Flood myth For well over a century scholars have recognised that the Bible's story of Noah's ark is based on older Mesopotamian models.Because all these flood stories deal with events that allegedly happened at the dawn of history, they give the impression that the myths themselves must come from very primitive origins, but the myth of the global flood that destroys all life only begins to appear in the Old Babylonian period. The reasons for this emergence of the typical Mesopotamian flood myth may have been bound up with the specific period.There are nine known versions of the Mesopotamian flood story, each more or less adapted from an earlier version.This is known as the Sumerian Flood Story and probably derives from an earlier version. The Ziusudra version tells how he builds a boat and rescues life when the gods decide to destroy it. This remains the basic plot for several subsequent flood-stories and heroes, including Noah. Ziusudra's Sumerian name means "He of longlife". In Babylonian versions his name is Atrahasis, but the meaning is the same. In the Atrahasis version, the flood is a river flood.The version closest to the biblical story of Noah, as well as its most likely source, is that of Utnapishtim in the Epic of Gilgamesh .The most complete text of Utnapishtim's story is a clay tablet dating from the 7th century BCE, but fragments of the story have been found from as far back as the 19th century BCE. The last known version of the Mesopotamian flood story was written in Greek in the 3rd century BCE by a Babylonian priest named Berossus . From the fragments that survive, it seems little changed from the versions of two thousand years before.
The parallels between Noah's Ark and the arks of Babylonian flood-heroes Atrahasis and Utnapishtim have often been noted. Atrahasis' ark was circular, resembling an enormous quffa , with one or two decks. Utnapishtim's ark was a cube with six decks of seven compartments, each divided into nine subcompartments (63 subcompartments per deck, 378 total). Noah's Ark was rectangular with three decks. There is believed to be a progression from circular to cubic or square to rectangular. The most striking similarity is the near-identical deck areas of the three arks: 14,400 cubits 2 , 14,400 cubits 2 , and 15,000 cubits 2 for Atrahasis, Utnapishtim, and Noah, only 4% different. This has led professor Finkel to conclude that "the iconic story of the Flood, Noah, and the Ark as we know it today certainly originated in the landscape of ancient Mesopotamia, modern Iraq."
Linguistic parallels between Noah's and Atrahasis' arks have also been noted. The word used for "pitch" (sealing tar or resin) in Genesis is not the normal Hebrew word, but is closely related to the word used in the Babylonian story.Likewise, the Hebrew word for "ark" (tevah ) is nearly identical to the Babylonian word for an oblong boat ( ṭubbû ), especially given that "v" and "b" are the same letter in Here. However, the causes for God or the gods sending the flood differ in the various stories. In the Hebrew myth, the flood inflicts God's judgment on a wicked humanity. The Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh gives no reasons, and the flood appears the result of divine caprice. In the Babylonian Atrahasis version, the flood is sent to reduce human over-population, and after the flood, other measures were introduced to limit humanity.
This write up is a comparative of the biblical flood myth
Pls do ensure u read your bible slowly and repeatedly for Gods divine knowledge.