The Epic of Gilgamesh compares to the Bible in many different ways. The epic has an extraordinarily different perspective than the Bible does. The way in which these two books begin is creation. This is the first similarity that we can state. God created man out of the earth and woman out of the bones of man, "Then the man said, "This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called Woman, for out of Man this one was taken" (Gen. 2:23). In the epic, Aruru, the goddess of creation created a man called Enkidu, she molded him out of clay. Enkidu was the keeper of the forest and the brother to Gilgamesh. In Gilgamesh it seems like Enkidu wasn't given much care or time when he was created compared to in Genesis it makes it seem like God was oh so very careful in creating Adam and Eve. "When Aruru heard this, she formed an image of Anu in her heart. Aruru washed her hands, pinched off clay and threw it into the wilderness: (68). What caught my attention is that Aruru threw the clay into the forest. This shows carelessness and rashness in contrast to Genesis where God spent time creating humans. .
Another similarity is the fall of man and the search for everlasting life. The snake is represented in both of the stories. Gilgamesh is searching for everlasting life, and the everlasting life is within a flower. Gilgamesh finds the flower but is confronted by the snake and drops it. A snake also confronted Eve in the Creation story. If it wasn't for the snake the thought of eating the forbidden fruit never would have even crossed her mind. She then turns around and offers the fruit to Adam. This causes them to know about sin and get exiled from the garden. As a result of their sin it all of mankind is cursed by hardships and sin. This is similar in that the snake is taking something from the individuals in both accounts. In the Bible the snake takes away humans everlasting life in the garden and gets them exiled and in the Epic the snake takes away Gilgamesh's everlasting life which was consumed in a plant.
