Gilgamesh And The Bible Essay, Research Paper

Gilgamesh and the Bible

In both the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Bible a common event takes place, a flood. The flood in both stories destroys all mankind. I feel that each flood serves as a symbol. Each one is a representive of rebirth and of a new beginning for all mankind. In the epic, Gilgamesh the gods decided to destroy mankind by flooding earth for six days and nights Gilgamesh and the other gods decided to destroy mankind by flooding earth for six days and nights. Utnapishtim and Noah were both the ones chosen to build an ark in order to restart mankind after the flood. In the Bible, God decided that there was too much evil in the world. God decided to flood Earth for forty days and nights. On Noah’s ark he brought aboard two of every animal. I feel this was a smart move by taking aboard living animals to rebuild the land

I feel that in both stories, mankind was exterminated from earth due to the evil that had taken over. In Gilgamesh the god Enlil said, “the uproar of mankind is intolerable and sleep is no longer possible.” The other gods agreed with this statement. In the Bible, God also saw how the wickedness of man had taken over earth. “God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt: for all flesh ad corrupted his way upon earth.” Both felt that this would wipe the evil out once the land was rebuilt. They didn’t think evil would come back no matter what event occurred.

The true worshipper of the god Ea was Utnapishtim. I feel that because of his efforts to warn Utnapishtim about the flood, he was chosen to survive the great flood. Nah was the only man on earth who found grace in the eyes of God. God came to warn Noah and his family about the upcoming flood. He told him to build the ark.

They each approached their Journey by building large arks. Each brought their families and living beast wild and tame aboard. Aboard Utnapishtim ark was also gold and craftsmen. Utnapishtim’s boat was two hundred feet tall, with six stories. Noah’s ark was thirty cubits high, and three stories. They each survived by staying in the boat during the whole flood, until it was over. From the god Ea, Utnapishtim was rewarded life eternal. Noah was blessed by God and was rewarded all earth’s flesh as meat for him and his family.