"The olden times have turned to clay" - The Gilgamesh Epic
Noah's Ark & The Flood
Reason for The Flood
The Biblical account of the Deluge, in Genesis, ascribes The Flood to God's judgement upon a wicked world. The Flood occurred approximately 2000 years after Adam and Eve's creation. Mankind became corrupted as they began to multiply upon the face of the Earth. There are several reasons given for mankind's corruption including: violence; every intent of the thoughts of the heart was only evil continually; and the Nephilim.
The Nephilim were the children of the sons of God and the daughters of men. There are many ideas as to whom the 'sons of God' were who had relations with human women and produced "mighty men who were of old, men of renown" (Gen 6:5).(1) Genesis also mentions that the Nephilim were also after The Flood. The 'sons of God' have been interpreted as the God-believing people of the genealogy of Seth and as other created non-human beings such as angels. Personally, I think the former is correct as there are family lines of Nephilim after the flood.
In Numbers 13:33 it is mentioned that Joshua and the other spies who went into the Promised Land (Canaan) observed: "There also we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak (Anakim) are part of the Nephilim); and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight."(1)
The Biblical account of the Deluge, in Genesis, ascribes The Flood to God's judgement upon a wicked world. The Flood occurred approximately 2000 years after Adam and Eve's creation. Mankind became corrupted as they began to multiply upon the face of the Earth. There are several reasons given for mankind's corruption including: violence; every intent of the thoughts of the heart was only evil continually; and the Nephilim.
The Nephilim were the children of the sons of God and the daughters of men. There are many ideas as to whom the 'sons of God' were who had relations with human women and produced "mighty men who were of old, men of renown" (Gen 6:5).(1) Genesis also mentions that the Nephilim were also after The Flood. The 'sons of God' have been interpreted as the God-believing people of the genealogy of Seth and as other created non-human beings such as angels. Personally, I think the former is correct as there are family lines of Nephilim after the flood.
In Numbers 13:33 it is mentioned that Joshua and the other spies who went into the Promised Land (Canaan) observed: "There also we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak (Anakim) are part of the Nephilim); and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight."(1)
The Ark
Genesis 6:14-16 "Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; you shall make the ark with rooms, and shall cover it inside and out with pitch. And this is how you shall make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. You shall make a window for the ark, and finish it to a cubit from the top; and set the door of the ark in the side of it; you shall make it with lower, second and third decks."(1)
The Flood
Genesis 7:11 "In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the same day all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the floodgates of the sky were opened. And the rain fell upon the earth for forty days and forty nights." Genesis 7:17-20 "Then the flood came upon the earth for forty days; and the water increased and lifted up the ark, so that it rose above the earth. And the water prevailed and increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark floated upon the surface of the water. And the water prevailed more and more upon the earth, so that all the high mountains everywhere under the heavens were covered. The water prevailed fifteen cubits higher, and the mountains were covered."(1)
Prior to The Flood, the topography, geology and hydrology were very different to the post-flood world. There may have been a single continent with less ocean and very few fossils and strata. The pre-flood world was conducive to gigantism and long length of life. When the flood began, it was initiated by the fountains of the great deep breaking up, which suggests that there was much water stored under a thinner continental crust than we have today. The Bible states Genesis 2:5-6 "...for the Lord God had not sent rain upon the earth...But a mist used to rise from the earth and water the whole surface of the ground."(1) Some kind of hydrothermal watering system producing a green-house effect.
This antediluvian world may be the source of the ATLANTIS legends. For more on Atlantis follow the link:
Genesis 6:14-16 "Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; you shall make the ark with rooms, and shall cover it inside and out with pitch. And this is how you shall make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. You shall make a window for the ark, and finish it to a cubit from the top; and set the door of the ark in the side of it; you shall make it with lower, second and third decks."(1)
The Flood
Genesis 7:11 "In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the same day all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the floodgates of the sky were opened. And the rain fell upon the earth for forty days and forty nights." Genesis 7:17-20 "Then the flood came upon the earth for forty days; and the water increased and lifted up the ark, so that it rose above the earth. And the water prevailed and increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark floated upon the surface of the water. And the water prevailed more and more upon the earth, so that all the high mountains everywhere under the heavens were covered. The water prevailed fifteen cubits higher, and the mountains were covered."(1)
Prior to The Flood, the topography, geology and hydrology were very different to the post-flood world. There may have been a single continent with less ocean and very few fossils and strata. The pre-flood world was conducive to gigantism and long length of life. When the flood began, it was initiated by the fountains of the great deep breaking up, which suggests that there was much water stored under a thinner continental crust than we have today. The Bible states Genesis 2:5-6 "...for the Lord God had not sent rain upon the earth...But a mist used to rise from the earth and water the whole surface of the ground."(1) Some kind of hydrothermal watering system producing a green-house effect.
