The Floods in Gilgamesh and the Bible’s Genesis

The floods described in the early epic “Gilgamesh” and the Biblical book of “Genesis” are both similar and different in many ways. In “Gilgamesh,” mankind is being punished because they annoy the god Enlil with their intolerable “clamour” (41). Enlil confers with the other gods, and they unanimously decide to rid the world of the insufferable noise. Their plan is to “exterminate mankind” (41) with a great flood. Similarly, in “Genesis,” God is also unhappy with the behavior of mankind, so He too decides to bring about a flood to cleanse the world of its inhabitants. However, the reasons for God’s wrath in “Genesis” are somewhat different that the reasons in “Gilgamesh.” God is not exterminating the earth out of pure annoyance like the gods in Gilgamesh, but because He realizes that the people of the world have become evil and wicked. He brings about the flood to purify the earth that He created of these undesirables.

The occupants of the ark in “Gligamesh” and in “Genesis” are also very similar in nature. In “Genesis,” Noah brings his wife, his sons, and their wives. He also brings along a male and a female of every living animal “two of every sort” (55), so that they would be able to replenish the land after the flood. In “Gilgamesh,” Utnapishtim, the builder of the ark, brings with him on the boat, his wife and children and also their families. Like Noah, Utnapishtim brings two of every animal: “the beast of the field both wild and tame” (42), but Utnapishtim also brings with him the craftsmen of the world. There were no craftsmen on Noah’s ark.

Another comparison between the floods in “Gilgamesh” and in “Genesis” is the role that birds play in each of these stories. In “Gilgamesh,” Utnapishtim “loosed a dove” (43) on the seventh day to determine whether the water has receded and land is near. The dove returns, and so Utnapishtim releases a swallow that also returns. He then releases a raven, but this time, the bird does not return, signifying that the water has subsided and there is indeed land to be found. Noah also enlists the help of birds in “Genesis.” He, like Utnapishtim, sends “forth a raven” (56). Noah also sends out a dove to find dry land, but like the dove in “Gilgamesh,” Noah’s dove returns without finding land. However, that is where the similarities end with birds. Unlike Utnapishtim, who sends out a swallow and then lastly sends out a raven who doesn’t return, Noah never uses a swallow, but releases the dove after a few more days. The dove returns to the ark bearing an olive leaf in its mouth, thus proving that there is land somewhere on the earth.

Works Cited
“Gilgamesh.” Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces. 7th Edition. Ed. Mack Maynard. W. W. Norton & Company: New York, 1999.