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.
In The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Book of Genesis, there are a couple of similarities that they both have in common. For example, they both discussed the story about the God(s) sending the flood to the city in order to destroy the whole civilization, while leaving some of righteous humans alive: Uta-napishti from The Epic of Gilgamesh and Noah from The Book of Genesis. Despite the difference in their backstory, these two characters are both given the same role as the one who tries to recreate their own society with animals and resources that they brought with on the Ark. Another similarity is that they both send out ravens outside of the Ark to make sure the water is subsided and the land is dried after the flood.
The 11th Tablet of the Epic of Gilgamesh and Genesis from the Holy Bible are extremely similar. Both accounts involve the destruction of mankind by a higher power or powers. In the book of Genesis Noah is spared due the righteousness in him witnessed by the Lord. Utnapishtim however, was merely warned of the flood by EA. Differences between the two accounts are visible throughout the scriptures.
The flood stories from Noah and the Flood, the Epic of Gilgamesh, and Deucalion, are all similar but have unique aspects. Flood Origins All three flood stories have similarities in the origin of the flood and the preparations taken for the flood. First of all, each story began with an angry god who wanted to wipe out humanity. However, the god was different in each story.
For “Noah and the Flood” they had a very similar plot. The lord saw how mankind was evil, and “how every plan devised by his mind was nothing but evil all the time”(60). Which occurred in Mesopotamia in the distant past. Same as utnapishtim, Noah was warned by the lord, and was told specific instruction to build an ark to survive the flood. While the Epic of Gilgamesh, and Noah and the flood contain many similarities, they also contain many differences As the two separate characters from each story was minding their business they soon get a message sent from the gods about the flood.
There are a great number of similarities between the two accounts, and any superficial reader might believe that there is no doubt about the two documents being related to each other. However, if you exam the stories more closely one can see that a main reason for the resemblance is that the two contain a lot of occurrences which are perfectly common during a flood. A reason for the fact that both accounts occur in the same region is that both the Sumerian culture and the Hebrew lived in the Middle East. The Gods that we read about in the Epic of Gilgamesh seem to have a more humane side, as they feel sorry for having caused the deaths of nearly all of the people.
In the epic of Gilgamesh, the Sumerian deities decide to start a flood that will exterminate mankind. “The uproar of mind kind was intolerable and sleep in no longer possible by reason of the babel.” The reason the deities caused the flood was because mankind had multiplied and were causing too much noise. This shows that the Sumerian deities did not care about the mortals that worshipped them. They were selfish and did not think about the outcome of their actions.
“Extinction is the rule. Survival is the exception (Carl Sargon)”. According to The Epic of Gilgamesh and Genesis, unprecedented floods occurred in both stories. The exception fell on the kind men, Utnapishtim and Noah: they survived the powerful event of destruction. However, in the same theme of the stories, there are sources of similarity and differences.
When Ishtar cries out, Enkidu cast one of the bull’s buttocks at her. The city of Uruk celebrates, but Enkidu has a sinister dream about his future failure. Gilgamesh is also an epic hero because he survived a 6-day 6-night flood. Gilgamesh tore his house down. Gilgamesh then built a boat out of his house.
There are many similarities and differences between the story of Noah in Genesis and the story of Utnapishtim in the Epic of Gilgamesh. To start off, the first similarity I found was the reasons why the floods started. Both Gods in each story wanted to dispose of all humanity. However, there is a difference in the reasons why the Gods wanted to. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, the God Enlil wanted to destroy mankind because they were too noisy, as shown in this quote, “The uproar of mankind is intolerable and sleep is no longer possible by reason of the babel.”
From the ancient Near East there are three Mesopotamian flood myths and one Judaic flood story. The oldest is the Eridu Genesis, shown a the left and written in 2300BC, then the Epic of Gilgamesh, pictured in the middle and dated to 2150BC, next is the Epic of Atrahasis, on the right and written around 1650BC, and then the Old Testament, written between 538 to 330BC. All four accounts of the flood begin the same way as result of the overpopulation of mankind or mankind is too noisy, mankind is to violent and corrupt or God become dissatisfied with mankind and decide that with the exception of their favorite mortal on Earth the rest of mankind should be eliminated by a flood.
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.
Reasonably, at a first glance it is difficult to determine what separates the two pieces because of the similar themes highlighted in each story. Yet, by taking a closer look at the two texts the reader will discover the countless contradicting details and moral views that take place in both. Also, it is seen that when compared to the truth of the Biblical story of Noah, the Epic of Gilgamesh appears to loose reliability and accuracy. Even still, there are many disputes that question where the source of the two narratives originate from. However, even though there is an undeniable connection between the two literary works, when closely evaluated it can be determined that there are significant variations that make it less likely that Genesis is reliant on the Epic of
The flood story is based on the geologic ages identified through scientific understanding of the changing physical features of the earth (Origin myths: The Flood, 37). The period is between about 12,000 and 7000 BCE which was a period of worldwide warming (Origin myths, 37). Changing environmental conditions was common throughout the world. The rainfall and ocean levels rose some 300 feet (Origin myths 37). Some people began to believe their creator was punishing humans who were displeasing, so the Great Flood become part of the origin myth.
Throughout history there have been many myths concerning a great flood that challenged the humans and animals at the time, from the story of Noah’s Arc to the tale of the Yellowstone Valley. Some are harsher than others, but all teach a lesson. In addition, many are part of different cultures. For example, the story of Baucis and Philemon is Roman, Deucalion and Pyrrha is Greek, and the Great Flood of the Yellowstone Valley is Native American. Within the stories consist of both similar and different details, such as what morals were taught and the types of roles people played.
