Comparing and Contrasting the Floods in Genesis and The Epic of Gilgamesh

Multiple differences are seen in between the two stories of the flood; as stated, a major difference is that Gilgamesh is a an epic told to entertain, when Genesis is a religious text. Another difference is the length of the rains and floods. In The Epic of Gilgamesh the rains only

The general idea of both stories follows the idea of punishment for one’s unacceptable behavior. In the first flood myth, the idea of four monsters morphing into one large beast is presented. This large beast is supposed to represent society as a whole. When society adapts malicious intentions and negative traits, a higher being decides whether or not a “cleansing” of society is necessary to improve the planet. Similarly, the story of Genesis follows the idea that humans have begun to behave in an irrational and shameful manner, so God creates a flood to punish the humans who had behaved poorly. “Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways.”

When reading The Epic of Gilgamesh, there is a story in tablet XI that refers to a flood that destroyed the human race. Readers today read this part of the epic, and quickly compare it to a very similar story in Genesis 6-9. At first glance, the two stories seem to be extremely similar. Although there are some obvious similarities, when looking closer there are some subtle differences. These differences may seem minor, but actually have large impact on the moral of the stories. The differences of the two stories show the extreme difference in the world view of the culture in Gilgamesh’s and in Genesis.

When comparing the Genesis Flood narrative to that of the Gilgamesh Flood narrative, there are many similar symbols throughout both narratives. In the Genesis version of the flood, God had chosen to send the flood because the humankind he had created was evil and he saw their wickedness. “For my par, I am going to bring a good of waters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die” (Genesis 6:18). This excerpt from the narrative shows that one God had chosen to send the flood to destroy all humankind that he had originally created. Just like this narrative, the Gilgamesh Flood narrative, a God by the name of Enlil orders a flood to destroy humankind. “Decided that the great gods should make a flood” (Gilgamesh XI 109). This quote states how that a flood was to be sent for the city of Shuruppak. In the Genesis narrative there was a righteous man by the name of Noah that was chosen to build the ark. “Make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in the ark and cover it inside and out with a pitch” (Genesis

     Another difference in the story is the instructions on how to build the ark. In the bible, God tells Noah to build the ark 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high (New International Version, Gen. 6:15). God continues to tell him to “make a roof and finish the ark to within 18 inches of the top” (New International Version, Gen. 6:16a). Then “put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle, and upper decks” (New International Version, Gen. 6:16b). In Gilgamesh, Utnapishtim builds his ark 155 feet high, and the decks 175 feet wide. He also built a top deck and six lower decks (Matthews and Benjamin 26).

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

Comparing the Great Flood in Epic of Gilgamesh and the Biblical story of Noah’s Ark

Both the story of “Noah and the Flood” in the book of Genesis in The Hebrew Bible and the flood story in The Epic of Gilgamesh detail a grand flood in which a man saved life from extinction by building an ark, earning fame and immortality in some form. The theme of completing this grand task for a moral purpose holds true to both stories, but the depiction and actions of the divine and mortal characters in the stories contain different similarities and differences.

While the book of Genesis in the bible and The Epic of Gilgamesh have striking similarities in the sense of creation and the great flood, the interactions between the divine beings and humans differ greatly. One matter that impacts the entire relationship between gods and humans in both accounts is that the gods in the epic are not almighty beings like God in Genesis since they cannot control each other’s domains. Because of this, they must travel from place to place and work with other gods to carry out a certain task. The gods in The Epic of Gilgamesh were very much like humans and interacted more with them in daily life. In contrast, the all-powerful god in Genesis seems distant and far from having human-like characteristics and does not need to interact with other gods. At the same time, both stories display the reverence and fear humans have for the supreme beings because of their authoritative qualities.

The flood story that is told in The Epic of Gilgamesh has the same principle as the story of Noah told in the book of Genesis in the Bible, but there are some major differences. In the epic,

While Genesis in the bible and The Epic of Gilgamesh have striking similarities in the sense of creation and the great flood, the interactions between the divine beings and humans differ greatly. One matter that impacts the entire relationship between gods and humans in both accounts is that the gods in the epic are not almighty beings like God in Genesis since they cannot control each other’s domain. Because of this, they must travel from place to place and work with other gods to carry out a certain task. The gods in The Epic of Gilgamesh act very much like humans and interfere more with their daily lives. In contrast, the all-powerful god in Genesis seems distant and far from having human-like characteristics and does not need to interact with other gods. At the same time, both stories display the reverence and fear humans have for the supreme beings because of their authoritative qualities.

God said to Noah, “And I behold, I establish my covenant with you and with your seed after you; and with every living creature with you. And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there anymore be a flood to destroy the earth.” That’s when God made an everlasting covenant between himself and every living creature of all flesh on earth. Even though, in the story of Gilgamesh, the Gods decided that it was wrong to punish mankind, they still did not make a covenant with man. Instead of making a pact with humans they granted immorality to Utnapishtim and his wife. In both stories they settled the flood in different ways separating the stories.

This term paper compares the flood story in the book of Genesis in the Old Testament of the Bible and the flood story in Gilgamesh. It identifies links

There are many similarities and differences between The Book of Genesis and the Epic of Gilgamesh. The most obvious similarities between the two accounts are that both are talking about a great flood that was sent by God. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, the flood lasts for seven days while in the Book of Genesis, the flood lasts for forty days (pg.12-13). Another similarity is that in both accounts, it was God who told both Noah and Gilgamesh to build the boats as well as to “keep alive living beings” (pg.12-13). One of the differences between the two accounts is that in the Book of Genesis, Noah sent off a dove and a raven in search of dry land, which he eventually found (pg.13). In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh also sent out a dove, and then he sent a swallow, then also a raven and when they all came back with no sign of dry land, he sent out “everything in all directions” (pg.12). Another, more major, difference between the two accounts is that Gilgamesh and his family were not meant to survive while Noah was

Noah and Utnapishtim were both righteous men. They were both told to build a boat and they both complained about it. The flood was a result of man’s wickedness. Utnapishtim said “the world teemed, the people multiplies, the world bellowed like a wild bull, and the great god was aroused by the clamour”. The noise was so harsh that they agreed to “exterminate mankind”. Genesis states that “the earth was filled with violence” and that the world was “corrupt” . So God told Noah that “the end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth”. The difference here is the way that the way the gods/Gods got the idea to destroy the Earth. Since man was sinning and making all