Which ancient Mesopotamian epic features Utnapishtim, a flood survivor like Noah?

The Epic of Gilgamesh features Utnapishtim, a Mesopotamian flood survivor comparable to Noah. In the epic’s flood story, the god Ea warns Utnapishtim to build a boat and preserve life from a devastating flood.

Utnapishtim’s account appears in Tablet XI of the Standard Babylonian version of the epic. He describes building the vessel, bringing aboard living creatures and skilled workers, and releasing birds after the flood. The similarities to Genesis include divine warning, a large boat, survival of living things, and birds used to test whether the waters have receded.

The two narratives are not identical. Their gods, characters, purposes, and literary settings differ, and the Mesopotamian story is part of an epic centered on Gilgamesh’s search for lasting life. The biblical account instead places Noah within Genesis’s primeval history and emphasizes covenant.

The comparison is important because Mesopotamian flood traditions are among the oldest surviving written flood narratives, while the dating and development of the biblical text involve complex scholarly questions.