Name 1 Student Name Professor Name Subject Date The Epic of Gilgamesh vs.

The Old Testament The Epic of Gilgamesh is one of the oldest and most moving stories in the ancient wisdom-tradition of mankind. The Epic of Gilgamesh, which successfully explores the issues of friendship, mortality, heroism, and humanitys relationship to the divine, is a religious treatise of ancient literature. The Epic of Gilgamesh, with its significant parallels to the Flood of Noahs day, has been of great interest to Christians ever since its discovery in the midnineteenth century in the ruins of the great library at Nineveh. In fact, one of the most famous works of the Sumerian literature, the Epic of Gilgamesh, has close parallels with The Old Testament. However, there are major differences as well. From both the Epic of Gilgamesh and The Old Testament we learn that religion was of high importance in the early beginnings of human history. While reading these two stories, readers find out that the gods were very human-like. Both Gilgamesh and Abraham looked to their gods for help and guidance. Further, there was a constant battle between good and evil for the greater good of humans in both texts. In both stories, death was explained as something that only human beings must bear, since the gods should live forever (Dalley 23). Through various stories in Gilgamesh and The Old Testament, explanations for many natural wonders of the world and roles of humans were given. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Enkidu was created to accompany Gilgamesh, while in The Old Testament, Adam was created to accompany God. In Gilgamesh and The Old Testament, characters also faced with loss. For instance, in The Old Testament, Job was challenged by the loss of his family and belongings, and in the Epic of Gilgamesh, the main hero also lost his best friend. Thus, the

Name 2 death of Enkidu forced Gilgamesh to confront his own mortality. His human condition was presented as a quest to find meaning in the context of uncertainty, suffering and death. Therefore, the theme of loss was followed by another crucial theme, the fall of a man. When Enkidu died, Gilgamesh was lost mentally, and wanted to find the new meaning of life and immortality. In The Old Testament, the friendship between David and Jonathan reflected the friendship between Gilgamesh and Enkidu. The other episode in the Epic of Gilgamesh with close ties to The Old Testament was the story of Enkidu and Shamhat, which shared a number of themes with the story of Adam and Eve (Damrosch 67). Actually, in the Epic of Gilgamesh, the catastrophic flood that destroyed mankind had a remarkable resemblance to that of Noahs tale from The Old Testament. Thus, in the Epic of Gilgamesh, the God Enlil decided to call for a great flood because, ...the world teemed, the people multiplied, the world bellowed like a wild bull, and the great god was aroused (The Epic of Gilgamesh 110). Similarly in both stories, God flooded the earth because humans were too loud, or were too sinful. Both tales included one man, Gilgamesh and Noah, chosen by the gods or God to survive the flood, and this man built an ark in which he carried his family and pairs of all living creatures. In both stories, we could learn how a decision was made by a higher power or powers regarding the extermination of humanity. In the Old Testament, God said to Noah, I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the Earth (Dalley 34), and, I am going to put an end to all people (Dalley 34). Further, in the Epic of Gilgamesh, it clearly stated, the gods agreed to exterminate mankind (Damrosch 108). Thus, in Gilgamesh, the gods found the people were too noisy, and, therefore, the rest of mankind was eliminated. In The Old Testament, God was displeased with mankind, since he found them to be wicked, and decided also to eliminate them by means of a flood (Tigay, 17). Thus, we learn that common themes between Gilgamesh and The Old Testament include various issues such as the creation of man, flood of the earth, and

Name 3 the fall of man among others. Similarities in both stories also concern the use of an arc and sacrifices, which were made after the flood to the respective gods (Dalley 23). The Old Testament and the Epic of Gilgamesh also render some differences, which concern not only the actual story lines, but also belief systems, value judgments, and overall attitudes of the people. A major difference between the story of Noah and the flood story in the Epic of Gilgamesh relates to the flood beginning. In fact, in the Bible it rained for forty days and in the Epic of Gilgamesh only seven. After seven days the waters of the flood were upon the earth (The Epic of Gilgamesh 87). Alternatively, in The Old Testament readers learn that All the fountains of the great deep [were] broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased; and the ark went upon the face of the waters (Dalley 45). Actually, both stories have the same basic storyline, but the smaller details differ. For instance, in the Epic of Gilgamesh, the ark was seven stories high with a lot of compartments, one door, at least one window, and was shaped like a cube. Actually, in The Old Testament, the ark was three stories high with many compartments, one door, one window, and in the shape of an oblong box (Dalley 23). Actually, the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Old Testament, the earliest accounts of human civilization, are stories that share numerous themes and symbols, such as similar creation stories, views of the underworld, and similar stories about universal flood. Indeed, after careful reading and critique, it becomes clear that although there are various similarities between the two ancient texts, which help continue to withstand the test of time, there are also subtle differences in detailing the events that take place. In any case, these two ancient stories are the real base for many cultures, since they both successfully prove the fact that throughout history a lot of people have reinforced the great questions and pondered the thoughts of the way how we could live our lives.

Name 4 Works Cited Dalley, Stephanie. Myths from Mesopotamia, Creation, The Flood, Gilgamesh, and Others. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1989. Print. Damrosch, David, The Buried Book: The Loss and Rediscovery of the Great Epic of Gilgamesh, Henry Holt and Co., New York, 2006. Print. The Epic of Gilgamesh: A New Translation, Barnes and Noble, New York, 1999. Print. Tigay, Jeffrey H. The Evolution of the Gilgamesh Epic. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 1982; reprint, Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, Wauconda, IL, 2002.