Flood Narratives: A Comparison of Genesis vs. Gilgamesh
Both the Hebrew Bible and the Babylonian "Gilgamesh" contain flood narratives of destruction and creation. However, while the Bible deploys the flood narrative as a moral judgment of God upon a particular generation of humanity, "Gilgamesh" merely uses the flood as an example of the fragile reality of the mortal human state. In the Bible, God looks upon the immorality of humankind, and uses water to ritually purify and cleanse the earth of all evil creatures, which includes most of individuals made in his image, except Noah and his household. The epic "Gilgamesh," tells story of the hero's acceptance of the transience of earthly mortal existence in the face of divine transcendence and uses the flood as a metaphor for the arbitrary nature of mortality, fate, and creation. In "Gilgamesh," even from the earth's creation, the will of the divine is arbitrary in who is allocated for death. In the Hebrew Bible, the nature of humanity's existence on the earth is just the opposite.
In Genesis, "the Lord saw the wickedness was great upon the earth." So begins the flood narrative of Genesis. (6:5) God vows to bring a flood to destroy "all flesh." (6:17) Noah in his goodness, and because of the fidelity he has exhibited to the divine, will be spared from the horrific plight of drowning. God warns Noah to prepare. "Go unto the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you alone of this generation are righteous." (7:1) Thus, God suggests that the flood will provide not so much a creation, but a destruction followed by a possible, potential recreation, which Noah accomplishes, according to God's instructions, after the flood has transpired, by casting rocks over his shoulder.
The ark Noah and his family ride upon across the flooding waters give them a temporary sanctuary. But in "Gilgamesh," the joined ark is the earth itself. This signifies the positive and life-giving potential of water, as well as its dark aspect, and the fact that the…
Sample Source(s) Used
Works Cited
Coogan, Michael. (Editor). "Genesis." From The New Oxford Annotated Bible. Third edition. Oxford University Press, New York, 2001, pp. 18-27.
"Epic of Gilgamesh: No. 12." From Myths and Epics from Mesopotamia. pp. 68-69.
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