Bingowings said:

I doubt if they believed it to be literally the truth in ancient Sumeria either.

I am responding to your statement that "[y]ou are a Catholic and the tradition of Catholic doctrine stems from a literal interpretation of the allegorical/symbolic literature most people call The Bible" and apparently misread "The Bible" as "Genesis." It depends on which part of the Bible you're referring to. The books of Jonah, Tobit, a lot of Genesis, etc., are not generally considered literal.

Did I ever tell you I met Bill Gamesh (he hates it when you get his name wrong)?

It took me a moment to get that. :D