Comparing The Genesis Flood And The Epic Of Gilgamesh

In both Gilgamesh and Noah and the Flood, man’s wickedness leads to death, destruction, and rebirth all caused by billions of gallons of water sweeping the earth’s surface. The flood in both stories destroys most of mankind. The floods represent rebirth and a new beginning for mankind, as well as the gods and God’s wrath. In Gilgamesh the gods decide to destroy mankind by flooding the earth for six days and nights. Utnapishtim is chosen to build a boat in order to restart mankind after the flood. In the Bible God also decides to flood the earth due to the increase in wickedness. God chooses Noah to build an ark and store seven pairs of every clean animal and two of every other kind of animal on it

For instance, in the story of Genesis, Noah was ordered by God to build the ark in order to save humankind. Also, the duration of the flood was very different in length compared to in Gilgamesh. In Genesis, the flood lasted at least forty days and nights before they reached land. Also, Noah used a different type of bird to test where there would be land ahead, in this case; a dove.

In the Bible the reason God sent the flood was because he saw that there was a lot of sinful things in the world and he was upset. He saw that Noah and his family were the only ones that stayed true to want God wanted in his people. In the Epic of Gilgamesh the Gods and Goddesses saw that the people in the earth were evil and they decided that they wanted to completely restart the world and kill every human and animal. Ea went against the other Gods and told Utnapishtim in a dream to build a boat because he saw something in Utnapishim that was not in other people. In the Navajo flood story the Gods did not send the flood to kill the people or to restart the world. The flood happened in this story because the coyote stole the sea monsters baby, and the sea monster wanted his baby

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

    The Biblical book, Genesis, of the Old Testament contains an account of an historic Flood which has never been equaled in intensity. Tablet 11of the Sumero-Babylonian version of the epic of Gilgamesh also records a Flood quite expansive and quite devastating. Are they a record of the same event?

The two great floods in both the Gilgamesh story and in the Hebrew Bible have many similarities and have many differences. In both stories the gods planned to destroy the Earth because they did not like the way that people were behaving and felt that they should be punished for their actions. Like the story of Noah in the Hebrew Bible, Utanapishtim was warned by a god that a great flood was coming and that he should build a boat to protect himself, his family and the animals (81). Both gods instructed the two men to build a boat in specific cubit measurements. After both floods they boats landed on the mountains and birds were used to find land. Although these two great flood stories have many similarities they also have a few differences. For instance, in the great flood in Genesis the length of the boat was 300 cubits, the width was 50 cubits and the height was 30 cubits. In Gilgamesh, the boat was ten dozen cubits in height and ten dozen cubits square (82). The two floods also did not last the same amount of time; the flood in Genesis lasted for 40 days and 40 nights whereas the flood in Gilgamesh only lasted for 6 days and 6 nights. The flood in Gilgamesh was not determined by just one God like in the story of Noah, but was determined by a group

The Biblical Flood story and the Gilgamesh Flood story include similarities and differences. There are two versions we know of the flood story in Babylonian literature, and both have different hero’s in each, although the cause of each flood is different. I will prove that I understand the task at hand by reading both of the stories, and taking it apart piece by piece to understand it in a whole. By doing this, I am able to know what I am reading and what the reading is trying to say. I will show how to sum up the ideology of the flood in the different versions and understand how the biblical story has transformed the Gilgamesh myth in meaningful ways.

In both books, there are Gods who possess almighty powers on earth. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Enlil, the god of the winds, calls for a flood to end all of mankind because man was too noisy. Similarly, in the Book of Genesis, God calls for a great flood to destroy all mankind because they were sinning. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Ea, the god of wisdom tells Utnapishtim in a dream to tear his house down and build a boat. On the other hand

These two stories have differences throughout the plot, containing both major and minor differences. One major difference between the two was the reason for the flood. In The Epic of Gilgamesh the flood happened because humans were too noisy, while in Genesis 6-9 all men had evil thoughts and therefore had to be killed. Another major difference was who informed the “chosen one” of the upcoming flood. The goddess Ea told Utnapishtim in a dream, and the almighty God himself told Noah one day while going for a walk.

Someone once wrote “The Lord saw how great was man’s wickedness on earth, and how every plan devised by his mind was nothing but evil all the time”(Noah and the flood pg.171). “ The uproar of mankind is intolerable and sleep is no longer possible by reason of the babel” (the Epic of Gilgamesh pg.147). Both stories from two different cultures but despite the differences in the heroes, their gods, and the flood stories in “Noah and the Flood” and “The Epic of Gilgamesh,” both of these stories appear to refer to the same historical event the great flood.

The similarity between the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Story of the Flood from The Book of Genesis is an interesting one. Considering how in both stories the Gods commanded one human to construct boats that could survive massive floods, to how both characters had seven days to build their respective boats before the floods came, to even how the dove in each story returned but the raven did not. I think one of the possibilities could be that they are the same story, merely told at a different time, some of the texts are even nearly the same, such as the Lord said in The Story of the Flood “ I will blot out from the earth the men whom I created-men together with beasts and creepy things, and birds of the sky”. Or Enlil’s quote from the Epic of Gilgamesh “the uproar of

“The earth will end only when God declares it's time to be over. Man will not destroy this earth. This earth will not be destroyed by a flood,” says John Shimkus, a U.S representative and devout member of his Lutheran church in Illinois. In the epic of Gilgamesh and the Flood of Noah, both stories depict deluges meant to wash the sin and wickedness from man. Both floods are global, both characters righteous, and both men experience some kind of salvation after surviving the spate. Thus, they allow the redemption of humankind. The flood is new beginning, a fresh wash of an existence that humans have tainted and after they are graciously allowed a second chance by their benevolent God(s).

The story of Gilgamesh’s flood and Noah’s Ark (Genesis 6:9) can provide a lengthy compare and contrast. Although, numerous people know the story of Noah’s Ark, these people do not realize the similarity to the Gilgamesh flood. The main theme in these two stories is the biggest similarity, and is what makes them so alike. However, these stories greatly differ in the event details, which take place throughout the stories. The Epic of Gilgamesh was a story passed down as a folktale with no singular author, however the story of Noah’s ark is written down in the Bible.

Despite all of the evidence in favor of an actual flood some still choose to believe there was no flood. Some call the story a myth. Even though I believe that the flood actually happens. I can see how some would say that the story is a fable. As a matter, some people do not even believe Noah ever lived. They are some pretty good evidence that support this story not being true. The evidence for this story being true is found in a plethora other accident scriptures. For example, scientist, archaeologist, and historians all justify their reason for their reasons for believing in the flood of Noah.

These verses of the Genesis helps people to understand the ferocity of the flood at that time, but also offers many questions. Did it truly happen? Did it really cover entire earth? These questions overtime has been researched and some parts of them were answered. However, the water covering the entire world is