In both stories the gods or God struck down a flood as a symbol of their anger as well. Lastly, at the end of each story, the once perfect creation became cursed, whether it was with sin, or ignorance. Also there are many differences in Genesis and Popol Vuh. First of all, Genesis is a part of the Bible that explains how God created humans. Also Genesis says that there is only one God who created the earth and humans with words.
In the aftermath Noah’s relationship with the God, his dependence on God is further exemplified when he does not leave the Ark until hearing God's command: “Go out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and your sons’ wives, with you” (6:16). On the other hand, Utnapishtim leaves his boat after the flood water subsides and gives a libation to the Gods under his own free will and thought. Unlike Noah dutifully following and depending on God to prepare for and survive the flood, Utnapishtim, outside of the warning
and is part of the Epic of Gilgamesh (an epic that is known as the oldest piece of literature) and Noah’s story was released over a couple thousand years later; although this has no impact on the similarities and non similar things of the stories. Some of the similarities of these stories are more towards the fundamental things. Both of these stories spoke of a flood that was meant to wipe out all of humanity. The reason this flood was going to happen is because God became sick of humanity so he felt that he had to destroy it and start over again. So a chosen one (both Utnapishtim and Noah) was told to build a boat to survive this genocide and continue the human race.
With each story, a new tale is unraveled and differences are put aside to reveal an event that was beyond human control. Beginning in both stories, the reader is introduced to the hero that saves all creatures from extinction. These men are ordered by a single god to build an arc, full of the beasts of the land and particular people in which the god wishes to save. These large arcs are build using pitch to keep water from leaking in, and include only one door and one hatch opening. When the arcs are finished, the floods are delivered by rain and wipe out the remaining population of land creatures.
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.
The Mesopotamian text the Epic of Gilgamesh tells the account of an ancient King, Gilgamesh. Two-thirds god and one-third man, Gilgamesh was the central figure in the Epic, which chronicled his adventures and experiences as ruler of his land. The flood narrative however, does not revolve around Gilgamesh. Instead, it revolves around a man named Utnapishtim, who lived in a far away land. Gilgamesh traveled to see this man and hear his story, and it is his story that forms the flood narrative component within the Epic of Gilgamesh.
Two of the more known myths, the Hebrew Genesis and the Mayan Popul Vuh, although seemingly different possess strikingly similar creation myths. In the story of Genesis, the reader sees the views of a monotheistic culture, praising one, all-powerful God. In this account of creation, God creates heaven, earth, and all the creatures in seven days. He forms man and woman on the sixth day. He shows these humans love and gives them only one strict rule: not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in the center of the Garden of Eden.
The Genesis flood story is about God sending a flood, to destroy humans, but he tells one guy, Noah, to build an ark and save his family and every living animal. The Gilgamesh story is about a king who wants to be immortal, he needs the help from a man who survived a great flood. A flood that the gods had sent, he was the only one who survived, because one of the gods had help him to save humankind. Atrahasis story does the same things, they gods get mad and send a flood to destroy the earth, but on god told a man to save his family and one of each animal. These three stories have a lot in common.
Now in previous verses God is creating everything in the earth, but the thing that sets the creation of man apart from this, is being made in His image and having His breath breathed into man. The purpose of life has so many different meanings, and they can be found on just about every page of the bible. According to John 17:3 the whole purpose for life on earth is, “that they may know You, the only true God”(John 17:3, NIV). Ecclesiastes 12:13 has an amazing blunt explanation in the purpose of life, “..Fear God and keep his
If they were all powerful gods couldn’t they have somehow blocked out all the sounds of mankind or even send some kind of warning to the people? In the Book of Genesis God decided that mankind was becoming too wicked, and God was sorry he created them. (Gen. 6:6). I thought that God’s reason made more sense to me; he saw his creation become something he had not intended it to be corrupted and full of evil and he could not stand it. In The Epic of Gilgamesh the gods planned to wipe out everyone, but the god Ea decides to warn Utnapishtim because he was a worshiper of him.