In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Utnapishtim is the flood survivor compared with Noah.
Utnapishtim appears in the Mesopotamian flood story told to Gilgamesh. The god Ea warns him to build a large boat, and Utnapishtim survives a devastating flood with his family, craftsmen, animals, and possessions. Afterward, he releases birds to discover whether the waters have receded.
The episode has important similarities to Genesis, including divine warning, a large vessel, preservation of life, birds sent out after the flood, and a sacrifice after landing. It also has major differences in names, divine characters, narrative details, and the reasons given for the flood. Utnapishtim is not Noah under another biblical name; he belongs to a different literary tradition.
The Epic of Gilgamesh survives in Akkadian cuneiform tablets, with the flood episode most fully preserved on Tablet XI. Scholars compare it with Genesis as part of the broader ancient Near Eastern flood-story tradition.