The Epic of Gilgamesh and the Old Testament - Essay Example

Task “Humanities” Introduction Discovery of numerous texts from the ancient civilization have continuously elicited discussions relating the ancient lives and the biblical stories. The most discusses stories include the Genesis and Gilgamesh or Babylonian flood stories. There are numerous similarities between the two stories about the flood. For instance, in both stories the divine are upset by humanity nonetheless, a righteous man finds favour with God in each story. This essay seeks to evaluate the Babylonian flood with the Genesis flood in a critical manner. As a point of departure, sceptics continuously claim that the flood of Noah in the book of Genesis is a rewritten version of the original myth called the Epic of Gilgamesh written and produced by the Sumerians in a form of a poem. It is imperative to note that, the flood of the epic of Gilgamesh is enclosed on the Tablet XI, which is one of the 212 tablets dated to 650B.C (The Epic of Gilgamesh and the Old Testament, 9). The tablets might not perceptibly be the originals, because the remains of the Gilgamesh flood story have been established on tablets dated to earlier dates such as 2000.B.C. On the other hand, the Genesis story about the flood is not dated, however, the liberal researchers have dated it between 1500-500B.C. some of the similarities that have made liberal scholars believe that the Genesis flood story is founded in the Gilgamesh story include Similarities The main character is cautioned to build a boat to getaway the flood. Both floods occur in a plain called Mesopotamia The caution to the main character involves saving himself, his family and sampled group of animals Boats in both floods were potted with tar. Both boats in the two floods came to a rest at the top of a mountain The status of the recession of water was determined by the release of birds. The key character offered a sacrifice as an offering. On the same regard, the differences that existed between the two floods included Differences Feature Genesis Flood Gilgamesh Flood Purpose Human evilness Extreme human nosiness Cautioned by God Ea Primary character Noah- rest Utnapishtim –finder of life Reason for the selected character Righteous man No specific reason Construction time 100 years 7 days Size of the boat 450*75*45 feet 200*2000*200 feet Top of the roof wood Slate Number of decks 3 6 Waters sent by God Adad Period of rain 40 days 7 days Mountain Nisir Ararat Period of flood 370 days 14 days Courtesy of The Epic of Gilgamesh and the Old Testament: Parallels Beyond the Deluge. Old Testament Society of South Africa, 2007. Internet resource The significance of the names of the heroes does not exhibit any common similarity or linkage. For instance, Noah meant “rest”, while Utnapishtim meant finder of life. However, both of them were considered righteous and faultless as compared with the rest. On the composition of those who entered the boat, Utnapishtim took a pilot, artisans and his family (The Epic of Gilgamesh and the Old Testament, 10). Equally, it is fascinating to find out that both floods trace to the same place; the Middle East, nonetheless the tow mountains, Ararat and Nisir are 300 miles apart. In addition, the gift or blessing the heroes received after the floods was different. For instance, Noah received the blessing of multiplying and filling the earth and taking charge of all animals, while Utnapishtim was offered eternal life. What would be expected from any of the floods? The account that in both floods a boat existed is an obvious expectation for any danger, there must be a means of escape and the boats served this purpose in both cases. Equally, the construction of the boats was attributed to the knowledge of the coming of danger, which originated from somebody thus the existence of both God and Ea in the Noah and Gilgamesh floods (The Epic of Gilgamesh and the Old Testament, 22). This follows that the thought that gods or God would caution specific humans would be unanticipated. On the same note, the floods were expected to kill what was alive: the animals and humans, hence it was logical to take some animals into the boats. This similarity is an expected aspect in any flood account. On the hand, the materials used to build the boats. The non-existence of artificial water resistant materials compelled the builders in both cases to use the natural material: tar or slate, which is purely natural. The exceptional feature universal to both floods is the release of birds to confirm whether the waters had receded. Nonetheless, some fundamental dissimilarity exists. In the Gilgamesh, the first bird to be sent was the dove, while the Genesis flood, a raven was sent. A swallow was sent in the Gilgamesh flood, while a dove was sent in the Genesis (The Epic of Gilgamesh and the Old Testament, 21). A raven was the third bird to be sent in the Gilgamesh, while the dove is sent for the second time in the Genesis; it comes back with an olive leaf. The dove was sent for the third time and it did not return. This account of events does not reflect any aspect of the Genesis flood copying from the Gilgamesh flood, and if so, then the details were fundamentally changed without apparent reason. The striking event that comes out of the Gilgamesh account is the silliness of the human gods with human behaviour characterised by constant fights and deception amongst themselves. It is not realistic to remove this section of the account from the Genesis copy (The Epic of Gilgamesh and the Old Testament, 9). This aspect differentiates God’s deeds with those of humans. This follows that, it is disputable that there is no relationship between the two flood accounts. In addition, the reason of righteousness for the selection of Noah is convincing comparing to the appointment of the Utnapishtim. Conclusion Since time immemorial the comparative study of the two floods, histories do not have any correlation. This is according to the scholars. This follows that, there is reason to believe that a great flood from either legal or historical perspective existed, because of the extensive nature of flood customs across the entire human race (The Epic of Gilgamesh and the Old Testament, 12). This acts as perfect evidence that any explanation can come up to explain an existence of flood. The Genesis flood account is a manifestation of a real and factual tale because it is free of mythological attributes like those in the Gilgamesh flood account. Work cited The Epic of Gilgamesh and the Old Testament: Parallels Beyond the Deluge. Old Testament Society of South Africa, 2007. Internet resource. Read More