14 October 2010
The Past Disproving the Present
In today’s primarily Judeo-Christian society nearly every person has knowledge of Noah’s Ark and the associated flood story but, only a handful of those people have been exposed to the flood story in The Epic of Gilgamesh. By observing the similarities in both stories one should come to realize that one of these stories must have been written before the other. According to Britannica, the clay tablets which the Epic of Gilgamesh was imprinted on predate any recordings of the flood story from the Bible. Since the Epic of Gilgamesh is known to be nothing but a gripping story, much like Greek epics, containing glorious adventures with recurring mention of polytheistic beliefs from the time, this should spark some curiosity as to how true a literal interpretation of the Bible is. The Bible makes the gigantic claim of being the absolute truth which every person seeks but, after establishing that the story of Noah is nothing more than a folk tale, the Bible falls short of its claims. In order to be certain the Epic of Gilgamesh will falsify an absolute truth, close analysis of both pieces is required. A basic outline of both stories with the similarities being emphasized will provide sufficient results for analysis. Both flood stories contain a hero who is forced into enduring the flood because of the disgust humans have caused the supernatural beings. The God or gods decide to exterminate humanity because of the actions of humans. Both stories continue into the selection of a hero by the divine powers giving specific instructions on what needs to be done for survival from what will be the extinction of humanity. The higher beings have chosen their heroes to save humanity. The reason that element of mercy exists in these stories is because the authors wanted to give their listeners something to have faith in. Modern religions exist for that sole purpose. The...