For it is precept for a precept, precept for a precept, line for a line... --Isaiah 28:10
Generally, translated "line upon line" but the words for "upon" is not there but rather L' is used which means either to, for, about, or concerning. The explanation provided by those such as the interpreter Rashi is God provides a law to counter the law of a pagan deity. Perhaps, part of God's plan was to rob the idols of their glory by taking away their names for Himself.
In addition, some motifs are widespread and can be found in unrelated cultures and lands.
Biblical characters names and titles:
Eve:וַיִּקְרָא הָאָדָם שֵׁם אִשְׁתּוֹ, חַוָּה: כִּי הִוא הָיְתָה, אֵם כָּל-חָיAnd the man called his wife's name Eve (חַוָּה havvah); because she was the mother of all living.--Genesis 3:20
On the matter of Eve the Dictionary of Deities says:
"It is evident, that despite Eve's present creaturely status, various fragments of mythological tradition are present in the story, and various scholars have concluded from these that a goddess lies behind Eve. Thus, the Sumerian divine name nin.ti, 'Lady of Life' (AGE 419), which is structurally similar to the aetiology for Eve offered above, and is itself ambiguous in meaning, having also the sense 'Lady of the Rib', is cited by GASTER (1969:21). KIKAWADA (1972:33) draws attention to the Akkadian formula belet kala ili, 'Mistress of all the gods', applied to the goddess Mami in Atr. I 246-248, and suggests that Mami underlies Eve, who is however supposedly demythologized (24-35)...A goddess named Hwt appears in KAI 89. 1, in a votive stela from the Carthaginian necropolis, beginning with the invocation rbt hwt 'lt mlkt...: 'Great Lady. Havvat, Goddess, Queen(?)!' HROZNY (1932:121-122) proposed that hwt is related to the Hurrian divine name Hebat. She was the consort of Teshub, the Hurrian storm-god.--Eve, Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible. page 317
Note that though Ninti was called "Lady of the Rib" she was not made from a rib as Eve is described. Also, she was created to heal another god mortally wounded due to his sexual exploits and eating from a tree. Also, note another mention of the Hurrian "storm god" named Teshub who is the equivalent to the Canaanite god Baal. Ninti seems to only very superficially have commonality with Eve.
The Dictionary takes Genesis 4 as good evidence Eve is a de-mythologized goddess:
"The second OT reference to Eve (MT Hawwa, LXX eva) is in Gen 4:1. where on giving birth to Cain, Eve cries in triumph "I have given birth to a man by Yahweh!" or "I have acquired a husband, Yahweh!"....Whether Yahweh is the father of the man she has begotten or the husband she has acquired, the implication is that Eve plays the role of, indeed is, a goddess.--Eve, Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible. page 317
It's also noteworthy that in some other semitic languages Eve's name can mean "snake." For instance, the Targum of Genesis, written in Aramaic says:
וַאֲמַר חִוְיָא, לְאִתְּתָא: לָא מְמָת, תְּמוּתוּן. --Targum Genesis 3:4
vaammar hivya (חִוְיָא), l'it'tan: la m'mat t'mutuk--Targum Genesis 3:4
וַיֹּ֥אמֶר הַנָּחָ֖שׁ אֶל־הָֽאִשָּׁ֑ה לֹֽא־מ֖וֹת תְּמֻתֽוּן-- Genesis 3:4 (Hebrew Masoretic)
And the serpent (Aramaic: Hivya חִוְיָא , Hebrew: hanaHash, הַנָּחָ֖שׁ) said unto the woman: 'Ye shall not surely die--Genesis 3:4
חִוְיָא means "the serpent" with the definite article א as a suffix.
The Peshitta text reads:
ܘܐܡܼܪ ܚܘܝܐ ܠܐܢܬܬܐ܂ ܠܐ ܡܡܬ ܬܡܘܬܘܢ܂--Genesis 3:4 Peshitta
This seems to match the targum above, but using another script for that says ܚܘܝܐ whereas the targum uses the Hebrew square script with חִוְיָא.
Later, the woman is named Eve--חַוָּה Havvah:
וַיִּקְרָא הָאָדָם שֵׁם אִשְׁתּוֹ, חַוָּה: כִּי הִוא הָיְתָה, אֵם כָּל-חָי--Genesis 3:20
And the man called his wife's name Eve[חַוָּה havvah]; because she was the mother of all living.--Genesis 3:20
Hebrew/Aramaic Eve: חַוָּה Havvah
Aramaic Snake: חִוְיָא ܚܘܝܐ hivyah
The explanation DDD gives is that Adam considered her a snake in the sense the snake was Eve's snake in seducing him to sin.
Concerning the title "mother of all living":
1. e-nu-ma e-lisz la na-bu-u2 sza2-ma-mu
en: When on high the heaven had not been named,
2. szap-lisz am-ma-tum szu-ma la zak-rat
en: Firm ground below had not been called by name,
3. _abzu_-u-ma resz-tu-u2 za-ru-szu-un
en: When primordial Apsu, their begetter,
4. mu-um-mu ti-amat mu-al-li-da-at gim-ri-szu2-un
en: And Mummu-Tiamat, she who bore them all,
5. _me-mesz_-szu2-nu isz-te-nisz i-hi-qu-u2-ma
en: Their waters mingled as a single body, --Enumas Elish, Composite No.: Q002718
Yet, another translation instead of "she who bore them all" is found:
Creation of man from the Earth:
Genesis has man made from the dust of the ground:
וַיִּיצֶר יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים אֶת-הָאָדָם, עָפָר מִן-הָאֲדָמָה, וַיִּפַּח בְּאַפָּיו, נִשְׁמַת חַיִּים; וַיְהִי הָאָדָם, לְנֶפֶשׁ חַיָּהThen the LORD God formed man (הָאָדָם ha-adam) of the dust of the ground (הָאֲדָמָה haadamah), and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.--Genesis 2:7
This belief man was created from clay in very common throughout the globe in many indigenous lore.
