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The Epic of Gilgamesh and Genesis describe the boat or ark stopping on a mountain after the flood subsides. In Gilgamesh, the vessel stops on Mt. Nimush, while in Genesis it stops on the mountains of Ararat.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Epic of Gilgamesh XI 137
Ancient Near East, Babylonian
130 When the seventh day arrived, 131 the gale relented, [the Deluge ended]. 132 (133a) The sea grew calm, (132) that had fought like a woman in labour, 133 [The translation for this passage appears with passage 132.]
the tempest grew still, the Deluge ended. 134 I looked at the weather, and there was quiet, 135 but all the people had turned to clay. 136 The flood plain was level like a roof. 137 I opened a vent, and sunlight fell on the side of my face. 138 I fell to my knees and sat there weeping, 139 the tears streaming down the side of my face. 140 I scanned the shores, the edge of the sea, 141 in fourteen places emerged a landmass. 142 On Mount Nimuš the boat ran aground, 143 Mount Nimuš held the boat fast and did not let it move. 144 One day, a second day, Mount Nimuš held the boat fast and did not let it move, 145 a third day, a fourth day, Mount Nimuš held the boat fast and did not let it move, 146 a fifth, a sixth, day, Mount Nimuš held the boat fast and did not let it move.
the tempest grew still, the Deluge ended. 134 I looked at the weather, and there was quiet, 135 but all the people had turned to clay. 136 The flood plain was level like a roof. 137 I opened a vent, and sunlight fell on the side of my face. 138 I fell to my knees and sat there weeping, 139 the tears streaming down the side of my face. 140 I scanned the shores, the edge of the sea, 141 in fourteen places emerged a landmass. 142 On Mount Nimuš the boat ran aground, 143 Mount Nimuš held the boat fast and did not let it move. 144 One day, a second day, Mount Nimuš held the boat fast and did not let it move, 145 a third day, a fourth day, Mount Nimuš held the boat fast and did not let it move, 146 a fifth, a sixth, day, Mount Nimuš held the boat fast and did not let it move.
Genesis 8:4
Hebrew Bible
2 The fountains of the deep and the floodgates of heaven were closed, and the rain stopped falling from the sky. 3 The waters kept receding steadily from the earth, so that they had gone down by the end of the 150 days. 4 On the seventeenth day of the seventh month, the ark came to rest on one of the mountains of Ararat. 5 The waters kept on receding until the tenth month. On the first day of the tenth month, the tops of the mountains became visible. 6 At the end of 40 days, Noah opened the window he had made in the ark
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Notes and References
"... Mt. Nimush ... Compare with Genesis 8:4. Others read 'Nisir'. The mountain is elsewhere located 'in the land of Gutium' presumably somewhere in the Zagros highlands east of the Tigris not, as in the Bible, in Urartu (Ararat, i.e., eastern Turkey) ..."
Hallo, William W., and K. Lawson Younger
The Context of Scripture: Canonical Compositions from the Biblical World
(pp. 459-460) Brill, 2003
* 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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