What is the name of the older Mesopotamian flood story in which the hero is called Atrahasis?

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The older Mesopotamian flood story featuring Atrahasis is called the Atrahasis Epic.

The Atrahasis Epic is an Akkadian text preserved on clay tablets. Its surviving version is generally dated to the Old Babylonian period, with a famous copy associated with the reign of Ammi-Saduqa in the second millennium BCE. The story includes creation, the growth of humanity, divine concern about human noise, and a catastrophic flood.

The god Enki, also called Ea in later traditions, warns Atrahasis and instructs him to build a boat. Atrahasis survives with people, animals, and provisions. He later offers a sacrifice, and the divine world responds to the survival of life.

The Atrahasis Epic is related to the flood account in the Epic of Gilgamesh and is often discussed alongside Genesis. Similar motifs do not make the three texts identical: their gods, theology, narrative aims, and details differ significantly.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Oct. 2026

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