n 30).The similarities should not surprise us, right down to the reason God was supposed to have decided to destroy the earth by water. In the Biblical book of Genesis, the author tells us that: “The earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence” (Genesis 6:11). Part of this, the Genesis author comments, was largely due to the fact that human beings on the earth had become extremely sinful. “The Lord saw that the wickedness of men was great in the earth, and it grieved him to his heart” (Genesis 6:5). So He determined to kill all the people of the earth, saving only one family which had steadfastly maintained their righteousness. This, of course, was the family of Noah.The parallels between this story and that of Gilgamesh are too obvious to criticize. “Of course the Hebrew iteration of the flood story is not coincidence. For a time, the Hebrews lived in Sumer, home of Abraham’s people..., taking with them ancient accounts of flood and righteous people whose obedience and wisdom helped them to survive the consuming waters” (Near East 2). However, several interesting points can be made here about the characteristics of Sumerian religion. For one, it is clear that, like most primitive peoples, the Sumerians took everyday happenings they observed occurring around them, and elevated them into myth. The Hebrews did, too. Secondly, the Sumerians believed that their behavior as a society directly impacted their fate -- in other words, if they behaved badly the gods would punish them. Maureen Raymo, a marine geologist “finds it very easy to believe this flood is the origin of these myths.... You would invoke your god being angry if you didn’t have the scientific basis to understand it ” (McInnis 3). Again, this belief underlies Hebrew law as well. And finally, like the Hebrews, Sumerians believed their gods had direct contact with man, in a...
