Ogechi Anyanwu
TRS 201: Faith Seeking Understanding
October 11, 2017
1. In the Bible, there are many stories that are repeated and can be found in different cultures. Each story differs, but the general themes have noteworthy similarities. The story of the flood is a perfect example of a story paralleled in several cultures. The Epic of Gilgamesh resembles the Bible’s story of The Flood popularly known as Noah’s Ark. In the beginning of both stories, God (or Gods) decided to flood the Earth because of all the wickedness in the world. In addition to the Earth being flooded, God(s) chooses a righteous man to build an ark, because of an impending great flood. In both accounts, male and female animals were to be in the ark, as well as his family …show more content…
In both stories, the male sends out a dove, and a raven to find land. The man also sacrifices something to God after the food. In the end, both of the stories end with God blessing the man. Based on these similarities I do not think that it is possible for the author of the book of Genesis had some knowledge of the Epic of Gilgamesh. It is also shown in both stories that God or Gods feel emotion. This is evident in both when the God(s) feel immediate regret after seeing what they have done to the Earth and mankind. Even though there are many similarities between the two stories, there is no exact proof that the author of Genesis had knowledge of the Epic of Gilgamesh. It does not seem that the biblical version depended on the Mesopotamian story. However, the Jew’s have a reputation for passing down information from one generation to another. Many people will know and believe the Genesis story rather than the Epic of Gilgamesh, because of it is the word of God. Genesis is more historical than the Epic of Gilgamesh, which is more mythical than historical. The Genesis tale has a …show more content…
It can be said that these two stories are differently similar. On the contrary, there are more differences than similarities. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Ea is the God in the story, while in the story in Genesis, the Lord, father of Jesus Christ is the Father. In the story of the Epic of Gilgamesh, there are many gods mentioned in the story. Ea warns Utnapishtim about the flood and tells him to build an enormous boat. Unlike Ea, The Lord found a man that is righteous and blameless in his generation, and told him to build an ark. Ea told Utnapishtim to build his boat by tearing down his house, and have to make the measurements equal to each other and the length corresponded to its width. The Lord told Noah to build his ark with gopherwood with various compartments, and cover its inside and out with pitch. The Lord also gave Noah specific measurements to build his ark. The Lord told Noah that the length of the ark would be three hundred cubits, the width, fifty cubits, and the height thirty cubits. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, the sun god, Shamash showers down loaves of bread and wheat. In Genesis, the Lord tells Noah that needs to provide the all the food and store it away. The flood lasted only lasted six days and seven nights in the Epic of Gilgamesh, but in the story in Genesis, the flood lasted for forty days and forty nights. The flood in the Epic of Gilgamesh was so severe that the gods were frightened, that they ascending to the heaven of Anu. The Gods were saddened by
TRS 201: Faith Seeking Understanding
October 11, 2017
1. In the Bible, there are many stories that are repeated and can be found in different cultures. Each story differs, but the general themes have noteworthy similarities. The story of the flood is a perfect example of a story paralleled in several cultures. The Epic of Gilgamesh resembles the Bible’s story of The Flood popularly known as Noah’s Ark. In the beginning of both stories, God (or Gods) decided to flood the Earth because of all the wickedness in the world. In addition to the Earth being flooded, God(s) chooses a righteous man to build an ark, because of an impending great flood. In both accounts, male and female animals were to be in the ark, as well as his family …show more content…
In both stories, the male sends out a dove, and a raven to find land. The man also sacrifices something to God after the food. In the end, both of the stories end with God blessing the man. Based on these similarities I do not think that it is possible for the author of the book of Genesis had some knowledge of the Epic of Gilgamesh. It is also shown in both stories that God or Gods feel emotion. This is evident in both when the God(s) feel immediate regret after seeing what they have done to the Earth and mankind. Even though there are many similarities between the two stories, there is no exact proof that the author of Genesis had knowledge of the Epic of Gilgamesh. It does not seem that the biblical version depended on the Mesopotamian story. However, the Jew’s have a reputation for passing down information from one generation to another. Many people will know and believe the Genesis story rather than the Epic of Gilgamesh, because of it is the word of God. Genesis is more historical than the Epic of Gilgamesh, which is more mythical than historical. The Genesis tale has a …show more content…
It can be said that these two stories are differently similar. On the contrary, there are more differences than similarities. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Ea is the God in the story, while in the story in Genesis, the Lord, father of Jesus Christ is the Father. In the story of the Epic of Gilgamesh, there are many gods mentioned in the story. Ea warns Utnapishtim about the flood and tells him to build an enormous boat. Unlike Ea, The Lord found a man that is righteous and blameless in his generation, and told him to build an ark. Ea told Utnapishtim to build his boat by tearing down his house, and have to make the measurements equal to each other and the length corresponded to its width. The Lord told Noah to build his ark with gopherwood with various compartments, and cover its inside and out with pitch. The Lord also gave Noah specific measurements to build his ark. The Lord told Noah that the length of the ark would be three hundred cubits, the width, fifty cubits, and the height thirty cubits. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, the sun god, Shamash showers down loaves of bread and wheat. In Genesis, the Lord tells Noah that needs to provide the all the food and store it away. The flood lasted only lasted six days and seven nights in the Epic of Gilgamesh, but in the story in Genesis, the flood lasted for forty days and forty nights. The flood in the Epic of Gilgamesh was so severe that the gods were frightened, that they ascending to the heaven of Anu. The Gods were saddened by