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Similarities Between Gilgamesh And The Bible

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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. In both stories the serpent is depicted as a negative force. It is the thing that denies humanity of immortality or some pleasure. In the Bible the serpent is a sign of temptation. The serpent convinces Eve to eat fruit from the forbidden tree in the Garden of Eden. This was after God had told her and Adam that they were not allowed …show more content…

God told one man, Noah, to build an ark and to take two of every creature onto his ark. God allowed Noah to bring his wife, his sons and his sons wives with him on the boat. The flood lasted for forty days and forty nights. When it stopped raining, Noah and his family released a raven and three doves to see if there was any dry land to live on. As a reward for surviving the flood, Noah was granted an extended life. In the Epic of Gilgamesh there was a man who gained immortality because he survived the flood that the gods sent. The story says that a god told Utnapishtim “O man of Shuruppak, son of Ubar-Tutu, demolish the house, and build a boat! Abandon wealth, and seek survival! Spurn property, save life! Take on board the boat all living things’ seed!” (Epic of Gilgamesh, XI 23-27). Utnapishtim then brought all animals onto his boat for the Deluge. The Deluge lasted for six days and seven nights. When the rain stops, Utnapishtim releases a dove, a swallow, and a raven to see if there is any land that the people can live on. These two events are similar in regards to the plot and the major details. The main differences between the two are the length of the flood and what birds were released after the rain

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The god in Genesis hid knowledge from humans by using fear. He told the humans, “of every tree in the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Moses 67). The fruit of the tree was the fruit of knowledge so God was very angry when he found out the humans had gained knowledge. The anger the god of Genesis had resulted in him creating a flood so that he could wipe out all of the humans except one good family. The gods in Popol Vuh also created a flood so they could clear out their bad creations.

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One similarity between the stories is that the devil took the form of a serpent when he spoke to Eve in the garden. When Eve asks how he, a snake, can talk like a human, he says that he “chanced a godly tree… loaden with fruit” (Book 9, Line 575-577). Another similarity is in how the devil tries to persuade Eve. The serpent tells Eve that not only did eating the fruit not kill him, but also it gave him knowledge that made him like God.

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There are many different creation stories, but I will be focusing mainly on the similarities and differences of the Iroquois creation story and the Hebrew creation story. The Iroquois Creation Story and the Hebrew Creation Story are similar in many ways. On the contrary, they are also dissimilar in many ways as well. Although they are both different stories, they still are important to many people and will continue to be future The Iroquois creation story was how the Iroquois believed how things were created. There was the Sky-World where people inhabited the place.

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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.

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As you can see from the following quote, Utnapishtim is warned of the flood in a dream, where he can build a boat in order to save his family from the dangers of the flood. “ I have

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The story of Popol Vuh and the book of Genesis are almost the same. These stories have so much in common you would think they were written by the same person. They also have their differences that help tell them apart. The similarities and differences suggest some things about myths around the world.

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In comparison, it’s always observed on how different scholars find the similarity of especially marital settings, characters, and as well as the wanderings of the mythological world. Different events within the life of these characters cover broadly a huge range of epic encounters that are heroic. The character, emotional and psychological development of Gilgamesh can be borrowed especially from the ancient heroic perspectives of mortality and death while comparing with Achilles. Mesopotamian civilization has had several phases in which hero Gilgamesh has been in existence, however having similar attributes. One of the earliest stories of Gilgamesh is developed from Sumerian texts, one of the most influential and well-known poems (Michelakis & Pantelis 2007).

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Throughout history epic tales have been told about heroes attempting to explain various occurrences such as the ones in the Gilgamesh and Beowulf. Gilgamesh and Beowulf compare and contrast in beliefs, their leadership styles, and the journeys they go on. Although both Beowulf and Gilgamesh can be compared to each other, because of their opposing locations and personalities, they are contrasting to each other. Beowulf and Gilgamesh leaderships styles, although very different, do have some similarities. Both Beowulf and Gilgamesh possess great physical strength, and courageousness as leaders of their respective cultures.

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Noah’s Ark: Voyage for the Truth The Genesis Flood is an extraordinary event that occurred thousands of years ago. Approximately 4,800 years ago, God decided to flood the Earth in order to cleanse the world of sin. God gave Noah the task of building a gigantic vessel large enough to hold two of every species in the world.

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One of the main similarities between these two stories is the fact that there are god(s) involved in the creation of life on earth. Even though Genesis says that there is one god and Popol Vuh says there are many, both stories are about the trial and error the gods face while trying to create humanity. The god in Genesis makes the mistake of letting Adam and Eve roam free in the Garden of Eden assuming they will not eat from the tree of knowledge. Of course, they eat from the tree, with encouragement from a serpent, and were banned from the garden. Later on in the story, “God saw the wickedness of man”(Genesis 70), and so there could be a fresh start, God decided to kill all humans, besides Noah and his ark, with 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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Early Mesopotamian people are bilingual, and since there was no unified form of writing, the text is written in Akkadian and Sumerian. It is considered an epic due to the nature of the poem revolving a hero, his deeds, conquests, and history. The epic of Gilgamesh revolves around Gilgamesh or the Sumerians calls him, Bilgamesh. Gilgamesh was said to be the fifth king of Uruk, who was one-third man and two-third god.

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