Old Testament

It seems obvious that the OT is made up of tales, legends, and historical records of mostly the people of Judah. The source of the stories is not relevant. What is important/relevant is what the stories present or convey.

According to the Assyriologist Jean Bottero, the Near East ancients were very clever, intelligent but were not able to think abstractly. To me that would explain the need for stories, for concrete examples.

Bottero also mentions how ancient NE man thought that there were many gods living in a society similar to man's; that man was a plaything of the gods that had to be constantly propitiated; that whatever evil came, came from the gods as a whim or because of failure to please with the right sacrifices. When you read the OT, you can see how this view is being shoehorned into a monotheistic view hence you read about God sending evil. Once the Judeans are exposed to Zoroastrianism during the Babylonian captivity, then evil has a difference source modeled on the antagonist of AhuraMazda.

Poem of Atrahasis

It turns out that the Biblical Flood story is based on the Epic of Gilgamesh which is based on the Poem of Atrahasis. This story as we have it comes from an early Babylonian version of about 1700 BC, but it certainly dates back to Sumerian times. It combines familiar Sumerian motifs of the creation of mankind and the subsequent flood. On one of the Sumerian king-lists, Atrahasis is listed as king of Shuruppak in the years before the flood. The name Atrahasis means "Extra-wise,"and is thus, as Stepanie Dalley points out, quite similar in meaning to that of Prometheus ("Forethinker"), father of the Greek flood hero Deucalion.

Assyrian letter and envelope

It's amazing how similar we are to the ancient Semites.  The main difference is the technology. I found this pic of a letter and envelope in a Yale U. page.  It is of an Assyrian letter (tablet form) and its envelope.