In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Utnapishtim is the flood survivor whose story parallels Noah's Ark.
Utnapishtim appears in the Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh, where he tells Gilgamesh how the god Ea warned him about a coming flood. Utnapishtim built a large vessel, took aboard living creatures and provisions, and survived the destruction. He later released birds to discover whether the waters had receded.
The parallels with Genesis include a divine warning, a huge boat, preservation of life, a flood, and bird testing. The stories are not identical: their gods, characters, vessel descriptions, and narrative details differ. Utnapishtim is therefore not another name for Noah within Genesis; he is the corresponding survivor in a separate Mesopotamian literary tradition.
The flood episode is found on Tablet XI of the Standard Babylonian version of the Epic of Gilgamesh. Utnapishtim's account is also closely related to the older Mesopotamian Atrahasis tradition.