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Genesis Vs Gilgamesh Research Paper

748 Words3 Pages

There are two stories we read throughout the semester that have significant similarities when it comes to the plot of a god or gods telling one man to build a boat to escape incoming disaster. These two stories are the Epic of Gilgamesh, and the Book of Genesis in the Old Testament. One was written before the other, one is the basis for a whole belief of religion, and one is a story written for pure entertainment. There are some distinct differences between the stories, however, it is the similarities that bring unrelenting debate to the controversial subject of creation of man and earth. The first story, The Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh is on a quest for immortality and he is on a quest to find Uta-napishti, the man who has earned …show more content…

This is the source of controversy between if the story of creation given by Genesis is valid or not. Gilgamesh is the oldest written text known to date, therefore, Genesis would have to be written after, and some people may have suspicion that Genesis ripped off the deluge story of Gilgamesh. People have a valid point when arguing this because the stories are almost identical: a man is warned by gods/God to build a boat to survive oncoming disaster brought on by gods/God because of the unpleasing behavior of mankind. Both bring animals and both survive the flood. The duration of the flood is different but the method of finding land is the same; a raven, a swallow, and a dove. Although the blessings were different, both stories had ended with a blessing from gods/God. I believe there is a relationship between the two stories as the book of Genesis: 6 and 7, must have in some way used the ancient Babylonian text Gilgamesh as influence for the story. Real conservative Christians would most likely believe this part of Genesis happened word for word and was not copied or influenced by any other text. On the other hand there are people who believe this part of Genesis was a complete copy of Gilgamesh, or at least in some way influenced by Gilgamesh. Either way, it is an unrelenting debate about the story of creation and it will likely be one that will

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