In both the Epic of Gilgamesh and the book of Genesis from the Bible there are flood stories that are much alike. Many aspects are similar in the two stories, however the three primary similarities are: the frequent use of numbers, the specific dimensions of the boats, and all of man kind was exterminated except for one man and his family.

God told Noah that "Of every clean animal thou shalt take to thee by sevens, male and his female: and of beasts that aren't clean by two, the male and female... I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and nights" (Genesis 7:2-4). Seven and two are often repeated in this book. Every sacrificial animal was to be taken by seven pairs so that they might reproduce and leaving more animals to sacrifice. Unclean animals were slightly less important due to the fact they...