In the Epic of Atrahasis, what was the flood survivor called?

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In the Epic of Atrahasis, the flood survivor is called Atrahasis.

Atrahasis is the central human figure in an Akkadian composition preserved on clay tablets from ancient Mesopotamia. The god Enki warns him about a devastating flood and instructs him to build a boat. Atrahasis follows the warning, survives the catastrophe, and later offers sacrifice after leaving the vessel.

Atrahasis is sometimes confused with Utnapishtim, the flood survivor in the Epic of Gilgamesh, because the Gilgamesh flood episode draws on related Mesopotamian traditions. Ziusudra is another comparable survivor from the Sumerian King List and the Eridu Genesis. These are different names in different texts, not alternative names for Noah in Genesis. The comparison is historically important because it shows that flood-survivor traditions circulated in the ancient Near East before and alongside the biblical account.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Oct. 2026

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