Genesis And Gilgamesh Similarities

The Book of Genesis and The Epic of Gilgamesh are both set to believe that they are based on a real event in history. To me, that's more likely the possibility of why both stories share many similarities. Of course both stories were written by different people and at different times, which explains why each story is told different. So, as much similarities these stories have with one another, they also share many differences and I believe that they are just two different versions of a similar event. The similarities that these two stories share are quite a lot actually. For example, both Noah and Utnapishtim were ordered (by a higher power) to build an ark to escape the flood. They were also both told to save themselves, their families and some animals. Noah was only allowed to bring his wife, his sons and his son's wife's, but on the other hand, Utnapishtim could bring his family members and anyone who wanted to come along with him. Also, both men made sacrifices to their high power; Noah to God and Utnapishmut to Enlil. Another similarity within both …show more content…
Like the way they found out there was going to be a flood as means of punishment; Noah was told directly by God that mankind was going to be punished for their wicked ways, but Utnapishtim was told in a dream by Ea about the flood. Also, the duration of the rain in the Book of Genesis lasted for 40 days and nights, whereas in the Epic of Gilgamesh it only lasted for 6 days and 7 nights. Another difference is the type of birds they each had with them; Noah had a Rave and three Doves, while Utnapishtim had with him a Dove, Swallow and a Raven. They also landed on different mountains; Noah's ark landed on mountain Ararat and Utnapishtim landed on mountain Nisir. Also, Noah didn't feel regret (or at least regret wasn't mentioned), but Utnapishtim regretted that they killed all of