Is Genesis 1-11 A Copy Of Mesopotamian Myths?

By the end of the 19th century archaeology had discovered many Mesopotamian texts containing creation and flood narratives remarkably similar to those in the Bible. Critical scholars came to believe that the Biblical narratives had simply been copied from earlier Mesopotamian myths.1, 2

The Biblical flood narrative in particular is still considered by some scholars to have been borrowed from the Mesopotamian story.3, 4

Later scholarship noted significant differences between the Biblical and Mesopotamian narratives;5 the Mesopotamian creation narratives were now viewed as parallels to the Genesis narrative (not the source).6 Still later it was the Genesis and Babylonian flood accounts shared an earlier Mesopotamian source, whether literary or oral.7, 8, 9

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Author: Jonathan Burke

Keywords: Creation, Creation myth, Mesopotamian Myths, Mesopotamian Creation Myths, Genesis cosmology, Cosmology

Bible reference(s): Gen 1, Gen 2, Gen 3, Gen 4, Gen 5, Gen 6, Gen 7, Gen 8, Gen 9, Gen 10, Gen 11

Source: Jonathan Burke.

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