DID YOU KNOW?
The answer
Utnapishtim, in Tablet XI — warned to build a boat, he loads family and creatures, grounds on a mountain, and releases a dove, a swallow, and a raven. Ziusudra and Atrahasis are the flood heroes of older Sumerian and Akkadian tellings; Enkidu is Gilgamesh's friend.
Why it’s interesting
The bird release is one of the closest parallels to Genesis 8's raven and dove, on tablets older than any biblical manuscript. That the traditions are related is broadly accepted; exactly how is the live scholarly question.
Scholarly consensus
You can know the Bible.
Not just the stories, but the history, authorship, and scholarship behind it.