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Comparing The Epic Of Gilgamesh Motives Behind The Flood

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The Boats: The boat itself also serves as major point of comparison between the two accounts. Established historians recognize that the Ark’s dimensions, “assure optimum stability in riding out the coming flood waters” (Morris 34). They further conclude, “that the ark can easily carry two of each kind of land animal in less than half its capacity” (Morris 34). It is also important to note that while the ark is built of extreme proportions it also is able to withstand the severe weather conditions. On the contrary, Utnapishtim’s boat varies in design, taking the form of a colossal cube. Utnapishtim’s ark had “one full acre is her deck space, ten dozen cubits, the height of each of her sides, ten dozen cubits square, her outer dimensions”, but these dimension in no …show more content…

(find quote about gil. Boat) This is easily explainable if the account of Noah is the true story which has been tampered with, giving us the story of Gilgamesh. The scribes of the epic were unaware that the proportions of the vessel were already perfected by God. Only Noah’s Ark can survive the raging rainwater that will be required to flood the entire Earth. Due to this, Noah’s story can not be based on the flood of Gilgamesh.
Gilgamesh Motives Behind the Flood: However, the most important opposing detail between the stories is the motivation behind the flood itself. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, the assembly of the gods comes together to evoke a flood that is to destroy all of mankind. While it is clear that Enlil is the central drive behind the deluge, it is not evident of his full intentions behind the catastrophe. The

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The reason the raft was known as the ark was due to that the raft could hold the entire Appleton family, their animals, and some of their livestock as stated in paragraph 11. The father soon received the nickname of Noah or Noah count; the other people thought he was crazy for building the raft according to paragraph 12-13. However, this later helped him and his family when the flash flood occurred; because of his early preparations, his family and their animals and some livestock were able to escape safely. The other people didn’t prepare early like the father so they had to sit on the roof of their houses on getting on small boats as said in paragraph

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Noah is told to save himself, his wife and children, and two of every animal, both male and female to the ark he would create. Utnapishtim is told to create the boat and save himself, his wife and children, and different craftsmen who could be helpful in providing more

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Although flood myths are found around the world, each one differs slightly. In the story of Noah’s Ark, God is angry that the Sons of God and human women bore children, creating the race of giants. Following this, God instructs Noah to build the Ark to save his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, along with animals, to repopulate the earth. Then, God sends torrential rain for forty days and forty nights, covering the highest peaks with more than twenty feet of water. The water, eventually, recedes.

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Within the flood stories of Gilgamesh and the Bible, there exist both similarities and differences. One commonality is the destruction of mankind. In Gilgamesh, the gods unite to attempt and terminate mankind. Enlil ordered a flood to come and swipe all of mankind. Consequently, Ea betrays the gods and told Utnapishtim their scheme.

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The three flood stories are similar in the aftermath of the flood because they all had to repopulate the

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The Epic of Gilgamesh gives a lot of insight to what was happening and what was expected in ancient Mesopotamia. The epic poem which revolves around a king, includes many details in to the civilization, beliefs, and values of the Mesopotamians. The king thrives to be remembered and many of his actions reflect that. The Epic of Gilgamesh show how an ideal heroic king should be in ancient Mesopotamia. The first thing it shows us is that hero kings should be strong.

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Gilgamesh is an epic hero because, he part divine, interacts with gods and his story has a series of adventures and superhuman victories. Gilgamesh is a king that shows off his power and enviably shows his weak side in most altercations. Most scholars see him as a historical figure, but I myself think he is definitely an epic hero. He oppresses people who call out to the gods, this is not very heroic, but his other actions will show the truth. Gilgamesh IS an epic hero.

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This also explains how the gods use the power of nature to frighten Gilgamesh and punish him for killing Humbaba. This shows that even though nature was an obstacle to Gilgamesh, he was still able to conquer

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Some claim that the vessel had very limited carrying capacity given that it is made of wood. Contrary to this belief, the time period of the flood came before species started to break off and expand, so the Ark would only need to hold 16,000 land-dwelling creatures at the maximum (Was There Really a Noah’s Ark & Flood?). Disbelievers claim that the Ark never could have existed due to the fact that no boat of this size could have been built that long ago. However, regardless of the size of the boat, the wood used to build this vessel dates back to the exact time period the Bible stated that the flood occurred (Noah’s Ark Found in Turkey?). Another claim against the belief that the Ark once sailed the Earth is that there is simply not enough water.

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In the following readings, Genesis and The Epic of Gilgamesh, women are perceived as subjects towards men. For example, in Genesis the first woman to be created by God is Eve and in The Epic of Gilgamesh the harlot Shamhat. Both characters are subjected to obey men in a point of their stories because it is the norm of the society of which these texts are written in. Even though both texts were written in the same part of the world, modern middle east, Genesis is the creation story of earth that was written in modern day middle east during Babylonian Exile of the 6th century BC, while The Epic of Gilgamesh was, however written in a different time, dating back to c. 2000 BC. Genesis was written before The Epic of Gilgamesh, which means that the norm of women being submissive towards men originated from Genesis to The Epic of Gilgamesh.

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Around 4000 BCE, environment conditions finally settled into the pattern we see today (Origin myths, 37). In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Ea, the cleverest of the gods, warned Utnapishtim that the gods would be sending the great flood to wipe out humankind. Utnapishtim then builds a boat to save as many people as he can and every living creature. After seven days, Utnapishtim released a dove and raven to find dry land. The Great Flood story is very similar all around the world, as we can find similar stories in West Asia, South Asia, and China

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In Popol Vuh the gods try many times to create the perfect human. When they used mud, their creations dissolved into the water. When they used wood, their creations could speak, “But there was nothing in their hearts and nothing in their minds, no memory of their mason and builder”(Popol Vuh 81). The gods were angry about this because if the wood people could not remember their creators, the gods would not be worshipped. They destroyed these creations in very gruesome ways, one of the methods of destroying them being a flood.

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Even though both The Epic of Gilgamesh and Genesis are similar in that they all use the floods for a destruction, both the stories are different from each other in the distribution of roles within the gods and a way to warn the extermination from the gods. First, the similarity between The Epic of Gilgamesh and Genesis is the relevance with the flooding that used to exterminate the human. To prove the occurrence of the flood, chapter 5 of The Epic of Gilgamesh records, “For six days and six nights the winds blew, torrent and tempest and flood overwhelmed the world, tempest and flood raged together like warring hosts (line 62-63, p. 21)”. Also in Genesis, the text “The waters flooded the earth for a hundred

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The Epic of Gilgamesh and the Bible have a few similar events and historians think that they may refer to the same event. The Epic of Gilgamesh and the Bible share a similar event, the flood, and a similar character, the serpent. Though there are still several distinctions between the two stories. The Bible and the Epic of Gilgamesh both contain a serpent as one of the less significant characters.

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The Epic of Gilgamesh: Relevant Truth for Today’s Society The Epic of Gilgamesh is set in Uruk, an ancient city of the ancient Mesopotamian civilization of Sumer, now modern-day Iraq. The epic was said to be written by Sin-liqe-unninni, but it is based on five earlier Sumerian poems with no known author. The piece was difficult to translate, and there are two main version for the Epic of Gilgamesh. This is the result of the environment during the time the piece was being written.

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