Assertion Affirmed... and Confirmed?
I'm going to sound like a broken record, but I am even more certain now that the Biblical similarities evident within The Epic of Gilgamesh are not a simple coincidence, but rather descended and distorted fact.
First of all, the fact that the author or authors felt the need to add a specific amount of time for the rains to fall, and the use of birds -- especially the dove -- to scout out land availability just screams at me that the two narratives had to be connected. However, that's not all I noticed about the "Epic."
In the "Epic," in its sixth chapter, Utnapishtim speaks of clothes: "...Till he reaches his own city and his journey is accomplished, these clothes will show no sign of age, they will wear like a new garment...." Likewise, in the Bible, in Deuteronomy 29:5 (NIV), God provides in a similar way for the Israelites: 'Yet the LORD says, "During the forty years that I led you through the wilderness, your clothes did not wear out, nor did the sandals on your feet."'
First of all, the fact that the author or authors felt the need to add a specific amount of time for the rains to fall, and the use of birds -- especially the dove -- to scout out land availability just screams at me that the two narratives had to be connected. However, that's not all I noticed about the "Epic."
In the "Epic," in its sixth chapter, Utnapishtim speaks of clothes: "...Till he reaches his own city and his journey is accomplished, these clothes will show no sign of age, they will wear like a new garment...." Likewise, in the Bible, in Deuteronomy 29:5 (NIV), God provides in a similar way for the Israelites: 'Yet the LORD says, "During the forty years that I led you through the wilderness, your clothes did not wear out, nor did the sandals on your feet."'
Now, for the latter point, I have no extra information to impart, but for the former, which is the same point I made within my first post, I have done at least the minimum amount of research necessary for the purpose of finding an official Christian article relating to my point and affirming my position on the matter. I found such an article in the form of "Why Does Nearly Every Culture Have a Tradition of a Global Flood?" written by John D. Morris, Ph.D. in the service of the Institute for Creation Research. As a side-note, I should have written this yesterday so I could publish my post exactly 17 years after the same article. Anyway, confirming my statement in my first post, he says that there are more than 200 of similar stories from various people groups around the world, of which he says they all point to the same flood narrative, recorded in the Bible. For a time-context about when he posted his article, he first said this when I was 1, and 9/11 didn't even happen until ten days later.
As this post is already pretty full, and quite wordy, I won't continue killing your eyes with letter after letter, word after word on a computer screen. If you're interested in this, or the article, I hope I have given you enough information for you to find it, as I'm not sure if I should post links here.
I welcome your thoughts on the matter.
--Isaac S. Wilson
P.S. I commented on the posts of Brenna and Spencer
P.S. I commented on the posts of Brenna and Spencer
I love the analysis of the parallels this epic contains with scripture. It is completely distorted and bizarre of course, but it does possess many base similarities in detail. I was mumbling to myself about the author being full of blasphemy while I was reading the about the flood in the "epic" because he proceeded to take details given in the Bible's true account of the event and distort them to fit his own culture. The clothes showing no signs of age were likely another instance the author tried to distort the scriptures and perhaps interest anyone who knew God's Word into reading Gilgamesh.
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