The Flood Myth - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages Comparative approaches to mythology had great popularity among the 18th-19th century scholars. Majority of the scholars believed that all myths showed signs of having originated from a single mythical theme.
Noah’s ark is the vessel in Genesis (chapter 6-9) of the Bible where God saves Noah and his family plus a remnant of all animals in the world from the flood. Noah is given great instructions on how to build an ark by God. He is told to use gopher wood smeared inside and outside with pitch, with 3(three) decks and internal compartments: 300 cubits long, 50 wide and 30 high. The roof will have a ‘finished to a cubit upward’ and the entrance on the side. The myth describes that the ark is afloat throughout the flood before it comes to rest on Mount Ararat. The tale is repeated with variations in the Quran with the ark appearing as Safina Nuh. The Genesis flood myth is similar to many other flood myths from a variety of other different cultures. Noah and the biblical flood story originates from the Mesopotamian version of Epic of Gilgamesh because the Biblical mythology that’s currently found in Christianity, Islam, Mandeanism and Judaism shares overlapping consistency with by far older written stories from Mesopotamia of the great flood. Also, the early Hebrew people were known to have lived in the land of Mesopotamia, particularly at the time of the Babylonian captivity. The narrative from Hebrew differs from the Babylonian story in that the floods come as God’s judgment on wicked humans rather than as a result of the caprice of the gods.
In the Gilgamesh epic, Utnapishtim tells Gilgamesh a secret tale/story that begins in the old city of Shuruppak on the banks of river Euphrates. The great gods (Anu, Ninurta, Ennugi, Ea and Enil) were sworn to secrecy about a plan to cause a flood. However, god Ea (Enki the Sumerian god) repeats the plan to ...Download file to see next pagesRead More