Thank you for the question on Noah and the Gilgamesh Epic, “Was Noah actually copied from Gilgamesh? (Wasn’t aware of this claim till someone cocky came at me with it and I couldn’t say anything due to my lack of knowledge towards it). I need knowledge and help also some sources or books to look at: Thanks.”
As a Christian, it is fair and factual to knowledge historical or archaeological discoveries. The framework for the question is important.
Here are three aspects to consider in the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Genesis Flood:
A. The Verbal Transmission of the World Wild Flood or Local Flood before it was written down.
B. The similarities and differences between the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Genesis Flood.
C. The factual bases, if any, of a World Wide Flood.
I will attempt to provide a working bases for you on the above three key points.
A. The Verbal Transmission of the World Wild Flood or Local Flood before it was written down.
In many cultures, there are tales of a flood or a worldwide flood. The Epic of Gilgamesh is one such verbal tale that has been written down. Wikipedia has a listing of them: List of flood myths – Wikipedia
For example, Chinese has a story of a massive flood:https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2016/08/04/legends-say-china-began-in-a-great-flood-scientists-just-found-evidence-that-the-flood-was-real/ In addition Chinese pictographs depicts a Flood that aligns with the Genesis Flood.
The Chinese pictograph for flood is this: e character for “ship” or “large boat.” It’s formed by combining the words for “eight” (the number of people on the ark), “person,” and “boat.”
Did ancient Chinese know about the Flood? We don’t really know, but the coincidence is intriguing. There are more than 300 flood stories around the world. Six of them are told in Noah: The Real Story” (Did ancient Chinese know about the Flood?)
The point is that many cultures have a story of a massive flood or a worldwide flood. Thus it should not be surprising that the Epic of Gilgamesh had that account as well as the Genesis Flood.
From a Christian perspective, Noah and his three sons, repopulated the earth. Shem and his descendants settled in the Mesopotamia area. The narrative of the Flood was told and retold and pass onto the next generation. With the Tower of Babel, the Flood became distorted with a kernel of truth still remaining in the story: God, man, water, and boat.
The Epic of Gilgamesh is the oldest discovered written record dating between 2700–2100 BCE. The Genesis Flood written between 1400 or 1200 BCE. It is true that the Sumerians cuneiform have an account of a flood in the Gilgamesh. The dating is generally accepted.
If one compares the dating of the two accounts, the Epic of Gilgamesh is older, but it does not necessary mean that the non-captive Jews copied a version or fabricated a version from the Epic of Gilgamesh. It must be remembered that the Jews were not captive in Egypt for any time. Did they have a verbal transmission of a Flood? That is uncertain but that would seem likely with the Biblical record. The Genesis Flood was written down but that does that mean that they didn’t have a verbal history just as the Sumerians had a verbal history until it was written down. Age does not necessarily make it true. What happens if archaeologist finds another civilization that has a record that is older than the Sumerians? Does that mean that the Sumerians copied it from that civilization? Not necessarily.
In a recent archaeological discovery in Gobekli Tepe in Turkey predates Stonehenge, the Great Pyramids or even the Sumerians. This site is dated to 11,000 BCE! It is the earliest “temple” as far as archaeologists can ascertain. There are depictions of animals but no discovered writing (Gobekli Tepe: The World’s First Temple?)
The point is the Sumerian cuneiform is the earliest discovered written record, but it is likely that there were verbal transmission of the “flood” before it was written down even for the unknown people group at Gobekli Tepe.
It is critical to read the Epic of Gilgamesh on the section of the Flood. I suggest reading a summary and then the translation into English. Here is a summary source for your consideration: The Epic of Gilgamesh. I have read the translated Epic of Gilgamesh in English and it is quite an interesting story.
B. List the similarities and differences between the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Genesis Flood.
Modern liberal scholars, if I may use that term, infers or state the the Old Testament was written during the Babylonian captivity around after the Fall of Jerusalem when the Jews were deported to Babylon after 586 BCE. The assertion or assumption is that the captive Jews copied or fabricated their own history. I reject that assumption.
If the captive Jews in Babylon copied a form of the Epic of Gilgamesh, it would mean the following:
1. It presumes that the Israelites had no history of their own before their captivity, that it was insignificant or that it was lost. It is unlikely any people group would completely forget their origin and history.
However, recent archaeological discoveries provides some evidence that there was a Davidic-Solomon kingdom (Was King Solomon’s Temple a Real Place?). I would encourage doing further research on the discoveries in Israel as discovered seals or bulla that lends support to a king and kingdom, not a tribal people.
2. It presumes that the Israelites had no deity of their own in Israel and adopted the Babylonian deities while living in the Babylonian/Persian Empire.
In the Middle East region, Baal or Asteroth was the primary deity in that area. One would think that Baal or Asteroth would have become the Israelite deity before the deportation and even after the deportation.
3. It presumes that the captive Jewish scribes or teachers in the Babylonian Empire fabricated a false history when the writers teaching the Jews to be honest and truthful as stated in the Ten Commandments. One would think that at least some of captive Jews would have objected to a “new” history than their own verbal or written history.