This antediluvian world may be the source of the ATLANTIS legends. For more on Atlantis follow the link:
Today most of planet Earth is covered by approximately 70% water, largely in the form of oceans, lakes, rivers, and ice. Also, all over the earth we can see huge deposits of sedimentary strata, many of which contain thousands of fossils. Some of these stratigraphic layers cover thousands of kilometers. Fossils are made when organisms are rapidly cemented to enable fossilization. You do not see large scale fossilization occurring today. Further, There are huge forest graveyards - coal deposits, many containing polystrate fossils - fossils that go through several layers of sediment. All this points to a global cataclysmic flood event that occurred at one time. At that time, "the fountains of the great deep were broken up" - this likely refers to meteor impacts (bolides) breaking up the then thin crust of the earth and causing the water beneath to burst forth. Continental drift occurring today is nothing more than the motion of broken continents crushing up against each other. A slowing repercussion from the great flood crustal break-up and displacement.
Bible Account of Mount Ararat
Genesis 8:4 "And in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark rested on the mountains of Ararat."(2)
In the Hebrew Interlinear Bible the translation of the Hebrew - "... And rested the ark in the seventh on the seventeenth day of the month on the heights of Ararat."(2)
The Hebrew word that is translated 'mountains or heights' (har) can also be interpreted as mountain or range of hills: - hill (country), or mount (-ain). [2022 Hebrew and Chaldee Dictionary] (3)
The Flood in Genesis is described as a Global Flood - Gen 7:19-20 "And the waters were strong exceedingly violent on the earth, and all the high mountains under the heavens were covered. The waters grew strong, fifteen cubits upward, and the mountains were covered." (2)
Notice that a clue is given as to the level at which Noah's Ark landed in Genesis 8:5 "And the waters were going and falling until the tenth month. In the tenth month, on the first of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen."(2) So, from approximately the middle of the seventeenth month (when the Ark rested on Mount Ararat) until the tenth month, all the inhabitants of the Ark were still inside the Ark waiting as the waters slowly went down. In the tenth month Noah could see the tops of other mountains appear - This suggests that prior to this no mountain tops could be seen!
Therefore, we can deduce that the Ark landed on the highest mountain in the region somewhere at the top of the peak of the mountain.
There are a few references to Noah and Noah's Ark in other parts of the Bible besides Genesis. One such reference is in Job 22:15-16 where Eliphaz (Elifaz) the Temanite (Teimani) is rebuking Job. As part of his discourse he mentions people of old who were swept away in a flood - "Do you keep to the old way which evil men have trod?- they were seized, but there was not time; their foundation was poured out by a flood."(2)
The story of Job is likely one of the earliest books written in the Bible. One reason for this is that Job lived 140 years after the events mentioned in the book of Job. People still lived to long ages at this time. People who lived before the Flood lived to ages up to 1000 years e.g. Methuselah died at 969 years. After the flood ages soon decreased rapidly e.g. Noah died at 950 yrs, Abraham died at 175 years of age. The conditions for longevity had changed!
Perhaps an interesting connection to the resting place of Noah's Ark with relation to direction can be inferred from the book of Job. This is my own presumption - In the book of Job, Job is said to be "..so that this man was greater than all the sons of the east." (Job 1:3) (2) This is often interpreted as Job being the wealthiest man in all the east - East of What?? What was the measure of direction at that time soon after the flood? Was it measuring direction from a central point of government or civilization? We know that the Tower of Babel, Noah's Ark, and several other cities were likely in existence at this time. Or could it be a measure of direction from Noah's Ark ??
With this line of reasoning Job would be living in the land of Uz (Uwts) [5780 Hebrew and Chaldee Dictionary] defined as: A son of Aram, also a Seirite, and the regions settled by them. (3) Job was the wealthiest in the land of Uz situated east of a central marker - Was that marker Noah's Ark?
In the Hebrew Interlinear Bible the translation of the Hebrew - "... And rested the ark in the seventh on the seventeenth day of the month on the heights of Ararat."(2)
The Hebrew word that is translated 'mountains or heights' (har) can also be interpreted as mountain or range of hills: - hill (country), or mount (-ain). [2022 Hebrew and Chaldee Dictionary] (3)
The Flood in Genesis is described as a Global Flood - Gen 7:19-20 "And the waters were strong exceedingly violent on the earth, and all the high mountains under the heavens were covered. The waters grew strong, fifteen cubits upward, and the mountains were covered." (2)
Notice that a clue is given as to the level at which Noah's Ark landed in Genesis 8:5 "And the waters were going and falling until the tenth month. In the tenth month, on the first of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen."(2) So, from approximately the middle of the seventeenth month (when the Ark rested on Mount Ararat) until the tenth month, all the inhabitants of the Ark were still inside the Ark waiting as the waters slowly went down. In the tenth month Noah could see the tops of other mountains appear - This suggests that prior to this no mountain tops could be seen!
