This is an unbiased question, and I'd like your input: did parts of the Bible come from the Epic of Gilgamesh, or did the Epic of Gilgamesh come from the Bible?
2006-10-31 10:27:12 · 7 answers · asked by Nowhere Man 6 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Who knows?
I don't think that one can say that one came from the other. I think it is safe to say that they probably share a common root, but that root is not necessarily one or the other. It could be another flood narrative.
Practically every ancient mythology has some sort of flood narrative where God or the gods destroy the lands or the entire world. Which one of these was the original is up for grabs.
2006-10-31 10:34:31 · answer #1 · answered by The1andOnlyMule 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
>did parts of the Bible come from the Epic of Gilgamesh,
>or did the Epic of Gilgamesh come from the Bible?
Or neither.
The Scriptural account is considered by many to be an accurate account. The Epic version (as, also, many other oral traditions, native American and other peoples) does indicate the wide-spread remembrance of such an event. This seems only logical if only that one family survived ... and all their descendants probably heard the stories.
Certainly no need for the Bible to be quoting parts of the Epic; and the Epic probably records the oral traditions that have been passed down in their branch of the descendants of Noah.
2006-10-31 18:35:01 · answer #2 · answered by kent chatham 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
There exists a strong theory (which I agree with) that parts of the Bible were adapted from Gilgamesh, since Gilgamesh predates the Bible as primarily an oral epic for many, many generations.
Notably, I believe the theory posits that the flood story and creation story (from Genesis and...is the great flood a Genesis story?) were Gilgamesh inventions.
2006-10-31 18:31:21 · answer #3 · answered by Miss Cobra Town 2 · 2⤊ 1⤋
the date often given for the partial stone tablets that record some of the Epic of Gilgamesh is about 2000 B.C. The first 5 books of the Bible, which are the oldest of the Bible, are assigned to Moses at about 1465 B.C. when Moses was around. However, the 5 books or the Torah of Moses contain history going back to the beginning of the creation and the Flood at Moses time and after that, way before Gilgamesh. Therefore it is more reasonable to believe that the flood of Noah's time, which is dated to about 2,500 B.C. happened before the Gilgamesh story did and did not come from it.
2006-11-03 00:18:03 · answer #4 · answered by Ernesto 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋
my son just finished a unit on Gligamesh and came to the same conclusion as Cobra
2006-10-31 18:42:10 · answer #5 · answered by digitsis 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I'm not one hundred percent sure, but i would say that the Bible came first
2006-10-31 18:28:53 · answer #6 · answered by Fefe 4 · 0⤊ 4⤋
it sounds like middle eastern food.
2006-10-31 18:57:39 · answer #7 · answered by Nabil 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