Babylonian Gilgamesh epic. . . ." (Moskin 30).
             The similarities should not surprise us, right down to the reason God was
             supposed to have decided to destroy the earth by water. In the Biblical book of
             Genesis, the author tells us that: "The earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the
             earth was filled with violence" (Genesis 6:11). Part of this, the Genesis author
             comments, was largely due to the fact that human beings on the earth had
             become extremely sinful. "The Lord saw that the wickedness of men was great in
             the earth, and it grieved him to his heart" (Genesis 6:5). So He determined to kill
             all the people of the earth, saving only one family which had steadfastly
             maintained their righteousness. This, of course, was the family of Noah.
             The parallels between this story and that of Gilgamesh are too obvious to
             criticize. "Of course the Hebrew iteration of the flood story is not coincidence.
             For a time, the Hebrews lived in Sumer, home of Abraham's people..., taking
             with them ancient accounts of flood and righteous people whose obedience and
             wisdom helped them to survive the consuming waters" (Near East 2).
             However, several interesting points can be made here about the
             characteristics of Sumerian religion. For one, it is clear that, like most primitive
             peoples, the Sumerians took everyday happenings they observed occurring
             around them, and elevated them into myth. The Hebrews did, too. Secondly,
             the Sumerians believed that their be
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