Flood Comparison Essay

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Flood Comparison The flood of Gilgamesh and the flood of Noah’s Ark has many comparisons. Both of these floods symbolize rebirth and a new beginning for mankind, in addition to god’s wrath. In the epic of Gilgamesh the gods decided to demolish mankind by flooding earth for six days and nights because they didn’t like how loud the people were being. Utnapishtim was the one chosen to build a boat, because he was asked to regenerate mankind after the flood. In the bible, God decided that there was too much evil in the world and decided to flood the earth for forty days and nights. God picked Noah to build an ark to save two of each animal and regenerate mankind after the flood. In both The Epic of Gilgamesh, and the Bible, a story of a great flood occurs these stories compare in several significant ways. Utnapishtim was chosen to survive the great flood because he was a true worshipper of the god Ea, who came to warn Utnapishtim about the flood. Noah was the only man on earth who found grace in the eyes of god. Because of this, god came to warn him about the flood and told him to build the ark. They each started their journey by building a large boat, and bringing his family and two of every being onto the boat. Utnapishtim's boat was two hundred feet tall, with six stories. Noah's ark was thirty cubits high, and three stories. Ea rewarded Utnapishtim by granting him eternal life. Noah was blessed by god and was rewarded all earth's flesh as meat for him and his family. In both stories when the ark or boat is floating after the flood had occured, Utnapishtim sends out three different birds while Noah sends only two out. First Utnapishtim sends out a dove but it returns. The same thing happens when he sends out a swallow. Finally when he sends out the raven it finds land and eats, so it does not return. The two men send these out in order to find

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