Which Babylonian flood hero builds a boat in the Epic of Gilgamesh?

Utnapishtim builds a boat in the Babylonian flood story within the Epic of Gilgamesh.

The god Ea warns Utnapishtim that the gods intend to send a devastating flood. Utnapishtim constructs a huge boat, brings aboard his family, craftsmen, animals, and possessions, and survives the catastrophe. Afterward, he releases birds to test whether the waters have receded and makes an offering.

These similarities have made the Gilgamesh flood narrative a major subject in comparative studies of ancient Near Eastern literature. The stories are not identical: their divine characters, motivations, measurements, and narrative details differ.

Utnapishtim is sometimes mistakenly called Gilgamesh because the episode appears in the Epic of Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh is the epic’s king and seeker of immortality; he is not the flood survivor who builds the boat.