Category Archives: Genesis – Gilgamesh

Genesis doesn’t state when it was written but Epic of Gilgamesh is around 1200 b.c.e. but they say that Gilgamesh was probably a real ruler in the late Early Dynastic II period (ca. 27th century BC). Two diminant dates for the Genesis is about 5500 b.c. and 4000 b.c.

Main connection between stories is Flood myth. It’s a theme widespread among different cultures. This story is mentioned in biblical, Quaranic accounts, in greek mythology and in Epic of Gilgamesh. The details, motive, outcomes are mostly the same in both sotries. Difference is that Utnapishtim was made to be a God  but Noah in Genesis staied a human and was tald to “go out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and your sons’ wives, with you. All the animals that are with you of all flesh, fowl and cattle and every crawling thing that crawls on the earth, take out with you, and let them swarm throught the earth and be fruitful and multiply on the earth”(pp 36).  Timewise thereis a differense too as in Epic of Gilgamesh the flood was for 7 days and in Genesis for 10 month and 7 days. There is a mysterious thing for 7 in both cultures.

Its hard to say what story came first but some scholars say that  early Jews were not a people who wrote things, so the Genesis story could have been around orally for some time before it was written.

A lot of discussions and arguments are going on this issue but still supporters say that finding the Ark would validate their views on a whole range of matters.

Genensis is seen as more scientific book but the Epic of Gilgamesh contains a lot from myth. This explains its divine-human interactions, mortality issue, divine inteference in humans’ lives.

As somebody that tries his best to live up to his religion, I feel intrigued by the story of Genesis’ Noah’s Ark and its connection to the story of Gilgamesh. It is very intriguing because I feel that in some way it confirms the stories in the bible are true.

Although they may not be completely identical, it still fulfills some sort of assurance that the stories in the bible are not completely made out of thin air. Now, questioning the real author of Genesis is a different question.

Going back to Noah’s Ark and the story of Gilgamesh, there are so many similarities between the stories. For one, there was an actual great flood that existed. According to Genesis, God said “I will wipe out the human race that I created from the face of the earth…” (Genesis 34). In the Epic of Gilgamesh, it says that “The hearts of the Great Gods moved them in inflict the flood” (Gilgamesh 91). The second similarity is that there was an actual ark that was created and along with it contained animals.

The only thing that did bother me is the fact that in Genesis, which is supposedly the “Holy” Book, God only allows Noah’s family to get on board the ship while killing everyone else. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, the god seemed more compassionate by allowing more people to get onboard.

Although the Bible can still be seen as contradictable with itself, we still have to realize that the authors of the Bible are not God but rather humans just like ourselves. It said that through ruah, God breath, that the authors were influenced by God into writing the story.

The Book of Genesis and The Epic of Gilgamesh narrate two different stories. Genesis describes the creation of earth and all leaving things in it by the almighty God, and Gilgamesh recounts the life and adventures of a king named Gilgamesh and the people around him that one way or another have an impact on his kingdom. Although these two books recite two different stories, there are some similarities within themself. For instances, in Gilgamesh there is the account of a “flood” to terminate all humankind from earth, and so does Genesis. There is one more similarity between this two books and that’s the one I like to focus on.

In Genesis, God tells the human and his woman they can eat everything they like except from one specific tree in the garden of Eden;                 “From every fruit of the garden you may surely eat. But from the tree of knowledge, good and evil, you shall not eat.” (A, 30)

In Genesis the “tree of Knowledge” is just a symbol and it represents the unknown, all that is unacquainted to the human and his woman. In Genesis, the temptation for the unknown is represented by a “serpent” which in the story persuades the woman to eat from the tree; “And the serpent said to the woman; “You shall not be doomed to die. For God knows that on the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will become as gods knowing good and evil.” And the woman saw the tree […] that it was lust to the eyes […] and she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave to her man, and he ate. And the eyes of the two were opened, and they knew they were naked.” (A, 31)

 Right after the human and his woman eat from the tree of Knowledge all that it’s unfamiliar to them suddenly becomes acquainted, now they know good and evil. Before the human and his woman eat from the tree all they know is good, but after acquiring knowledge they are aware of themselves and everything around them.

