In the Book of Genesis, Noah first released a raven after the flood.
Genesis 8 says Noah opened the Ark’s window and sent out a raven. The bird flew back and forth until the waters had dried from the earth. Noah then sent out a dove to discover whether the floodwater had receded.
The raven and dove serve different roles in the narrative. The raven is mentioned first, while the dove becomes the more familiar symbol because it later returns with a freshly plucked olive leaf.
The olive leaf signals that vegetation had reappeared, although the story says Noah waited before leaving the Ark. Artistic depictions sometimes show only the dove, which can cause people to overlook the raven’s earlier appearance in the biblical sequence.