Discovered near the ancient site of Nineveh, these 12 cuneiform clay tablets may date as far back as 2750 BC. These are part of a larger set of Sumerian tablets relating to a collection of city-states called Sumer found in Mesopotamia.
Biblical Significance:
- The 11th Tablet speaks of an ark, animals being taken into the ark, a worldwide flood, birds being sent out during the course of the flood, ark's having landed on a mountain, and the offering of a sacrifice after the ark landed.
- Note the Sumerian King List (circa 2125 BC) mentions a great flood and, interestingly, mentions that those who lived before the Flood, lived much longer than those after the Flood.
- Other Sumerian tablets also seem to speak of Man's formation out of the dust of the ground, the first woman's formation from a man's rib, a Paradise like Eden with four great rivers where man was tempted by a crafty serpent, a test involving a tree, and finally the confusion of language as a result of man's wickedness at some tower.
- This serves as extra-biblical evidence for many of the events found in Genesis 1 - 11.
The Gilgamesh Epic alludes to historical events spoken of in the Bible. As a result, we have yet more proof that the Bible is historically accurate.