Over the years there have been several adaptations regarding the biblical story of Noah’s Ark, whether the comedy film starring Steve Carell, or a film narrating the Bible story. However, the adaptation that the majority of people do not recognize is the Bible story itself. The story of Noah and his ark was actually adapted from the eleventh and twelfth tablets of the Epic of Gilgamesh. The Epic of Gilgamesh is an epic poem that narrates the adventures of a fictional hero named Gilgamesh.1 The reason that Noah’s Ark is an adaptation is due to the many parallels between the two stories. Some similarities include the wrath of a deity upon humankind, as well as the creation of a type of vessel in order to survive the flood.
Before the 19th century, the Bible was believed to be the most credible source of historical information about the Ancient Near East. However,“The Epic of Gilgamesh is the oldest surviving epic poem in history, dating from about 2500 B.C.E.”2 The discovery of the Epic of Gilgamesh, specifically the tablets containing the excerpts detailing the Great Flood myth, caused turmoil among the ancient historical community, due to the fact that the Great Flood myth was written about a thousand years before the Bible story of Noah.3
The eleventh tablet narrates one of Gilgamesh’s adventures in search for immortality.4 Yet his search leads him to a wise man named Utnapishtim. Utnapishtim then reveals to Gilgamesh how he achieved immortality. He begins to explain how the god Ea informed him of the devastating flood created by the gods in order to extinguish humanity. He was instructed to construct a boat of immense size and to tell the people of Shuruppak to assist him in the building of the boat. Once the boat was complete, he was to load it with every living thing and his family in order to survive. Seven days later the great flood began its reign of destruction upon humankind. During this time, Utnapishtim and his ark ran aground on a mountain peak. He then released a dove in order to find land but the dove returned, not having found land. The same thing happened when he sends a swallow. However, the third time he releases a raven that never returned. Upon reaching land, the gods in heaven realized the great service Utnapishtim had done by saving humankind; thus, they granted him and his wife eternal life.
Much like the Epic of Gilgamesh, the story of Noah’s Ark conveys a similar destruction tale.5 The book of Genesis narrates how God began to despair over the creation of humankind due to humanity becoming sinful and evil. Therefore, God decided to create an immense flood in order to destroy and cleanse the world. However, God chose a man named Noah due to his immaculate behavior, and He instructed him to build a boat or an ark. Once he completed the ark, he was to load it with a pair of every animal on earth along with his family. For the next forty days, God plunged the earth with devastating rains, causing the earth to be flooded for a whole year. Noah then released a dove and it never returned, meaning that it had found dry land. Once the water receded, the earth was restored and became once again fertile. God made a covenant with Noah promising that his lineage will be fertile and that he will never destroy humanity again by flood.
The parallels between both stories are clear to see, due to the similarity in content and story structure. For example, both narratives include an extremely powerful deity or deities, that form a plan to wipe out humankind by creating a great flood in order to restore the earth, as well as how a single man was chosen by a higher power to save humanity.6 Another parallel is how both individuals were instructed to construct a boat in order to survive the coming flood. The content of both vessels is also similar due to them being loaded with all the living things on earth, even though in the Epic of Gilgamesh it was all living things while in Noah it was the pair of every animal on earth, along with their families. Once the earth was flooded, both Utnapishtim and Noah release birds in order to find out if the land was yet dry. Finally, both men upon reaching land are rewarded by higher powers, due to their involvement in saving humanity, and the creation of a new world.
- Benjamin R. Foster, Douglas Frayne, and Gary M. Beckman, The epic of Gilgamesh: a new translation, analogues, criticism (New York: Norton, 2001), 60-65. ↵
- Jerry Bentley, Herbert Ziegler, Heather Streets Salter, Traditions & Encounters: A Brief Global History Volume 1 (New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Publishers, 2016), 17. ↵
- James B. Pritchard, Ancient Near Eastern texts relating to the Old Testament (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1969), 3. ↵
- Pritchard, Ancient Near Eastern texts, 273. ↵
- Jerry Pinkney, Noah’s ark (New York : SeaStar Books, 2002), 20-30. ↵
- Pritchard, Ancient Near Eastern texts, 10. ↵
110 comments
Christopher Repka
Interesting article on historical parallels between cultural mythology! As Trey put it in his comment, there is some doubt as to whether the writers of Genesis were unaware of these parallels. Mythologies and religious/philosophical beliefs have intermixed with each other with consistency throughout time. Islam, Christianity, and Judaism will admit this openly. While the former may reject the latter (Christianity will reject Islam, Judaism will reject Christianity, etc.), most faiths are well aware of the historical borrowings of their faiths. They often are not coincidental or unconscious, even. Despite this, however, Trey also mentioned another good point. People often forget they are borrowed mythologies. It is important to remember them to understand religious beliefs and perceptions accurately. That being said, acknowledging these connections and maintaining awareness of them is important for religious and non-religious alike. Thanks again for the interesting article!
Amanda Cantu
Good article. It’s interesting to see how similar the stories are related. I always knew about Noah’s Ark but I have never heard of the Gilgamesh story. So it was eye opening to read about his story or about the poem for his search of immortality. I really enjoyed you comparing and contrasting the two. Keep up the good work.
Karissa Aguilar
My favorite aspect of this article was how you compared the story in the Bible to those in the Epic of Gilgamesh. you gave well thought summaries of both of these stories and compared them in the end. I was not expecting that from the title, but after reading it, the title was perfect. I knew these stories were similar, but I had never actually analyzed the two. If I would have, I probably would have noticed the same similarities. I also loved how you told a biblical story but kept the history aspect.
Jeanette Wimberly
Great choice in article! I’ve heard about the Epic of Gilgamesh, however never knew much about it, let alone the many similarities it shares with the story of Noah. It’s interesting to learn how Gilgamesh was written about a thousand years before Noah. Very informative!
Elias Melchor
This article was both informative and interesting. I did not know that there was a written source, much less an epic poem, that predated even before the Bible. And their parallel story is very astonishing. Could it be that this story and the story of Noah could be the same story?
Analina Devora
Great article. I remember hearing this story over and over again from teachers and parents when I was in elementary school and middle school, however my favorite version of it was the one with Steve Carrel in it. I had no idea this story was related to the Epic of Gilgamesh. It’s always cool seeing how much epic stories such as these are repeated and taken as inspiration for others. Well done!
Zander Barrera
It is kind of funny, over the summer I retook the S.M.C Reflections God Course and one our topics of conversation one day in class was about your topic, two stories telling relatively the same thing with slight variations. However, when we discussed it, the exchange was short and very one-sided; some of the specifics were fuzzy in my memory but now I remember the stories in full. Thank you for restoring my memory and excellent job on comparing the two great stories and I wish you luck on your future works.
Jezel Luna
I grew up learning the story of Noah, so to hear about this poem was quite shocking. The most interesting and controversial part was that the poem claims to be written before the biblical story. This article will definitely have many of our fellow classmates discussing the meaning of this material.
Mehmet Samuk
It was very interesting how you wrote about the similarities between two stories. I always heard about the Noah’s Ark and the story about it but I never heard of the Gilgamesh’s story. Well researched and written article. Good Job
Mariana Sandoval
Thanks for bringing to light this parallel. Going to Catholic schools my whole life, I’ve actually never heard of the epic of Gilgamesh. It was interesting to see the stark similarities between the two stories. You chose really nice sources which allowed you to write a thorough, informative, and engaging article.