In the last few tablets of Gilgamesh, I spotted surprisingly many resemblances between Utnapishtim and the biblical character Noah. It’s amazing how the storylines from difference culture can overlap so accurately. In both stories, the almighty God created the flood to wipe out the humankind; Noah and Utnapishtim happened to be the only two survivors that carried on the existence of human. After days of voyage, they both released a bird to see if there is any dry land. Nevertheless, there are some parts where the two stories are different. For example, Noah survived because he was a loyal servant of God and God directed him to build the ark; but Utnapishtim survived only because Ea, the God of wisdom and crafts secretly told him to build the gigantic boat. There is no evidence showing that either story was derived from the other one, since they were written in different time periods as well as different cultural backgrounds. So what then can explain the close resemblance? Saying that it’s coincidental is obviously not convincing; I feel like it’s rather mysterious.
Another biblical reference I found was the appearance of snake. In bible, snake was considered to be an evil creature, since Satan used a serpent to lie to Adam and Eve. In the end of Gilgamesh, a snake smelled the plant that was supposed to make Gilgamesh young again and stole it, thus deprived his chance of living again and threw him in despair. Both the bible and Gilgamesh chose to use snake to carry out the turning points of the story. Because of the snakes, the main characters’ lives were forever changed or doomed. They both lost everlasting life and were destined to suffer death in the future. Why do snakes carry such negative connotations in mystical stories? In fact, aside from these two, many other cultures also consider snakes as evil and non-trustworthy animals.
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