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 Christian Bible, seems to do the same thing; teach obedience to God.

Many aspects of both stories are the same. 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. The difference pertaining to this, is the reason the flood was sent.

Noah's story rules that the flood was sent because the earth had become corrupt and filled with violence, (Genisis, 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).

2. http://www.bibleontheweb.com/Bible.asp (Genesis 6-9.)

Noah was also instructed to do the same. Only his orders came from the one and only God. The Jewish culture believes in one supreme being. God told Noah to build a boat, not of equal width and length, but in more of an oval shape. The boat was built to hold the seeds of life as well, along with Noah's family, (Genisis, 6).

The next discrepancy lies in the amount of time it rained. Noah's story emphasized rain for forty days and forty nights. The number forty also appears in several other biblical stories. Gilgamesh's rainfall lasts for just six days and nights. However, the numerical system of the Mesopotamians is based on the numbers six, ten, and sixty. So the story directly relates to the numerical system of the time, (Lecture, 9/13/1999). Perhaps this number was adopted because of its wide use.

With so many different cultures trying to explain a great flood, there are bound to be differences in each account. The Epic of Gilgamesh and the Biblical story of Noah's Ark are different in small details. The fact that the two stories are so close in account to each other, with regard to general storyline, is quite amazing when considering the fact that these two cultures are so very different.

Noah also made a sacrifice to God upon exiting the ark. He took from every animal and made burnt offerings on an alter he had created. When God smelled the sweet aroma, he vowed never again to curse the earth because men are born evil (G

Some common words found in the essay are:
God Jewish, Christian Bible, Noah's Ark, Ice Age, , Sea Archeologists, Publishing Company, story noah's, water receded, story noah's ark, Gilgamesh Biblical, noah's ark, equal width length, boat equal width, dove returned, equal width, boat equal, numerical system, duiker 20, genisis 6, build boat equal, found land,
Approximate Word count = 1209
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)