Utnapishtim in the context of "Sîn-lēqi-unninni"

Divine retribution (also known as divine punishment or divine abuse) is the supernatural punishment of a single person, a group of people, or everyone, by a deity in response to some action. Mythology and folklore about how a deity imposed punishment on previous inhabitants of their land, causing their doom, can be found in several cultures.

An example of divine retribution is the story found in many religions about a great flood destroying all of humanity, as described in the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Hindu Vedas, or the Christian Book of Genesis (6:9–8:22), but leaving one principal 'chosen' survivor. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, the survivor is Utnapishtim. In the Hindu Vedas, it is Manu. In the Christian book of Genesis, it is Noah. References in the Old Testament and the Quran to a man named Nuh (Noah), who was commanded by God to build an ark, suggest that one man and his followers were saved in a great flood.

Noah's Ark (Hebrew: תיבת נח; Biblical Hebrew: Tevat Noaḥ) is the boat in the Genesis flood narrative through which God spares Noah, his family, and one pair of every animal species in the world from a global deluge.

The story in Genesis is based on earlier Mesopotamian flood myths. The myth of the global flood that destroys all life begins to appear in the Old Babylonian Empire period (20th–16th centuries BCE). The version closest to the biblical story of Noah, as well as its most likely source, is that of Utnapishtim in the Epic of Gilgamesh. Scholars note shared themes, dimensions, and language but different causes for the flood. Scholars also link its structure to the Jewish Temple.

Ziusudra (Old Babylonian Akkadian: 𒍣𒌓𒋤𒁺, romanized: Ṣíusudrá [ṣi₂-u₄-sud-ra₂], Neo-Assyrian Akkadian: 𒍣𒋤𒁕, romanized: Ṣísudda, Ancient Greek: Ξίσουθρος, romanized: Xísouthros) of Shuruppak is listed in the WB-62 Sumerian King List recension as the last king of Sumer prior to the Great Flood. He is subsequently recorded as the hero of the Eridu Genesis and appears in the writings of Berossus as Xisuthros.

Ziusudra is one of several mythic characters who are protagonists of Near Eastern flood myths, including Atrahasis, Utnapishtim, and the biblical Noah. Although each story displays its own distinctive features, many key story elements are common to two, three, or all four versions.

Ubara-tutu (or Ubartutu) of Shuruppak was the last antediluvian king of Sumer, according to some versions of the Sumerian King List. He was said to have reigned for 18,600 years (5 sars and 1 ner). He was the son of En-men-dur-ana, a Sumerian mythological figure often compared to Enoch, as he entered heaven without dying. Ubara-Tutu was the king of Sumer until a flood swept over his land.

Ubara-tutu is briefly mentioned in tablet XI of the Epic of Gilgamesh. He is identified as the father of Utnapishtim, a character who is instructed by the god Ea to build a boat in order to survive the coming flood.