In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Utnapishtim builds the boat that survives the great flood.
Utnapishtim is warned by the god Ea, also known as Enki, that the gods plan to send a catastrophic flood. He constructs a large boat, brings aboard his family, craftsmen, animals, and other living things, and survives when the waters overwhelm the land. Afterward, the god Enlil grants him and his wife immortality.
The episode is one of the most famous ancient flood narratives comparable with the story of Noah’s Ark. The Mesopotamian account appears in the eleventh tablet of the Standard Babylonian version of the Epic of Gilgamesh. It is not the same story as Genesis, however: the names, gods, boat instructions, and aftermath differ.
Utnapishtim is sometimes confused with Atrahasis, another Mesopotamian flood survivor. The two figures are closely related through overlapping traditions, but Utnapishtim is the character in the Epic of Gilgamesh.