Editing Methuselah (section)

===Myth===
Yigal Levin states that these long lifespans are intended simply to speed the reader from Adam to Noah.<ref>{{cite journal |first1=Yigal |last1=Levin |title=Understanding Biblical Genealogies |journal=Currents in Research: Biblical Studies |volume=9 |date=October 2001 |pages=11–46}}</ref> Claus Westermann states they are intended to create the impression of a distant past.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Westermann |title=Genesis 1–11: A Commentary |page=354}}</ref>

Some versions of the [[Sumerian King List]] mention a character named [[Ubara-Tutu]] who seems almost identical to Methuselah.{{Citation needed|date=October 2021|reason=citation needed for comparison between methusaleh and ubaru tutu}} He was the son of [[En-men-dur-ana]], a Sumerian mythological figure often compared to Enoch, as he entered heaven without dying. Ubara-Tutu was the king of [[Sumer]] until a [[deluge (mythology)|flood]] swept over his land. Although the ages of Methuselah and Ubara-Tutu are different, they both died in a Great Flood.<ref>[[James B. Pritchard|Pritchard, James B.]] (ed.), ''[[Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament]]'' (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1955, 1969). [https://books.google.com/books?id=885iAAAAMAAJ 1950 1st edition at Google Books]. p. 44: "...a flood [will sweep] over the cult-centers; to destroy the seed of mankind; is the decision, the word of the assembly [of the gods]."</ref> Babylonian writer [[Berossus]] also claims that, prior to the events of Babylon's [[flood myth]], kings could live for tens of thousands of years, which bears some similarity to Genesis 5.{{sfn|Gnuse|2014|pages=172–173}} In ''Forever Young: A Cultural History of Longevity'', [[Lucian Boia]] says that the Bible's portrayal of Methuselah and other long-lived figures features "traces of the Mesopatamian legends" found in the ''[[Epic of Gilgamesh]]'', where [[Gilgamesh]] rules [[Uruk]] for 126 years, and his ancestors are said to have ruled for several hundred years each. Boia also notes that tales of kings who lived for thousands of years can be found in both [[Hindu mythology|Hindu]] and [[Chinese mythology]], and that the Bible is comparatively "restrained" in depicting early humans as being able to live for hundreds of years, rather than thousands.{{sfn|Boia|1998|page=13}}

Boia notes that following the Flood, the Bible depicts its characters' lifespans as gradually diminishing; Noah's sons lived between 400 and 500 years, while [[Abraham]] died at 175, [[Moses]] died at 120, and [[David]] died at 70, an age that the Bible portrays as old for David's time. Boia compares early biblical figures and their vast lifespans to the people of the [[Golden Age]] in [[Hesiod]]'s poem ''[[Works and Days]]'', whose bodies are perpetually youthful.{{sfn|Boia|1998|pages=13–14}}