The Flood in The Epic of Gilgamish and The Bible The story of the great flood is probably the most popular story that has survived for thousands of years and is still being retold today. It is most commonly related within the context of Judeo-Christian tradition. In the Holy Bible, the book of Genesis uses the flood as a symbol of God's wrath as well as His hope that the human race can maintain peace and achieve everlasting salvation. The tale of Noah's Ark begins with God's expression of dismay as to the degenerate state of the human race at the time. People were behaving wickedly and sinfully and God decided that a genetic cleansing was necessary. He spared only Noah and his family, along with two of every type of animal; one male and one female. The other most popular flood story is found in the Epic of Gilgamish. In this text, the gods have decided to destroy everything on earth by creating a great flood. The only survivor is a man named Utnapishtim, spared because he is the god Ea's favorite human. The Babylonian God Ea had decided to eliminate humans and other land animals with a great flood, which was to become "the end of all flesh". He selected Utnapishtim, to build an ark to save a few humans, and some of other animals, much like Noah. In comparing and contrasting the Babylonian text and the biblical story of Noah's Ark, there are many similarities between the two stories and one would conclude that they are essentially identical. The Genesis story describes how mankind had become corrupt and how the earth was filled with violence. In the ... ... middle of paper ... ...in it, leaving only a chosen few to remain on earth to start all over again. Works Cited and Consulted: Budge, E. A. Babylonian Story of the Deluge and the Epic of Gilgamesh. Montana, USA: Kessinger Publishing Co., n.d. Gardner, John and John Maier. Gilgamesh: Translated from the Sin-leqi-unninni version. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1984. Heidel, Alexander. The Gilgamesh Epic and Old Testament Parallels. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1949. Ignatius Holy Bible. Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1996. Web Sites Consulted: The "Epic of Gilgamesh": An Outline. Online. 15 Feb. 2002. http://www.hist.unt.edu/ane-09.htm Sumerian Mythology FAQ. Online. 15 Feb. 2002. http://webster.unh.edu/%7Ecbsiren/sumer-faq.html
"The Epic of Gilgamesh." The Norton Anthology of World Literature. 3rd ed. Vol. A. New York: W.W. Norton & Compnany, 2012. 99-150. Print
Translated by N.K. Sandars, Gilgamesh, The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces Expanded Edition, ed. Maynard Mack, Expanded Edition, (New York: W. W. Norton, 1995), pp. 13-42
The Epic of Gilgamesh. Trans. Benjamin R. Foster. Text. Martin Puncher. New York: W.W and Company, 2013.Print.
Njozi, Hamza M. "The Flood Narrative in the Gilgamesh Epic, the Bible and the Qur'ān: The
Dalley, Stephanie. "Gilgamesh." Myths from Mesopotamia: Creation, The Flood, Gilgamesh and Others. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1991. 39-153. Print.
Many cultures have stories of a great flood, and probably the best known story is of Noah's Ark. The next most notable is the Sumerian story of Ut-Napishtim found in the Epic of Gilgamesh. In the ancient Babylonian depiction of the flood story, the god Enlil creates a flood to destroy a noisy mankind that is disturbing his sleep. Gilgamesh is told by another god, Ea, to build an ark (Monack 1). The Epic of Gilgamesh has broadly the same structure and plot as Noah's Ark, suggesting the possibility that the Biblical account has drawn influence from the archaeologically older Sumerian depiction. University professor Alexander Heidel concludes that these accounts are undeniably related (Fowler 1). According to theological considerations, the Epic and the Biblical versions can be contrasted as well.
Budge, E. A. Babylonian Story of the Deluge and the Epic of Gilgamesh. Montana, USA: Kessinger Publishing Co., n.d.
The Epic of Gilgamesh compares to the Bible in many different ways. The epic has a different perspective than the Bible does. This paper is a contrast and comparison between the two books. The three main points of this paper will be the Creation, Flood and the Hero.
In this paper I will be comparing Gilgamesh and Genesis flood stories. There are significant similarities in these stories that are strong enough to cause debates among scholars. I will be analyzing the similarities and differences between these stories extensively and look into how both characters respond to circumstances they are in very differently even though they mostly perform similar acts such as building arks, making sacrifices; their intentions and outcomes are very different and I will discuss that throughout this paper Their stories have a similar plot line and themes but many key differences as well that will be discussed throughout this paper.
1. Flood is sent by God to destroy his creation, which has become corrupt and evil The humans are so wicked and evil that "it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart" (Gen. 6:6). He says,"I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth. . . " (Gen. 6:7)
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.
Gilgamesh, The Epic of. Vol. A. The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Ed. Martin Puchner, et al. 3rd ed. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 2012. 95-150. Print.
Thorkild Jacobsen, "'And Death the Journey's End': The Gilgamesh Epic" “The Epic of Gilgamesh,” trans. and ed. Benjamin R. Foster, A Norton Critical Edition, New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2001
Present day society has grown and evolved to a diverse America we see today, with minorities in high levels of government, in universities, with bachelors, masters, and doctorates in extremely prestigious degrees, and in high-paying careers. Some would argue that this is not enough; minorities are still underrepresented in all walks of life. However true that may be and however much I agree, we all ought to agree that affirmative action has set the foundation for minorities, and their offspring, to succeed. We do not need strong affirmative action in our society anymore (note, I said strong affirmative action). Weak affirmative action, in that it becomes outreach, will achieve in the same results without blatantly discriminating
Print. The. The “Gilgamesh Epic” is now available. (n.d.): Funk & Wagnalls, New World Encyclopedia.