Therefore, we can deduce that the Ark landed on the highest mountain in the region somewhere at the top of the peak of the mountain.
There are a few references to Noah and Noah's Ark in other parts of the Bible besides Genesis. One such reference is in Job 22:15-16 where Eliphaz (Elifaz) the Temanite (Teimani) is rebuking Job. As part of his discourse he mentions people of old who were swept away in a flood - "Do you keep to the old way which evil men have trod?- they were seized, but there was not time; their foundation was poured out by a flood."(2)
The story of Job is likely one of the earliest books written in the Bible. One reason for this is that Job lived 140 years after the events mentioned in the book of Job. People still lived to long ages at this time. People who lived before the Flood lived to ages up to 1000 years e.g. Methuselah died at 969 years. After the flood ages soon decreased rapidly e.g. Noah died at 950 yrs, Abraham died at 175 years of age. The conditions for longevity had changed!
Perhaps an interesting connection to the resting place of Noah's Ark with relation to direction can be inferred from the book of Job. This is my own presumption - In the book of Job, Job is said to be "..so that this man was greater than all the sons of the east." (Job 1:3) (2) This is often interpreted as Job being the wealthiest man in all the east - East of What?? What was the measure of direction at that time soon after the flood? Was it measuring direction from a central point of government or civilization? We know that the Tower of Babel, Noah's Ark, and several other cities were likely in existence at this time. Or could it be a measure of direction from Noah's Ark ??
With this line of reasoning Job would be living in the land of Uz (Uwts) [5780 Hebrew and Chaldee Dictionary] defined as: A son of Aram, also a Seirite, and the regions settled by them. (3) Job was the wealthiest in the land of Uz situated east of a central marker - Was that marker Noah's Ark?
Josephus refers to Noah's ArkAntiquities of the Jews, Flavius Josephus, (Circa 94 AD), 1.3.5-6 … the Armenians call this place (Apobaterion) The Place of Descent; for the ark being saved in that place, its remains are shown there by its inhabitants to this day. Now all the writers of the barbarian histories make mention of this flood and of this ark; among whom is Berosus the Chaldean; for when he is describing the circumstances of the flood, he goes on thus:- “It is said there is still some part of this ship in Armenia, at the mountain of the Cordyaens; and that some people carry off pieces of the bitumen, which they take away, and use chiefly as amulets for the averting of mischiefs.” Hieronymus the Egyptian, also who wrote the Phoenician antiquities, and Mnaseas, and a great many more, make mention of the same. Nay, Nicolaus of Damascus, in his ninety-sixth book, hath a particular relation about them, where he speaks thus:- “There is a great mountain in Armenia, over Minyas, called Baris, upon which it is reported that many who fled at the time of the Deluge were saved; and that one who was carried in an ark came on shore upon the top of it; and that the remains of the timber were a great while preserved. This might be the man about whom Moses, the legislator of the Jews wrote.”(4)
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Apocryphal Accounts of Noah
The Apocryphal books, some of which are included in the Catholic Bible but not in the Protestant Bibles, give further clues as to the location of Noah's Ark.
