Flood Narratives A Comparison of Genesis versus Gilgamesh
Both the Hebrew Bible and the Babylonian "Gilgamesh" contain floodnarratives of destruction and creation. However, while the Bible deploysthe flood narrative as a moral judgment of God upon a particular generationof humanity, "Gilgamesh" merely uses the flood as an example of the fragilereality of the mortal human state. In the Bible, God looks upon theimmorality of humankind, and uses water to ritually purify and cleanse theearth of all evil creatures, which includes most of individuals made in hisimage, except Noah and his household. The epic "Gilgamesh," tells story ofthe hero's acceptance of the transience of earthly mortal existence in theface of divine transcendence and uses the flood as a metaphor for thearbitrary nature of mortality, fate, and creation. In "Gilgamesh," evenfrom the earth's creation, the will of the divine is arbitrary in who isallocated for death. In the Hebrew Bible, the nature of humanity'sexistence on the earth is just the opposite.
Noah detailsthe new, moral order imposed upon by flooding, while for the narrator of"Gilgamesh," the world was created from its very onset in such a state offlux, and remains forever in danger of flooding, not for moraltransgressions of humanity, but because of the nature of the earth andmortal existence itself. "Gilgamesh"originated in a land near that of the ancient lands of Israel, thus theremust have been significant interchange between the two provinces, regardingthe discussion of myths of creation. "Go unto the ark, you andall your household, for I have seen that you alone of this generation arerighteous. Whenspeaking of creation, it is noted by the narrator of the epic creationpoem, "I laid out the contours and joined her together/I laid her out withsix decks. " (7:1) Thus, God suggests that the flood will provide not somuch a creation, but a destruction followed by a possible, potentialrecreation, which Noah accomplishes, according to God's instructions, afterthe flood has transpired, by casting rocks over his shoulder. (6:5) God vows to bring a floodto destroy "all flesh. The ark Noah and his family ride upon across the flooding waters givethem a temporary sanctuary. However, there is stillterrible aspects to flooding as "six days and six nights," the "flood windsblow. "(69) It is interesting to compare the time frames of the two narratives,as "Gilgamesh" has a time frame of a flooded week that is similar to theinitial creation narratives of the Hebrew Bible's first books. This signifies the positive and life-giving potential ofwater, as well as its dark aspect, and the fact that the earth against thewater is not simply a temporary state, but a permanent one-for the earth,metaphorically was created as a kind of a boat, and thus humanity is alwaysriding upon a fragile craft in a sea of potential destruction. However, because the tale of Noah isa different kind of creation myth, it is much longer, that of forty daysand forty nights, rather than taking place over merely a week. he Lord saw the wickedness was great upon the earth. In fact, the narratorimportunes how the "wisest of all Gods," could bring on such a "deluge.
Common topics in this essay:
Genesis Lord,
Hebrew Bible's,
Bible God,
Babylonian Gilgamesh,
Hebrew Bible,
flood narrative,
hebrew bible,
moral judgment,
mortal existence,
particular generation,
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