Gilgamesh vs Genesis
GILGAMESH Vs GENESIS: In our society, which is overwhelmingly Judeo-Christian, students often find it difficult to compare Bible stories with tales from other cultures, because our own belief system is wrapped up in the prior, and it is hard for many of us to go against our traditional faith to evaluate them objectively. But in a comparison of the Biblical book of Genesis with the ancient Sumerian text, Epic of Gilgamesh, many parallels suggest that the same type of spiritual searching inspired the composition of both works. It would seem that both cultures shared a concern for the nature of human life, and how its shortness affects the way life should be lived. However, the conclusions each culture derived from their observations are very different, and this led them to develop very different philosophies of life. Gilgamesh is an interesting story because it contains several episodes in common with the Judeo-Christian Bible. For example, John Noss notes that "The original flood story was Sumerian and came out of grim experiences of the overflowing of the two rivers [the Tigris and the Euphrates]. Several of the later versions of the tale, mostly fragmentary, have come down to us. The finest of these forms part of the Gilgamesh ep
ic, into which it was inserted as an interesting interpolation. According to this narrative, the gods decided in anger to punish man's sins by a flood. Their secret decision was revealed to one man. The good god Ea felt kindly toward Utnapishtim [Gilgamesh's ancestor] and told him about it. The man proceeded immediately to build an ark" (Noss 38). Marietta Moskin agrees that many of the earliest Hebrew stories derived from the Sumerian text. She writes that, "The authors of Genesis surely must have looked around to see what other people thought about creation. And there was quite a lot. There were the Sumerian Seven Tablets of Creation; there was the 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 behavior as a society directly impacted their fate -- in other words, if they behaved badly the gods would punish them. Maureen Raymo, a marine geologist "finds it very easy to believe this flood is the origin of these myths.... You would invoke your god being angry if you didn't have the scientific basis to understand it " (McInnis 3). Again, this belief underlies Hebrew law as well. And finally, like the Hebrews, Sumerians believed their gods had direct cont
Some common words found in the essay are:
Babylonian Gilgamesh, Isaac Asimov, Thou Gilgamesh, Enkidu Weeping, Utnapishtim Tear, Sumerians Hebrews, Enkidu Enkidu's, John Noss, Epic Gilgamesh, According Becker, enkidu's death, life death sumerians, days seven nights, biblical book genesis, seven nights, day night, gardner 226, life death, / day, death sumerians, six days seven, days seven, six days, / day night, merry /,
Approximate Word count = 1716
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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