The flood’s ending in Babylonian stories

Says The ark “came to rest on the mountains of Ararat” (Gen 8:4). Noah opened the window and sent out a raven, then a dove three times (8:6–12). Then he “offered burnt offerings” (8:20), and “the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma” (8:21).

In Rogers’s Eleventh Tablet, Ut-napishtim says, “I opened the window and the light fell upon my face”; “The mount of Nisir held it fast”. On the seventh day he sends a dove, then a swallow; each returns, “For there was no resting place”; the raven “saw the abatement of the waters” and “came not back”. He offers sacrifice and pours a libation “upon the mountain’s peak”; “The gods smelt the sweet savor” and “gathered like flies over the sacrificer”. In Berossos, Xisuthros lets birds go three times; the second time they return with “their feet soiled with clay”, the third time not, and leaving the ship he “erected an altar”. In King’s Sumerian text Ziusudu “opened the opening of the great boat” and “sacrifices an ox”. These are their views. For the storm, see The storm in Babylonian flood stories.

Uncertain These share with Gen 8 a mountain landing, an opened window, birds sent out and a sacrifice whose smell rises. They differ on the birds and their order, and in 8:21 the Lord alone smells the aroma and resolves not to curse the ground again. How the traditions relate is open. No dependence is claimed, no lean is taken, and this background does not fix the meaning of Gen 8.