The "sons of God “came upon the daughters of men.>[1]> The "Lord" looked into the heart of man and saw only wickedness and was grieved in his heart. He said to himself, "I will blot out man”>[2]> because he was sorry he had made them. There was one man and his family who “found favour with God,”>[3]> his name was “Noah”>[4]>. He was a righteous and blameless man, in a time of wickedness>[5]>. The Lord God, saddened, brought about a flood to cleanse the earth of the men “of his creation.”>[6]> Noah built an ark, and as declared by God was told to gather two of every kind of creature and load them on to the ark; he was also allowed to grant access to his immediate family.>[7]> 

 

There are some obvious differences between the Gilgamesh, Atrahasis and Genesis flood stories. The genesis story, although catastrophic, still portrays an essence of light and love. The Gilgamesh and Atrahasis depict stark imagery of the “flood-weapon”>[8]> leaving no doubt that it was a horrific event. The Genesis story tells of a God who loved his creation, man. The story portrays this love by depicting God as being "grieved in his heart" that he had to now destroy his creation because it had become corrupted by "the sons of God.">[9]> The Gilgamesh and Atrahasis stories have a much darker aspect to them. The gods display self-centredness, and man is depicted as slaves to the gods. The authorship of the Genesis flood does show inconsistencies but this is not surprising as many different authors contributed to its translation. In Genesis 6:19, Noah is instructed to take two of all kind of creeping thing but then it appears in Gen 7:2, God has a change of heart. Noah is to allow seven of every clean thing and only two of every unclean thing.

 

 

Events	Genesis	Gilgamesh	Atrahasis
Reason for flood	Ordered by God because the sons of god took the daughters of men for themselves.>[10]>	It was ordered by the Great god Enlil, the irritable god of storm.>[11]>	Enlil (Ellil), disturbed by noise and lack of sleep>[12]>, orders the flood.>[13]>
Who and What were saved?	Noah, his family and 2 of every kind of creeping thing.	Utnapishtim, his wife and “all kinds of animals.”>[14]>	Atrahasis and the possibility that animals were aboard.>[15]>
Which was the first Flood recorded?	600BC (This number came about through Archaeology dating.)>[16]>		200 B.C
When the waters subsided	October 1st 600BC, the tops of the mountains became visible. On the 1st of January 601BC, all the waters had subsided from the face of the earth.	“Flood subsides on 7th day.”>[17]>	“Flood lasts 7 days and gods get hungry.”>[18]>
Test to prove the flood was over.	Almost a year past before the waters subsided. First a raven was sent out, then a dove who returned with an olive leaf.>[19]>	A dove, swallow and a raven were sent out; in that order, to see if the waters had subsided on the 7th day.>[20]>
What the flood story says about the relationship between people and God.	Describes affection toward man as a parent would toward their child.	Also depicts affection toward man because Utnapishtim was warned.	The gods are annoyed at the noise man creates and they wish to destroy them, with no survivors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited

Joseph P. Free, Howard Frederic Vos. "Cain and Able Flood." Chap. 4 in Archaeology and Bible history, by Howard Frederic Vos Joseph P. Free, edited by Howard Frederic Vos, pp. 35, line 80.81. (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1992.)

Platzner, Stephen. L. Harris & Gloria. "Alienation of the Human and Divine: Prometheus, Fire and Pandora." Chap. 4 in Classical Mythology, by Stephen. L. Harris & Gloria Platzner, 128 lines: 5,8. (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2008.)

Sippar. The Epic of Atrahasis Tablet. 12 21, 17th century BC. http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/me/c/cuneiform_the_atrahasis_epic.aspx (accessed July 02, 2009.)

Unknown, P. "The King James Bible." Genesis, by P. Authors Unknown, translated by 47 scholars of the Church of England, Genesis 6:2, 6:4, 6:7-9, 6:13-18, 8:7-11. (London: Robert Barker & Church of England, 1611.)

Epic of Gilgamesh Tablet XI. lines 3:48, 3:60. 3:74

Epic of Atrahasis Tablet. Tablet 1 7:4, Tablet 3 i(a):18, Tablet 3 i(a):16,17