The Flood (Deluge)

The Flood is Mesopotamia's most famous myth. The gods, disturbed by humankind, resolve to wipe it out with a deluge; but the wise god Enki/Ea warns one righteous man — Ziusudra in Sumerian, Atrahasis and Utnapishtim in Akkadian — to build a great boat and load it with his family, craftsmen, and animals. The flood rages, humanity is destroyed, and the survivor emerges to offer a sacrifice over which the gods, who have gone hungry without offerings, gather eagerly. Granted survival, the hero is set apart. The tale appears in several Mesopotamian works and is, with creation, the most discussed of all ancient Near Eastern parallels to the Bible.