In the book of Genesis in the Bible, Noah was the hero chosen by God to survive a great flood on earth. The biblical story was probably based on similar accounts of a flood in myths from Mesopotamiaarea between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, most of present-day Iraq.

According to the story in Genesis, the human race had become so wicked that God was sorry he ever created it. He decided to wash away all the creatures of the earth in a great flood. However, God saw that Noah was a righteous man so he decided to save him. God told Noah of his plans and instructed him to build a great ark in which he could ride out the storm with his wife and children. Then he commanded Noah to find male and female specimens of every type of animal on the earth and bring them into the ark and also to gather plants and seeds. Noah followed God's instructions and entered the ark as...