Gilgamesh v. Noah

             Many of the same ancient stories can be found in different cultures. Each
             story differs in some aspects, but the general themes can have striking similarities.
             One story that is paralleled in several cultures is the legend of a great, disastrous
             flood. The epic of Gilgamesh resembles the Bible's story of Noah's Ark, but
             specific details differ on several occasions. The story of Gilgamesh originates
             from twelve fire-hardened, mud tablets, written in cuneiform, in the
             Mesopotamian culture from around 2500 B.C.E. It has been passed down through
             generations for centuries, teaching obedience to gods. The story of Noah's Ark,
             found in the Old Testament, seems to do the same thing; teach the importance of
             Both sagas start with the earth being extremely populated, with no foreseen
             break in the continuation of a booming culture. The earth was too full. People
             were rowdy and reckless. Crime was widespread and grew day to day. These
             heretical activities would not be tolerated for long; the flood is now scheduled to
             arrive soon.. Noah's story creates the theme that the flood was sent because the earth had
             violence, (Genesis, 6). The only way to destroy this violence was to drown
             everyone but the chosen few. These chosen few were hand-picked by God as good
             people to start a new, more wholesome and obedient civilization. Gilgamesh's
             story says the reason for the flood was the volume the people created. The noise
             was intolerable and the gods insisted on ending the racket at once, (Duiker, 20).
             The singular reason Gilgamesh was spared is that he was informed of the flood by
             Ea, the water god, through a dream. Ea was one of many gods in this time. He told
             him to build a boat of equal width and length. He was to tear down his house for
             wood and tell the curious townspeople that he was instructed to leave the city and
             ...

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Gilgamesh v. Noah. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 05:23, March 28, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/31805.html