Thank you for the comparison question on The Epic of Gilgamesh and the Book of Genesis, “Is the Book of Genesis a rehash of the poem of The Epic of Gilgamesh?”
I have read The Epic of Gilgamesh as it relates to the Flood in comparison to the the Flood as recorded in Genesis 6–9.
In order to have a fair and balance evaluation of The Epic of Gilgamesh and Genesis 6–9, one has to read both accounts for oneself. It is online and I have read a translation of the Epic of Gilgamesh.
The individuals who refers that the Book of Genesis is similar to The Epic of Gilgamesh is correct. There are similarities between the two accounts. The deeper question is this, “What are the differences between the two accounts?” For one’s own understanding of the two accounts, I will not highlight the similarities and differences since that will be my own opinion and not the readers. I suggest that one focuses on the description of the deities, the characters in the two accounts, the construction of the boat and the flood as well as the result of the flood. There are parallels and there are significant differences.
The Epic of Gilgamesh is one of the oldest surviving poem/writing beside the Egyptian hieroglyphs. It would seem more reasonable that the enslaved Jews would have the Egyptian version of the Flood since they lived in Egypt for 400 years. In their captivity in 722 and 586 BCE, one would think that it is more likely that they would have adopted a polytheistic view of God than a monotheistic one. As one reads the Major Prophets, the Jewish people shifted from a monotheistic religion to a polytheistic religion, rejecting the prophets’ messages. In the intervening years between the enslavement from Egypt to the 6th century, one would think that the Jewish people had some religion of their own, not that they suddenly adopted a new monotheistic religion from a culture that was polytheistic.
Nearly every culture has some belief of a Flood whether local or worldwide. If it was a local flood, there would be no need to build a boat but to move to higher ground or out of that valley to escape the rising water. There would be no time to build a boat unless a boat was already there. If there was one boat already there by the river, then it is likely that there were other boats along the river. A local flood would hardly warrant an Epic Poem since flooding would be common as hurricanes are common along the Gulf Coast of the United States. The Epic of Gilgamesh, in my opinion, represents a greater flood that has become distorted as it was verbally transmitted until it was written down. As one compares the two accounts of the Flood, one will ask which one seems more true: The Epic of Gilgamesh or the Noahic Flood?
In my opinion, the Biblical description is not a rehash of the Epic of Gilgamesh but a more accurate account of the Flooding of the whole world. Read the two accounts and then come to one’s own conclusion of whether it is a rehashing or a more accurate account of the flooding of the world.
For more perspectives:
https://www.quora.com/Is-the-Book-of-Genesis-a-rehash-of-the-poem-The-Epic-of-Gilgamesh