Persian Culture

Persian literature shows us several things about their culture.  Many of the poems in The Rubaiyat show the Persian's great value for life.  They encourage the readers to live their lives to the fullest, because you never know when they will be over.  "The Leaves of Life keep falling one by one." The Persians seem to be Muslim, meaning they are monotheistic and believe in Allah.  They were very spiritual; routinely mentioning Allah and the power he has to save or condemn them.  "The Manners of Kings" shows that the Persians believed in mercy, and in treating others the way they would want to be treated.  "Those who bridle their anger and forgive men; for Allah loveth the beneficient."

The Flood Stories

Many cultures have a flood story in their history.  A lot of these stories are very similar, but the flood stories from Gilgamesh and the Bible are especially alike.  Both stories involve the gods or God causing a massive flood to wipe out humanity, and in both stories one family survives.  Each of the families in turn brings two of each animal to repopulate the Earth.  In both stories, a dove and a raven are released to try to find dry land.  The stories do have a few differences, such as the length of the flood, but they are too much alike for it to be a coincidence.  I believe that stories of an actual historical flood were passed down orally, long before either book was written.  The stories developed the differences that they did due to differences in their recitation.