The ancient near east scholar Samuel Noah Kramer sums the ancient near eastern beliefs as:
Among the oldest known conceptions of the creation of man are those of the Hebrews and the Babylonians; the former is narrated in the book of Genesis, the latter forms part of the Babylonian "Epic of Creation." According to the Biblical story, or at least according to one of its versions, man was fashioned from clay for the purpose of ruling over all the animals. In the Babylonian myth, man was made of the blood of one of the more troublesome of the gods who was killed for that purpose; he was created primarily in order to serve the gods and free them from the need of working for their bread. According to our Sumerian poem, which antedates both the Hebrew and the Babylonian versions by more than a millennium, man was fashioned of clay as in the Biblical version. The purpose for which he was created, however, was to free the gods from laboring for their sustenance, as in the Babylonian version.--Sumerian Mythology, Samuel Noah Kramer
Here the pagan Akkadian account of man's creation has minor gods being put to hard labor by their higher ups, tired of the manual labor they rebel, so to end the rebellion the higher gods decide to assign the task of making humans to the goddess Mami/Nintu. Humanity according to this Epic is a composite of clay, flesh and blood, the latter two being from a selected lesser god (they picked Aw-ilu, god of intelligence):
Enki made ready to speak, and said to the great gods: "On the first, seventh, and fifteenth days of the month, let me establish a purification, a bath. Let one god be slaughtered, then let the gods be cleansed by immersion. Let Nintu mix clay with his flesh and blood. Let that same god and man be thoroughly mixed in the clay. Let us hear the drum for the rest of the time. From the flesh of the god let a spirit remain, let it make the living know its sign, lest he be allowed to be forgotten, let the spirit remain." The great Anunna-gods, who administer destinies, answered "yes!" in the assembly.
On the first, seventh, and fifteenth days of the month, he established a purification, a bath. They slaughtered Aw-ilu, who had the inspiration, in their assembly. Nintu mixed clay with his flesh and blood. That same god and man were thoroughly mixed in the clay.-- The Epic of Atraḥasis
Note the mention of immersion/baptism shows the practice pre-dates the Bible itself. The pagan accounts of creation overall have only a few elements in common with the Biblical account, in this case its clay and humans being made to work. Contrary to the pagan account, the Biblical account has God making man a king, where he has dominion of the land and made in the image of God himself. The closest mention to blood in the Biblical account is the name Adam/human itself, dam means blood in Hebrew, in Akkadian it's damu. Obviously, in the Biblical account there is no god slaughtered and ground up to make man.
Another account reads:
"O my mother, the creature whose name you uttered, it existsBind upon it the image (?) of the gods;Mix the heart of the clay that is over the abyss,The good and princely fashioners will thicken the clay,You, do you bring the limbs into existence;Ninmah (the earth-mother goddess) will work above you,The goddesses (of birth) .... will stand by you at your fashioning;O my mother, decree its (the newborn’s) fate,Ninmah will bind upon it the image (?) of the gods, It is man.”--History Began at Sumer, p. 158, 163, Samuel Noah Kramer
The same author provided the same account here, noting parts are missing (he also completely omits the word image). Assuming his guess that image is the word intended, it would be another parallel with Genesis.
A summary of a related item states:
ETEMMU - The immaterial spirit released from the human being at death, not to be confused with the soul. The etemmu was the animating spirit breathed into the first humans created from the remains of the god Quingu after his death. The flesh of Quingu was mixed with clay and blood but animated through etemmu, a spirit of transience, so that, though created from an immortal god, human beings would still die.--World History Encyclopedia, The Mesopotamian Pantheon
There is conceivable Christological 'fulfillment' even of this pagan account where Christ's flesh and blood is sacrificed and mingles without earthly nature. Similar can be said of the barbaric practice of the Phoenicians of sacrificing their children to appease the gods (they only selected children of noble birth, ironically sparing the "useless" lives of the sons of commoners). Despite the evils they commit a trace of Christ can be seen within their error.
Image of God
Genesis 1:26 states the first human was made in God's image.
And God said: 'Let us make man in our image [בְּצַלְמֵנוּ], after our likeness[כִּדְמוּתֵנוּ]; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.' And God created man in His own image [בְּצַלְמוֹ], in the image [בְּצֶלֶם] of God created He him; male and female created He them. --Genesis 1:26-27
וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים, נַעֲשֶׂה אָדָם בְּצַלְמֵנוּ כִּדְמוּתֵנוּ; וְיִרְדּוּ בִדְגַת הַיָּם וּבְעוֹף הַשָּׁמַיִם, וּבַבְּהֵמָה וּבְכָל-הָאָרֶץ, וּבְכָל-הָרֶמֶשׂ, הָרֹמֵשׂ עַל-הָאָרֶץ.וַיִּבְרָא אֱלֹהִים אֶת-הָאָדָם בְּצַלְמוֹ, בְּצֶלֶם אֱלֹהִים בָּרָא אֹתוֹ: זָכָר וּנְקֵבָה, בָּרָא אֹתָם.-- Masoretic Text Genesis 1:26-27
As many note, in the original meaning was kingship/authority. This was not lost on St Ephraim the Syrian who interpreted the verse by what immediately followed, "and let them have dominion over...".
Though God made Adam a viceroy, the term in the Bible is applied to humans in general, especially for men, and especially Christ. Regardless, the "democratization" of the term is noted rather than exclusively being title of a pagan king.
The Egyptians seemed to acknowledge man was the image of God in the 2nd-3rd century BC:
Serve God, that he may do the like for you, with offerings for replenishing the altars and with carving; it is that which will show forth your name, and God is aware of whoever serves Him. Provide for men, the cattle of God, for He made heaven and earth at their desire. He suppressed the greed of the waters, He gave the breath of life to their noses, for they are likenesses of Him which issued from His flesh. He shines in the sky for the benefit of their hearts; He has made herbs, cattle, and fish to nourish them.--The Instruction of Merikare
another translation reads:
Well tended is humankind--god's cattle, he made sky and earth for their sake, he subdued the water monster, he made breath for their noses to live. They are his images, who came from his body, he shines in the sky for their sake; he made for them plants and cattle, fowl and fish to feed them.--Ancient Egyptian Literature by Miriam Lichtheim, The Instruction of Merikare
The writing seems to have predated Moses slightly or possibly was contemporary with him. Interesting is the word Instructions is used. Torah also means "instruction" the Egyptian word was sebayt. Sebayt certainly overlaps with Biblical wisdom literature, of the same genre. As the next example shows.
