The Flood (Atrahasis / Gilgamesh)
In the Atrahasis and the Gilgamesh flood-story, the gods (led by Enlil) decide to destroy humanity with a flood (because humanity's noise/disturbance is too great). Enki (Ea) saves the flood-hero (Atrahasis in the Atrahasis; Utnapishtim in the Gilgamesh) by whispering to him to build a boat. The flood destroys all life, but the flood-hero (and his family) survive. The flood-hero is later made immortal (in the Gilgamesh) [S2]S2 · Epic of Gilgamesh (Standard Babylonian version)c. 1200 BCEtextOpen source ↗[S3]S3 · AtrahasisOld Babylonian c. 17th c. BCEtextOpen source ↗.
Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian, and Assyrian traditions are one layered, continuous religious world. Sumerian names survive inside Akkadian texts; the succession of 'supreme' gods (An → Enlil → Marduk) is presented as political history, not mythic replacement.
The flood-story has multiple versions (Atrahasis, Gilgamesh, and others); the details vary [S2]S2 · Epic of Gilgamesh (Standard Babylonian version)c. 1200 BCEtextOpen source ↗[S3]S3 · AtrahasisOld Babylonian c. 17th c. BCEtextOpen source ↗.
The Decision
Enki's Warning
The Flood
The Survival
The Immortality
Variants of this story (2)
In the Gilgamesh, the flood-hero is Utnapishtim (the 'faraway' one); the flood is part of Gilgamesh's quest for immortality [S2]S2 · Epic of Gilgamesh (Standard Babylonian version)c. 1200 BCEtextOpen source ↗.
In the Atrahasis, the flood-hero is Atrahasis; the flood is part of the creation-of-humanity story [S3]S3 · AtrahasisOld Babylonian c. 17th c. BCEtextOpen source ↗.