The Book of Jubilees, The Little Genesis, & The Apocalypse of Moses - Chapter 5, 28: "The ark went and rested on top of Lubar, one of the mountains of Ararat." Chapter 7, 1: "In the seventh week of the first year of it, in this jubilee, Noah planted vines on the mountain on which the ark had rested, named Lubar, one of the Ararat Mountains..." Chapter 7, 16 "Shem dwelt with his father Noah, and he built a city close to his father on the mountain, and he too called its name after his wife Sedeqetelebab. 17 These three cities are near Mount Lubar; Sedeqetelebab in front of the mountain on its east; Na'eltama'uk on the south; Adatan'eses towards the west."(5)
The Book of Jubilees, The Little Genesis, & The Apocalypse of Moses - Chapter 5, 28: "The ark went and rested on top of Lubar, one of the mountains of Ararat." Chapter 7, 1: "In the seventh week of the first year of it, in this jubilee, Noah planted vines on the mountain on which the ark had rested, named Lubar, one of the Ararat Mountains..." Chapter 7, 16 "Shem dwelt with his father Noah, and he built a city close to his father on the mountain, and he too called its name after his wife Sedeqetelebab. 17 These three cities are near Mount Lubar; Sedeqetelebab in front of the mountain on its east; Na'eltama'uk on the south; Adatan'eses towards the west."(5)
The Epic of Gilgamesh - Babylonian Flood Legend - Gilgamesh visits Uta-napishti
The Epic of Gilgamesh was discovered by archaeologists excavating the royal libraries of Nineveh in 1850 and 1853. These records were in the form of clay tablets inscribed with Assyrian writing in the form of cuneiform. Many of these including the Epic of Gilgamesh were deciphered 1879-82 by George Smith.(6) This is an incredible independent account of the 'Great Flood' or Deluge and contains many very similar elements to the Biblical Genesis account. You will recall in the Bible account that God commands Noah to build a ship and take animals and his family aboard to escape the great destruction of the flood that is to come. Noah does this and survives the flood and as the cataclysm subsides Noah sends out a raven and then a dove to ascertain if the waters had subsided sufficiently for dry land to appear. After the mountains begin to appear and the Ark rests on Mt Ararat Noah opens the Ark and releases the animals. Noah then offers sacrifices to God and God makes a covenant with Noah never to destroy the world again by water, giving the sign of the rainbow (this is the first rainbow in the sky because it had never rained before 'The Flood', instead a mist went up out of the ground to water the Earth).
In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh, who is the ruler of the city of Uruk, travels to Uta-napishti to ask him how to attain eternal life. Uta-napishti tells Gilgamesh how he survived the Deluge. The person Gilgamesh seems to have some elements in common with Nimrod and most likely lived around the same time. Similar to Nimrod Gilgamesh is ruler of the city of Uruk and a very powerful warrior who no one can defeat and also he subjugates all people under him. I would be as bold as to suggest that Gilgamesh is Nimrod, Amraphel King of Shinar.
In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh, who is the ruler of the city of Uruk, travels to Uta-napishti to ask him how to attain eternal life. Uta-napishti tells Gilgamesh how he survived the Deluge. The person Gilgamesh seems to have some elements in common with Nimrod and most likely lived around the same time. Similar to Nimrod Gilgamesh is ruler of the city of Uruk and a very powerful warrior who no one can defeat and also he subjugates all people under him. I would be as bold as to suggest that Gilgamesh is Nimrod, Amraphel King of Shinar.
"Said Uta-napishti to him, to Gilgamesh: 'Let me disclose, O Gilgamesh, a matter most secret, to you I will tell a mystery of gods. 'The town of Shuruppak, a city well known to you, which stands on the banks of the river Euphrates: this city was of old - the gods once were in it - when the great gods decided to send down the deluge. 'Their father Anu swore an oath, and their counsellor, the hero Enlil, their chamberlain, the god Ninurta, and their sheriff, the god Ennugi. ' Princely Ea swore with them also, repeating their words to a fence made of reed: "O fence of reed! O wall of brick! Hear this, O fence! Pay heed, O wall!
'"O man of Shuruppak, son of Ubar-Tutu, demolish the house, and build a boat! Abandon wealth, and seek survival! spurn property, save life! Take on board the boat all living things' seed! '"The boat you will build, her dimensions all shall be equal: her length and breadth shall be the same, cover her with a roof, like the Ocean Below." ' I understood, and spoke to Ea, my master: "I obey, O master, what thus you told me. I understood, and I shall do it, but how do I answer my city, the crowd and the elders?" 'Ea opened his mouth to speak, saying to me, his servant: "Also you will say to them this: 'For sure the god Enlil feels for me hatred. '"'In your city I can live no longer, I can tread no more [on] Enlil's ground. [I must] go to the Ocean Below, to live with Ea, my master, and he will send you rain a plenty: '"'[an abundance] of birds, a profusion of fishes, [he will provide] a harvest of riches. In the morning he will send you a shower of bread-cakes, and in the evening a torrent of wheat.'" 'At the very first glimmer of brightening dawn, at the gate of Atra-hasis assembled the land" the carpenter carrying [his] hatchet, the reed worker carrying [his] stone, [the shipwrite bearing his] heavy weight axe. 'The young men were ....., the old men were bearing ropes of palm-fibre; the rich man was carrying the pitch, the poor man brought the ..... tackle. 'By the fifth day I had set her hull in position, one acre was her area, ten rods in height her sides. At ten rods also, the sides of her roof were each the same length. I set in place her body, I drew up her design. 'Six decks I gave her, divided her thus into seven. Into nine compartments I divided her interior, I struck the bilge plugs into her middle. I saw to the punting-poles and put in tackle. 'Three myriad measures of pitch I poured in a furnace, three myriad of tar I ...within, three myriad of oil consumed in libations, there were two myriad of oil stowed away by the boatman. 'For my workmen I butchered oxen, and lambs I slaughtered daily. Beer and ale, oil and wine like water from a river [I gave my] workforce, so they enjoyed a feast like the days of New Year. 'At sun-[rise] I set my hand [to] the oiling, [before] the sun set the boat was complete. ..... were very arduous: from back to front we moved poles for the slipway, [until] two-thirds of [the boat had entered the water.] '[Everything I owned] I loaded aboard: all the silver I owned I loaded aboard, all the gold I owned I loaded aboard, all the living creatures I had I loaded aboard. I sent on board all my kith and kin, the beasts of the field, the creatures of the wild, and members of every skill and craft. 'The time which the Sun God appointed - "In the morning he will send a shower of bread-cakes, and in the evening a torrent of wheat. Go into the boat and seal your hatch!"- 'that time had now come: "In the morning he will send a shower of bread-cakes, and in the evening a torrent of wheat."