Also see Othmar Keel and Silvia Schroer, Creation: Biblical Theologies in the Context of the Ancient Near East [trans. Peter D. Daniels; Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns, 2015], 142-43
Proverbs 22-23 and the Instructions of Amenemope (clear link)
For at least a century, scholars have debated whether Proverbs 22-23 borrows from the Egyptian work Instructions of Amenemope. Generally, it is accepted Instructions of Amenemope came first since it is debated to before King Solomon's lifetime. It wouldn't be too surprising for King Solomon to know about Egyptian literature, Solomon had good relations with Egypt, in fact one of his many wives was the daughter of Pharoah (something otherwise unheard of in ancient Egypt for a royal woman to be married off abroad). Proverbs in addition to the Egyptian influence seems to have Aramaic influence in Proverbs 31 (using the Aramaic word for son, however some say a Hebrew word is meant).
This book has an article comparing and showing recent scholarship on the matter.
One of the more interesting pieces of evidence for an Egyptian original is the usage of the belly as man's seat of knowledge, whereas the OT uses the Semitic "heart" for that.
For it is a pleasant thing if you keep them in your belly (בְּבִטְנֶךָ ); let them be established altogether on your lips--Proverbs 22:18 (modernized Douai Rheims)
כִּי-נָעִים, כִּי-תִשְׁמְרֵם בְּבִטְנֶךָ; יִכֹּנוּ יַחְדָּו, עַל-שְׂפָתֶיךָ--Proverbs 22:18
The DRB is based originally on the Latin Vulgate, but in this case, it's closer to the Hebrew text than almost all other translations, since it does not obscure the mention of "belly".
Let the rest in the casket of your belly; may they be a lock in your heart; when there rises a storm of words, they will be a mooring post for your tongue--Amenemope, 1.3:11-16
Many more parallels can be seen in the article linked above.
Canst thou draw out leviathan (לִוְיָתָן) with an hook? or his tongue with a cord [which] thou lettest down?--Job 41:1 (40:25)
תִּמְשֹׁךְ לִוְיָתָן בְּחַכָּה; וּבְחֶבֶל, תַּשְׁקִיעַ לְשֹׁנוֹ--Job 40:25
Thou didst crush the heads of leviathan (לִוְיָתָן), Thou gavest him to be food to the folk inhabiting the wilderness.--Psalm 74:14
אַתָּה רִצַּצְתָּ, רָאשֵׁי לִוְיָתָן; תִּתְּנֶנּוּ מַאֲכָל, לְעָם לְצִיִּים --Psalm 74:14
There go the ships: [there is] that leviathan (לִוְיָתָן), [whom] thou hast made to play therein.--Psalm 104:26
שָׁם, אֳנִיּוֹת יְהַלֵּכוּן; לִוְיָתָן, זֶה-יָצַרְתָּ לְשַׂחֶק-בּוֹ--Psalm 104:26
In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan (לִוְיָתָן) the piercing serpent, even leviathan (לִוְיָתָן) that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that [is] in the sea.--Isaiah 27:1
בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא יִפְקֹד יְהוָה בְּחַרְבּוֹ הַקָּשָׁה וְהַגְּדוֹלָה וְהַחֲזָקָה, עַל לִוְיָתָן נָחָשׁ בָּרִחַ, וְעַל לִוְיָתָן, נָחָשׁ עֲקַלָּתוֹן; וְהָרַג אֶת-הַתַּנִּין, אֲשֶׁר בַּיָּם.
In Ugarit, Leviathan (ltn) is described as a malicious (brh), coiled ('qltn) serpent-dragon (btn) with seven heads (sb't r'sm) (cf. Isa 27:1).--The Symbolism of the Biblical World Ancient Near Eastern Iconography and the Book of Psalms by Othmar Keel, page 51
"In KTU 1.5 i:1 || 27, it designates a 'fugitive serpent' (btn brh), cf. Heb nahas bariah in Isa 27:1 and Job 26:3) smitten by the victorious weather-god Ba'alu (Baal). Two closely related epithets, 'wriggling serpent' (btn 'qltn, cf. Heb nahas 'aqallaton in Isa 27:1) and 'Mighty one(?) with seven heads' (slyt d.sb't rasm), are usually understood to refer to Leviathan, too, and the former is certainly used in this sense in Isa 27:1. Originally, however, they may well have referred to at least one other monster, mentioned again in KTU 1.3 iii:41-42 together with the god Yammu (Sea). a dragon (Tannin) and four other helper at his disposal--as did Mesopotamian representatives of chaos...A seven-headed serpent (mus-sag-imin) partly overcome by an anthropomorphic hero or god is attested as early as the third mill. BCE in Mesopotamian iconography"--Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible, Leviathan, page 512
Since the discovery of the Ugaritic from 1929 onwards, however, it becomes clear that the immediate background of the Old Testament allusions to the sea monster is not Babylonian but Canaanite. The Ugartic text contains not only an account of Baal's defeat of the rebellious sea-god Yam, as a result of which he was acclaimed king (CT A 2 = KTU 1.2), but also allusions to a defeat of Leviathan (ltn = Litan, lit. 'twisting one', from lwh 'to twist'), whom we learn had seven heads (CT A 3.IIID.37-9, 5.I.1-3 = KTU 1.3.40-2, 1.5.I.1-3; Ps. 74:14 refers to 'heads' but does not specify how many) and who is called not only 'the twisting serpent' (btn brh, CT A 5.I.1 = KTU 1.5.I.1, cf. nahas bariah in Job 26:13, Is. 27:1). We also find Leviathan called tnn 'dragon', a term identical with the tannin mentioned in various Old Testament passages (cf. Is 27:1, 51:9...). Ugaritic tnn was vocalized tu-un-na-nu, as we now know from Ugaritica V. 137.8. The name ltn has generally been vocalized Lotan since Albright proposed this in 1932.... --God's Conflict with the Dragon and the Sea, Echoes of a Canaanite myth in the Old Testament, by John Day. page 4-5
[Have you then forgotten, Baal, that I can surely transfix you]...for all that you smote Leviathan (ltn) the slippery serpent (and) made an end of the wriggling serpent, the tyrant with seven heads?...--Canaanite Myths and Legends, 2nd edition, by JCL Gibson, Baal and Mot, page 68, Column 2 translated from CT A 4 (Corpus tablettes alphabetiques)
Again, Leviathan is alluded to in recounting the story of Baal,
She lifted up her voice and cried: How (is it that) Gupn and Ugar have arrived? What foe rises against Baal, (what) enemy against the rider on the clouds? Did I not destroy Yam the darling of El, did I not make an end of Nahar the great god? Was not the dragon captured (and) vanquished? I did destroy the wriggling serpent, the tyrant with seven heads--Canaanite Myths and Legends, 2nd edition, by JCL Gibson, The Palace of Baal. page 50, Column 2 translated from CT A 4 (Corpus tablettes alphabetiques)
The Egyptians also make mention of the water monster in their account of creation:
Well tended is humankind--god's cattle, he made sky and earth for their sake, he subdued the water monster, he made breath for their noses to live. They are his images, who came from his body, he shines in the sky for their sake; he made for them plants and cattle, fowl and fish to feed them.--Ancient Egyptian Literature by Miriam Lichtheim, The Instruction of Merikare
The Egyptian chaos god Apep/Apophis is depicted sometimes as a giant snake or a crocodile and fights with the sun/sky god Ra, humorously depicted as taking form of a cat to saw Apep in pieces.
