Monday, September 9, 2019
Why the Similarities?
While I was reading these stories, namely the myths about Inanna and Gilgamesh, I was struck by the similarities between these myths and the Bible. For instance, we discussed in class the commonalities between the flood that was prophesied in Gilgamesh and the flood in the bible. Given the fact that these two texts were not written even remotely close to each other, so I can't help but wonder where, why, and how these similarities came to be. One theory I have is that the stories of Gilgamesh were still being passed down orally and they somehow made their way around so that the people who contributed to the Bible were able to draw some similarities. On the other hand, this could be pure coincidence, but that is one peculiar coincidence if you ask me. Either way one chooses to look at this, it is interesting to wonder whether people were still talking about Gilgamesh, and even Inanna, when the Bible first came to be.
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Nic,
ReplyDeleteI am so glad finally said something about this. Literally on all of my note cards I made I wrote that there were so many similarities between these stories and the bible. I am really glad that someone else also noticed this. I do not think that this is a coincidence at all I think it was done intentionally to see if people would notice, and to have inspiration.
I find the similarities to be interesting as well. I think that after reading these Mesopotamian stories I have changed my opinion of the Bible and my religion just a little. The Biblical stories seem less magical or mysterious and more somewhat true. The great flood and Noah's arc for example. I feel like after reading the great flood story, I have more of a belief in the flood in the story of Noah's Arc.
ReplyDeleteI’ve been thinking about this ever since we started reading these stories as well. I find it extremely fascinating, because I had no idea that there had ever been anything else besides the Bible that mentioned the flood story, let alone something that came first. As mentioned in class, there is apparently geological evidence of a massive flood having taken place forever ago. One guess I have is that both the Sumerians and the Jews saw this and adapted the story at the time to their own beliefs- of course the Sumerians fitting their gods into the story and the Jews telling the story as it would’ve happened with the God we think of in this modern day. I’d be really interested to hear the perspectives of both religious and non religious people on this, and how each group would explain this powerful “coincidence.”
ReplyDeleteNic, I love this seed post. It serves as an excellent prompt, and I hope what I have to say will shed some light on the subject. There is no argument to challenge the fact that The Epic of Gilgamesh did indeed come first (in it's written form at least). Our best records show that the epic was written around 2000 B.C while the book of Genesis was first written down around the year 1700 B.C during the Israelite Exile to Babylon. However, that does not prove which one came first. As we well know, these stories were initially passed down orally, leaving us to guess when these stories truly came into existence, but the Bible does offer us some clues. In Genesis, it says that Abram( later to become Abraham) left the city of Ur and was led to a place where god promised to make him the father of a great nation. From this, we can conclude that summerian culture predates any Hebrew accounts (seeing as the Hebrew people did not exist yet) All of this is mere speculation on my part, but I hope it was insightful!
ReplyDeletePierre
DeleteAs you stated, I too believe that these stories became meshed and similar due to people telling tales. The end of the world or a population can come in so many ways, why choose a flood and an arc? These seem too specific to be coincidental. I believe that travelers, friends and families spread their tales throughout different civilizations and they then made them their own.
ReplyDelete-Cam Butler
DeleteThanks for the post! I have notes all over these stories about biblical connections that I thought of while reading. There is so much here!
ReplyDeleteClearly, there are similarities between Gilgamesh's "Story of the Flood" and Genesis. However, the differences between the two are striking as well. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, the reason that Enlil wants to "exterminate mankind" is because the "uproar of mankind is intolerable and sleep is no longer possible" (820). That line was so surprising to me. Why is too much noise reasonable cause to get rid of everyone? In Genesis, it says that the "Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." It also says that he "he regretted that he had made man" and it "grieved him to his heart" (6:5-7). Gilgamesh's version confused me because it seemed really trivial of a reason to destroy everyone because of annoyance. In contrast, God is grieved with mankind and is sad about them hurting themselves. This was the biggest difference that I noticed right from the beginning.
Another side connection: In part four Siduri speaks to Gilgamesh about existential things. She says, "fill your belly with good things," "feast and rejoice," "cherish the little child that holds your hand and make your wife happy in your embrace; for this too is the lot of man" (817). This paragraph stuck out to me as sounding a lot like the wording in Ecclesiastes. See 5:18 - they have a similar layout!
There are a lot of similarities between the Bible and Gilgamesh. The flood story does have geological evidence to suggest that such and event did occur, which would certainly explain why multiple societies recorded it in their histories. Based on the location of Mesopotamia around today's Egypt and the Bible being similarly located, perhaps the similarities across legends are not so surprising after all? Geographically they could certainly have crossed paths and shared many stories between the cultures. I do find Inanna to have a rather different personality from Biblical stories - she is from a pagan culture that celebrated sexuality, while the Bible is monotheistic and emphasizes self restraint instead. I'd be intrigued to find more connections between Inanna and any Biblical figures, however.
ReplyDeleteI am glad that you brought this up. It is so strange that they were written so far apart from each other and yet share numerous characteristics. On my cards in class, I brought up a lot about the characteristics that compared to the Bible. Cheyenne brought up how because of the geographic similarities in where each of the stories took place, this could be a factor in the similarities. I do agree with this statement. A lot of the stories we hear about are based off the geography of where they were written so this is something that needs to be considered.
ReplyDeleteSuch a potent seed post, Nic. These questions have fascinated scholars since the discovery of the Gilgamesh tablets in library of Ashurbanipal in 1853.
ReplyDeleteGood discussion, commenters!
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ReplyDeleteI really like your thoughts on this because you are right. Both stories are very similar. I feel that honestly it is a coincidence. there has been so much time that has elapsed in the world that something similar is bound to end up happening twice like a giant flood. I think it was a really good point made, and it really got me thinking.
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