101 Myths of the Bible: how ancient scribes - Conscious Evolution TV

Myths of the Beginning 85
who, in this story, was the chief deity of the gods. Re targeted his retribution only
toward the corrupt elements. Encouraged by Nun, the anthropomorphic representation
of the primeval flood, Re sent down the heavens (in the form of the goddess
Hathor) to destroy the enemy. As in Genesis, the deity regretted his violent response
and called a halt to the destruction. The Egyptian story also incorporated a modest
flood, but its purpose was to divert Hathor from her mission of destruction rather
than to drown humanity. Nevertheless, having Nun, the primeval flood, direct
Hathor, the heavens, to destroy the earth provides a powerful poetic image of the
waters above and the waters below combining to destroy humanity. This is consistent
with the picture presented in the Bible.
In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of
the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the
windows of heaven were opened. (Gen. 7:11)
The Egyptian tale corresponds to that part of the story in which only humanity’s
wickedness was at issue: mankind had been evil and needed to be punished. But the
Bible also goes on to condemn all living creatures to death whereas the Egyptian story
punishes only the wrongdoers.
This inconsistency between the two explanations of the flood derives from the
efforts of the biblical redactors to integrate Egyptian and Babylonian myths. In both
instances, the foreign sources tell of a time after Creation when the chief deity became
angry with humanity and attempted to destroy the race. But the two source stories
had some differences.
In the Egyptian story, mankind acted with evil intent and the god directed his
vengeance only against the wrongdoers. In the Babylonian story, the gods simply
decided to wipe out all living creatures, man and beast. Surprisingly, the author of Gilgamesh
presents no explanation for this destructive action. Indeed, at one point in the
story, one of the deities chastises the chief god for his senseless actions,“O warrior, thou
wisest of gods: How, o how couldest thou without reflection bring on (this) deluge?”
An earlier version of the Babylonian flood story known as Atrahasis supplies the
missing reason: humanity had become too noisy and its behavior irritated the gods
and goddesses. Consequently, the chief deity sent a flood to wipe out all earthly life.