 There is a personage in Gilgamesh named Enkidu, who experiences something similar to the human and his woman in Genesis. Enkidu is created by Aruru (mother goddess) as a wild man who knows nothing else but the wilderness;            “In the wilderness she created valiant Enkidu, born of Silence, […] he knew neither people nor settled living […] he ate grasses with gazelles, and jostled at the watering hole with the animals; as with animals, his thirst was slaked with water.” (A, 61)

Enkidu has no knowledge about what’s around him except for the animals and the wildness. Ones Enkidu is exposed to the “unknown” and “temptation”, which in the Epic of Gilgamesh is represented by a woman and the task of womankind (sex), everything that is unacquainted to Enkidu suddenly becomes familiar. Enkidu becomes aware of himself and his surroundings, he is more like a god now, he knows good and he knows evil;                    “Shamhat unclutched her bosom, exposed her sex, and he took in her voluptuousness. […] she performed for the primitive the task of womankind. […] Enkidu had intercourse with the harlot until he was sated with her charms. But when he turned his attention to his animals, the gazelles saw Enkidu and darted off, the wild animals distanced themselves from his body. […] But then he drew himself up, for his understanding had broadened. […] The harlot said to Enkidu: “You are beautiful, Enkidu, you are become like a god.” […] What she kept saying found favor within him. Becoming aware of himself, he sought a friend.” (A, 63)

Within Genesis and The Epic of Gilgemesh the role that the cities play in both ties these two stories together. In Epic of Gilgemesh there is Urik a great city built with all the amenities in the world and protected by the great wall made of trees from the forest of Humbaba and in Genesis there is the Shinar city built with a large tower to reach the heavens.

Tied to the comparison of the cities is the flaws in the gods of both tales. In the Epic of Gilgemesh there are numerous gods that have many human characteristics taking away from there godly figure and making them seen more of a higher class human. In Gilgemesh there is the God Ishtar who in fear of Gilgemesh and Enkidu sends the Bull of Heaven to kill them “Father give me the Bull of Heaven so he can kill Gilgemesh in his dwelling. If you do not give me the Bull.. I will knock down the Gates of the Netherworld.” here you can as see that Ishtar comes off a little bit childish and bratty to his more authoritative father. Near the end of Genesis there is something that God says that brings him down to a human plato. When God sees the city with the large tower God’s responds with fear of the capabilities human possess as seen in Chapter 11 “the Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the human creatures had built. And the Lord said, “As one people with one language for all, if this is what have begun to do, nothing they plot will elude them” God continues and separates the city and cuts there ability to communicate with each other.

Even though there is large similarities between both tale’s storyline, the way both are written has much to compare. The most common comparison is the amount of repetition each story had. The repetition is used to emphasize, in the case of Gilgemesh he uses it when describing his adventures and past experiences and in Genesis it is used to link hertiage.

There is one strong connection between Genesis and The Epic of Gilgamesh that seems to be ironic in both the stories. In the Epic, Enkidu was sent to earth because the people of Uruk were very troubled by the deeds of their king, Gilgamesh. ” You made him, O Aruru, now create his equal; let it be as like him has his own reflection, his second self, stormy heart for stormy heart. Let them contend together and leave Uruk in quiet.” Enkidu was sent to stop Gilgamesh from continuing his bad deeds on the people. The Gods created Enkidu from the clay, after the people of Uruk complained about their problem. But when Enkidu meets Gilgamesh, he becomes friend with Gilgamesh. They become like brothers and soul mates. And Enkidu also gives Gilgamesh a hand in conquering the cedar forest and killing the beast. But after the battle, Enkidu dies. ” It was by your command they killed the Bull of Heaven, and killed Humbaba, and must Enkidu die although innocent.” It is a symbol that he did not do what he was asked to by the gods, the sole reason for his creation was not accomplished so he had to die of sickness.

In the genesis, the god creates Adam and Eve. They are placed in the Garden of Eden where they are asked not to eat the apples from the tree of knowledge. But they eat from the tree, so the god does not like what he sees and banish them both from the Garden of Eden. “What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, the serpent beguiled me, and i did eat.” (3:59).The god also curses them with all the sorrow and pain in the rest of the life and even among after they multiply and form many of their own kind. “I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception: in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.” (3:59).

