The Epic of Gilgamesh Flood story and the Flood story found in Genesis 6-9 have a significant amount of similarities and differences. As you read them both you will slowly grasp the differences and seek out the similarities. They both may be told in different times but they show the exact same event that happened but in a different amount of time and with different characters. As you read each version of the flood, the first difference i noticed was that in both a specific thing angers the gods.
In Gilgamesh the gods are angered because mankind is to noisy. This makes them want to destroy mankind. This is shown on page 23 when they say“In those days the world teemed, the people multiplied, the world bellowed like a wild bull, and the great god was aroused by the clamor. Enlil heard the clamor and he said to the gods in council, ” The uproar of mankind is intolerable and sleep is no longer possible by reason of the babel. ” So the gods agreed to exterminate mankind. ” In Genesis 6-9 the gods were angry because mankind became evil and wicked.
On page 47 it says” And god saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the lord said “I will destroy man whom i have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air, for it repenteth me that i have made them. ” A similarity both Flood stories have would be the main characters were saved and chosen to build an ark or a boat.
At the end of 23 and the beginning of 24 in Gilgamesh it says “ He whispered their words to my house of reeds,” reed house, reed house! Wall O wall, harken reed house, wall reflect : O man of Shurrupak, son of Ubara- Tutu; tear down your house and build a boat, abandon possessions and look for life, despise worldly goods and save your soul alive. Tear down your house , i say and build a boat. ” In Genesis it says on page 47″ Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. Another difference their is as you read the Flood stories is that the number of days the rain is progressing. In Gilgamesh the Flood it mentions on page 25″ For six days and six nights the winds blew , torrent and tempest and flood raged together like warring hosts.
When the seventh day dawned the storm from the south subsided, the sea grew calm, the flood was stilled. ” In Genesis 6-9 it says ” And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth. It also says” And it came to pass at the end of the forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made. ” Another similarity both Flood stories have in common is both Noah and Utnapishtim send out birds while they are either on the ark or the boat. This similarity is shown in Gilgamesh when it says “When the seventh day dawned I loosed a dove and let her go. She flew away, but finding no resting place she returned. Then I loosed a swallow, and she flew away but finding no resting place she returned.
I loosed a raven, she saw that the waters had retreated, she ate, she flew around, she cawed, and she did not come back. ” Page 25. In Genesis 6-9 on page 51 it is shown when he had said ” And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth. Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground; But the dove found no rest for the soul of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark,” The last reason they are similar is that in both Flood stories each god decided to send a flood that would kill everything in mankind.
In Gilgamesh this is shown when it says” In the evening, when the rider of the storm sends down the destroying rain, enter the boat and batten her down. The time was fulfilled, the evening came, the rider of the storm sent down the rain. I looked out at the weather and it was terrible, so i too boarded the boat and battened her down. “Page 24. However in Genesis 6-9 it is shown when it says” And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth.
And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters. And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered. “Page 49. The last reason these two stories are different is by each of them received their instructions differently. Noah received his instructions from Yahweh. This is shown when Noah was asked to build his ark on page 47.
Utnapishtim received his instructions in his dream. It shows on page 23 when it says” but Ea because of his oath warned me in a dream. ” With all the differences and similarities these two stories have they are really similar. You can hardly tell that these two stories are different. Some similarities are both letting birds go, and being told to build something. Some differences would be how many days the rain goes on for and how they received their instructions.
