What is the name of the Mesopotamian flood story featuring Atrahasis?
Answer
The Atrahasis Epic
Answer
The Atrahasis Epic
The Mesopotamian flood story featuring Atrahasis is called the Atrahasis Epic.
The work is an Akkadian poem preserved on clay tablets. It tells of Atrahasis, a human warned about a devastating flood and instructed to preserve life in a boat. The surviving text is one of the important ancient sources for Mesopotamian flood traditions.
The Atrahasis Epic is related to, but distinct from, the flood episode in the Epic of Gilgamesh. The Gilgamesh account includes Utnapishtim as its flood survivor and adapts material from older Mesopotamian traditions.
These texts are frequently discussed alongside Genesis because they share broad narrative motifs. Similarities do not make their characters interchangeable: Atrahasis belongs to the Atrahasis Epic, while Utnapishtim belongs to the Gilgamesh narrative and Noah belongs to Genesis.
Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Oct. 2026