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Nothing showcases the mythological nature of the Hebreo-Christian scriptures better than the story about Noah's ark. As I've mentioned in my initial post in observance of National Bible Week, the Torah is a composite work; and in the Noachian stories, like the creation narratives, the immediate sources were J and P. This means that if anyone reads the two stories separately, he will get a more or less coherent tale; while reading both in the order that they're presented in the bible, will result in finding major discrepancies.

Regardless of which version of the flood story you prefer, both Noachian stories are borrowed from earlier flood stories in the ancient near east. In the epic of Atrahasis (circa 1700 BCE), the senior god of the Sumerian pantheon, Enlil, plots to wipe out the human race because they (the humans) were too naisy and Enlil couldn't sleep (I can relate). Earlier efforts to kill humankind with plagues were unsuccessful so Enlil decided on a worldwide flood. Enki, the god of fresh water, betrays Enlil's plot to Atrahasis, the king. Atrahasis made a reed boat coated with bitumen, which he boarded with his family, as well as personal possessions and with animals and birds. After the deluge (which lasted seven days and seven nights), Atrahasis disembarked his reed boat and made offering to the gods.

In an alternative version, which may be earlier, it is Ziusudra who was tipped off by Enki and he survived the flood by making a boat. Like Atrahasis, Ziusudra made an offering when he got out of his boat. For surviving the gods' murderous scheme, Ziusudra was raised to divinity.

In a third version, from the Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh, the immortal human Utnapishtim tells his flood story to Gilgamesh, a king in Uruk. The gods decided, as usual, to wipe out humanity with a global deluge, but Ea (an alternate name for Enki) again plays snitch to Utnapishtim to build a big boat. Utnapishtim builds the boat and fills it with gold, silver, animals and (oddly enough) craftsmen. After a deluge that lasted six days and six nights, the world was leveled flat. Through some mystical geo-tectonic process, mountains eventually rose up and Utnapishtim's ark rested on Mount Nisr. After a further six days of waiting, Utnapishtim came out the ark and released a dove, then a swallow. Both birds came back, which means there was not yet dry land for them to land on. On the third day, he released a raven, which didn't return. Utnapishtim then made a sacrificial offering to the gods. When Enlil came about, he got angry when he saw that a human had survived. Ea/Enki calms Enlil, who then boards the boat and gives Utnapishtim and his wife eternal life.

The two flood stories in the bible was derived, directly or otherwise, on the Epic of Gilgamesh, sharing similar themes and elements, but with the addition of a moral outlook. Instead of killing humans for being noisy, the Hebrew god Elohim/Yahweh justified his act of worldwide genocide because humans were wicked (J = Gen 6:5-6; P = Gen 6:11-12). But just like the other gods, Yahweh was appeased through sacrificial offerings:

Yahweh smelled the pleasant aroma. Yahweh said in his heart, "I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake, because the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I ever again strike everything living, as I have done."

Genesis 8:21

Bible scholars have deduced that both the J and P stories have been written during and after the Babylonian Exile, where the writers may have come into contact with the Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh.

Bibliolators claim that the existence of flood stories in other cultures prove that the worldwide flood happened, but it seems more likely that the bible writers copied the myths and legends of their neighbors. Which is why I am very skeptical of pseudo-archaeologists who claim that they've found Noah's ark. The flood stories in the bible do not chronicle an actual primeval event but are retellings of a common near eastern tale. Maybe the pseudo-archaeologists should be looking for Atrahasis' ark, or Ziusudra's ark, or even Utnapishtim's ark. They're just as likely to be found as Noah's gopher-wood boat.

This is part of my National Bible Week series.