I examined the look of the weather. 'The weather to look at was full of foreboding, I went into the boat and sealed my hatch. To the one who sealed the boat, Puzur-Enlil the shipwright, I gave my palace with all its goods. 'At the very first glimmer of brightening dawn, there rose on the horizon a dark cloud of black, and bellowing within it was Adad the Storm God. The gods Shullat and Hanish were going before him, bearing his throne over mountain and land. 'The god Errakal was uprooting the mooring-poles, Ninurta, passing by, made the weirs overflow. The Anunnaki gods carried torches of fire, scorching the country with brilliant flashes. 'The stillness of the Storm God passed over the sky, and all that was bright then turned into darkness. [He] charged the land like a bull [on the rampage,] he smashed [it] in pieces [like a vessel of clay.] 'For a day the gale [winds flattened the country,] quickly they blew, and [then came] the [Deluge.] Like a battle [the cataclysm] passed over the people. One man could not discern another, nor could people be recognised among the destruction. 'Even the gods took fright at the Deluge, they left and went up to the heaven of Anu, like lying dogs curled up in the open. The goddess cried out like a woman in childbirth, Belet-ili wailed, whose voice is so sweet: '"The olden times have turned to clay, because I spoke evil in the god's assembly. How could I speak evil in the god's assembly, and declare war to destroy my people? '"It is I who gave birth, these people are mine! And now, like fish, they fill the ocean!" The Anunnaki gods were weeping with her, wet-faced with sorrow, they were weeping [with her,] their lips were parched and stricken with fever. 'For six days and [seven] nights, there blew the wind, the downpour, the gale, the Deluge, it flattened the land. 'But the seventh day when it came, the gale relented, the Deluge ended. The ocean grew calm, that had thrashed like a woman in labour, the tempest grew still, the Deluge ended. 'I looked at the weather, it was quiet and still, but all the people had turned to clay. The flood plain was flat like the roof of a house.
I opened a vent, on my cheeks fell the sunlight. 'Down I sat, I knelt and wept, down my cheeks the tears were coursing. I scanned the horizons, the edge of the ocean, in fourteen places there rose an island. 'On the mountain of Nimush the boat ran aground, Mount Nimush held the boat fast, allowed it no motion. One day and a second, Mount Nimush held the boat fast, allowed it no motion, a third day and a fourth, Mount Nimush held the boat fast, allowed it no motion, a fifth day and a sixth, Mount Nimush held the boat fast, allowed it no motion. 'The seventh day when it came, I brought out a dove, I let it loose: off went the dove but then it returned, there was no place to land, so back it came to me. 'I brought out a swallow, I let it loose: off went the swallow but then it returned, there was no place to land, so back it came to me. 'I brought out a raven, I let it loose: off went the raven, it saw the waters receding, finding food, bowing and bobbing, it did not come back to me.
