Religions do not miraculously appear in history out of a blank space. Religions are developed over time across generations, often times internationally, and tend to become influenced by other cultures and religions. Some religions develop among the people and cultures that have adopted it, while others tie multiple religions together, adopting moral codes and other ethics from each other. The success of each religion is determined by the spread and popularity among those who may seek it out. Religious success can be achieved through political standards, cultural standards, and generational inheritance, among other things. Christianity developed involving several major cultural influences, including Mesopotamian influence and Greco-Roman influence. Over the years, the parallels between these cultures are evident, providing evidence into what exactly influenced each religion from the next. .
As a matter of fact, the parallels between Mesopotamian culture and Judeo-Christianity are uncanny. Although these parallels aren't exactly the same, it can be concluded that the similarities are definitive. For example, the Mesopotamian Flood Story, The Epic of Gilgamesh, told of how the world was destroyed by flood through the eyes of the Mesopotamians circa 1700 BC. In this story, the Sumerians contemplate their own mortality, so Gilgamesh sets out on a journey to find Utnapishtim, the only man said to have immortality in an effort to become immortal himself. As the story goes, the world was abundant with people. It was so abundant that the clamor caused the great god Enlil to awake. Frustrated by the constant noise and disturbances, the gods decided to exterminate all of mankind. The god Ea whispered to Utnapishtim in a dream and warned him to build a boat as to avoid being destroyed by flood with the rest of the world. When the boat is complete, Utnapishtim was instructed to "take up into the boat the seed of all living creatures" and because of his obedience Ea will "rain down abundance, rare fish and shy wild-fowl, a rich harvest-tide [and] in the evening [he'll] bring you wheat in torrents".
