Monday, August 19, 2019
Flood of Epic of Gilgamesh and Book of Genesis of the Holy Bible :: Epic Gilgamesh essays
 The Flood of Gilgamesh   Perhaps the most popular comparison with Noah's Flood is that of an ancient Babylonian story of a similar flood. A quick look at the text does show some key similarities between them however there are also some pointed differences. I will show you both and let you decide whether there is or is not a connection.      First let us look at the similarities:          *It is set in the Iraqi/Turkey area.....similar to the Biblical Flood.          *A man is warned by a god to build a ship so he could survive a coming flood, sent by the divine powers.          *The man is told to save himself, his family, and a sampling of all living things.          *The boat was to be sealed with resin inside and out.          *A set time is made by the divinity for the flood to begin.          *The flood includes both rain and water from the surface.           *The flood covered the mountains.           *The boat came to rest on a mountain first.           *Birds were released to test for whether or not the waters had receeded. In the Biblical account, a raven and a dove were released. In the Gilgamesh account, a dove, swallow, and raven were released.           *Once out of the boat, the man offers a sacrifice to the divinity which brings comfort to the divinity at the sweet scent of the sacrifice.       Now for the differences:           *The Babylonian tale never says why the gods chose to save the man in the story. It was pretty much dumb luck. In the Bible, Noah was a rightous man amidst a population of evil.           *The boat dimensions are quite different. The boat in the story of the Babylonian flood is a cube, equal on all sides. While in the Bible, Noah is told to build his Ark in a 450x75x45 ratio. This ratio is what is known to ship builders as the perfect ratio for stabilty for a boat but it was not known until the 15th century AD. The Gilgamesh boat, being equal on all sides, would have been wildly unstable and unseaworthy.          *The Babylonian man took seven days to build his boat while Noah took 120 years. Why would such a numerology rich people use such a non-numerology number as 120 when seven was already in the story?
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