Noah and Utnapishtim
I distinctly remember reading the Biblical story of Noah and the flood as a child, however, the story by Gilgamesh is new to me. There are some close similarities, yet some very vast differences. Both of the main characters in these stories were considered righteous men that were warned of a great flood and instructed to build a boat for salvation. In both of the stories, the reason for the flood was the discontent of the diety. In Genesis it was wickedness and with Gilgamesh it was insufferable “noise.” Both accounts occurred in the plains of Mesopotamia. Both of the boats that were assembled had many compartments, yet only one door. In Gilgamesh, Utnapishtim, the builder of the ark, brings with him on the boat, his wife and children and also their families. Like Noah, Utnapishtim brings two of every animal: “the beast of the field both wild and tame.” Another similarity between the floods in Gilgamesh and in Genesis is the role that birds play in each of these stories. In Gilgamesh, Utnapishtim “loosed a dove” on the seventh day to determine whether the water has receded and land is near. The dove returns, and so Utnapishtim releases a swallow that also returns.
There are other similarities of course, but they are not as close as the above mentioned. The differences are definitely more obvious. The boats were very different in size, with Noahs ark being long and narrow with three decks and a wooden roof, while the other was said to be a six level cube with a slate top.
Another difference was when it was time to close the doors before the boats were launched; God closed them in Genesis, whereas Utnapishtim closed them in the Gilgamesh story. In Genesis, it rained for forty days and forty nights verses seven days in Gilgamesh with the floods lasting a year in Genesis and approximately two weeks in Gilgamesh. The offerings after the flood were one of “every clean animal and bird” in Genesis and in the story