In the Book of Genesis, Noah builds Noah's Ark before the Flood.
Genesis presents Noah as a righteous man chosen to survive a divinely sent Flood. God instructs him to construct a large vessel, bring aboard his family, and preserve representatives of animal life. Noah follows these instructions and becomes the central human figure in the Ark narrative.
The story identifies Noah's wife, three sons, and their sons' wives as the other human survivors. The sons are named Shem, Ham, and Japheth. After the waters recede, Noah leaves the Ark and builds an altar.
Noah is also an important figure beyond Genesis. He appears in the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, the Quran, and later Jewish, Christian, and Islamic traditions. The Ark story is often confused with unrelated ancient flood traditions, including the Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh, but Noah is the specifically biblical builder.