Epic of Gilgamesh

The Epic of Gilgamesh is one of the oldest known literary works from ancient Mesopotamia. It tells the story of Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, and includes a famous flood story in which a man named Utnapishtim survives a great flood by building a boat. This is important for a biblical-history timeline because it shows that flood traditions existed in the ancient Near East long before or alongside the biblical world. It does not prove the biblical Flood directly, but it gives important cultural background for the world in which Genesis was written and preserved.