"I released a dove from the boat,
It flew off, but circled around and returned,
For it could find no perch."

This biblical-sounding extract is from The Epic of Gilgamesh, which predates Genesis by at least a millennium.

A fuller extract:

"I [Utnapishtim] released a dove from the boat,
It flew off, but circled around and returned,
For it could find no perch.
I then released a swallow from the boat,
It flew off, but circled around and returned,
For it could find no perch.
I then released a raven from the boat,
It flew off, and the waters had receded:
It eats, it scratches the ground, but it does not circle around and return.
I then sent out all the living things in every direction and sacrificed a sheep on that very spot."