Atrahasis is the flood survivor who builds a boat in the Akkadian Atrahasis epic. The Old Babylonian poem tells how the god Enki warns Atrahasis of a coming flood and instructs him to construct a vessel to preserve life.
The story is one of the oldest surviving written flood narratives. A well-preserved tablet from the Old Babylonian period is generally dated to the 17th century BCE, although the tradition may draw on older Mesopotamian material. The poem explains the flood through a conflict among the gods and presents Atrahasis as a human who receives divine protection.
Atrahasis is closely related to the flood story in the Epic of Gilgamesh. In that later epic, the survivor is called Utnapishtim, and he recounts a similar disaster to Gilgamesh. Scholars compare both accounts with Genesis because they share several narrative features, but the poems differ in theology, details, and purpose.
Atrahasis should not be confused with Noah. Noah belongs to the Hebrew Bible, whereas Atrahasis belongs to Mesopotamian literature written in Akkadian.