It is sort of a similar punishment in both the texts, Enkidu gets killed and Adam and Eve thrown away from the Garden of Eden to live in sorrow and pain.

In the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Book of Genesis, there was a common theme of an great flood. In Genesis it is cited in Chapter 6, God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh is come before me, for earth is filled with outrage by them, and I am now about to destroy them, with the earth…………As for me, I am about to bring the flood, water upon earth, to destroy all flesh that has within it the breath of life from under the heavens, everything on earth shall perish…..” (p.34) In the Epic of Gilgamesh it was cited in tablet 11 by Utanapishtim, “…The Hearts of the Great Gods moved them to inflict the flood. The Father ANu uttered the oath of secrecy, Valiant Enlil was their Adviser, Ninurta was their Chamberlain, Ennugi was their Minister of Canals. Ea, the Clever Prince, was under oath with them so he repeated their talk to the reed house: ……” (p.91, l.14-20)

Sources:

Damrosch, David and Pike, David L.  2009. Longman Anthology of World Literature The Ancient World, Vol. A 2nd Edition. “Genesis” p.28-38

Damrosch, David and Pike, David L.  2009. Longman Anthology of World Literature The Ancient World, Vol. A 2nd Edition. “The Epic of Gilgamesh” p.56-97

The Epic of Gilgamesh and Genesis have many similarities as well as differences.    When comparing the details within the stories, they are very different.  The flood is a major connection between The Epic of Gilgamesh and Genesis.   A similarity is the amount of people God or the gods chose to save.  In both stories, it is the one good man which is Noah from Genesis and Utnapishtism from The Epic of Gilgamesh.  They were both told to build an arc or boat. In Genesis, God wasn’t pleased with the people he created.  “And the Lord saw that the evil of the human creature was great on the Earth and that every scheme of his heart’s devising was only perpetually evil” (G 6:34).  There’s too much evil for God.  So he tells Noah to build an arc.  God use the flood to punish the people for being evil by going against his word.  God ask Noah to collect different pairs of animals that exist.  God told Noah to bring his family:  his wife, sons, and his sons’ wives. In The Epic of Gilgamesh the people on Earth became too noisy for the gods.  The gods didn’t like how the situation is unfolding so they send a flood to destroy the humans.  The gods chose Utnapishtm to create a ship and collect pairs of animals to bring on the ship to preserve.

In both stories, while the arc or boat is floating, Noah and Utnapishtim sent out birds.  Noah sent two and Utnapishtim sent three birds.  “The dove went off, but came back to me…I sent forth a swallow and released it.  The swallow went off, but came back to me….I sent forth a raven and released it.  The raven went off…but does not circle back to me.” (Gilgamesh 94)  When the last bird didn’t come back that meant that the flood is gone and they can settle down.

The floods seem to be the greatest comparison between Genesis and Gilgamesh, yet have many differences. In Genesis, God realizes that things haven’t gone as planned and is not pleased with the evil that is now settling upon the earth he has just created.  “And the Lord saw that the evil of the human creature was great on the earth and that every scheme of his heart’s devising was only perpetually evil” (G6:34).God then decides to destroy the earth as it is and start over. “I will wipe out the human race I created from the face of the earth, from cattle to crawling thing to the fowl of the heavens, for I regret that I have made them. But Noah found favor in God’s eyes” (G6:34). Noah is the one man chosen, by God to survive this terrible flood he is planning to send forth along with a group of selected animals so there is something to start from once the flood is over.

In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Utnapishtim is the character closest related to Noah and is also told to build a ship and is promised to survive the flood that is to come and wipeout mankind. The Gods reasons for the floods are the following. In Genesis it was man’s wickedness, in Gilgamesh it was the loudness of the people that irritated the Gods who then decided to destroy all the people below them. “The hearts of the Great Gods moved them to inflict the Flood” (GigameshPg.91/14). Although there are a few differences between the stories such as the size of the ships and the length of the floods, the main point is the same. The Gods in both stories are unhappy with what is taking place on the earth below them and feel it is necessary to destroy everything on the earth and start over new. In Genesis the Gods ultimately regret their decision and in Genesis God promises to never do something of that nature again.

