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Genesis and the Epic of Gilgamesh describe a flood with sealed vessels, driving rain, and chaotic waters. The similarities highlight the connection between Mesopotamian and biblical flood stories, each with its own focus.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Epic of Gilgamesh XI 92
Ancient Near East, Babylonian
87 Šamaš had set me a deadline– 88 “In the morning he will rain down bread-cakes on us, in the evening a torrent of wheat. 89 Go into the boat and seal your hatch!”– 90 “That time had arrived: 91 “In the morning he will rain down bread-cakes, in the evening, a torrent of wheat.” 92 I watched the look of the weather: 93 The weather was frightening to see; 94 I went into the boat and sealed my hatch. 95 To the man who sealed the boat, to the ship-wright Puzur-Enlil, 96 I gave the palace with all its goods. 97 At the very first light of dawn– 98 there came up from the horizon a black cloud, 99 within it did Adad bellow continually. 100 Šullat and Haniš were going at the fore, 101 “throne-bearers” travelling over mountain and land. 102 Errakal was ripping out the mooring poles; 103 Ninurta, as he went, made the weirs overflow. 104 The Anunnaki bore torches aloft, 105 setting the land aglow with their brilliance. 106 The still calm of the storm-god passed against the sky, 107 all that was bright was turned into gloom.
Date: 2100 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Genesis 7:11
Hebrew Bible
10 And after seven days the floodwaters engulfed the earth. 11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month—on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst open and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. 12 And the rain fell on the earth 40 days and 40 nights. 13 On that very day Noah entered the ark, accompanied by his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, along with his wife and his sons’ three wives.
Date: 750–400 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... The causes which the Genesis version assigns to the diluvial catastrophe are torrential rains from heaven and the eruption of the subterranean waters (Genesis 7:11–12). The destructive forces listed on the Sumerian tablet are the amaru, meaning “rainstorm,” “rain flood,” or “cloudburst,” and mighty winds. These two elements, accompanied by thunder and lightning, are mentioned again in the Gilgamesh Epic, where they are referred to under the designations shamûtu kibâti, “destructive rain,” shāru, “wind,” meḥû, “tempest,” “southstorm”, rēdu, “downpour,” abûbu, “rainstorm,” or “rain flood,” and imḫullu, “evil wind,” or “storm.” In addition, there is a reference to the breaking of the dikes of the canals and reservoirs, which was caused by the violent rise of the rivers (Epic of Gilgamesh XI:90–131) ..."
Alexander Heidel, The Gilgamesh Epic and Old Testament Parallels (Chicago: University of Chicago, 1973), 240.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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