And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems--Revelation 12:3
And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads. The beast I saw was like a leopard, but it had feet like a bear's, and its mouth was like the mouth of a lion--Revelation 13:1-2
The description of this evil "chaos" monster, in addition to having the 7 heads like Leviathan, was a hybrid or composite animal which also fits the ancient near east mythological description (click to link to see the imagery reproduced):
Ancient Near East pictures show a similar variety in representation of Chaos monster. In Figs. 42-44 the Chaos dragon is depicted as a composite creature, half lion and half eagle; in Figs. 46-50 it appears in the form of a serpent; and in Figs. 51 and 52 it is a seven-headed monster.--The Symbolism of the Biblical World Ancient Near Eastern Iconography and the Book of Psalms by Othmar Keel, p. 50
ADAPA - In Sumerian and Babylonian mythology, the first created man, son of Ea (or Enki) who, in anger at the overturning of his boat, broke the wings of the South Wind and had to travel to the heavens to apologize to Anu. Ea, knowing that Anu would offer Adapa the food of immortality and wishing human beings to remain mortal, warned the man not to eat or drink of anything while in the land of the gods as doing so would surely kill him. Adapa heeds Ea's advice and refuses the food and drink offered to him and, so, is tricked out of the chance at immortality. He was the first among the Abgal, the seven ancient sages.--World History Encyclopedia, The Mesopotamian Pantheon
The Myth of Adapa (also known as Adapa and the Food of Life) is the Mesopotamian story of the Fall of Man in that it explains why human beings are mortal. The god of wisdom, Ea, creates the first man, Adapa, and endows him with great intelligence and wisdom but not with immortality, and when immortality is offered Adapa by the great god Anu, Ea tricks Adapa into refusing the gift....
Once Adapa is in the presence of Anu, Ea further tells him, he should refuse any food or drink offered because it will be the food of death and the drink of death which will be offered as punishment for Adapa breaking the wing of the south wind. However, Ea says, Adapa may accept oil to anoint himself and accept whatever clothing is offered.Adapa does exactly as Ea suggests, respectfully honoring Tammuz and Gishida and refusing the food and drink offered by Anu (though anointing himself and accepting a robe). Anu, puzzled that the man should refuse the food and drink of life and the gift of immortality, sends Adapa back to earth where he must live out his life as a mortal.-- World History Encyclopedia, The Myth of Adapa
Interesting, the cherub is linked to the sphinx of the ancient near east (it is not unique to Egypt):
"It denotes the Israelite counterpart of the sphinx known from the pictorial art of the ancient Near East. In the Bible the cherubim occur essentially in two functions: as guardians of a sacred tree or as a guardian and carrier of a throne....There is no consensus on the etymology of the term....the most probable is that the Heb term is connected with Akk karibu, kuribu both used with reference to genii in Mesopotamian mythology and art....sphinxes and biblical cherubim occur in precisely the same above-mentioned functions....
...the sphinx throne with the sphinxes as an integral element of the throne itself (thus not only flanking the throne) is a Syrian innovation from the time of the 19th Egyptian dynasty. While the Egyptian lion-paws throne never carried a god, the Syrian sphinx throne was used for both gods and kings."--Dictionary of Demons and Deities in the Bible, Cherubim, p. 189-190
The most well known sphinx is the Great Sphinx in Egypt that dates to around 2500 BC, well before the Exodus. As noted above, they were found in Egypt, the near East, and Greece.
