The story of Enuma Elish is inscribed on seven cuneiform tablets, recovered by a collector named AH Layard in Iraq (Matthews and Benjamin). This story has some parallel tales told in the Old Testament, such as Genesis, Exodus and the Psalms. This story presents the father and mother, Apsu and Tiamat, who represent saltwater and freshwater who were present before the creation of the universe. This story provides a description of a series of gods that were created: “When on high ... No heaven HAD…
In the epic of Gilgamesh, water is shown to be an importance through out the story as it is mentioned in tablet XI. In tablet XI, Gilgamesh talks to Utanapishtim on how he was granted immortality by the gods. Utanapishtim tells him about his recap of his life before he became immortal by building a boat that would survive the flood. After Utanapishtim tells Gilgamesh of his life, Gilgamesh continues to go on his journey to become immortal. In the story of Gilgamesh water plays a crucial role in…
Innate human tendencies have been described in variety of ways. The term “archetype” refers to recurrent patterns of design, story-telling, symbol-making and ritual expressions found all over the planet at different historical times. Knowing that each human is the reincarnation of a long-lineage of ancestors, you would expect to find common themes of pattern recognition, group behavior, story-telling and symbol-making wherever you found humans. Species memory, perceptual skills, needs, drives,…
Clear evidence of a global flood during the eleventh millennium was found in the Black Sea due to a deluge of water from melting glaciers. Additionally, evidence of possible arks was found in Turkey on multiple occasions. Moreover, the multiple accounts of flood origin stories throughout different cultures provide information supporting the truth behind…
fictionally plague, Oran. Her examination, titled, “Oran: Protagonist, Myth, and Allegory” centers on the idea of Oran the city being exiled from the rest of the world and cut off from all normalcy. Finel-Honigman first focuses on “man’s relationship with his environment” (75). She states that Oran is described in negative terms and is seen as the place everyone wants to leave. She quotes the the first page of the novel in saying “We have deluges of mud” (1-The Plague). Then she goes on to say…
First of all, woodworms or similar insects play an important role since they are present in nearly every story. After the first chapter, which is narrated by a woodworm, woodworms are prosecuted for having destroyed the Bishop’s throne in chapter 3 (62f). Ironically, a piece of the parchment containing the verdict was eaten by termites, causing the disappearance of the closing words (79f.). The fifth chapter concludes with the remark that woodworms are living in the frame of Géricault’s painting…
Comparative Eschatology of Christianity and World Mythologies When dealing with the idea of eschatology, many common views come from break-offs of the Abrahamic religions, with the most commonly known revolving around Jesus’ second-coming, the Rapture, and the Armageddon, the fight between the Antichrist and Jesus. While this view seems to be the most developed view of the end of the world, many religions prior to modern times also had some stories or ideas that explained how the end of the…
Along with Christian beliefs, Beowulf and The Grapes of Wrath seem to incorporate Christ figures or representations of God. First, in Beowulf, Robert Stevick has a different viewpoint with Beowulf following along with Christianity. In his article, “Christian Elements and the Genesis of ‘Beowulf,’” Stevick said “Beowulf does have some Christian virtues and fights against monsters that could double as Christian symbols of evil, but he hardly seems to be a Christ-figure, a pre-Christian thane of…
“Then God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of them; and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth.” The biblical flood comprises chapters 6-9 in the Book of Genesis of the Bible. The chapters state God’s disgust of what humanity had become, and his intentions to cleanse the earth. One man and his family were picked by God to build an ark and save a male/female of each animal. God’s intentions led to Noah’s Ark. In…
The Chaldeans of Mesopotamia have an almost identical flood tradition described in Genesis, with the exception that all the antediluvians were giants. One giant, that reverenced the gods, was named Noa. He lived in Syria with his three sons, Sem, Japet, Cham, and their wives. This man, fearing the destruction he foresaw from the stars, began to build a ship. Sevenety-eight years later the oceans broke forth, both from beneath and above in violent rains. All the mountains and the whole human race…