'I brought out an offering, to the four winds made sacrifice, incense I placed on the peak of the mountain seven flasks and seven I set in position, reed, cedar and myrtle I piled beneath them. 'The gods did smell the savour, the gods did smell the savour sweet, the gods gathered like flies around the man making sacrifice. 'Then Belet-ili arrived, she lifted the flies of lapis lazuli that Anu had made for their courtship: "O gods, let these great beads in the necklace of mine make me remember these days, and never forget them! '"All the gods shall come to the incense, but to the incense let Enlil not come, because he lacked counsel and brought on the Deluge, and delivered my people into destruction." ...(6)
'"O man of Shuruppak, son of Ubar-Tutu, demolish the house, and build a boat! Abandon wealth, and seek survival! spurn property, save life! Take on board the boat all living things' seed! '"The boat you will build, her dimensions all shall be equal: her length and breadth shall be the same, cover her with a roof, like the Ocean Below." ' I understood, and spoke to Ea, my master: "I obey, O master, what thus you told me. I understood, and I shall do it, but how do I answer my city, the crowd and the elders?" 'Ea opened his mouth to speak, saying to me, his servant: "Also you will say to them this: 'For sure the god Enlil feels for me hatred. '"'In your city I can live no longer, I can tread no more [on] Enlil's ground. [I must] go to the Ocean Below, to live with Ea, my master, and he will send you rain a plenty: '"'[an abundance] of birds, a profusion of fishes, [he will provide] a harvest of riches. In the morning he will send you a shower of bread-cakes, and in the evening a torrent of wheat.'" 'At the very first glimmer of brightening dawn, at the gate of Atra-hasis assembled the land" the carpenter carrying [his] hatchet, the reed worker carrying [his] stone, [the shipwrite bearing his] heavy weight axe. 'The young men were ....., the old men were bearing ropes of palm-fibre; the rich man was carrying the pitch, the poor man brought the ..... tackle. 'By the fifth day I had set her hull in position, one acre was her area, ten rods in height her sides. At ten rods also, the sides of her roof were each the same length. I set in place her body, I drew up her design. 'Six decks I gave her, divided her thus into seven. Into nine compartments I divided her interior, I struck the bilge plugs into her middle. I saw to the punting-poles and put in tackle. 'Three myriad measures of pitch I poured in a furnace, three myriad of tar I ...within, three myriad of oil consumed in libations, there were two myriad of oil stowed away by the boatman. 'For my workmen I butchered oxen, and lambs I slaughtered daily. Beer and ale, oil and wine like water from a river [I gave my] workforce, so they enjoyed a feast like the days of New Year. 'At sun-[rise] I set my hand [to] the oiling, [before] the sun set the boat was complete. ..... were very arduous: from back to front we moved poles for the slipway, [until] two-thirds of [the boat had entered the water.] '[Everything I owned] I loaded aboard: all the silver I owned I loaded aboard, all the gold I owned I loaded aboard, all the living creatures I had I loaded aboard. I sent on board all my kith and kin, the beasts of the field, the creatures of the wild, and members of every skill and craft. 'The time which the Sun God appointed - "In the morning he will send a shower of bread-cakes, and in the evening a torrent of wheat. Go into the boat and seal your hatch!"- 'that time had now come: "In the morning he will send a shower of bread-cakes, and in the evening a torrent of wheat."
I examined the look of the weather. 'The weather to look at was full of foreboding, I went into the boat and sealed my hatch. To the one who sealed the boat, Puzur-Enlil the shipwright, I gave my palace with all its goods. 'At the very first glimmer of brightening dawn, there rose on the horizon a dark cloud of black, and bellowing within it was Adad the Storm God. The gods Shullat and Hanish were going before him, bearing his throne over mountain and land. 'The god Errakal was uprooting the mooring-poles, Ninurta, passing by, made the weirs overflow. The Anunnaki gods carried torches of fire, scorching the country with brilliant flashes. 'The stillness of the Storm God passed over the sky, and all that was bright then turned into darkness. [He] charged the land like a bull [on the rampage,] he smashed [it] in pieces [like a vessel of clay.] 'For a day the gale [winds flattened the country,] quickly they blew, and [then came] the [Deluge.] Like a battle [the cataclysm] passed over the people. One man could not discern another, nor could people be recognised among the destruction. 'Even the gods took fright at the Deluge, they left and went up to the heaven of Anu, like lying dogs curled up in the open. The goddess cried out like a woman in childbirth, Belet-ili wailed, whose voice is so sweet: '"The olden times have turned to clay, because I spoke evil in the god's assembly. How could I speak evil in the god's assembly, and declare war to destroy my people? '"It is I who gave birth, these people are mine! And now, like fish, they fill the ocean!" The Anunnaki gods were weeping with her, wet-faced with sorrow, they were weeping [with her,] their lips were parched and stricken with fever. 'For six days and [seven] nights, there blew the wind, the downpour, the gale, the Deluge, it flattened the land. 'But the seventh day when it came, the gale relented, the Deluge ended. The ocean grew calm, that had thrashed like a woman in labour, the tempest grew still, the Deluge ended. 'I looked at the weather, it was quiet and still, but all the people had turned to clay. The flood plain was flat like the roof of a house.
