The Epic of Gilgamesh is significant because:
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It contains many parallels with the flood story of Genesis
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It was written before Moses wrote the Torah (the first five books)
Similarities between Genesis and the Epic of Gilgamesh
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Mankind had become obnoxious to God (or the gods)
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God (or the gods) decided to send a worldwide flood
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The flood would destroy people and all land animals and birds
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A man is chosen to save a few people and samples of creatures
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The man is told to build a multi-storey wooden ark
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The ark is sealed with pitch
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A great rain covers the land
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The ark lands on a mountain in the Middle East
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The hero sends out birds to find dry land
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The hero and their family on leaving the ark, offer an animal as a sacrifice
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They are blessed and repopulate the earth
Key Differences between Genesis and the Epic of Gilgamesh
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The Gilgamesh Epic records that God was angry because of the people’s excessive noisiness, not their wickedness.
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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)
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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.