Similarities Between Gilgamesh And The Flood Of Noah

In Genesis, “the Lord said to Himself: ‘Never again will I doom the earth because of man, since the devisings of man’s mind are evil from his youth; nor will I ever again destroy every living being, as I have done’”(Gen. 8:21.) This statements makes the Lord sound as if he has remorse of flooding the Earth, almost as if he wish he never did. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, “‘Do not drive him too hard or he perishes… rather than the flood, would that famine had wasted the world.’” This statement is from dialogue between Enlil and the all the other gods. All the gods are trying to convince Enlil to never flood the earth again. The gods in both stories felt that flooding Earth may not have been the best decision and promise to never do it

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.

     With the discovery of texts from ancient civilizations, many people have come to believe that various texts are common to one another. Examples of these texts are the creation stories from the Hebrews found in the Bible, The Hymn of Ra from the Egyptians, and the Enuma Elish stories from the Babylonians. In addition to these stories are the flood stories. These stories have caused many discussions among scholars involved with ancient civilizations.

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.

The floods in The Epic of Gilgamesh and Genesis 6-9 are very similar. In both the flood were sent to wipe out all humankind. Both floods however could be seen as symbols as a rebirth or a new beginning to what was see by God and the gods as a crumbling world. Both heroes in the story were chosen to build a boat to save a

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 Epic of Gilgamesh has many similarities to the Bible, especially in Genesis and it’s not just that the both begin with the letter “g”’! One major similarity being the flood story that is told in both works. The two stories are very similar but also very different. Another being the use of serpents in both works and how they represent the same thing. A third similarity being the power of God or gods and the influence they have on the people of the stories. Within these similarities there are also differences that need to be pointed out as well.

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.

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

In Genesis Noah waited to disembark until God told him to leave the ark (Genesis 165). While Utnapishtim in The Epic of Gilgamesh left the ark when he felt as though it was safe (Gilgamesh 146). This is most likely something that the monotheistic Hebrew people changed because it shows a greater reliance on God. Alexander Heidel agrees stating that “the biblical story is pervaded by the spirit of complete submission to the will of God …while the Babylonian traditions reveal something of the spirit of self-determination and self-reliance” (Heidel 254). Once the survivors of flood in The Epic of Gilgamesh leave the ark, they make an “incense offering” to all of the gods, but say that “Enlil should not come.” Enlil ends up blessing Utnapishtim and his wife by “making them “like us gods” (Gilgamesh 147).

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 Epic of Gilgamesh and The Book of Genesis are two profound pieces of writing. The Epic of Gilgamesh is a story about a handsome, wealthy, and strong man named Gilgamesh who sadly lets his great fortune take over him. Gilgamesh is all about himself, he gladly has athletic contests with the other young men of Uruk to try shame them and his has a fettish for exploiting young women. The citizens of Uruk are not happy with Gilgamesh’s actions, but they are too afraid to say anything. Little do they know the God, Anu, hears all prayers and commands the creator, Aruru, to create someone that will kill Gilgamesh.

There are numerous likenesses and contrasts between the Gilgamesh flood account and the biblical surge account (Genesis 6—8), starting with God picking an exemplary man to manufacture an ark as a result of a looming extraordinary flood. In the two records, tests from all types of creatures were to be on the ark, and birds creatures were utilized after the downpours to decide whether flood waters had died down anyplace to uncover dry land. There are different likenesses between the Gilgamesh surge account and the scriptural surge account. Amid the mid-nineteenth century, this total "Epic of Gilgamesh" (from 650 BC) was uncovered in a few remnants at Nineveh's extraordinary library, and the profundity and broadness of likenesses and contrasts

The tales of Gilgamesh and Noah are as memorable as they are incredible. They materialize the beliefs of two cultures telling very similar yet very different stories. Gilgamesh, a mighty warrior overwhelmed by grief of his passed friend, went an an epic adventure to find the secret of eternal life. Noah, a morally right and genuine man saved the future of the entire human race and every animal through great endurance and faith. The personality traits, reasons for journeys, and stories of origin of each myth have a plentiful amount of both commonalities and diversities.

Compare/Contrast of “Gilgamesh” and “Noah” “The Epic of Gilgamesh” has been a huge interest in people since the nineteenth-century with its theme of a universal flood and is parallel to the story Noah and the flood. The Epic of Gilgamesh dates back to 2000 b.c. and “Noah and the flood” dates to 400 b.c. People have many different myths on how the world was created while these two myths focus on a flood that destroys mankind. “There have been numerous flood stories identified from ancient sources scattered around the world.