steve_bnk

Somethng I stumbled on. I knew of a flood as part of Gilgamesh, I was not aware of how it lined up with the details of Noah.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epic_of_Gilgamesh
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilgamesh_flood_myth



'...Tablet eleven

Gilgamesh observes that Utnapishtim seems no different from himself, and asks him how he obtained his immortality. Utnapishtim explains that the gods decided to send a great flood. To save Utnapishtim the god Ea told him to build a boat. He gave him precise dimensions, and it was sealed with pitch and bitumen. His entire family went aboard, together with his craftsmen and "all the animals of the field". A violent storm then arose which caused the terrified gods to retreat to the heavens. Ishtar lamented the wholesale destruction of humanity, and the other gods wept beside her. The storm lasted six days and nights, after which "all the human beings turned to clay". Utnapishtim weeps when he sees the destruction. His boat lodges on a mountain, and he releases a dove, a swallow, and a raven. When the raven fails to return, he opens the ark and frees its inhabitants. Utnapishtim offers a sacrifice to the gods, who smell the sweet savor and gather around. Ishtar vows that just as she will never forget the brilliant necklace that hangs around her neck, she will always remember this time. When Enlil arrives, angry that there are survivors, she condemns him for instigating the flood. Ea also castigates him for sending a disproportionate punishment. Enlil blesses Utnapishtim and his wife, and rewards them with eternal life. This account matches the flood story that concludes the Epic of Atrahasis (see also Gilgamesh flood myth).
..'

Tenorikuma

The Genesis flood is even more similar to the version of the Mesopotamian flood myth told by Berossus, the Hellenistic historian from Babylon. The Genesis story was being written around the time of Berossus as well.

outhouse

There are a minimum of 3 mesopotamian flood myths. Gilgamesh is is one of the newer myths.

The Sumerian flood of Ziusudra is the oldest and does carry some historicity.

Ziusudra is on the kings list as a actual king. the river flood of the Euphrates is a actual attested flood in 2900 BC.


this real man and river flood started all the flood myths in the levant, it later changed to a global flood as the mythology grew.






Most scholars agree that the sumerian epic is the foundation of the Israelite version

outhouse

pretty much false bud.

Berossus is way to late for noahs version of the flood,

Not only that noahs version is heavily fragmented with 2 main sources that are centuries a part.

These were collections of oral traditions compiled long before Berossus wrote, what his 3 books? and then redacted over centuries

Tommy

How should one respond to a scriptural literalist who claims we are presuming that the Noah narrative wasn't original and that multiple references to a flood support its historicity?

sschlichter

not only multiple, but most civilizations from all continents have a flood account.

James Brown

Which is excellent evidence for worldwide flooding, not necessarily one worldwide flood.

But given a planet that is covered three-fourths in water, and given a species with a propensity for dwelling on shorelines, we would expect that multiple civilizations would have stories about that great big flood that happened way back before Grampa was born.

Duvduv

For anyone who is interested, traditional Jewish midrashic sources explain that the Flood was not worldwide, but only in places of human settlement, which was pretty concentrated at that point. The Holy Land did not experience the Flood even with human settlement, but only sprinkles and drops of the rain.

outhouse

who is a scriptural literalist ?? we dont get YEC in here

dockeen

I assume that one might run into them in the "real" world.