The Myth of Etana
Also known as: Etana and the Eagle, Etana Epic, Etana Legend
Etana, king of Kish, seeks an heir and turns to the gods. After rescuing a maimed eagle, he ascends to heaven on the eagle’s back to obtain the Plant of Birth, guided and judged by Shamash.
Description
Set in the early dynastic mythic past, the tale recounts Etana’s struggle to secure a successor for his throne. An opening fable narrates the friendship and oath between an eagle and a serpent; the eagle breaks faith, is punished through divine justice, and lies trapped in a pit until Etana shows mercy and restores it. Seeking the Plant of Birth, Etana petitions Shamash and, with the eagle as his ally, undertakes a perilous ascent through the windswept tiers of heaven. Fragmentary tablets preserve alternating scenes of prayer, dreams, fear of the great height, and renewed resolve as Etana aims to reach the heavenly court and win fertility for his house. The myth binds royal legitimacy to piety, oath-keeping, and reciprocity between human and divine realms.
Historiography
The Etana narrative survives on Old Babylonian and later first-millennium Akkadian tablets, notably among the Assyrian royal library fragments from Nineveh. The text is poetic, with formulaic appeals to Shamash and embedded fable material (eagle–serpent) likely adapted from earlier Sumerian tradition. Reconstruction requires combining multiple fragment groups; the order of some ascent and dream episodes remains debated, and the conclusion—whether Etana successfully obtains the Plant of Birth—is inferred via later tradition naming his son Balih. Modern editions collate duplicates and restore missing passages cautiously.
Date Notes
Old Babylonian composition with later first-millennium copies (e.g., Nineveh, 7th century BCE); incorporates earlier Sumerian serpent–eagle tale motifs.
Major Characters
- Etana
- The Eagle
- The Serpent
- Shamash
Myths
- Etana’s Rescue of the Eagle
- The Ascent on the Eagle to Heaven
- The Quest for the Plant of Birth
Facts
- Etana is named in later king lists as an early ruler of Kish, linking the tale to royal ideology.
- The narrative frames divine justice through Shamash, who judges the eagle’s oath-breaking.
- The eagle–serpent episode is structurally integrated as a moral prelude to Etana’s quest.
- Etana’s goal is the Plant of Birth (šammu ša alādi), a divine remedy for childlessness.
- Tablets indicate at least two separate ascent attempts, with fear interrupting the first.
- Ishtar is invoked in some fragments, reflecting fertility and royal patronage themes.
- The best-preserved first-millennium copies were found at Nineveh among Ashurbanipal’s texts.
- The story is one of the earliest known literary treatments of sustained human flight.
- The conclusion is fragmentary; later tradition implies success through the mention of Balih.
- The composition exhibits formulaic petitions, dream reports, and dialogic speeches characteristic of Akkadian epics.