Persia's Kings

In the Manners of Kings and The Rubaiyat the values and beliefs of the ancient Persians show through their literature. The Rubaiyat shows their deeply philosophical and metaphysical thoughts. "Before us pass'd the door of darkness through . . . not one returns to tell us of the Road which to discover we must travel too." conveys an interest in death and what comes after. It also asks the question of why nobody comes back from the dead to tell us what happens. In The Manners of Kings values attributed to a good ruler are recommended. The Persians valued mercy as in the tale with the condemned man who insults the king. It also stresses the evilness of tyranny, as in the story of the king who imprisons his vizier who advises him to become more lenient and is thusly overthrown. The upright and intellectual stature of the ancient Persians is to be admired.

Why?

The Gilgamesh Epic's flood story was written in the same era as the biblical flood story. I personally believe that the reason as to why these two stories are so similar is because the flood was an actual event that occured in history. The two stories were just two civilizations' (Hebrews and Sumerians) perspectives on the flood