Parallels Between the Gilgamesh Surge Account and the Scriptural Surge Account - Free Essay Example

There are numerous parallels between the Gilgamesh surge account and the scriptural surge account starting specifically with God picking a noble man to construct an ark because of an approaching extraordinary surge. This surge or flood was meant to get rid of all humans because God or gods were displeased with them. In the two records, all types of creatures were to be on the ark, and winged animals were utilized after the downpours to decide whether surge waters had dried up anywhere and uncovered dry land. In both the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Hebrew bibles story, the flood was caused because the humans were behaving badly and had to be punished. This then lead to death, destruction, and rebirth all caused by billions of gallons of water flooding the earth. These texts share unusual themes with key elements occurring in the same order and sequence, and we cannot brush this off by simply saying that this was just an instance of the same combination of uncommon unrelated motifs in the same sequence. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, the gods decide to destroy mankind by causing a fatal flood that lasted for six days and six nights. In the Hebrew bible, also known as the old testament, God also decides to flood the earth due to the humans bad behavior, only for a longer time. In Genesis the storm lasted for 40 days. And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights (Genesis 7:12). These two details are very parallel to each other, along with many other similar details in both texts. For a long time, there has been a controversy around the very similar details, and whether one copied from another. The situation at hand definitely makes it seem as if the Hebrew bible consciously and purposely derived ideas and motifs from the Epic of Gilgamesh. The Epic of Gilgamesh emerges as one of the soonest known works in the mankinds history. It is an epic sonnet whose exposition portray the story rotating around the life of a man named Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh was the King of Urukthe superb Sumer ian city that is situated in present day Iraq. This noteworthy wonderful bit of writing really originates before Homers most punctual works by 1500 years.