Another source when describing the cherubim says,
Common motifs in ancient Israelite art include plants flanked by animals, astral symbols (such as sun-disks and stars), adapted forms of Egyptian symbols (such as winged sphinxes, uraei, and falcons), various animals (such as lions, ostriches, and bulls), and monsters (such as Cherubs - creatures akin to the Lamassu). --World History, Ancient Israelite Art
These Lamassu with bodies of lions, faces of a big bearded man with wings, are described as:
This is a pair of guardian figures (winged human-headed lions) that flanked one of the entrances into the throne room of Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 BCE). Stone mythological guardians, sculpted in relief or in the round, were often placed at gateways to ancient Mesopotamian palaces, to protect them from demonic forces. They were known to the Assyrians as lamassu. This winged lion has five legs so that when viewed from the front it is standing firm, and when viewed from the side it appears to be striding forward against any evil. It wears ropes like other protective spirits.--World History Encyclopedia, Lamassu from Ashurnasirpal II Palace
They are also described as:
LAMASSU - The famous Assyrian winged bull-man who adorned palaces and temples to frighten off the forces of chaos. The Lamassu were protective spirits who were sometimes depicted as the Bull-Man (human above the waist and bull below) but, more often as a human-headed bull or lion with wings.--World History Encyclopedia, The Mesopotamian Pantheon
Ezekiel describes some cherubs as, which were associated with the temple and "something that looked like a throne" (Ezekiel 10:1-3):
Each living creature had four faces: the first a cherub, the second a human being, the third a lion, the fourth an eagle. When the cherubim rose up, they were indeed the living creatures I had seen by the river Chebar. When the cherubim moved, the wheels went beside them; when the cherubim lifted up their wings to rise from the earth, even then the wheels did not leave their sides. --Ezekiel 10:14-16
Similar is used in Revelation 4 without explicitly calling them cherubs:
In the center and around the throne, there were four living creatures covered with eyes in front and in back. The first creature resembled a lion, the second was like a calf, the third had a face like that of a human being, and the fourth looked like an eagle in flight. The four living creatures, each of them with six wings, were covered with eyes inside and out. Day and night they do not stop exclaiming...--Revelation 4:6-8
The first time a cherub is mentioned is in the expulsion from the Garden of Eden:
He expelled the man, stationing the cherubim and the fiery revolving sword east of the garden of Eden, to guard the way to the tree of life. --Genesis 3:24
The cherubim are once again "guards." The Solomonic temple used much Garden of Eden imagery (trees, animals), and as mentioned in my commentary on John 19, so does the crucifixion of cross mention a garden, soldiers, sword, angels, and the tree of Life (called so in Revelation).
Contrary to common interpretation of the cherubs in Christian and later Jewish interpretation, cherubs are meant to be terrifying guardians. Despite the mention in Genesis, it's not mentioned again until Exodus and Numbers and there only referring to a statue of cherubim on the Ark of the Covenant. The only description of a cherub in the Torah is that they have wings and are guardians.
And the cherubs have been spreading out wings on high, covering the mercy-seat over with their wings, and their faces are one towards another -- towards the mercy-seat are the faces of the cherubs.--Exodus 25:20
The God of Israel when speaking in reference to the Ark of the Covenant in the Old Testament is sometimes poetically referred to as "
Cherubim are hybrid animals (somewhat like the chaos monsters).
Some pagan thrones of gods were decorated with cherubs.
Cherubim decorated the Ark of the Covenant in Exodus 25:20, the cherubs as described above were hybrid animals, often lions (like the sphinxes that decorated thrones). Solomon's own royal throne was decorated with lions (lions are associated with royalty in the Bible, "lion of the tribe of Judah"):
Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with the finest gold. There were six steps to the throne, and the top of the throne was round behind; and there were arms on either side by the place of the seat, and two lions standing beside the arms. And twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other upon the six steps; there was not the like made in any kingdom.--1 Kings 10:20-21
Lions are a common theme in ancient Israelite art.
Ark of the covenant vs Egyptian Arks (slight similarities)
The cherubim were located on the Ark of the Covenant, Israel's portable temple, which was the interface between Heaven and Earth, where God's dwelt in a unique way.
“They shall make an ark of acacia wood. Two cubits and a half shall be its length, a cubit and a half its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height. You shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and outside shall you overlay it, and you shall make on it a molding of gold around it. You shall cast four rings of gold for it and put them on its four feet, two rings on the one side of it, and two rings on the other side of it. You shall make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. And you shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry the ark by them. The poles shall remain in the rings of the ark; they shall not be taken from it. And you shall put into the ark the testimony that I shall give you. “You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold. Two cubits and a half shall be its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth. And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work shall you make them, on the two ends of the mercy seat. Make one cherub on the one end, and one cherub on the other end. Of one piece with the mercy seat shall you make the cherubim on its two ends. The cherubim shall spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubim be. And you shall put the mercy seat on the top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony that I shall give you. There I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you about all that I will give you in commandment for the people of Israel--Exodus 25:10-22
Concerning the word for ark here itself, it is in Hebrew אֲרוֹן aron:
And they shall make an ark of acacia-wood: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof.--Exodus 25:10
וְעָשׂוּ אֲרוֹן, עֲצֵי שִׁטִּים: אַמָּתַיִם וָחֵצִי אָרְכּוֹ, וְאַמָּה וָחֵצִי רָחְבּוֹ, וְאַמָּה וָחֵצִי, קֹמָתוֹ--Exodus 25:10
The word simply refers to a chest used for storage, even a coffin, as in the burial of the patriarch Joseph:
Joseph died, being a hundred and ten years old. And they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin (בָּאָרוֹן ba-aron) in Egypt.--Genesis 50:26
וַיָּמָת יוֹסֵף, בֶּן-מֵאָה וָעֶשֶׂר שָׁנִים; וַיַּחַנְטוּ אֹתוֹ, וַיִּישֶׂם בָּאָרוֹן בְּמִצְרָיִם.--Genesis 50:26
Also, a box or chest used to collect money in the temple:
And the priests consented that they should take no longer money from the people, neither repair the breaches of the house. And Jehoiada the priest took a chest (אֲרוֹן aron), and bored a hole in the lid of it, and set it beside the altar, on the right side as one cometh into the house of the LORD; and the priests that kept the threshold put therein all the money that was brought into the house of the LORD. And it was so, when they saw that there was much money in the chest (baaron בָּאָרוֹן), that the king's scribe and the high priest came up, and they put up in bags and counted the money that was found in the house of the LORD. --2 Kings 12:9-11
וַיִּקַּח יְהוֹיָדָע הַכֹּהֵן, אֲרוֹן אֶחָד, וַיִּקֹּב חֹר, בְּדַלְתּוֹ; וַיִּתֵּן אֹתוֹ אֵצֶל הַמִּזְבֵּחַ בימין (מִיָּמִין), בְּבוֹא-אִישׁ בֵּית יְהוָה, וְנָתְנוּ-שָׁמָּה הַכֹּהֲנִים שֹׁמְרֵי הַסַּף, אֶת-כָּל-הַכֶּסֶף הַמּוּבָא בֵית-יְהוָה. וַיֵּאֹתוּ, הַכֹּהֲנִים, לְבִלְתִּי קְחַת-כֶּסֶף מֵאֵת הָעָם, וּלְבִלְתִּי חַזֵּק אֶת-בֶּדֶק הַבָּיִת.וַיְהִי, כִּרְאוֹתָם, כִּי-רַב הַכֶּסֶף, בָּאָרוֹן; וַיַּעַל סֹפֵר הַמֶּלֶךְ, וְהַכֹּהֵן הַגָּדוֹל, וַיָּצֻרוּ וַיִּמְנוּ, אֶת-הַכֶּסֶף הַנִּמְצָא בֵית-יְהוָה.
