a wonderful use of a sunday afternoon

The Rubaiyat and The Manners of Kings have taught me much about Persian life.  They both show that literature was an important part of their lives.  The Rubaiyat shows that they had a strong connection with nature and could successfully write down abstract ideas like love in a way that makes sense.  The Manners of Kings gives a quick glimpse into the workings of Persian government and revealed that their kings were not perfect.  It also showed that their king's decision making process is quite similar (but way more violent) to today's presidential cabinet and process.  In the stories the authors show that their people believed in fairness and livening life to the fullest.  Literature like The Rubaiyat and The Manners of Kings give invaluable glimpses into the lives of Persians and other civilizations.

Floods!!! :O

I believe that the flood story in Gilgamesh and the Bible are similar for one simple reason; it actually happened!  I'm not saying that the entire world flooded, just the entire world they knew.  I saw a show on the Discovery Channel saying that the area that ancient civilizations started could, in fact, have completely flooded.  The entire region could have been underwater making it seem as if the world had flooded.  Then through the course of handing the story down facts get exaggerated thus giving us the "modern" flood story.  God could have easily been involved so I'm not saying that God wasn't the reason it happened.  The only logical reason two completely different cultures could have the same story is that the story actually happened.