Objectively explain the similarities and differences between the gods in Gilgamesh and God in Genesis. The Book of Genesis and The Epic of Gilgamesh has many similarities and differences. The stories are so similar that some people believe they are the same but just changed over time. There are speculations that the epic of Gilgamesh was written down first but we cannot be for certain. The Jewish, Muslim, and Christian religions all use this story in their holy books. The book of genesis could have very well have been written first or it was passed orally till someone wrote it down.
So one story could have branched off and changed from one another or there could have been two floods. There are multiple possibilities to the origin of the stories. When people pass down stories orally things get changed from the original over a long period of time one could have changed the whole story. You can see the similarities of the stories that would make you think they were the same. Then when you break down the differences it makes it harder to believe that. The books contain many similarities.
The first being there was a flood sent by the gods to destroy the inhabitant of the earth. Both of the stories take place in Mesopotamia. The gods in both books tell one person to get their family to build a ship and gather all the different types of animals because they were going to flood the earth. The gods did this in both books because they were angry with humans. In both of the stories the boat only contained one door. When the flooding was over the ships both landed on mountain tops. Noah and Utnapishtim both use birds to find out when the water had lowered enough to leave.
Noah and Utnapishtim also both offered sacrifices to the gods after the flood and were both blessed. The two stories also had differences such as in The Epic the rain for 6 days and night and in genesis it last for 40 days and 40 nights. The building of the boats were different the boat from genesis was a rectangle and three stories tall. The boat from the epic was six stories and square. The boats also land on different mountains when flood clears. In Genesis there is only one god and in the epic there are multiple gods.
In my personal opinion I do not think the story from genesis was derived from Gilgamesh. I think the story from genesis was passed down over generations and the writer of Gilgamesh. Took that story line and changed it. I personally believe genesis came first. I do not believe that the story is fact. I think that the measurement of time back then was different than it is now. I do not think it rained for fort days or that Noah lived to be 950 years old. I also think that there is a chance that the story from genesis was made to scare people into acting right.
