To understand the story of Noah properly, we must first do something many believers are uncomfortable with: look outside the Bible. Not to undermine faith, but to enrich understanding. Truth is not afraid of context.
Long before the Book of Genesis was written, flood stories already existed in the ancient Near East. The most famous of these is the Epic of Gilgamesh, a Mesopotamian narrative that scholars date to around 2100 to 1800 BCE, though some parts of it are even older, drawn from earlier Sumerian traditions dating back to 2900 BCE.
This means something important: the flood story did not begin with the Bible. Sorry to scandalize some of you. The Bible inherited and reworked an already existing narrative. I have my reasons for believing this.
Here is a brief summary of the Epic of Gilgamesh flood story.
In the Epic of Gilgamesh, the gods decide to destroy humanity with a great flood because humans have become too noisy and troublesome. One god, Ea (also known as Enki), secretly warns a righteous man named Utnapishtim.
Utnapishtim is instructed to build a massive boat, seal it with pitch, bring his family, craftsmen, and animals aboard, and prepare for a catastrophic flood. The flood comes, violent and terrifying, lasting several days. Even the gods are frightened by the destruction they unleash.
After the waters subside, the boat rests on a mountain. Utnapishtim releases birds in sequence to check if the land has dried. Eventually, dry ground appears. He offers a sacrifice, the gods gather around it, and the god Enlil grants Utnapishtim and his wife immortality.
Now pause for a moment.
Does the story sound familiar?
Hmmmmmmm!!!
When we place the Epic of Gilgamesh side by side with Genesis chapters 6 to 9, the similarities are impossible to ignore.
In both stories:
Humanity is judged and condemned
One righteous man is chosen
A divinely instructed boat is built
Animals are preserved
A catastrophic flood wipes out life
The boat rests on a mountain
Birds are released to test for dry land
A sacrifice is offered after the flood
Divine favor follows
These are not vague similarities. They are structural, thematic, and narrative parallels.
The Bible did not invent this framework. It reinterpreted it. The difference is not scientific. It is theological.
In the Epic of Gilgamesh, the gods are petty, divided, and fearful. In Genesis, there is one God, acting with moral purpose. The Bible takes an existing cultural story and reshapes it to speak about justice, responsibility, mercy, and covenant.
The Bible is not presenting a scientific report. Ancient people did not write that way. They told stories that carried meaning, identity, and theology.
This is why the original audience of Genesis were not asking about water volume, animal logistics, or planetary geography. They were asking about sin, justice, mercy, and a God who does not abandon creation.
This tells us something important: Genesis is not reporting an event the way a journalist would. It is doing theology using familiar stories.
But this still leaves another big question unanswered.
Even if the story has older roots, did the flood really cover the whole world?
(To be continued)
I have attached a photo from the British Museum, the flood tablet of the Epic of Gilgamesh written a few hundred years before the story in Genesis.
#PurestPurity
