Gilgamesh and Noah's Ark

The Epic of Gilgamesh and the story of Noah's Ark each give an important account of the major and often religious event that took place thousands of years ago, a substantial flood of the Middle East (Dorminey). The story of Noah's ark is primarily believed and taught in the Christian, Islamic and Jewish religions. The Epic of Gilgamesh is apart of a few smaller, polytheistic religions, but it is not widely studied today as the "The Story of the Flood." While both stories depict the flood, they each have different perspectives on the event and vary greatly in several ways. The Epic of Gilgamesh and the story of Noah's Ark approach Gods, mortality, and the actions of the protagonists differently.

Both The Epic of Gilgamesh and the story of Noah's Ark have important Gods, but view the qualities and characteristics of their Gods differently. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, there are many Gods and each of them has different, human-like personality qualities. They are similar to the Gods of Greek mythology in the aspect that each God has a different role to society and has different strengths and weaknesses. The Gods of Gilgamesh are aging in the story implying they will eventually die, much like humans. The story of Noah's Ark has only one God. Noah's God is all-knowing, all-powerful, eternal, and has power over everything (Genesis 6-9). This God is often viewed as "perfect" and does not have many of the human like qualities of the Gods in The Epic of Gilgamesh. In both stories, the Gods ultimately decide to wipe out humanity using a flood and leave a few chosen people to survive, repopulate, and start over (Genesis 6-9 and Sandars). The Gods of Gilgamesh's story make this decision because the people are seen as a mere annoyance, while the God of Noah's Ark makes the decision because of the ever increasing wicked and sinful actions of the people (Genesis 6-9 and Sandars). In the end, the Gods of both stories greatly regret their choice to destroy humanity and vow never to do it again (Genesis 6-9 and Sandars).

The Epic of Gilgamesh and the story of Noah's Ark view the ideas of mortality and eternal life in differently. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, Utnapishtim, his close ones, and the animals of the world are the only survivors of the great flood. The Gods of the epic granted Utnapishtim and his family eternal life after the flood. However, the Gods themselves are seen as aging; therefor, implying they are not immortal and will eventually die. In the story of Noah's Ark, Noah lives to the old age of 950 years but eventually dies. It is believed by the followers of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism that Noah as well as the followers of God continue eternal life after death. The God of Noah's Ark is also seen as an eternal being that will be with his followers for all eternity.

The actions of Utnapishtim and Noah are similar in some ways, but also differ in several