Note even the English word coffin originally simply meant "basket."
Egyptian chests/coffins did bear some similarity.
The Chest of Anubis had a chest with pole attached with a statue on top, while the ark had two cherubs. See Anubis shrine.
The Chest of Anubis had some sacred objects, the Ark did too.
Inside there were amulets made from faience, two alabaster vases, and eight breast plates. Thieves had undoubtedly rummaged through the casket as the objects, originally packaged and placed in compartments, were found heaped in disorder.-- Anubis Shrine of Tutankhamun
The ark of the covenant filled with some important Israelite sacred memorabilia:
In it stood the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which there were a golden urn holding the manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant;--Hebrews 9:4
"Dimun, which was the equivalent of the Garden of Eden, or Paradise on earth."--The Search for Dilmun, HJ Finkel
Again:
DILMUN - In Sumerian mythology, the site of creation, paradise, where Utnapishtim is transported to with his wife after the great flood. --World History Encyclopedia, The Mesopotamian Pantheon
Sumerian literature on Dilmun is reminiscent of the Biblical prophets on paradise:
In Dilmun the raven utters no cry. The ittidu-bird utters not the cry-of the ittidu-bird,
The lion kills not, The wolf snatches not the lamb.
Unknown is the kid-devouring wild dog, Unknown is the grain-devouring . . ,
Unknown is the widow...-Samuel Noah Kramer, Expedition Magazine - Penn Museum
Compare with:
The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; --Isaiah 11:6-9a
Note, however, the two places are likely far apart. Dilmun is generally seen as being around Bahrain in the Persian Gulf while Eden is unknown but being at the top of a mountain where 4 rivers have their source.
The Biblical Garden of Eden is the home of humans until expulsion for disobedience that God allows the just to return to in the age to come.
Dilmun on the other hand is not a home in anyway foe humans but for the gods alone and the only humans spoken of as being allowed to enter Dilmun are the Mesopotamian Noah and his wife after the Flood.
Other strange mention, coincidence?
περιστερά = Ishtar-bird? (uncertain/coincidence)
And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove (περιστερὰν), and lighting upon him--Matthew 3:16Καὶ βαπτισθεὶς ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἀνέβη εὐθὺς ἀπὸ τοῦ ὕδατος· καὶ ἰδού, ἀνεῴχθησαν αὐτῷ οἱ οὐρανοί, καὶ εἴδεν τὸ πνεῦμα τοῦ θεοῦ καταβαῖνον ὡσεὶ περιστερὰν καὶ ἐρχόμενον ἐπ’ αὐτόν.--Matthew 3:16 RP Byzantine Majority Text 2005And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves (περιστεράς).--Matthew 21:12
Καὶ εἰσῆλθεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἰς τὸ ἱερὸν τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ ἐξέβαλεν πάντας τοὺς πωλοῦντας καὶ ἀγοράζοντας ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ, καὶ τὰς τραπέζας τῶν κολλυβιστῶν κατέστρεψεν, καὶ τὰς καθέδρας τῶν πωλούντων τὰς περιστεράς.--Matthew 21:12 RP Byzantine Majority Text 2005
The word περιστερά GR4085 (peristera) is disputed, it might mean perah Ishtar "bird of Ishtar"According to the Syriac dictionary the word parha (noting its related to Hebraic vars. אפרוח ):
CPA ,Syr ,JBAmb ,LJLA . P Ho9:11 : ܐܝܟ ܦܪܚܬܐ ܦܪܚ ܐܝܩܪܗܘܢ . P StDan(1)2:38 . TgProv1:17 : מטול דמגן פריסא מצדתא על פרחתא דגדפא . TgProv26:2 : היך ציפרא דטאיס והיך פרחאתא דפרחא †.2 birds as a category or collective, like Hebrew העוף Syr. P Mt13:32 : ܦܿܵܪܲܚܬܼܵܐ ܕܿܲܫܡܲܝܵܐ ܬܿܲܩܸܢ ܒܿܣܲܘܟܸܿܝܗ̈ the birds of the sky will nest in its branches.
The dove in Greek myth is associated with the goddess Aphrodite, which, though not the equivalent of Ishtar, does have an origin in Ishtar, both were love goddesses.
This is more an oddity of language, if true, and a warning against relying too much on etymology to prove a point. Similar, to how an etymology of ekklesia is not that meaningful when it can refer to a church or to a mob of people as in Acts.
It is worth noting, Greek adopting Semitic words for animals is not unheard of, the Greek (and English) word for camel is Semitic: καμηλος. The Hebrew is גָּמָל -- gamal. See this site.
