Flood of Epic of Gilgamesh and Book of Genesis of the Holy Bible :: Epic Gilgamesh essays

The Flood of Gilgamesh Perhaps the most popular comparison with Noahs Flood is that of an antediluvian patriarch Babylonian story of a similar flood. A quick look at the text does show some key similarities between them however there are also some pointed differences. I will show you both and permit you decide whether there is or is non a connection. First let us look at the similarities *It is set in the Iraqi/Turkey area.....similar to the Biblical Flood. *A man is warned by a god to throw a ship so he could survive a coming flood, sent by the divine powers. *The man is told to save himself, his family, and a sampling of exclusively animation things. *The boat was to be sealed with resin inside and out. *A set time is made by the divinity for the flood to begin. *The flood includes both fall and water from the surface. *The flood covered the mountains. *The boat came to rest on a mountain first. *Birds were released to test for whether or not the wate rs had receeded. In the Biblical account, a raven and a dove were released. In the Gilgamesh account, a dove, swallow, and raven were released. *Once out of the boat, the man offers a sacrifice to the divinity which brings comfort to the divinity at the sweet scent of the sacrifice. Now for the differences *The Babylonian tale never says why the gods chose to save the man in the story. It was pretty much dumb luck. In the Bible, Noah was a rightous man amidst a population of evil. *The boat dimensions are quite different. The boat in the story of the Babylonian flood is a cube, equal on all sides. While in the Bible, Noah is told to build his Ark in a 450x75x45 ratio. This ratio is what is known to ship builders as the perfect ratio for stabilty for a boat but it was not known until the 15th century AD. The Gilgamesh boat, being equal on all sides, would have been wildly unstable and unseaworthy. *The Babylonian man took heptad days to build his boat while Noah took 120 years. Why would such a numerology rich people use such a non-numerology number as 120 when seven was already in the story?