Genesis And Gilgamesh Similarities

The Epic of Gilgamesh: story of the flood is a story telling of the time when the Sumerian gods flood the Earth hoping to get rid of the annoying humans. Throughout the story, Utnapishtim would be the preserver of life; by building a ship that would carry two of every animal. In Genesis 6-9, the Hebrew God chose to cleanse humanity by flooding the Earth, and in this story Noah would be instructed by the Lord to build an ark and put two of every animal with this ark. These stories of the flood have many differences, one major difference being that The Epic of Gilgamesh is a fictional story of Sumerian gods, while Genesis is a religious book with in the Bible. Although there are many differences between Genesis’ and Gilgamesh’s story of the flood, there are significantly more similarities linking the two stories.

Some people and historians have claimed that the biblical story of the flood and Noah’s ark was influenced by the flood of Gilgamesh. The flood of Gilgamesh and the Biblical story of the flood in Genesis showed similar characteristics, but the Biblical flood was not influenced by ancient readings in the Epic of Gilgamesh. Noah’s ark was influenced by God in the Bible, compared to the flood in the Epic of Gilgamesh where it is written on clay tablets influenced by many gods and goddesses. The biblical flood is taught today as a place in religion throughout Christian teaching, where the Epic of Gilgamesh is based off stories found in the 18th Century in an ancient library called Nineveh (Lorey). Despite the two accounts being so similar in context, there are some differences as well confirming the clear distinction between the two.

Throughout the Genesis Flood, Atrahasis Flood and the Epic of Gilgamesh flood, there are many different ways to interpret the different views of The Flood. These different narratives in these stories have their own explanation on how this myth took place and the different beliefs that occurred during this flood. The way you portray each narrative is based on what exactly your beliefs are.

     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).

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.

Although the stories are similar they are not identical. In Genesis God sent the Flood to destroy humankind because of man’s wickedness. Unlike The Gilgamesha where the reason was never said however the sender of the flood was a secret council of gods the idea was brought up by Enlil , the god of earth wind and air. God favored Noah because he was a righteous man therefore, he was chosen to build the ark that was three hundred cubits long, fifty cubit wide, and thirty cubits high, about three stories. Utnapishtim was chosen out of the cleverness of Ea, the god of wisdom and crafts. God came directly to Noah to tell him about the Flood where as Ea was swore to secrecy so “he repeated their plans to the reed fence” so he would no break the oath to the group. The boat Utnapishtim was directed to build was a rectangle shaped measuring one acre and about 6 stories high. When the floor came in Gilgamesh it was only rainwater however the Flood in Genesis was rain water as well as ground water. Both floods did indeed wipe out all of humankind but the did not last equal as long. After the flood Utnapishtim was gifted the gift of eternal life where as Noah was to multiply and have rule over the animals.

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

The Hebrew Flood story of Noah and his obligation to preserve man kind after God had punished all living creatures for their inequities parallels The Epic of Gilgamesh in several ways. Even though these two compilations are passed on orally at different times in history the similarities and differences invoke deliberation when these stories are compared. Numerous underlining themes are illustrated throughout each story. Humans are guilty of transgressions and must be punished, God or Gods send a flood as punishment to destroy this evil race, a person is selected by the gods to build a craft that will withstand the flood and allow this person to create a new race. An

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,

In the ‘Epic of Gilgamesh’ and ‘The Biblical Flood Story’ have a very similar plot line, but many several key differences. In both stories a flood occurs, which were caused by the God/s( This shows that in Gilgamesh they were polytheistic while in the Biblical version they were monotheistic. ) to destroy the people of the earth. For both flood stories, a specific person is chosen to build an arc but for different reasons. In the Biblical story, Noah builds the arc due to his righteous character but in Gilgamesh, Utnapishtim built the arc to save himself. Later on in both stories birds are released making them seem very similar. In the end, the stories are separated because of the covenants

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.

Firstly, Gilgamesh and Noah are both very similar and different in terms of personality. Gilgamesh was a loyal, persistent, and heroic man who was two thirds god. Despite his tales of renown and extravagant reputation he was not without his flaws. His whole journey of searching for immortality was all done out of selfishness and grief. “How can I be silent, how can I rest, when Enkidu whom I loved is dust, and I too shall die and be laid in the earth” (“Epic…” 144). Noah was a simple mortal man who had great faith in God, which led to his own and family's safety. ”Go into the ark, with all your household, for you alone have I found righteous before Me in this generation” (“Noah…” 171- 172). Gilgamesh on the contrary was very angry with the gods after losing his friend. Noah was righteous and selfless putting God’s will first before all else. Noah was also imperfect and got drunk one

The Epic of Gilgamesh vs. The Story of Noah Since its discovery in the middle of the nineteenth century in the old ruins of the library in Nineveh, the Epic of Gilgamesh has been a huge mystery and interest to Christians and historians because of it similarity to the story of Noah and the flood in the bible. Other than minor differences such as the polytheism in the Epic of Gilgamesh and monotheism in the bible, there are significant parallels in both stories that are recognized. Some Christians don’t think the Epic of Gilgamesh has any value do to the polytheism however, scholars and historians have compared and contrasted Babylonian and Hebrew accounts and some of the same characteristics in their stories are almost the same but they only

The Flood story for Gilgamesh begins in the city inhabited by the Gods, Shuruppak. For an unknown reason, the Gods make the decision to flood the world. The flood was going to be a surprise for humans but another God decided to leak it out, Ea. Ea tells a man in the

There are many similarities between the Gilgamesh flood account and the biblical flood account (The Holy Bible-Genesis 6-8), beginning most importantly with God choosing a righteous man to build an ark because of an impending great flood. In both accounts, samples from all species of animals were to be on the ark, and birds were used after the rains to determine if flood waters had subsided anywhere to reveal dry land (Sandars). Another distinctive similarity that is shown in both accounts is that after the flood, sacrifices were offered in both accounts and God and the gods were pleased by the sacrifices. Utnapishtim and Noah both received blessings. While Utnapishtim’s was eternal life, Noah’s was to populate the earth and have dominion over all animals (Sandars).