Noah/Utnesphtim/Ziusudra/Naahmuuliel and the Flood
Noah's birth and name is described:
And he called his name Noah [Noach נֹחַ], saying: 'This same shall comfort us [יְנַחֲמֵנוּ y'nachamanu] in our work and in the toil of our hands, which cometh from the ground which the LORD hath cursed.'--Genesis 5:29
וַיִּקְרָא אֶת-שְׁמוֹ נֹחַ, לֵאמֹר: זֶה יְנַחֲמֵנוּ מִמַּעֲשֵׂנוּ, וּמֵעִצְּבוֹן יָדֵינוּ, מִן-הָאֲדָמָה, אֲשֶׁר אֵרְרָהּ יְהוָה.--Genesis 5:29 MT
The background for the Flood and Ark in the Bible are as follows:
And the earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God saw the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah: 'The end of all flesh is come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.--Genesis 6:11-14
Man corrupted the earth and became violent, therefore man must be wiped out (except for the Noahs)
To the Sumerians the flood-hero was known as Ziusudra (“a life of long days”), spelled Xisouthros by the third century B.C.E. Babylonian priest, Berossus, in his retelling of the tale. In the Babylonian and Assyrian traditions, the hero was also known as Utnapishtim (“he found life”) or as Atrahasis (“exceedingly wise”). Though Jewish tradition explains the name Noah as coming from the Hebrew root for “comfort,” it may instead be a shortened form of the name Naahmuuliel, the name given to the flood-hero by the Hurrians, an ethnic group active in Mesopotamia in the second millennium B.C.E.--Handbook to Life in Ancient Mesopotamia, P 315
On the issue of the similarities of the Biblical Noah and the Mesopotamian counterpart:
In the Mesopotamian versions, a god warns an individual of...impending flood. The god then gives directions for the construction of a vessel designed to save a select group of human beings and animals. Once the deadly rains have ceased, the boat... rest on a mountaintop. ....the Mesopotamian Noah releases a series of birds in the hope they will fly back with evidence the flood is abating. Upon the receipt of this evidence, the passengers disembark and offer thanks to their god, who in turn promises never to send such a flood again.--Handbook to Life in Ancient Mesopotamia, P 314
On the issue of the differences of the Biblical Noah and the Mesopotamian counterpart:
The Mesopotamian Noah, on the other hand, is not explicitly saved because he is more righteous than his contemporaries. Nor does Enlil, the leader of the Mesopotamian gods, use the flood to punish sin. Instead, he floods the earth because a populous and noisy human race has been making him lose sleep. Throughout, the Biblical narrative has moral direction; indeed, after the flood God promulgates new ethical guidelines by which humankind must live. Conversely, Enlil is self-centered and concerned only with his own gratification; it is a divine subordinate, Ea, who warns the Mesopotamian Noah of the impending disaster.--Handbook to Life in Ancient Mesopotamia, P 315
The account in the Mesopotamian reads:
"Man of Shuruppak, son of Ubara-Tutu, Dismantle your house, build a boat. Leave possessions, search out living things. Reject chattels and save lives! Put aboard the seed of al living things, into the boat. The boat that you are to build Shall have her dimensions in proportion, Roof her like the Apsu."
I realized and spoke to my master Ea, "I have paid attention to the words that you spoke in this way, My master, and I shall act upon them. But how can I explain myself to the city, the men and the elders?"
Ea made his voice heard and spoke, He said to me, his servant, "You shall speak to them thus: "I think that Ellil has rejected me, And so I cannot stay in your city, And I cannot set foot on Ellil's land again. I must go down to the Apsu and stay with my master Ea. Then he will shower abundance upon you....--Myths of Mesopotamia, Gilgamesh XI
The Mesopotamian flood had the water rising 6 days and 7 nights:
"Six days and seven nights The wind continued, the deluge and windstorm leveled the land. When the seventh day arrived, The windstorm and deluge left off their battle, Which had struggled, like a woman in labor. The sea grew calm, the tempest stilled, the deluge ceased."--The Epic of Gilgamesh: A New Translation, Analogues, Criticism. Tablet XI, p. 88
The Biblical flood was much longer:
And the waters prevailed upon the earth a hundred and fifty days.--Genesis 7:24
The Mesopotamian flood has the boat landing on Mt. Nimush:
"The boat had come to rest of Mount Nimush, Mount Nimush held the boat fast, not letting it move..."--The Epic of Gilgamesh: A New Translation, Analogues, Criticism. Tablet XI, p. 88
The Biblical ark lands on the mountains of Ararat (Kardu in the Aramaic Peshitta):
And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat--Genesis 8:4
Furthermore, both accounts have the Noah figure sending out a bird for evidence of dry land:
"I brought out a dove and set it free. The dove went off and returned, No landing place came to its view, so it turned back. I brought out a swallow and set it free, The follow went off and returned, No landing place came to its view, so it turned back. I brought a raven and set it free. The raven went off and saw the ebbing of the waters. It ate, preened, left droppings, did not turn back"--The Epic of Gilgamesh: A New Translation, Analogues, Criticism. Tablet XI, p. 88-89
And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made. And he sent forth a raven, and it went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth. And he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground. But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him to the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth; and he put forth his hand, and took her, and brought her in unto him into the ark. And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark. And the dove came in to him at eventide; and lo in her mouth an olive-leaf freshly plucked; so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth. And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove; and she returned not again unto him any more. --Genesis 8:6-12
The Mesopotamian Noah sent both a dove and raven just as the Biblical, albeit in a different orders. The Mesopotamian Noah also send out a swallow.
Both accounts end with a sacrifice offered for the survival:
"I brought out an offering and offered it to the four directions. I set up an incense offering on the summit of the mountain, I arranged seven and seven cult vessels....The gods smelled the savor, The gods smelled the sweet savor, The gods crowded round the sacrificer like flies--The Epic of Gilgamesh: A New Translation, Analogues, Criticism. Tablet XI, p. 89
And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt-offerings on the altar. And the LORD smelled the sweet savour; ....--Genesis 8:20-21
The Genesis account has God saying He will never do this again:
and the LORD said in His heart: 'I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done. --Genesis 8:21
The Babylonian account causes the gods to argue with one another. Enlil is furious at the other gods for allowing any humans to survive.
As soon as Enlil arrived, He saw the boat, Enlil flew into a rage, He was filled with fury at the gods: "Who came through alive? No man was to survive destruction!"--The Epic of Gilgamesh: A New Translation, Analogues, Criticism. Tablet XI, p. 90
The mother goddess defends the action and asks for other methods of destroying humans be used instead of a massive flood.
"You...are the wisest of the gods, How could you, irrationally, have brought on the flood? Punish the wrongdoer for his wrongdoing, Punish the transgressor for his transgression, But be lenient, lest he be cut off....Instead of a bringing on a flood, Let the lion rise up to diminish the human race!...Let the wolf rise up...Let the famine rise up.. Let pestilence rise up...--The Epic of Gilgamesh: A New Translation, Analogues, Criticism. Tablet XI, p. 90-91
The Biblical Noah and his wife die. The Babylonian one is granted eternal life and removed from humanity to their version of the Garden of Eden--Dilmun since they have "become like us gods." Reminiscent of Genesis where God said, "Man has become like one of us!"
