It contains many parallels with the flood story of Genesis
It was written before Moses wrote the Torah (the first five books)
Similarities between Genesis and the Epic of Gilgamesh
Mankind had become obnoxious to God (or the gods)
God (or the gods) decided to send a worldwide flood
The flood would destroy people and all land animals and birds
A man is chosen to save a few people and samples of creatures
The man is told to build a multi-storey wooden ark
The ark is sealed with pitch
A great rain covers the land
The ark lands on a mountain in the Middle East
The hero sends out birds to find dry land
The hero and their family on leaving the ark, offer an animal as a sacrifice
They are blessed and repopulate the earth
Key Differences between Genesis and the Epic of Gilgamesh
The Gilgamesh Epic records that God was angry because of the people’s excessive noisiness, not their wickedness.
The Gilgamesh ark is not seaworthy (6 stories high and square), whereas Noah’s Ark has the dimensions of a usable vessel (3 stories high and rectangular)
The ark lands on a mountaintop in both stories and birds are released but the Gilgamesh Epic tells us that the gods quarrel among themselves giving immortality to the hero.
