Comparing Gilgamesh And The Hebrew Text Flood Accounts

Name: Chukwunweike Ezeanyika
World Literature 1-section 5
March 5 2015
Instructor: Prof. Lana Reese

Contrasts Between the Gilgamesh and the Hebrew Text Flood Accounts
“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

in both stories. The biblical flood teach of a one Great God’s wrath descending on human beings in the form of flood because of their disobedience and neglecting attitude towards His laws while in the Gilgamesh the god Enil used a vicious flood to get the wrath message across too.
Although both stories have a similar story, they have a lot of contrasting issues that differentiates both stories. This makes us to believe and know for sure that there was definitely a vicious flood but they way other religions, members of a society, cultural groups, and Social groups tell the stories surely differs.
The relationship with mankind and their gods in the Gilgamesh story was intact in that there were demi gods roaming the earth during the time of the flood but that was not so in the Biblical Account of the flood because the giants which were born when the sons of God and the daughters of men had when they laid together.

These giants that roamed the earth were long destroyed and there was a clear account that says that there were only men during the flood time. Also in the Gilgamesh story, the reason for the gods’ wrath descending on mankind was not tangible reason enough to cause extermination of the human race… ‘The uproar of mankind is intolerable and sleep is no longer possible by reasons of the babel”. In the Hebrew text however, God was annoyed with man because their negligence and sins were getting out of hand and this is a pretty good reason for the creator of mankind to decide to destroy his creation. Even at that, Noah who was the hero in the Hebrew text found grace in the eyes of God and He decided to spare his

family.
It took a day to build the boat in the Gilgamesh story which largely differs to story in the Hebrew text where the ark was constructed for several years and at the time of the flood only Noah and his family where saved meanwhile in the Gilgamesh story, Utanpishtim boat was occupied by a lot of people including himself.
Again, there was a difference in how the flood started and how it ended.

In the Gilgamesh flood story, the flood started as a result of the cry of the gods, which creates a very destructive flood and covers the face of the earth. The rain lasted for 6 days and 6 nights. Utanpishtim, was the hero from the Gilgamesh flood account because he was a great worshipper of the god Ea. He sent out three different species of birds to know when the water dries out from the face of the earth. At first he sent out a dove but it returns, he sent again a different specie which was a swallow that too returned and finally he sent out a raven which did not return and that tells him it is safe to come out which he did while his boat landed on mount Nisir. It was also recorded that the boat stayed on that mountain for seven days. In the Hebrew text, the story is quite different. The rain lasted for forty days and forty nights and Noah the hero in the Hebrew text sent out a raven and it did return, he sent out a dove and it returned and then again he sent out another dove which was the second dove and it did not return. Then he knew it was safe to come and his ark rested on Mount. Ararat. And it was recorded that it took another two and half years more before the other mountains

surfaced.
There were other minor differences that were of major account in the different flood stories. Utanpishtim got the information about the destruction of mankind from his dream while Noah heard directly from God because he found conviction in the eyes of God. Utanpishtim took a sailor for the boat with some other craftmen not just his family while Noah was only with is his family. Both heroes were blessed after the flood and their blessings differed too. Utanpishtim was grant eternal life while Noah was blessed to go and multiply and fill the earth and have dominion over the animals, which they rescued. In the Hebrew text God promised with a sign of Rainbow that he will never destroy the earth with flood again while in Gilgamesh story the gods promised with a necklace never to destroy human race again.