Theology Compare Genesis and Epic of Gilgamesh
Flood stories have been a common thread in many religions across the globe. Two very similar flood stories are the story of Noah in Genesis and the story of Utnapishtim in the epic of Gilgamesh. I believe that they are similar as they have been said to occur around the same region (which is somewhere around our present day middle-east). The flood in both stories destroys most of mankind. They represent rebirth and a new beginning for mankind. In the epic of Gilgamesh the gods decided to destroy mankind by flooding earth for six days and nights. Utnapishtim was chosen to build a boat in order to restart mankind after the flood. In The Bible, God decided that there was too much evil in the world and decided to flood Earth for forty days and nights. God Chose Noah to build an ark to save two of each animal and restart mankind after the flood. In both The Epic of Gilgamesh, and the Bible, a story of a great flood occurs; these stories compare and contrast in several significant ways.
There are a lot of similarities in both of these stories. However, there are also little differences in the detailing of the stories and when each of them was written. The flood of Gilgamesh was written before 2000 B.C, while the Genesis story was written in 400 BC which was much later then the Gilgamesh flood. So by this, we can come to the conclusion that both of these stories where speaking of the same floods just that the detailing changed over the years as the story went on from generation to generation. In both stories the flood was meant for mankind and was sent because of man’s wickedness (Genesis) and man’s sins (Gilgamesh). Also, in both stories, after the flood both Noah and Utnapishtim gave sacrifices and were blessed after the flood was over. Differences in both were that the duration of the flood in the story of Gilgamesh took six days and six nights while the story of genesis took forty days and forty nights. Also, the location of the ark after the flood, in the story of
There are a lot of similarities in both of these stories. However, there are also little differences in the detailing of the stories and when each of them was written. The flood of Gilgamesh was written before 2000 B.C, while the Genesis story was written in 400 BC which was much later then the Gilgamesh flood. So by this, we can come to the conclusion that both of these stories where speaking of the same floods just that the detailing changed over the years as the story went on from generation to generation. In both stories the flood was meant for mankind and was sent because of man’s wickedness (Genesis) and man’s sins (Gilgamesh). Also, in both stories, after the flood both Noah and Utnapishtim gave sacrifices and were blessed after the flood was over. Differences in both were that the duration of the flood in the story of Gilgamesh took six days and six nights while the story of genesis took forty days and forty nights. Also, the location of the ark after the flood, in the story of