I opened a vent, on my cheeks fell the sunlight. 'Down I sat, I knelt and wept, down my cheeks the tears were coursing. I scanned the horizons, the edge of the ocean, in fourteen places there rose an island. 'On the mountain of Nimush the boat ran aground, Mount Nimush held the boat fast, allowed it no motion. One day and a second, Mount Nimush held the boat fast, allowed it no motion, a third day and a fourth, Mount Nimush held the boat fast, allowed it no motion, a fifth day and a sixth, Mount Nimush held the boat fast, allowed it no motion. 'The seventh day when it came, I brought out a dove, I let it loose: off went the dove but then it returned, there was no place to land, so back it came to me. 'I brought out a swallow, I let it loose: off went the swallow but then it returned, there was no place to land, so back it came to me. 'I brought out a raven, I let it loose: off went the raven, it saw the waters receding, finding food, bowing and bobbing, it did not come back to me.
'I brought out an offering, to the four winds made sacrifice, incense I placed on the peak of the mountain seven flasks and seven I set in position, reed, cedar and myrtle I piled beneath them. 'The gods did smell the savour, the gods did smell the savour sweet, the gods gathered like flies around the man making sacrifice. 'Then Belet-ili arrived, she lifted the flies of lapis lazuli that Anu had made for their courtship: "O gods, let these great beads in the necklace of mine make me remember these days, and never forget them! '"All the gods shall come to the incense, but to the incense let Enlil not come, because he lacked counsel and brought on the Deluge, and delivered my people into destruction." ...(6)
You will notice many of the common themes and elements here described in the Gilgamesh account of the Great Flood of Uta-napishti are almost exactly the same as the Biblical account of Noah's Flood.
Similarities include: A big boat was built to house and protect survivors of an impending flood, at the direction of god. The ark was filled with food and animals. The flood killed all of the people outside the ark and resurfaced the land. The flood covered all of the mountains. Noah/Uta-napishti sent out birds to see if the waters were abated sufficiently to depart the vessel and when they appeared so he offered a sacrifice to the god(s).
There is also an interesting correlation between The Gilgamesh account and Biblical account with regard to poetic intimation on behalf of the Gilgamesh Epic: "In the morning he will send a shower of bread-cakes, and in the evening a torrent of wheat" - This peotic statement is repeated several times, prior to the deluge, throughout the deluge, and after it. This sentence could be interpreted as referring to the mechanism of the deluge. 'Bread-cakes' could be symbolic of meteors or meteorites and 'torrents of wheat' symbolic of heavy rain. If heavenly bodies (i.e. bolides) were the mechanism then this would make sense in light of the Gilgamesh poetic statement that first came the 'bread-cakes' in the morning and then followed the 'torrent of wheat' or heavy rain in the evening. Similarly the Biblical account intermates that something caused all the fountains of the great deep to burst open, followed by the floodgates of heaven opening. The cause could have been 'big rocks' from outer space that smashed into the Earth's thin crust and initiated tectonic movement.
Also, "... she lifted the flies of lapis lazuli..."...these great beads in the necklace of mine make me remember these days and never forget them..." in the Gilgamesh Epic may poetically refer to the rainbow covenant given by God after the Flood to never again destroy the world with a water catastrophe, in the Bible?
Similarities include: A big boat was built to house and protect survivors of an impending flood, at the direction of god. The ark was filled with food and animals. The flood killed all of the people outside the ark and resurfaced the land. The flood covered all of the mountains. Noah/Uta-napishti sent out birds to see if the waters were abated sufficiently to depart the vessel and when they appeared so he offered a sacrifice to the god(s).
There is also an interesting correlation between The Gilgamesh account and Biblical account with regard to poetic intimation on behalf of the Gilgamesh Epic: "In the morning he will send a shower of bread-cakes, and in the evening a torrent of wheat" - This peotic statement is repeated several times, prior to the deluge, throughout the deluge, and after it. This sentence could be interpreted as referring to the mechanism of the deluge. 'Bread-cakes' could be symbolic of meteors or meteorites and 'torrents of wheat' symbolic of heavy rain. If heavenly bodies (i.e. bolides) were the mechanism then this would make sense in light of the Gilgamesh poetic statement that first came the 'bread-cakes' in the morning and then followed the 'torrent of wheat' or heavy rain in the evening. Similarly the Biblical account intermates that something caused all the fountains of the great deep to burst open, followed by the floodgates of heaven opening. The cause could have been 'big rocks' from outer space that smashed into the Earth's thin crust and initiated tectonic movement.
Also, "... she lifted the flies of lapis lazuli..."...these great beads in the necklace of mine make me remember these days and never forget them..." in the Gilgamesh Epic may poetically refer to the rainbow covenant given by God after the Flood to never again destroy the world with a water catastrophe, in the Bible?
