Comparing the Similarities and Differences in the Stories of the Great Flood Between the Epic of Gilgamesh and Noah
The Floods Of Gilgamesh And Noah
There are many stories created with the purpose of explaining the reason things are the way they are. Often, they prove that gods are all-powerful. Both the Bible and the stories of Gilgamesh tell a story about a great flood. The two stories are both similar and different in many ways.
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In the flood story from the Bible, there is only one God. He is very unhappy with the way people are acting. They are gradually becoming more and more evil day by day. Similarly, the god Enlil, from the story about Gilgamesh and the flood, is also unhappy with the behavior of people. He complains that they are too noisy and are getting out of control. He says they do not let the gods sleep peacefully. The council of the gods decides to destroy the world in a great flood just like God does in the Bible story.
The Floods Of Gilgamesh And Noah
There are many stories created with the purpose of explaining the reason things are the way they are. Often, they prove that gods are all-powerful. Both the Bible and the stories of Gilgamesh tell a story about a great flood. The two stories are both similar and different in many ways.
In the flood story from the Bible, there is only one God. He is very unhappy with the way people are acting. They are gradually becoming more and more evil day by day. Similarly, the god Enlil, from the story about Gilgamesh and the flood, is also unhappy with the behavior of people. He complains that they are too noisy and are getting out of control. He says they do not let the gods sleep peacefully. The council of the gods decides to destroy the world in a great flood just like God does in the Bible story.
Utnapishtim and Noah each build their arks and gather the animals, and the floods begin. In Gilgamesh’s story it rained for seven days and seven nights, destroying everything and everyone. On the seventh day the flood ended and the rains stopped. All of man-kind had been turned into clay. Although God’s flood also destroyed everything and everyone in its path, it lasted for forty days and forty nights. In both stories, when the flood ended and the rain stopped, a dove was released and told to go find land. In the Gilgamesh version of the story, Utnapishtim releases a dove to see if the water had receded.
The dove finds no rests and returns. Finally a raven is released that does not return. That is how Utnapishtim understands there is land. In the Genesis story, Noah also releases a dove. At first the dove comes back right away and Noah knows the water had not receded but after seven days he released it once more. He knows that there is land ahead when the dove returns with a freshly plucked olive branch in its beak. Noah waited another seven days and released the dove for the last time because this time it does not return. Noah knows it is alright to leave the ark.
After the flood, Utnapishtim is granted immortality. Noah, on the other hand, is just given the chance to live a very long life. Both stories show are similar in their description of the great flood and they are very close in their details with not many true differences. However, one story was written about Gilgamesh and a quest for immortality and the other story was meant to show how God can decide to kill you in an instant or spare you. Both the characters and stories of Noah and Utnapishtim are very much alike.
Comparing the Similarities and Differences in the Stories of the Great Flood Between the Epic of Gilgamesh and Noah. (2023, Mar 13). Retrieved from https://phdessay.com/comparing-the-similarities-and-differences-in-the-stories-of-the-great-flood-between-the-epic-of-gilgamesh-and-noah/Cite this Page
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