GENESIS AND ANCIENT MYTHS OF THE NEAR EAST - 930 Words

When one approaches the biblical text, it is important to explore the cultural context in which the text occurs. With regard to the Book of Genesis, it is important to examine the writing with other contemporary works of similar geography and topics. The people of ancient Mesopotamia, where the oldest civilizations originated, produced a number of stories of creation and natural occurrences. It is important to note that many of the stories of the Sumerians, Akkadians and Hebrews began as oral traditions as the events they depict predate writing, so it is difficult to date these works on the basis of when these prehistoric myths were initiated. Comparison to writings contemporary to the people of Israel, can offer a deeper understanding of†¦show more content†¦Just as there existed beings outside of creation in the Enuma Elish, the Hebrew God was present prior to the formation of the world. As the universe becomes defined in the following stages, the development described in each of the stories show a resemblance in events and the order in which they occurred. It is important to note that light existed, in both stories, independent of celestial bodies. Next, in same order, the sky and ground are created, followed by â€Å"luminaries† or the sun, moon and stars. The fact that the sequence of the creation stories is nearly identical â€Å"can hardly be accidental† according to some scholars. Subsequently, man is created with elements of divinity, given the task â€Å"of working the soil†. At the conclusion of each creation story, the deities rest from their work. While it is necessary to refrain from â€Å"exaggerating the influence† found in these similarities, it is equally essential to remain open to the understanding that these works emerged â€Å"within a similar conceptual world†. Though many similarities in the creation stories of Genesis and the Enuma Elish, â€Å"the divergences are much more far-reaching and significant†. Unlike the gods of depicted in the Enuma Elish who were â€Å"coexistent and coeternal† with the â€Å"comic matter†, the Hebrew God is transcendent and separate from the substance of the cosmos, having Himself created it. While the Hebrew God exists in eternity past,Show MoreRelatedEssay on The Nature and Role of the Ocean in the Medieval Imagination1525 Words   |  7 Pagesthe medieval times, through oral tradition and through the writings of people like Homer. Another major factor influencing the medieval view of the ocean is the ideology of the Desert Fathers. The desert fathers were holy men that lived in the near east, who became disillusioned with the materialistic culture of the time and wandered out into the desert as hermits. They were seen as heroes in their time and were revered as wise men. 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