Gilgamesh vs. Noah

The story of The Great Flood in Gilgamesh and the story of The Great Flood in the Old Testament in the Bible are alike in many ways, but are also different in many ways. Each has a couple of things that make each unique.

In the story of The Great Flood in the Bible, God needed a way to rid the earth of sin and start completely over. He was disappointed in mankind and only was pleased with the antagonist Noah and his family, so he chose to save him and his family, and two kinds (one female and one male) of each animal. Noah was instructed by God directly to build an ark to house his family and all the animals that roamed the earth until the flood was over. The flood lasted for forty days and forty nights. The ark eventually came to rest on the top of Mount Ararat.

In the story of The Great Flood in Gilgamesh, it follows a similar story line, but with some different
aspects. Instead of one supreme god, like the one in the Old Testament, several gods ordered the great flood to destroy mankind as well because of their sins. But like Noah, Utnapishtim was instructed through a dream instead of God to build a boat to survive the flood. He followed close to the same story line as Noah, gathering animals to put in the boat, although it was unclear how many of each were loaded. The flood lasted for six days and six nights. The boat eventually came to rest on the top of Mount Nisir.

Although these are many ways the stories are different and some that are alike, let's shed some more light on some similarities. In both boats, there were many compartments, which housed members of each of the hero's families. They both used birds as a test to know if there was dry land around or not, and each boat landed on a mountain. After each boat stopped safely, both Noah and Utnapishtim offered sacrifices to their gods as thanks for letting them survive such a horrific event. Both men were blessed immensely after it was all said and done.

The gods in each story played a significant role in the relationship between them and the heroes. Noah had a very close relationship with God. He remained faithful and true to Him, even when the rest of the world around him failed miserably. God recognized this in Noah, and spared the life of him and his family. Noah and his family were blessed after the Ark came to rest on Mount Ararat. The gods in the story of Gilgamesh were thankful for the offerings made to them after Utnapishtim's boat landed safely on Mount Nisir. Although one god, Enlil, was extremely angry that someone survived the flood, most gods were okay with it. The gods talked some sense into Enlil and eventually all was good again in the world. They blessed Utnapishtim and made him like the rest of the gods.   '

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmJEAw6LUxk