The Ark Before Noah
By Irving Finkel
We are all familiar with the story of Noah’s Ark. The world
sins so God decides to punish the world with a huge flood that covers the
world. Noah is the only righteous person and so God spares Noah and his family
by instructing them to build an ark and take a bunch of animals to save them as
well. There are some contradictions to
the story for example in one instance god tells Noah to take a pair of animals
on the ark. In another he is told to take 7 pairs of clean animals and a pair
of unclean animals. Kind of strange if it all came from God. In fact, I did not
but rather was based on an older tale, a Mesopotamian tale or myth.
In the Sumerian version of things Noah is called Utnapishtim
and he was sort of like a king albeit a righteous one. The people on the planet
are far too noisy so the gods decide wipe them out with a flood. Utnapishtim
survives. This tale is included in the epic of Gilgamesh. In other Babylonian
version and Assyrian versions, the hero is called Atrahasis. There are different
versions of the story going around as is with all stories and they can change
with each telling.
How did this tale with changed names enter itself into the Old
Testament. Assuming that there was a huge flood or at least a flood that impacted
that region it was well known to the Sumerians. Abraham the first Hebrew or Jew
was from Mesopotamia. A big debate as to whether he was Aramean or Sumerian. He
might have learned the flood story from his Sumerian upbringing.
Another theory is that when the Judeans were brought into exile,
they were totally shell shocked by being conquered then bought to a more
advanced culture. They were assimilated into the Babylonian culture. The
Ancient Mesopotamians invented cuneiform writing and it was a special honor to
be inducted into a scribal school. Many Judean were inducted. It was from there
that they learned the flood myth. Since their mythology might have been lacking
some elements, they borrowed and made it their own. There are other elements
like the Assyrian king Sargon who was born of a priestess and then cast into
the river in a small basket. Sound familiar? Remember Moses going on to Mount
Sinai and getting the ten commandments well Hammurabi went up to a Mountain and
received the law from the sun god Shamash.
There is a question as to what the water vessel used looked
like. Looking at Mesopotamian society and how it is placed on the river it can
be expected that they had to get around somewhat by boat and they had to
experience periodic flooding. There are two types of craft. One is a round
craft made of reed and bitumen and it is water proof. Some versions of the
story have it as a craft with one level and another has it as a craft with
multiple levels. The other version is a boat like structure that Noah used.
There has been some speculation as to where the ark landed.
In the Bible we have been trained to think that the Ark landed on Mount Ararat.
In fact the original legend says they landed in the mountain of Urartu. Uartu
was a kingdom to the North of Mesopotamia. But there are other legends that
place the mountain elsewhere. Assyrian legend which held sway briefly believed
that the mountain was Mount Nizar which is in Assyrian territory and part of
the Zagros Mountains. Islamic tradition and Nestorian tradition placed it on
Mount judi Dar. It held sway for the longest but now everyone settle on Ararat.
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