Warning: Use of undefined constant referer - assumed 'referer' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays on line 102

Warning: Use of undefined constant host - assumed 'host' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays on line 105

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays:102) in /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays on line 106

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays:102) in /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays on line 109
Ancient Stories Of The Flood - Term Papers

Ancient Stories Of The Flood

Stories of a primeval flood exist in all parts of the world, virtually every branch of the human race has traditions of a Great Flood that destroyed all of mankind, except one family.
The closest parallel to the Biblical story of the flood occurs in the Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh, our fullest version of which is furnished by an Akkadian recension prepared, in the seventh century B.C. for the great library of King Ashurbanipal at Nineveh. The story itself is far older. We have fragments of versions dating as much as a thousand years earlier, and we possess also portions of a Summerian archetype.
In the Mesopotamian version: the gods apparently displeased with the evils of mankind ...

Want to read the rest of this paper?
Join Essayworld today to view this entire essay
and over 50,000 other term papers

including mankind, had turned to mud and clay.
Utnapishtim sent out a dove on the seventh day but it came back. He then sent out a swallow, but it came back. Finally he sent out a raven. The raven, however, saw that the waters had receded; it found food, and started to caw and wallow in the mud; it never came back. Eventually the ship grounded on Mount Nisir. Utnapishtim, seeing that the flood had receded, disembarked and set out an offering for the gods.
Enil, “Lord of the underworld,” was very angry when he saw that Utnapishtim had been spared. He was soon calmed by the other gods and gave his blessing to Utnapishtim and his wife by granting them the gift of immortality and transferring them to a remote island.
Older versions, of which only fragments survive, tell virtually the same story, though the hero is sometimes called Atrahasis, or “Superwise,” rather than Utnapishtim. In Western Asia the legend of the flood is of Summerian origin, and is ...

Get instant access to over 50,000 essays.
Write better papers. Get better grades.

Already a member? Login

CITE THIS PAGE:

APA
MLA
Chicago
Turabian

Ancient Stories Of The Flood. (2006, April 16). Retrieved October 16, 2025, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Ancient-Stories-Of-The-Flood/44478

"Ancient Stories Of The Flood." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 16 Apr. 2006. Web. 16 Oct. 2025. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Ancient-Stories-Of-The-Flood/44478>

"Ancient Stories Of The Flood." Essayworld.com. April 16, 2006. Accessed October 16, 2025. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Ancient-Stories-Of-The-Flood/44478.

JOIN NOW

Join today and get instant access to this and 50,000+ other essays

PAPER DETAILS

Added: 4/16/2006 09:27:11 AM
Category: World History
Type: Premium Paper
Words: 823
Pages: 3

Save |

Report

SHARE THIS PAPER

SAVED ESSAYS

Save and find your favorite essays easier