Many ancient Near Eastern stories describe a terrible flood that destroyed much of humankind. Ancient flood stories are also common in other parts of the world--from the Arctic to Indonesia. It is impossible to tell whether these stories all refer to the same flood. An ancient flood story from Babylonia called the Gilgamesh Epic has a number of similarities to the flood story in Genesis. Since the earliest ancestors of Israel came from Babylonia, they may have known this story.

In the Gilgamesh Epic, the hero Utnapishtim is told in a dream by the god Ea to build a boat, because the other gods plan to send a flood to destroy the earth and all its people. The hero builds the boat in the shape of a cube and makes it waterproof by smearing the seams with sticky tree sap. Then he takes on board his family, his builders, and some animals. A storm comes and covers the earth with water in seven days. The boat eventually comes to rest on a mountain. After six days, Utnapishtim sends out a dove and later a swallow. Both return to the boat because they can't find a place to land. Then he sends out a raven, which does not return. Utnapishtim leaves the boat and makes a sacrifice to the gods, who promise that there will never again be a flood. Utnapishtim is then taken away by the gods to live as one of them.

The differences between the account of the flood in Genesis and this ancient Babylonian story are important. The Babylonian story tells of a number of gods, who decide to destroy the earth simply because the humans are bothering them. The Genesis story speaks of one all-powerful God, who is saddened by how evil human beings have become (Gen 6.5,6) and so uses a flood to wipe them out. Noah's offering is made to please the Lord, while Utnapishtim's offering is made to the gods who hover around the offering like flies, because they are hungry.

The differences between these stories point out a key difference between Israel's religion and the religions of their neighbors. While most ancient cultures followed a number of gods, Israel followed one God, the all-powerful Creator of the world, who chose them and acted in history to save them.