Comparing The Epic Of Gilgamesh And The Hebrew Flood

Cultures are each unique in their own way, however there are some similarities between all of them. Each culture has its own religion and their god(s) that they pray to and different religious habits. In some respects, it seems that all cultures are more similar than different. For example, almost all have a flood story that they have made their own. The flood stories have all been made to conform to their culture, but still have some similar qualities. The Epic of Gilgamesh and the Hebrew flood story are two examples.

We all know the story of the Genesis flood, but I don’t think we have all noticed how similar it is to the Epic of Gilgamesh. Genesis is the story of how God created mankind, everything else on this Earth and what punishments

are to come to them when they acted wrong. Genesis is a chapter in the Holy Bible, which was written in the 18th century B.C. by Moses. It is a Hebrew story about how life was created and how God destroyed it and Earth once. The main characters were Adam, Eve, and the serpent. All of them were given a task by God and they all disobeyed him and were punished forever. Some events from Genesis that God promised are still happening to this day. The Epic of Gilgamesh is about Gilgamesh wanting to become immortal and failing. The stories are very similar, but when comparing the specific details within each story they appear to be very different.
In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Utnapishtim was an immortal god and Gilgamesh wanted to become immortal.

The flood story was told to Gilgamesh by Utnapishtim because it was how be became immortal. The gods sent the flood because they were outraged with the people always asking the gods for things and never being pleased with what they received. The god passed on the instructions of how to prepare before the flood. He said, “Wreck house, build boat, forsake possessions and seek life… take aboard the boat seed of all living things, the boat you shall build, let her dimensions be measured out: let her width and length be equal, roof over he over like the watery depths” (The Norton Anthology of World Literature,

2013)
The flood lasted for seven days and seven nights. When the seventh day came the seas and skies calmed and all the humans turned to clay expect for Utnapishtim and his wife. He first released a dove to see if it could find a dry place to land, but it had returned to him with nothing. Then a raven was released, and it did not come back because it found a place to land that had signified that peace in nature was restored and that dry land was close by. “I set up and incense offering and offered it to the four directions… The gods smelled the savor, the gods smelled the sweet savor, the gods crowded round the sacrifice like flies” (The Norton Anthology of World Literature, 2013) The god Enlil was outraged that someone had lived through the treacherous flood. He took Utnapishtim and his wife to dry land and blessed them, “Hitherto Utnapishtim has been a human being, Now Utnapishtim and his wife shall become like us gods. Utnapishtim shall dwell far distant at the source of the rivers” (The Norton Anthology of World Literature, 2013) Utnapishtim told Gilgamesh that if he truly seeks eternal life he must stay awake for six days and seven nights. Gilgamesh of course accepted the task, but he fell asleep. Utnapishtim’s wife had been told to bake a loaf of bread for every day that he slept. He awoke after seven days and was sent back home and was to remain mortal.
In the Hebrew flood story God sent a great flood to the people because he was upset to see that his beloved creations were becoming wicked.

So the Lord said, “I will wipe out from the earth the men whom I have created, and not only the men, but also the beasts and the creeping things and the bird of the air, for I am sorry that I made them” (Genesis 6:7) Noah was instructed to build the “ark of gopherwood… length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits and its height thirty cubits” (Genesis 6:14-15) Noah’s sons, his wife, his son’s wives, and one male and female of each animal should be put on the ark. The flood lasted for forty days and forty nights. At the end of the forty days, Noah sent out a raven to see if it was able to find dry land. It continued to fly around in the sky and then Noah sent out a dove. It too was not able to land and had returned to him. Noah released the dove seven days later and it returned to him that night, he then waited another seven days and it returned to him with an olive leaf in its bill. God told Noah to leave the ark and bring his family and all the animal onto the dry land and his life began again. Once Noah reached land he built an altar for the Lord and offered up many sacrifices. “When the Lord smelled the sweet odor, he said to himself: ‘Never again will I doom the earth because of man’…” (Genesis

8:21)
This text was significant to its original audience. It showed them lessons in what happens when you disobey God/god(s). This story serves a general purpose by using primeval narrative to cover a large amount of history and is highly figurative in their language. While it speaks of events that did happen like the special calling of humankind, and the universe being created it is done through more theological ways than just a narration of facts. This seemed to be a typical way of writing historical accounts especially stories as primeval as this one near the beginning of history.
These two stories have differences, but they also have many similarities. The floods were caused because the Lord/god(s) were angered and they felt like the entire human race needed to be wiped out and to be started over in hopes that a lesson would be learned and that everyone would become more grateful. In the Hebrew story God chooses Noah to be the leader of the ark because he is seen as the least corrupt and is seen in God’s favor. Utnapishtim became immortal because he and his wife were the only two humans to survive the vicious floods that were sent by the gods. In the case of the doves and the ravens, Utnapishtim sent a dove then a raven and Noah send a raven and then doves. When they were instructed to build the boat and ark, Utnapishtim was just told to build a huge boat but Noah was given a numerical value and instructions on how to build the ark. Once both had reached dry land they sent up sacrifices to God/god(s) and they smelled the same sweet odor of sacrifices. The flood in the Epic of Gilgamesh lasted for seven days and seven nights, and in the Hebrew story it was forty days and forty nights. In the Hebrew story the forty days and forty nights symbolizes the forty days and forty nights that Jesus spent in the desert fighting the temptations of the devil.
Both flood stories have been passed down through generations and are continued to be taught in the education systems. The floods could have been brought about to make the people know that you must show respect toward the almighty ones in your religion. Sometimes it may be hard or tempting to not follow instructions that are given but, in the end, it is the right thing to do. You must go through challenging times before you get to experience good times which make it all worth it in the end. The Genesis flood story shows us that almost always God is morally right and although at the time we may see it a separate way or think that it’s the wrong choice, he shows that he always has the best in mind for us. It also shows that we are all born to sin and in need of savior, so it is going to happen but it’s how you handle your sin that is significant. It gives us instruction to always believe in him and to follow instructions we are given not just by him but by anyone who is above us that gives us guidance.