The Epic of Gilgamesh is one of the oldest pieces of writing which was discovered by people, so far. It was written in around 1000B.C.E in the Near East region in ancient Mesopotamia. Similarly, Genesis is one of the best books known worldwide which was written in around 400 B.C.E. In addition, it came from the region of Mesopotamia.

The Epic of Gilgamesh presents the polytheistic world where gods and goddesses play a big role. Even if they hold great power and are able to influence people’s actions, sometimes they are weak and imperfect. Also, mortal people and immortal gods have many things in common. They both experience positive and negative feelings such as love, happiness, and anger. For example, when Gilgamesh refuses to marry goodness Ishtar “in a fury she went up to the heavens, going to Anu, her father, and crying, going to Antum, her mother, and weeping” (A 77). Correspondingly, Genesis also describes the world where God plays a big role. However, he is the only monotheistic God and other gods don’t exist. In addition, he is the God who holds all the power; thus, everything depends on his will. For example, he says “Let there be light. And there was light” (A 29). Moreover, he doesn’t have many things in common with mortal people whom he created.

Both readings mention the flood; however, the reason of it is different. In the Epic of Gilgamesh people multiply very fast and earth become too noisy. Gods can’t stand that situation and send flood to destroy human beings. Gods choose a mortal human being, Utnapishtim, to create a ship and collect the pairs of all animals existing in the world. He says “I had all my kith and kin go up into the boat, all the beasts, and animals of the field” (A 92).  In addition, gods let him to protect his family and craftsmen “and the craftsmen I had go up” who have a great amount of knowledge which can be reused later on (A 92). On the other hand, Genesis talks about flood from different perspective. It is a punishment for people who want to be equal to God. “And the Lord saw that the evil of the human creature was great on the earth and that every scheme of his heart’s devising was only perpetually evil. And Lord regretted having made the human on earth” (A 34). As a result, he lets Noah to build an arc and collect the pairs of all animals existing in the world. God says to Noah “and you shall enter the ark, you and your sons and your wife and the wives of your sons, with you. And from all that lives, from all flesh, two of each thing you shall bring to the ark to keep alive with you, male and female they shall be” (A 34).  Also, Noah family is one who survives and populates the earth.

             The Epic of Gilgamesh and Genesis have many things in common. Both of them were written in antique period and are very well known. The Epic of Gilgamesh was evolved over the course of many centuries and it is about three thousand years old. Similarly, Genesis was written before the birth of Jesus Christ and it’s about two thousand and four hundred years old.
            A flood is the unifying similarity that both share; however, the reasons are different. In the Epic of Gilgamesh gods get angry at the human kind because they produce enormous amount of noise. Thus, gods send flood to destroy people. However, they let the mortal Utnapishtim to create an ark and save his family and animals. Utnapishtim says “I had all my kith and kin go up into the boat, all the beasts, and animals of the field” (A 92). In addition, he takes craftsman to save the existence of knowledge for next generations. In Genesis, God sends flood because people want to be equal to him. He decides to destroy them and says “the end of all flesh is come before me, for the earth is filled with outrage by them…I am now about to destroy them” (A 6). However, he lets Noah to construct an ark for saving his family and animals to populate the earth after the flood.
            The Epic of Gilgamesh describes polytheistic world; whereas, in Genesis, only one God is presented. Gods in the Epic of Gilgamesh are immortal and they have many things in common with mortal human beings, for example, characters and behaviors. They have similar emotion, such as, happiness, sadness, anger and sexual desire. Some of them also have the urge to make relationship with human being as goddess Ishtar “Come along, Gilgamesh, be you my husband” (A 75). In Genesis, the immortal God doesn’t have anything in common with people. In addition, he holds absolute power and he wants to regulate everything according to his rule. For instance, he says, “For in seven days’ time I will make it rain on the earth forty days and forty nights and I will wipe out from the face of earth and all existing things that I have made” (A 35).