Utnapishtim is the flood hero in the Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh who is often compared with Noah. The god Ea warns Utnapishtim to build a boat and preserve living creatures from a devastating flood.
The comparison comes from several shared story elements: a divine warning, a large boat, preservation of life, birds used to test whether the waters have receded, and a sacrifice after the vessel reaches safety. The two narratives are not identical, however, and they arise in different literary and religious traditions.
Utnapishtim appears in the later portions of the Epic of Gilgamesh, where he tells Gilgamesh how he survived the flood. In the Mesopotamian account, Utnapishtim and his wife receive exceptional longevity after the disaster.
Scholars study the relationship between the Gilgamesh flood story and the Genesis account as part of the broader history of ancient Near Eastern flood traditions. Similar motifs do not make the stories interchangeable.