Each culture that existed before and during the writing of the Old Testament lent their own specific myths and some myths that were common to all cultures such as the creation of the Earth. We see in the Bible that each of these cultures has given to it a myth of their own, whether the writers of the Bible use them as references or the basis to some of their tales is unknown; but one can see the parallels from the very beginning. First, one has to understand the people of the era of which we are talking about.

To get a clear picture of the way the Book of Genesis may have been formed, we must place it somewhere in time, and then define the cultures of that time. The influences must be explained, and then we may draw our conclusions. If we trace back to the first appearance of the Bible in written form

Van Seters, John. Abraham in History and Tradition. Yale University

It is no surprise, then, that there exists certain parallels between the Enuma Elish, the Babylonian view of the creation of the world, and the Book of Genesis, the first part of the Pentateuch section of the Bible. In fact, arguments may be made that other Near Eastern texts, particularly Sumerian, have had their influences upon Biblical texts. The extent of this 'borrowing', as it were, is not limited to the Bible; the Enuma Elish has its own roots in Sumerian mythology, predating it by nearly a thousand years. This epic of creation starts out that in the beginning, when there was neither heaven nor earth... Notice that this is the same opening used in Genesis. This is where the similarities between the two texts begin.

Introduction. The Epic of Gilgamesh. By Robert D. Biggs. Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, 1992.

Thus one can see the comparisons of the Old Testament and earlier forms of religious literature. Themes and ideas borrowed from earlier religions and religions of the same period only served to reinforce the idea of the Hebrew God being supreme. Moreover, one can see the influence of Babylonian, Mesopotamian, and Egyptian mythology inherent in the Old Testament. "This...light from extrabiblical texts...has

Besides creation myths, there are other parallels such as the flood story. In 1872, George Smith, who happened to be studying tablets found in the now destroyed Library of Alexandria, found an epic story strikingly similar to the flood story of Noah found in the Bible; this was the Epic of Gilgamesh. One of these fragments told about a boat...a flood...and a bird seeking dry land, Most critics recognized that here was the earliest version of Noah, and thus doubting the originality of Scripture once again.

Some common words found in the essay are:
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