What I'm Working on for February
Added 2022-02-10 16:47:34 +0000 UTCThe gods in this image will all make a brief cameo in my next animation, which is actually a little bit more involved that it might seem. My top supporter, Josh, asked about doing a video regarding the bible's use of the flood myth, and how it was taken from previous myths. To be sure I was being accurate in my research, I contacted an Assyriologist from the community, also named Josh (Digital Hammurabi - YouTube). He was kind enough to offer a couple corrections and advice, and once he thought my script was good, I started the animating process.
As it turns out, yes, the Noachian flood comes from earlier polytheistic traditions and was adopted and adapted for the bible (as if there weren't enough problems with the story). They didn't really have a concept of "intellectual property" back then, so stories were often shared, copied, changed, and retold without credit. It's clear that the flood story was taken and attributed to Yahweh, and the character of Utnapishtim was changed to Noah - clearly undermining the "infallibility" of the bible from a fundamentalist perspective.
I decided to try a comedic route with this one, since scholars have already tackled this in a serious manner. Converting this story of "plagiarism" into comedy was challenging, but I think I was up for it. Ultimately, however, you will decide.
