Comparing The Epic Of Gilgamesh Vs. Noahs Flood

Epic of Gilgamesh vs. Noahs Flood

The epic of Gilgamesh and “Noah and the Flood” both tell stories of a treacherous flood which wiped out all of mankind. These “The Great Hymn to the Aten” is the longest of several New Kingdom praise poems to the sun god Aten. This poem, composed as a hymn, or sacred song, was found on the wall of a tomb built for a royal scribe named Ay and his wife. It was intended to assure their safety in the afterlife.
The Egyptians had worshiped the sun—along with a host of other gods—since the Old Kingdom. But during the Amarna period of the New Kingdom, the pharaoh Amenhotep IV, who later took the name Akhenaten (“he who serves the Aten”), declared that the sun god, Aten, was the one true god. Thus, Egypt was introduced to one man’s concept of monotheism, or belief in one god.
to 1362 B.C., was an unusual ruler. Under his reign, conservative, tradition-bound Egypt experienced a revolution that affected every aspect of life. Akhenaten was a talented poet, and this poem, as well as several others, has been attributed to him. But Akhenaten’s break with tradition must have seemed too shockingly revolutionary for the Egyptians, who for centuries had recognized and worshiped approximately eighty gods, each of whom took a different form and represented a different power. As soon as their radical pharaoh died, the Egyptians returned to the worship of their traditional