The Function of Myth within Noahs and Uta-napishtims Stories: A Comparative Analysis of the Deluge in Genesis 6-9 and the Epic of Gilgamesh Tablet XI

Natan Setiawan Gultom

Abstract


Ancient stories which depict similarities in their details of the narrative can be found in various cultures and civilization. Two stories that look similar to each other are the ancient text of The Epic of Gilgamesh and the Biblical book of Genesis. The deluge, observed in both stories, seems to have an impact towards the ever-famous discussion of which story is more authentic. This article gives a comparative analysis of both stories. The aim of this study does not concern with such discussions, rather arguing how both stories, after investigating the similarities and differences, generates a mythwhich may come from a factual historyfor their respective people and culture, preserving cultural history, rational conducts, and religious rituals of each culture concerned.

Keywords: Genesis, Epic of Gilgamesh, Noah, Utanapishtim, Ancient Text, Mythology


Full Text:

PDF

References


Abrams, M. H. 2005. A Glossary of Literary Terms. Canada: Wadsworth.

Hamilton, Victor P. 1990. The Book of Genesis: Chapters 1-17. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans. Isaak, Mark. September 2002. Flood Stories from Around the World. The TalkOrigins Archive, 2 September.

http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/flood-myths.html. Accessed on 26 September 2019.

Kovaks, Maureen G. 1998. Tablet XI The Story of The Flood. The Epic of Gilgamesh, Academy of Ancient Text https://www.ancienttexts.org/library/mesopotamian/gilgamesh/tab11.htm. Accessed on 26 September 2019.

Maduka, Chidi and Luke Eyoh. 2000. Fundamental of Poetry. Uyo: Scholars Press, 2000.

Sweeney, Marvin. 2012. Genesis in the Context of Jewish Thought. In Evans, Craig A.; Lohr, Joel N. (eds). The Book of Genesis: Composition, Reception, and Interpretation. Boston: BRILL.




DOI: https://doi.org/10.24071/ijels.v5i1.2312

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


    

 

IJELS Journal Sinta 4 Certificate (S4 = Level 4)

We would like to inform you that Indonesian Journal of English Language Studies (IJELS) has been nationally accredited Sinta 4 by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia based on the decree  No. Surat Keputusan 152/E/KPT/2023. Validity for 5 years: Vol 7 No 2, 2021 till Vol 12 No 1, 2026

 

 

This work is licensed under CC BY-SA.

Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

 

 

IJELS e-ISSN 2715-0895; IJELS p-ISSN 2442-790X

Indonesian Journal of English Language Studies (IJELS) is published twice a year, namely in March and September, by the English Language Studies (ELS) of the Graduate Program of Sanata Dharma University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia.