FREE ESSAY ON EPIC OF GILGAMESH

EPIC OF GILGAMESH

The Epic of Gilgamesh compares to the Bible in many different ways. The epic 
has a different perspective than the Bible does. This paper is a contrast and comparison
between the two books. The three main points of this paper will be the Creation, Flood
and the Hero.
The way these two books start out is creation. This is the first similarity that we can
state. God created man out of the earth, "In the beginning God created the Heaven and the
Earth". In the epic, Auru, the goddess of creation created a man called Enkidu, she
molded him out of clay. He was the keeper of the forest and brother to Gilgamesh. Another
similarity is the fall of man and the search for everlasting life. The snake is
represented in both of the stories. Gilgamesh is searching for everlasting life, and the
everlasting life is within a flower. Gilgamesh finds the flower but is confronted by the
snake and drops it. However, in Genesis, a snake confronted Adam and Eve. It was Eve who
would not have even thought about eating the forbidden fruit without the snake tempting
her. She then turns around and offers the fruit to Adam. This causes them to know about
sin. As a result of their sin it continues throughout all mankind. This causes God to
Flood the earth.
When the flood came it was all over the world in both of the books. Noah and Utnapishtim
were both righteous men. They were both told to build a boat and they both complained
about it. The flood was a result of man's wickedness. Utnapishtim said "the world teemed,
the people multiplies, the world bellowed like a wild bull, and the great god was aroused
by the clamour". The noise was so harsh that they agreed to "exterminate mankind".
Genesis states that "the earth was filled with violence" and that the world was "corrupt"
. So God told Noah that "the end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled
with violence through them and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth". The
difference here is the way that the way the gods/Gods got the idea to destroy the Earth.
Since man was sinning and making all this noise God wanted to destroy his creation and
start over. The flood came by heavy rains in both Genesis and Epic of Gilgamesh. The
flood was different by several of the following ways. The first thing to note is who
instructed Noah to build a boat? The instruction in Genesis was Yahweh (God). Now in the
Epic, there was an assembly of gods. Second is the whole dynamic of the boat structures.
The height, width, compartments, and the shape. Noah's boat was three stories high and
Utnapishtim's was six stories high. The shape of Noah's boat was rectangular and
Utnapishtim's was square. On Noah's boat the only human passengers allowed on the boat
were family members which was his three sons and their wives and of course, Noah's wife.
Utnapishtim's boat contained family members. A few other people were permitted to aboard
the Boat. 
Another aspect of the flood is the length. The length of the flood in Genesis was forty
days and forty nights, whereas, in the epic the flood only lasted six days and six
nights. When the rain ceased and the sun was out, both of the heroes needed to know if
there was land out there. Noah and Utnapishtim sent out birds. This concept is the same
but the types of birds were different. The birds that Noah released to find land was a
Raven, and three doves. The birds that Utnapishtim released to find land was a dove, a
swallow, and a raven. When Noah finally landed, he was on Mt. Ararat. The mountain that
Utnapishtim landed on was Mt. Nisir.
They both sacrificed after they reached land and they both were blessed. God made a
covenant with Noah, saying that he will never flood the earth again. In the Epic of
Gilgamesh, Utnapishtim was given eternal life. Whereas, man received everlasting life at
creation.
The two heroes have many qualities about them that are the same as well as different.
Noah and Utnapishtim were the heroes. The difference between them basically was that
Utnapishtim obeyed many gods. Each god had a different job to do. One that created him, a
different god that was the keeper of nature and animals and another one for the weather.
At the end of the book there is a special page that has a character description. For
Utnapishtim it says " Old Babylonian Utnapishtim, Sumerian Ziusudra; in the Sumerian
poems he is a wise king and priest of Shurrupak. He is the son of Ubara-Tutu, and his
name is usually translated, 'He Who Saw Life'. He is the protege of the god Ea, by whose
connivance he survives the flood, with his family and with 'the seed of all living
creatures'; afterwards he is taken by the gods to live for ever at 'the mouth of the
river' and given the epithet 'faraway'; or according to the Sumerians he lives in Dilmun
where the sun rises." "There were so many gods responsible in this man's life. However in
the book of Genesis, Noah had only one God. This God created and destroyed mankind and he
then made a covenant with Noah and then he repaired the damage that he caused. Noah had a
special relationship with Noah. In the Bible it decries Noah as a righteous man, who
loves the Lord. 
In conclusion, these to books are so much alike yet, so different. The comparison between
Genesis and the Epic of Gilgamesh is remarkable. There are some things that are hard to
decipher, but most was understandable. The Epic of Gilgamesh was hard to get started on,
but was easily finished. 
Bibliography
Bibliography
The Holy Bible. KJV. Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville. 1984.
The Epic of Gilgamesh. Penguin Books, London. 1972.