In this tale from the Hebrew Bible, or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible, God was dissatisfied with the sins of mankind and he decided to purge the earth of every person except the righteous Noah and his wife.

God instructed Noah to build an ark and to save two of each earthly creature on board. Noah complied, and as soon as the ark was built, God flooded the earth and killed everyone except Noah and his wife.

After the waters receded, God appeared before Noah?s depicted in this scene on a huge wool and silk tapestry?nd made a covenant: to protect Noah and his family, and allow them to inherit the earth.