Utnapishtim was the Babylonian flood survivor who saved life in the Epic of Gilgamesh.
In the flood story embedded in the Epic of Gilgamesh, the god Ea warns Utnapishtim to build a large boat and preserve living beings. Utnapishtim survives the catastrophe and later tells the story to Gilgamesh. The account is one of the most famous ancient Near Eastern flood narratives connected with the Noah tradition.
Utnapishtim is not Noah under a different biblical name. Noah belongs to Genesis, while Utnapishtim belongs to Mesopotamian literature, and the two stories differ in details, divine motivations, boat descriptions, and aftermaths. Scholars compare them because they share major narrative elements, including a chosen survivor, a great flood, a vessel, preserved life, and released birds.
The Epic of Gilgamesh was preserved on clay tablets in cuneiform. Its flood episode is associated especially with Tablet XI, making Utnapishtim a central figure in comparative studies of ancient flood traditions.