In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Utnapishtim is the flood survivor often compared with Noah.
Utnapishtim appears in the Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh, where he tells Gilgamesh how the gods decided to send a devastating flood. The god Ea secretly warns him to build a large boat, take his family and craftsmen, and preserve living creatures and valuable possessions. After the flood, Utnapishtim releases birds to find land.
The episode has several clear parallels with Genesis, including divine warning, a vessel, a flood, preserved life, and birds sent out after the waters. It also has important differences in names, divine characters, narrative details, and theology.
Utnapishtim is not the name of Noah in another biblical passage. He is a distinct Mesopotamian figure from a separate literary tradition. The older flood story of Atrahasis is also related to the Gilgamesh episode, which is why “Atrahasis” can seem like a tempting answer but is not the requested name.