Tanakh & the Ancient Near East Index – Parashat Noach
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Overview
Knowledge of the history, law, cultic practices and realia of the Ancient Near East can often shed much light on Tanakh. This index contains a list of links to articles which touch on the connections between Tanakh and ancient cultures.
Flood Narratives
The flood story has several parallels in Ancient Near Eastern literature. See The Mabbul and Mesopotamian Myths, which explores both the narrative similarities as well as the theological differences underlying the various narratives. The comparison highlights the unique values and belief systems of the Children of Israel, distinguishing them from their polytheistic neighbors.
While pagans blurred the line between man and god, viewing gods as having physical needs, fearing the very flood they set forth, and on the flip side, elevating man to the status of god, Tanakh presents Hashem as omnipotent, in control of nature, above the physical and totally distinct from man.
Similarly, while the pagan gods emerge as arbitrary and fickle, God acts only out of justice, bringing the Flood as punishment.
See Tanakh and the Literature of the Ancient Near East (3), by R. Amnon Bazak for comparison and contrast of the story of Noach and the Epic of Gilgamesh, which, like the above, highlights both points of similarity in plot as well as the differences in religious worldview stemming from Israel's unique monotheistic perspective. R. Bazak further notes that the existence of outside parallels to the Biblical account is by no means problematic from a theological perspective; in fact it might even support the authenticity of the story, as it should be expected that such an event would be recorded in many cultures.
U. Cassuto, in his commentary on Bereshit 6, makes an extensive comparison of the various Flood accounts, providing background about the Mesopotamian versions, summarizing their accounts, and analyzing the points of contact with Tanakh. He includes a very detailed list of both the large and small similarities and differences to Torah, showing how the accounts highlight the differing values of each culture, and especially their differing views of a deity, as only Hashem is portrayed as acting solely out of concern for justice.1
See this video lecture by Dr. Yoshi Fargeon's סיפור המבול - בראשית in which he compares the Mesopatamian and Biblical Flood, noting that though they tell the same story each imparts a very different message.
See Joel B. Wolowelsky, "Divine Literature and Human Language: Reading the Flood Story," in Bentsi Cohen, ed. As a Perennial Spring: A Festschrift Honoring Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm (NY: Downhill Publishing, 2013), pp. 521-534, for discussion of how to deal with potential theological issues raised by the Torah's apparent drawing off of pagan Flood accounts in its description of the event.2 Dr. Wolowelsky suggests that the key to resolving such issues is understanding that "the Torah speaks in the language of men", recognizing that Torah is not a historical essay but Divine literature which utilizes literary techniques, known allusions, and symbolic numbers. Understanding that Torah is actively undermining the pagan accounts of the Flood helps one uncover the unique messages that Torah means to relay in its particular telling of the story,.
Tower of Bavel in its Ancient Near Eastern Context
Olam Hamikra provides images of ancient ziggurats, which may give context for understanding the significance of the tower of Bavel.
U. Cassuto, in his commentary on Bereshit 11, reads the story as an anti-Babylonian satire, suggesting that Tanakh is mocking pagan hubris in seeing their man-made Temples as being the height of civilization.3 They wish to reach the heavens, viewing their city and Temple as a "Gate to God", not realizing that no matter how tall their tower, no one can reach God.
See also Deconstructing Migdal Bavel for opinions which similarly view the story as a polemic against pagan beliefs, suggesting that, as such, the story serves to introduce the Avraham narratives. Avraham, in contrast to the surrounding pagans, looks not to make a name for himself, but cries out in the name of God. He builds altars to God and preaches monotheism, rather than building towers to idolatry.
See Noach: And Man’s Loftiness Will Be Bowed by R. Elchanan Samet for an exploration of how knowledge of Mesopotamian ziggurats interacts with traditional commentary on the intentions of the builders of the tower. Ziggurats were temples, built as a stair case to the heavens, to enable an encounter with the gods. The concept betrays pagan hubris in thinking they can reach the divine. R. Samet notes that the Midrashic reading of the story, that the builders were attempting set an idol at the top of the tower to rebel and wage war against God, doevtails quite closely with what we know of ancient ziggurats.
Listen to Peshat, Derash, and the Ancient Near East: The Tower of Babel, by R. Hayyim Angel, for exploration of how ancient Near East background can illuminate the story of Migdal Bavel and how the Torah seeks to undermine the theology of ancient Babylonia.