In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Utnapishtim tells Gilgamesh the flood story in Tablet XI.
Tablet XI of the standard Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh contains the famous flood narrative. Gilgamesh has travelled to find Utnapishtim, a human survivor whom the gods made immortal. Utnapishtim then recounts how the god Ea warned him, how he constructed a boat, and how he preserved life through the catastrophe.
The tablet includes several details that resemble later flood traditions: a divine warning, a sealed vessel, a violent storm, the boat coming to rest, the release of birds, and a sacrifice after the waters recede. It also includes elements distinctive to Mesopotamian mythology, including the quarrelling gods and Utnapishtim’s eventual immortality.
The tablet numbering refers to the standard Babylonian edition, which is a version assembled from cuneiform tablets rather than a single original manuscript. Earlier Mesopotamian flood accounts, including Atrahasis, preserve related material outside Tablet XI.