4. It presumes that the captive Jews would have adopted one of the Babylonian or Persian deities. They did not adopt any of the Babylonian or Persian gods/goddess. For the captive Jews to adopt a monotheistic deity instead of a polytheistic would be countercultural and there would be no reason for it. The Persian gods were stronger than any other gods as they defeated the Babylonian gods. As far as I know YHWH was not one of the Babylonian or Persian deities.
For every argument there is a counter argument. It does not appear plausible to me that the Jews would “invent” a new deity and new history during the Babylonian captivity. The returning Jews to the Promised Land sought to REBUILD the Temple and later Nehemiah to REBUILD the Jerusalem Wall. The rebuilding implies that there was something there and needed to be restored.
As to the similarities and differences between the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Genesis Flood can be read on the internet. One can type and search the similarities and differences between the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Genesis Flood. There are a variety of views and different perspectives on them.
It is important to list the similarities and differences so that one can speak with some confidence on the subject.
C. The factual bases, if any, for the Genesis Flood.
The discussion between the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Genesis Flood eventually will focus on whether there was a Genesis Flood or was it a myth/fable. There are Christians who interpret Genesis 6–9 as poetry, not history. At this juncture of my studies, I currently accept the Genesis Flood as fact/history and not fiction.
Here are some thoughts relating to the Genesis Flood from the Scriptures:
A. Genesis 1 describes that the water covered the earth: one at creation and another at the Genesis Flood.
In every mountain top including the Andes, the Rocky Mountains, including Mount Everest there are some form of sea life on the summit. The discovery of seas life would argue or at least imply that one point the oceans/water covered the land mass otherwise there wouldn’t be any sea life on them. The exclusion would be volcanos.
B. Genesis 1 describes the rise of land mass as call it today as tectonic shifts.
Genesis 1 states that God call forth the land to rise out of the waters that covered the earth. The rise of the land mass is known as tectonic shifts. This is in alignment with the Scriptures.
C. Genesis 1 describes that the water gather together on the earth. This would imply that the water flowed into the earth’s crust. In the Genesis 6, when God released the waters from the heavens through rain and the springs of the deep was released (Gen. 8:2).
In recent geologist discovery, they now believe that there is an ocean of water in the earth’s crust. See this link on water in the earth’s crust: Water distribution on Earth – Wikipedia or Massive ‘ocean’ discovered towards Earth’s core. No one would have thought that an “ocean” of waters would have been discovered in the earth’s crust.
The amount of “water” in the earth crust is unknown. The upheaval of the springs of the earth added to the tectonic shift. The height of the mountains are not stated during the Flood. It does not appear that snow was on earth since a warm body of water covered the earth.
Antarctica was once a warm climate. “More than 170 million years ago, Antarctica was part of the supercontinent Gondwana. Over time, Gondwana gradually broke apart, and Antarctica as we know it today was formed around 25 million years ago. Antarctica was not always cold, dry, and covered in ice sheets. At a number of points in its long history, it was farther north, experienced a tropical or temperate climate, was covered in forests,[61] and inhabited by various ancient life forms.” (Antarctica – Wikipedia).
The debate would be the age or time frame of millions of years, but there is no debate that the earth was once a tropical planet. The debate would be the floatability of the Ark or the knowledge of man. If man is able to build Gobekli Tepe at 11,000 BCE what else did they build before then. I don’t believe man was a grunting ignorant caveman, but made in the image and likeness of God with intellect and skills. Scriptures indicate that man was able to develop iron and bronze before the Flood. Genesis 4 says this, “Lamech married two women, one named Adah and the other Zillah. 20 Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who live in tents and raise livestock. 21 His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all who play stringed instruments and pipes. 22 Zillah also had a son, Tubal-Cain, who forged all kinds of tools out of[g] bronze and iron. Tubal-Cain’s sister was Naamah.” (NIV). With extended life, man was able to become a master craftsman and develop his intellect and skills.
I hope that what I have written provide a bases for further study on your part. I do not have all the answer and my knowledge is limited to what I have read. The citation of sources must be confirmed by other sources, and I have attempted to avoid citing Christian sources to be more objective.
Christians can admit that Epic of Gilgamesh is written earlier than the Genesis account but the sources are different. The Flood was transmitted verbally until it was written down. Archaeologist has discovered the Sumerian’s Epic of Gilgamesh but that doesn’t mean that they wouldn’t be an earlier discovery yet to come. Verbal transmission preceded written transmission of the Flood or even local floods. Christians believe that the Biblical record is the true historical record while other cultural records are a distortion. This arguments for the authenticity are the evidences that substantiate the Genesis Flood as I have cited. As archaeologists, geologists, and even cosmologists continue to do research, the Biblical account of the Flood will be either confirmed as history, poetry, or even a fable. At this point in time, I believe there is some or sufficient evidences that implies that there was a world wide flood and that record is not from a copy of the Epic of Gilgamesh. No fabricated account could be so accurate in our understanding of our formation of our world.
For more perspectives: