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
Alejandra Mendez
I have read the story of Noah’s Ark in the book of Genesis and had heard of the Epic of Gilgamesh but never compared them. I have never read the Epic of Gilgamesh but now that I have read this article, I can really see the similarities. I never would have imagined that the story of the famous flood and Noah’s ark was based off of a much older story. This article did a great job in portraying both stories and showing their similarities.
Tyler Sleeter
Really great article. To be honest I clicked on it to see how the biblical story of Noah could possibly be historical and was pleased to see the mention of the Epic of Gilgamesh. It astounds me that for so long so many people accepted the Bible as historical fact. While I had heard of the Epic of Gilgamesh, I was not really familiar with the details. Your article does a great job of informing the reader about the importance of the epic and the influence it had on ancient people.
Clarissa Bustamante
I’ve always heard the stories of Noah’s Ark but I never knew that the Epic of Gilgamesh was one of the sides to Noah’s Ark. Especially when I had no clue that the Bible Version was an adaptation. This such a great article it was great how you left the reader wanting to know more and more about the topic.
Samman Tyata
I really liked the way you have managed your article. It was well written and informative. Honestly, as I grew up in a Hindu society, I don’t know much about this. Through your article, I got to know about The Epic of Gilgamesh and Noah’s Ark. It’s really amazing that the two stories were quite similar. To sum it up, it was a good read.
Emily Jimenez
I like how you constructed this article. I liked seeing the parallels between both stories, but also, I think that if you brought up some more of their differences it would be a more well-rounded article. I also would not be so bold to say that Noah’s Ark is just an adaptation of the Epic of Gilgamesh. If there was a major flood, then it makes sense for each culture or tribe to have a story of they experienced. For all we know, both cultures might have witnessed the flood but they both added their own twist to it.
Brianda Gomez
All my knowledge about Noah’s ark came from the movie “Evan Almighty” starring Steve Carrel. I really enjoyed this article because I enjoy learning more about the creation of this world and the bible. But before this I never knew that the Epic of Gilgamesh was like Noah’s ark. They have some differences they are not the same stories. For example, Noah only releases one animal, which is the dove. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, they released three different animals. The similarities are that they both had to deal with the wrath of deity upon humankind, and both created something to deal with the flood. This is a great article!
Andrew Rodriguez
Wow I did not know about the extreme parallel of Noah’s ark, and the epic of Gilgamesh. Almost the same exact plot, only twist is what the gods tell them to save. It’s very interesting to think about how this was made before the Noah story. Did genesis mean to copy the story like this and still claim it as a origin story. With it being the most oldest piece of literature that we know of, is almost convincing to think about what else did genesis base off its teachings from other cultures and story’s. I feel like I was enlightened in this article, not only being able to know this information but know see the creation story in a new light.
Cherice Leach
From a Christian perspective, this serves as a lightbulb turning on above my head moment. I had never even heard of the Epic of Gilgamesh before reading this article. However, I definitely knew of the story of Noah’s Ark. It’s crazy to think that the Noah’s ark story was an adaptation of the Epic of Gilgamesh considering, to me, the first time ever hearing of this story it came from the bible.
Aaiyanna Johnson
I did not know of all the parallels between the epic and Noah’s story. It surprises me that there could be a close relationship, especially since one was written before another. Even the sequence including sending birds to check for land, that detail which is found in both surprised me. But it’s stories like these which prevail over time, and in many other cultures a flood was sent to purge humanity.
Belene Cuellar
This article was a complete surprise to me, I had no idea that the story of Noah and the Ark was influenced The Epic of Gilgamesh. The similarities of both of these stories is quite remarkable, both stories have a main character that builds a ark to survive a flood. I like how the author was able to draw similarities while also dividing up the stories based on their unique point of view.