The Legend of Etana is an ancient Mesopotamian myth from the Sumerian and Akkadian world.
Etana is also a king in the Sumerian King List: the thirteenth king of the first dynasty of Kish.
The legend tells of Etana, a king of Kish, a city in ancient Mesopotamia.
Etana has no son, and he prays to the gods for help.
Etana begs Shamash for the plant of birth.
Shamash, the sun god, sends Etana to a pit where an eagle has been thrown by a serpent.
Etana rescues the eagle, and in return the eagle agrees to help him find the "plant of birth", so that his wife can have a child.
The eagle carries Etana up toward the heavens, higher and higher.
As they rise, Etana looks down and sees the earth shrink below him, until they reach the heaven of the gods.
In some versions Etana grows afraid of the height and asks the eagle to take him back to the ground.
At the third league, Etana asks to go home.
Etana: "To the sky, take me, my friend, To the dwelling of Anu, where we can find the plant of birth."
The eagle drops Etana one league at a time and plunges to catch him in its wings each time, until they are within three cubits of the ground.
The conversation then turned to the Legend of Etana, a set of tablets that describe the rebuilding of civilization after a great flood.
LaCroix explained that according to this legend, Etana was a king who founded the city of Kish after the catastrophe, and this city became a center of learning and culture in the new world.
Etana is a legendary figure in Sumerian mythology and is best known for his adventure where he flies to heaven on the back of an eagle.
According to the myth, Etana, the 13th king of Kish, was chosen by the gods to bring stability to his city.
Etana's reign marks an important cultural legend, linking the human and divine realms.
e-ta-na sipa lu2 an-sze3 en: Etana, shepherd, who to heaven65.
dumu e-ta-na-ke4 en: son of Etana,70.