Flood Myths. Stories about a great flood are known from many civilizations, both ancient and modern. The first written mention of a great deluge is found in Sumerian literary sources dating to the end of the third millennium B.C.E. Some versions of the Sumerian King List include a list of eight kings of five cities from the beginnings of kingship to the time of the flood. The last antediluvian ruler was a sage named Ziusudra ("Life of Distant Days"), who in other Mesopotamian sources is called Atra-hasis ("Exceedingly Wise") or Uta-napishti ("I Found Life"). The king list continues in the postdiluvian era with semihistorical and historical rulers. Because it is possible to approximate the regnal dates of known historical kings on the list, scholars have deduced that the Sumerians believed the flood to have been a localized event dating to early...