The Mountains of Ararat
Marco Polo (1254-1324) speaks thus about Mount Ararat:
"In the heart of Greater Armenia is a very high mountain, shaped like a cube (cup), on which Noah's ark is said to have rested, whence it is called the mountain of Noah's Ark. It is so broad and long that it takes more than two days to go around it. On the summit the snow lies so deep all the year round that no one can ever climb it; this snow never entirely melts, but new snow is often falling on the old, so that the level rises. But on the lower slopes, thanks to the moisture that flows down from the melting snow, the herbage is so lush and luxuriant that in summer all the beasts from near and far resort here to batten on it and yet the supply never fails. This flow of moisture also has the effect of making the hillsides very boggy. (According to I, the Ark is actually visible as a black patch among the snow on mount 'Boris or Olympus', though it cannot be seen at close quarters; the natives seldom mention it, but on being questioned they answer: 'It is said that the black patch is the ship of the world.').(7)
"In the heart of Greater Armenia is a very high mountain, shaped like a cube (cup), on which Noah's ark is said to have rested, whence it is called the mountain of Noah's Ark. It is so broad and long that it takes more than two days to go around it. On the summit the snow lies so deep all the year round that no one can ever climb it; this snow never entirely melts, but new snow is often falling on the old, so that the level rises. But on the lower slopes, thanks to the moisture that flows down from the melting snow, the herbage is so lush and luxuriant that in summer all the beasts from near and far resort here to batten on it and yet the supply never fails. This flow of moisture also has the effect of making the hillsides very boggy. (According to I, the Ark is actually visible as a black patch among the snow on mount 'Boris or Olympus', though it cannot be seen at close quarters; the natives seldom mention it, but on being questioned they answer: 'It is said that the black patch is the ship of the world.').(7)
References
1. New American Standard Bible (1993), Chain Reference, compiled and edited by F.C. Thompson, B.B Kirkbridge Bible Co. Inc., USA.
2. The Interlinear Bible Hebrew-Greek-English, With Strong's Concordance Numbers Above Each Word, (1986), 2nd Ed., Jay P. Green, Sr - General Editor & Translator, Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, Massachusetts, Genesis, p.6
3. The New Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, (1990), James Strong, LL.D., S.T.D, Thomas Nelson Publishers, USA.
4. Josephus - The Complete Works, (1998) Nelson's Super Value Series, Translated by William Whiston, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville USA. Antiquities of the Jews, Flavius Josephus, (Circa 94 AD), 1.3.5-6. Note: Underlined words are supplied.
5. The Apocrypha: Including Books from the Ethiopic Bible, (2009), Compiled by Joseph Lumpkin, Fifth Estate Publishers, USA, pp.491 & 495.
6. The Epic of Gilgamesh, (1999), Translation by Andrew George, Penguin Classics, London, (Tablet XI), pp.88-99.
7. The Travels of Marco Polo, Roland Latham translation, Penguin Books, London England, published 1958, p.48
I. Noah's Ark Vector.
II. Noah's Ark image scan from page III of The Timechart History of the World, 4th Ed., 2011, By Prof Edward Hull, Third Millennium Press Limited.
III. Image: The Mountains of Ararat.
1. New American Standard Bible (1993), Chain Reference, compiled and edited by F.C. Thompson, B.B Kirkbridge Bible Co. Inc., USA.
2. The Interlinear Bible Hebrew-Greek-English, With Strong's Concordance Numbers Above Each Word, (1986), 2nd Ed., Jay P. Green, Sr - General Editor & Translator, Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, Massachusetts, Genesis, p.6
3. The New Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, (1990), James Strong, LL.D., S.T.D, Thomas Nelson Publishers, USA.
4. Josephus - The Complete Works, (1998) Nelson's Super Value Series, Translated by William Whiston, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville USA. Antiquities of the Jews, Flavius Josephus, (Circa 94 AD), 1.3.5-6. Note: Underlined words are supplied.
5. The Apocrypha: Including Books from the Ethiopic Bible, (2009), Compiled by Joseph Lumpkin, Fifth Estate Publishers, USA, pp.491 & 495.
6. The Epic of Gilgamesh, (1999), Translation by Andrew George, Penguin Classics, London, (Tablet XI), pp.88-99.
7. The Travels of Marco Polo, Roland Latham translation, Penguin Books, London England, published 1958, p.48
I. Noah's Ark Vector.
II. Noah's Ark image scan from page III of The Timechart History of the World, 4th Ed., 2011, By Prof Edward Hull, Third Millennium Press Limited.
III. Image: The Mountains of Ararat.