e knew the water had receded, but he decided to wait another seven days then send out another dove. When that dove did not return, Noah knew the water had receded enough to provide food and shelter for all living things, (Genesis, 8). When the contents of the boat had been emptied, Gilgamesh made a sacrifice of cane, cedar wood, and myrtle to appease the gods that had allowed him to survive. The gods were pleased with the offering and blessed the rabble. One god was furious that there were survivors, but he was convinced by other gods to let them live out their lives and start a new civilization. Noah also made a sacrifice to God upon exiting the ark. He took from every animal and made burnt offerings on an alter he had created. When God smelled the sweet aroma, he vowed never again to curse the earth because men are born evil (Genesis, 6), they do not become evil. Their wrongdoings originate from their heart and not from the decisive mind, (Genesis, 9). The fact that many ancient civilizations have a story with a great flood could mean that there really was a world wide catastrophe. Since the majority of the world’s population lived on the oceanic planes where the land was fertile and travel by boat was easiest, if the ocean level was raised even slightly, it would seem that their whole world was flooding. Also, there is one known flood that occurred in ancient times. With so many different cultures trying to explain a great flood, there are bound to be differences in each account. The Epic of Gilgamesh and the Biblical story of Noah’s Ark are different in small details. The fact that the two stories are so close in account to each other, with regard to general storyline, is quite amazing when considering the fact that these two cultures are so very different. ...
