I was referring to Jahweh. The oldest version of the flood story, at the end of the Gilgamesh epic, has Ishtar swearing (on her lapis lazuli necklace (shaped like a rainbow, don't you know)) never to endanger her people again. In that version the Noah character (Utnapishtim) makes a burnt offering and the gods hover around like flies (at a barbeque). Interesting that we still associate the smoke (from candles now) with prayers rising to God.
And yes, the two god stories in Genesis are interesting. One written after the Babylonian Exile (and obviously influenced by the Enuma Elish) and the other written earlier (perhaps by a woman at the time of Solomon...perhaps the Queen of Sheba...). Lots to say about all of this (some of my favourite stuff to say, actually) but so little time in exam time. Another take on the Flood story is Timothy Findlay's Not Wanted on the Voyage. It begins with Noah's wife all in a tizzy because God is coming for a visit...what to cook, how to entertain...then there's a little matter of a magic trick where a coin is made to disappear in a glass of water....a eureka moment for God....
Ursula not flooding in sunny (but still cold) North Bay Eric Yost wrote:
Ursula: The people of the flood could have asked their creator the same thing.It's not one god. If you know the Babylonian Tiamat and Marduk story, you're probably familiar with all those ANE syncretic water gods. Curiously, it's the LORD God who does the flooding, i.e., the God of Genesis 2 who put people in a trapped garden. This as opposed to the (regular or garden-variety) God of Genesis 1 who gave people the whole world to inhabit.In earliest ANE scriptures there's always this combo-god thing at work ... a little bit of this god and a little bit of that god. The literary character of God was still forming.For an amusing take on the Flood -- hey, look on the bright side! -- you'll probably love the opening of Julian Barnes's _History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters_.All the best, Eric ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
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