He [Enlil] touched our brows, stood between us to bless us: "Hitherto Utanapishtim has been a human being, Now Utanapishtim and his wife shall become like us gods. Utanapishtim shall dwell far distant at the source of the rivers."--The Epic of Gilgamesh: A New Translation, Analogues, Criticism. Tablet XI, p. 91
The instructions for the Biblical Noah's ark (tevah תֵּבָה):
Make thee an ark of gopher wood; with rooms shalt thou make the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. And this is how thou shalt make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits. --Genesis 6:11-14
The word ark is different from the ark of the Covenant, Noah's ark is called a tevah while the Ark of the Covenant is called an aron (coffin/box). Tevah is only used again in Exodus 2:3-5 to describe the box baby Moses floated on to be saved from male infanticide, possibly making him a new Noah. Tevah is likely a loan word from Egyptian where it simply means a box or chest.
Jastow's dictionary for Tevah notes:
תֵּבָה, תֵּיבָה (b. h. תֵּבָה; Egyptian; v., however, תָּבָא)ship, ark, chest. Gen. R. s. 31 (play on קנים, Gen. VI, 14) מה הקן … אף תֵּיבָתְךָ וכ׳ as birds (v. קֵן) make the leper clean, so does thy ark cleanse thee. Ib. על שם תֵּיבָתוֹ של נח (it is called t’biḳin) from the measures of Noah’s ark. Y. Erub. V, 22ᶜ bot. כיצד היו ישראל … כת׳ how did the Israelites march in the desert?… like a chest (forming a square), opp. כקורה like a beam (in columns). Men. 94ᵇ כמין ת׳ פרוצה (the shape of the show-bread was) that of an open chest (without a lid and with a level bottom), opp. כמין ספינה רוקדת like a rocking ship (with a curved bottom). Sifra M’tsorʿa, Zab., Par. 1, ch. II תֵּיבַת הבלנים the bathers’ chest. Tosef. Kel. B. Mets. X, 1, sq.; a. fr.—Pl. תֵּבוֹת, תֵּי׳. Midr. Till. to Ps. I היה צריך לעשות ת׳ הרבה he would have been obliged to build many arks. Y. Sot. VIII, beg. 22ᵇ שהיו עשויין ת׳ ת׳ they (the Egyptians) were arrayed in squares.—Esp. the chest in the synagogue containing the scrolls of the Pentateuch. Sot. 38ᵇ, v. פְּסַק. Taan. II, 1 מוציאין את הת׳ וכ׳ (at prayer meetings) they bring the chest out to the open place of the town, and put ashes of wood on the chest &c. Meg. III, 1 בני העיר … בה"כ לוקחין ת׳ ת׳ וכ׳ if the citizens of a township sell … a synagogue, they may buy (for the money) a book chest; if they sell a chest, they may buy book wrappers; a. fr.—עבר לפני הת׳, ירד לפני הת׳ to go before the chest, to act as reader of prayers. Ber. 34ᵃ שירד לפני הת׳ וכ׳ who recited the prayers in the presence of &c. Ib. V, 3 העובר לפני הת׳ וטעה וכ׳ if a reader makes a mistake (reads heretical formulas), another person must pass before the chest in his place. Ib. 4. Ib. 34ᵃ העובר לפני הת׳ צריך לסרב he that is asked to read the prayers &c., v. סָרַב. Taan. II, 2 מורידין לפני הת׳ וכ׳ we depute as reader (on fast days) an old man &c.; a. v. fr. —2) word. Men. 30ᵇ ת׳ בת שתי וכ׳ a word of two letters. Sabb. 104ᵃ they did not know הי באמצע ת׳ וכ׳ in which (of the two forms of the letters מנצפ"ך) were to be employed in the middle of a word, and which at the end; a. fr.—Pl. תֵּיבוֹת, תֵּיבִיּוֹת. Ḥull. 64ᵇ דפסק … ת׳ (v. Rabb. D. S. a. l. note 40) where the scribe divides them into two words; ib. 65ᵃ. Y. Meg. I, 71ᶜ bot. תיביות; a. e.
The proportions provided in Genesis are then 300:50:30, or 10:1.66:1, whereas the Mesopotamian ark mentioned above was described as:
"One full acre was her deck space, Ten dozen cubits, the height of each of her sides, Ten dozen cubits square, her outer dimensions"---- The Epic of Gilgamesh: A New Translation, Analogues, Criticism. Tablet XI, p. 86, 57-59
In other words: 120:120:120 simplified to: 1:1:1. As often said, a floating cube since its dimensions are the same.
The volume of Noah's ark (ignoring ships tend narrow going down): 450,000 cubits^3
The volume of Utnesphtim's ark (ignoring ships tend narrow): 1,728,000 cubits^3
The Mesopotamian vessel was 3.84 times bigger in volume than the Biblical ark! Of course, this assumes the cubits in Israel and those of Mesopotamia were roughly the same. Noah's "chest" is more what you expect from a chest, while the Mesopotamians had a cube.
Both the Hebrew and Mesopotamian arks were populated with animals and family:
"What silver I had I loaded upon her, What gold I had I loaded upon her, What living creatures I had I loaded upon her, I sent up on board all my family and kin, Beasts of the steppe, wild animals of the steppe, all types of skilled craftsmen I sent up on board."--The Epic of Gilgamesh: A New Translation, Analogues, Criticism. Tablet XI, p. 87, 82-87
Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee seven and seven, each with his mate; and of the beasts that are not clean two [and two], each with his mate--Genesis 7:2
And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.--Genesis 7:7
The Mesopotamian Noah, however, seemed to also bring along many skilled laborers with him! He also, loaded lots of money (why?)! The Hebrew's Noah has no hint to using contract labor.
The calking of the ark in the Bible was done by God Himself (Genesis 7:16), the Mesopotamian one is done by Puzur Amurri "the boatman", clearly an Amurru name! This was by command of the sun god, Shamash.
https://www.encyclopedia.com/environment/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/canaanite-religion-literature
Temple
angels, demons, holy days
