Gilgamesh

A detailed Summary of Gilgamesh

There are multiple similarities and differences in the stories The Epic of Gilgamesh, translated by N.K. Sandars, and the Book of Genesis from The Bible. The way one responds to a difficult situation provides an insight into that person's beliefs. Noah, from Genesis 6-9, and Utnapishtim, from The Epic of Gilgamesh, encounter similar challenges, but do not respond exactly in the same manner.

The first similarity is Noah and Utnapishtim must deal with the powerlessness of life's eventual demise. Noah faces death of all mankind except his family and a pair of every creature on earth, which accompany him into the ark. God instructs Noah to build an ark, and he does this unquestioningly and obediently. "Noah did everything just as God commanded him"(NIV Genesis 6:22). Even when God tells Noah that He "will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature" he has made, "... Noah did all that the Lord commanded him"(NIV Genesis 7:5). As for Utnapishtim, he was summoned by one of the gods, Ea, the god of water and of wisdom, to create an ark to survive the wrath of the gods. Utnapishtim obeyed, "When I understood I said to my lord, 'Behold what you have commanded I will honour and perform..." (Gilgamesh 41). Both characters de

Both Utnapishtim and Noah built arks because of an imminent destruction of the earth by rain and flooding. Shamash, the sun god, had warned Utnapishtim, "In the evening, when the rider of the storm sends down the destroying rain, enter the boat and batten her down" (Gilgamesh 42). God told Noah, "Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made"(NIV Genesis 7:4). Both boats were built to detailed specifications in order to withstand the torrents of rain. Following the end of the rain, both Noah and Utnapishtim send out birds as a test of the recession of the waters so that they can safely exit onto the land. Utnapishtim sends first a dove, then a swallow, and then a raven, which "...saw that the waters had retreated, she ate, she flew around, she cawed, and she did not come back" (Gilgamesh 43). In contrast, Noah sends a raven first, which, flew "...back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth" (NIV Genesis 8:7). He then sends a dove that returns to the ark having found no resting place. After seven days Noah again sends the dove, but this time it returns with an olive leaf in its bill. Then Noah "waited seven more days and sent the dove out again, but this time it did not return to him" (NIV Genesis 8:10). Both Noah and Utnapishtim, immediately upon leaving their boats, make a sacrifice. Utnapishtim says, "Then I threw everything open to the four winds, I made a sacrifice and poured out a li

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Approximate Word count = 1031
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English