ether they delivered Erech from
the Elamite oppressor, Khumbaba. Ishtar, the goddess of love, then
offered her hand to Gilgamesh in marriage, which he spurned with scorn.
Out of revenge, she sent a scorpion, whose sting proved fatal to
Ea-bani. Gilgamesh himself she smote with an incurable disease. To
find relief, the latter set out for the dwelling place of his
great-grandfather, Ut-napishtim, far away on the isles of the blessed.
When he finally reaches him the latter tells him all about the great
Flood from which he escaped to enjoy eternal life.[32]

The most striking resemblances between the Babylonian and Hebrew
stories of the Flood may now be noted: (1) Compare the instruction
given by God to Noah (Gen. 6. 13-22) with the words addressed by the
god Ea to Ut-napishtim:

O man of Shurippak, son of Ubaratutu,
Pull down thy house, build a ship,
Leave thy possessions, take thought for thy life,

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Thy property abandon, save thy life,
Bring living seed of every kind into the ship.
The ship that thou shalt build,
So shall be the measure of its dimensions,
Thus shall correspond its breadth and height,
Into the ocean let it fare.[33]

(2) In both accounts the destruction is due to sin. This is definitely
stated in Gen. 6. 5-7. For the Babylonian story it is implied in the
rebuke given to Bel by Ea:

On the sinner lay his sin,
On the transgressor lay his transgression.
Forbear, let not all be destroyed.[34]

(3) In both accounts, only a seed of life sufficient to replenish the
earth is saved. Compare Gen. 6. 19, 20 with the command, "Bring living
seed of every kind into the ship," or with the statement:

I brought into the ship my family and household;
The cattle of the field, the beasts of the field, craftsmen, all
of them I brought in.[35]

(4) Both stories tell of a great storm and deluge of water. Gen. 7. 11
reads, "The fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows
of heaven were opened. And the rain was upon the earth forty days and
forty nights." Compare with this:

The dawning of that day I feared,
I feared to behold that day.
I entered the ship and closed the door.
When the first flush of dawn appeared
There came up from the horizon a black cloud.

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Adad thundered within it,
While Nabu and Marduk went before.
They go as messengers over mountain and valley.
Nergal bore away the anchor.
Ninib advances, the