Noah built the Ark before the flood in the biblical account. Genesis 6:13–22 presents God’s instructions to Noah and says that Noah carried them out, constructing the vessel for his family and the animals.
Noah is introduced in Genesis as the son of Lamech and a descendant of Seth. The narrative describes him as righteous in his generation and places him at the center of the flood story. His wife, his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and their wives are also taken into the ark.
Noah is not the same biblical figure as Moses, Abraham, or Joshua, although all are major figures in Genesis and the wider Hebrew Bible. In later biblical tradition, Noah’s story is followed by the covenant marked by the rainbow and by the account of his three sons’ descendants. The ark itself is named after Noah because he is its builder and principal human survivor.