories of the flood and the Great Deluge in The Epic of Gilgamesh and the Old Testament book of Genesis. Although there are differences, these differences can be attributed to different cultural interpretations of events, or even changes that occurred as the stories were passed down from generation to generation, before they were written down. It seems likely that the Abrahamic stories of the Great Flood were derived from the stories contained within The Epic of Gilgamesh, although definitive proof is certainly difficult to come by in the case of these ancient texts. There could well have been a very large flood that happened in Mesopotamia many, many centuries ago; a flood so large that it remained embedded into cultural memory and was passed down as a legend in a variety of different cultural traditions (Njozi).
*The boat dimensions are quite different. The boat in the story of the Babylonian flood is a cube, equal on all sides. While in the Bible, Noah is told to build his Ark in a 450x75x45 ratio. This ratio is what is known to ship builders as the perfect ratio for stabilty for a boat but it was not known until the 15th century AD. The Gilgamesh boat, being equal on all sides, would have been wildly unstable and unseaworthy.
The Epic of Gilgamesh and Genesis have many similarities, or parallels, that connect the two great works. It is amazing how two stories were written at completely different times, yet have so many things in common. Drawing parallels can even help you understand the stories more. So, what do Gilgamesh and Genesis have in common? Using a bird to see if the flood is gone, making a sacrifice to God/ the gods, and the serpent in each story causes the main characters not to have immortality are only a few examples of connecting the stories together.
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.
“The Epic stories of Gilgamesh” and Noah’s ark as it was written in Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. They all date back to 1900–250 B.C.E. The epic of Gilgamesh was the greatest and oldest written story known to exist and it is the earliest pieces of world literature. In the both stories, there was a disastrous flood, which destroys most of the creation. The flood stories were even though they have a different culture, background, and timings, they have a number of similarities, which suggests that there was definitely a flood that destroyed mankind and its niche saving only a family
¨Never again will I doom the earth because of man, since the devisings of man´s mind are evil from his youth; nor will I ever again destroy every living being, as I have done,¨ (Genesis, 48) There is a similar story about the flooding of the earth in the Epic of Gilgamesh, but the story in The Bible is really different from the one in the Epic of Gilgamesh. Both The Bible and the Epic of Gilgamesh have flood stories about destruction through the flooding of the earth and in both stories they tell about a rebirth of mankind; but they had completely different reasons why the flood happened.
All of the stories had varying number of survivors and they all endured the floods in a different way. In Gilgamesh, the god Ea warned Utnapishtim of the upcoming flood and told him to build a colossal boat to carry with him the seed of each living thing, his family, and possessions. Noah and The Flood and Gilgamesh are similar because the ones cautioned of the flood were allowed to bring their families, animals (seed of animal), and possessions on a vessel that the Gods specified the dimensions of. God warned Noah in Noah and the Flood, thus allowing him to build an arc and sail atop the carnage. Unlike Noah and The Flood, The Great Flood only had two survivors, an old couple named Deucalion and Pyrrha, whom been notified of the flood by Prometheus. Upon their ship they floated for 9 days before landing on Mt. Parnassus. Since they could not bear any more children due to their age, the goddess Themis gave them the hint of throwing the bones of their mother behind them. They interpreted the statement as mother being the Earth and the bone as rocks, thus throwing rocks over their shoulders was their solution. Astonishingly it worked, Deucalion’s rock became a man and Pyrrha’s a
“The lord saw how great was man’s wickedness on earth.” (“Noah…” 171) “The epic of Gilgamesh” and “Noah and the flood” are two narratives written from different ancient cultures. They both feature a main hero who is instructed by a god(s) to construct an ark and save the lives of all other living creatures. While these two narratives depicting a great flood share differences in the matters of the telling of the flood, the characteristics of the main hero, and the cultures that they were written by, the two stories have some important similarities that have led many to believe they are focused on the same historic event.
The Epic of Gilgamesh flood story and the flood story found in Genesis certainly have some similarities between them, have some major differences. The Epic of Gilgamesh flood story is thought to have been written before the flood story in Genesis, so is the biblical flood story a transformed story of the Gilgamesh epic or a different story altogether for the same flood? When looking at the stories there are definitely some similarities. Noah, the main character in the Biblical story, and Utnapishtim, the main character in the Epic of Gilgamesh flood story, were both told by a god to build a ship because of a coming flood that would cover the face of the Earth. They both brought family, animals, and food onto the ship, they both sent out birds
In the Epic Gilgamesh, there were multiple Gods, whereas in The Hebrew Bible there is only one. This is shown when Utanapishtim talks about how it could have been worse than a flood. “Would that pestilence had wasted mankind Rather than the flood.” I think that this shows that humans view of natural disasters are a lot less terrible and devastating then disease, which is also the view of why the flood had been started. Was to cleanse the earth. Thus, humans and the divine desires for purity align. As for the flood, there was a time difference as well, in The Epic Gilgamesh it went only for six days, shown in this excerpt. “For six days and six nights the winds blew, torrent and tempest and flood overwhelmed the world, tempest and flood raged together like warring hosts. When the seventh day dawned the storm from the south subsided.” In the Hebrew Bible, the flood lasted for forty days and nights, (Genesis
In what ways are the stories similar? The wickedness of men destroyed the old world that causes the flood in Genesis and Gilgamesh. God saw the wickedness of mankind was great on earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time (Genesis 6:5). The reason for the flood in Gilgamesh was a way to kill the people who were living a sinful life. The flood was supposed to be a punishment for their sin. The flood of Gilgamesh was a slaughter of humanity (Tablet 11). The flood heroes were Noah and Utnapishtim both of them were righteous men. Both of the floods
Both the flood story from Gilgamesh and from the Bible have a common plot. A god floods the world due the the flaw of humans. Though this is a similarity, the flaw of the humans are different. In Gilgamesh, the god Enlil floods a city because the humans were too loud. In Noah, the flood story from the Bible, God floods the whole world because the humans were corrupt and lawless. In both stories, one man is chosen to survive the storm. In
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.
A good number of people know the famous story of the Genesis flood, but do they know how it resembles to the Gilgamesh flood story? It is mind bending how the main stories are so alike. The main theme is the biggest similarity between the two. They also differ greatly in the smaller details in the events that take place. In both stories the number of days for events are different, but the same basic event takes place. Along with many other similarities and differences. The stories are very much the same, but when comparing the details within they are very different.
The Epic of Gilgamesh is a moving tale of the friendship between Gilgamesh, the demigod king of Uruk, and the wild man Enkidu. Accepting ones own mortality is the overarching theme of the epic as Gilgamesh and Enkidu find their highest purpose in the pursuit of eternal life.
One who has studied both the Bible and the “The Epic of Gilgamesh” can easily point out several common stories found in both of these works. Though these texts do not mirror each other in doctrine, culture, society, or even story line, there are correlations that exist between the two. Some of these commonalities include the flooding of the earth, battles with those sent from God, size and type of weapons, and an isolated life in the wild. The Bible and The “Epic Gilgamesh” have significant parallels, which included a common geographical area of origin, similar cultures, and the use literary likeness, all of which point toward Biblical liberties being taken from the Mesopotamian Epic.