Is Christianity just a copycat religion? Many critics answer, “Yes,” and argue that much of the Old Testament is nothing more than rewritings of Ancient Near Eastern myth. One particular reason that they answer yes is that the biblical story of the Great Flood in Genesis is not the original story, they say, but is, in fact, a copy of the much older flood tale from the Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh. Sure enough, The Epic of Gilgamesh, written in about 1800 BC, predates the Genesis account by some 1,000 years! Not only that, the similarities between the Genesis flood story and the Gilgamesh flood story are striking: in both stories, there is a divine commitment to destroy almost all of mankind; there is a focus on one wise and righteous man destined to survive the flood; both stories involve the building of an ark which is described in detail; animals are brought on board to preserve the species; the hero of the story sends out birds to see if they can find dry land; after the floodwater subsides sacrifices are made by the hero to mend mankind’s relationship with the divine; and finally, the survivors repopulate the earth. Sound familiar?
To further their argument, skeptics point to Mesopotamian scholars like Louise Pryke who claim; “we actually have the smoking gun. . . Archeologists have found bits of The Epic of Gilgamesh all over ancient Israel. It looks like Gilgamesh was something that was in broad circulation at the time.” Do you suppose Moses knew this? Could it be that the Christian story of the Flood in Genesis is actually the ancient Babylonian flood story copied by Moses into the Pentateuch, and incorporated into the Hebrew Bible? That is what the critics say. But the Gilgamesh story is not really the beginning of the story either. In 1985 Irving Finkel, at the British Museum, discovered a very similar ancient flood story written in Sumerian on a clay tablet fragment that had been recovered from the same region. Similar to the Gilgamesh and Genesis flood stories a hero named Atrahasis is commanded to build an ark and to prepare for a devastating flood. It turns out this flood story is even older than Gilgamesh! That makes at least three ancient flood stories all originating out of Mesopotamia. All relaying very similar details? What are we to make of this? Is one of the ancient pillars of Christian belief just a widely told myth? And if so, is Christianity just a copycat religion after all? These are powerfulquestions,andtheycertainly warrant our consideration.
It turns out there are hundreds of flood stories from around the world. Sure enough, stories of The Great Flood can be found on every continent and in nearly every culture from Alaska to Africa, Canada to India, Europe to the Americas, and many more in between. Similar to the three Mesopotamian flood accounts, almost all accounts from around the world have the same base characteristics: an angry deity determines to destroy the world and all life in it by flood, and a hero along with a few others, who survives to repopulate the postdiluvian world. So, from where does the story originate? The interesting thing is this; these flood stories are all too similar to have had independent origins. That is to say, somewhere back up the line there was a first story; a uniquely original Great Flood story. Flood researcher and writer Charles Martin posits the correct question: “How can we account for these common threads unless we admit that the stories all originate from the same source?” An original story of a Great Flood from which all other stories are cultural modifications added to the original.
Anthropologists have long agreed that mankind originated and migrated “out of Africa,” and into ancient Mesopotamia’s “cradle of civilization.” This fact, coupled with the fact that the three oldest flood accounts (Sumerian, Gilgamesh, and Genisis) originated in the cradle of civilization leads to the ready conclusion that one of these stories must be the origin of most all universal flood stories. Although the Sumerian flood story is the oldest existing story, that does not mean it is necessarily the oldest (original) of all Great Flood stories. Since the transmission of all three accounts undoubtedly began as oral traditions handed down through the generations some insight can be gained by comparing these three stories for plausibility. Martin notes a couple of strong, and irreconcilable differences between the stories, and it is in light of these conditions that some significant determinations of plausibility can be made.
Join us next time as we explore these strong and irreconcilable differences between the Genesis Flood account,andtheolderGilgamesh,and Sumerian flood stories. Until then, what is written upon your heart? Is God dead?
Gloria in excelsis Deo! Ty B. Kerley, DMin., is an ordained minister who teaches Christian apologetics, and relief preaches in Southern Oklahoma. Dr. Kerley and his wife Vicki are members of the Waurika church of Christ, and live in Ardmore. You can contact him at: dr.kerley@isGoddead.com.