Myth of Etana: The King Who Flew in Search of an Heir

What is the Story of Etana and the Quest for Immortality?

The story of Etana is one of the stories of the search for immortality, but here it is the immortality of offspring and not the immortality of life, as the barren Etana is looking for the plant of procreation and not the plant of immortality like Gilgamesh, and he will find it in the sky and not in Dilmun ... It is also one of the few stories that talk about the ascent of man to heaven, so he stayed to that sage Adapa. Perhaps En-men-dur-ana.

The tale begins with the story of two animals, the serpent and the eagle, which have been intertwined in ancient folk tales ... Their appearance in the introduction of this tale is a reference to the conjunction of two symbols, one heavenly (the eagle) and the other earthly (the snake), which refers to the earth and the sky and the possibility of meeting between them through the ascent of an earthly being, Etana, to the sky.

Myth of Etana: The King Who Flew in Search of an Heir

And the clay tablets tell the story

after the flood. ...

The kingship landed again in Kish, and twenty-three kings ruled in it, among them was (Etana) the shepherd who went out to the sky and consolidated all the countries, and he ruled one thousand five hundred and sixty years, and twelve kings ruled before him, and in his time the god Shamash, the god of justice, ruled the country with his breath, and in his time the eagle hated the snake, but thanks to Shamash they repented and made a covenant between them and took an oath before Shamash

saying:

Whoever transgresses the limits of the god Shamash, may evil befall him at the hands of the executioner, whoever transgresses the limits of the god Shamash, may the mountains block their paths in his face, may the arrows hit him in the core, and may he be overthrown and caught in the trap, as well as the curse of Shamash.

After taking the oath, they got up and went to the mountain and became friends. When the eagle hunted the bull of the beast, the serpent would come to eat and then leave to eat its young, and when the serpent hunted the mountain goat, the eagle would come to eat and then leave to eat its young.

Praise be to Shamash, who holds criminals accountable

You, whose weapon strikes the wicked and no one can save him, his father does not rush to his aid, and when the judge judges him, his brothers do not support him, and he is surprised by a brass chain that binds him, you break the claws of the cunning scoundrel and undermine his name, you throw the foolish judge into prison, who accepted the bribe and misled justice and signed the punishment, and who did not accept the bribe, your mercy prolongs his life, your mercy prolongs his life.

Legend-of-Etana-written-in-cuneiform-script

Why is Shamash Considered the God of Justice?

Shamash appears here as a god of justice, and despite his symbolic connection to the eagle, he stands against it because he has done harm to the eagle.

Shamash was the national god of the Akkadians, and Akkadian seals depicted him rising from behind the mountains, carrying the sun's rays on his back and placing his right foot on a mountain.

His places of worship were in Sippar in the north of Mesopotamia and Larsa in the south, and he was worshipped in Assyria with his father, the moon god.

Babylonian King Hammurabi stands ready for instructions from god Utu (Shamash)

The legend continues:

A long time passed, during which the eagle's young grew up, and the evil spirit in the eagle rose up and plotted in his heart, and then he began to think of devouring the young of the snake, and then the eagle opened his mouth and said to his young:

- “I will eat the young of the serpent, and the serpent will not be able to catch me, because I will go up to heaven to stay there and only come down to the tops of the trees to eat the fruits.” The little eagle said to his father: “I will eat the young of the serpent.

The little eagle said to his father:

- Don't eat them, for Shamash's trap will catch you, and Shamash's trap and curse will overthrow you and catch you, and whoever transgresses the limits of the god Shamash will suffer evil at the hands of the executioner. When the serpent returned to his place and did not find his young ones, he searched for them everywhere, but in vain, and then he was filled with grief and sorrow and tears flowed from his eyes, so he went crying to the god Shamash and said to him:

I have put my trust in you, O Shamash, for my part, I have exchanged good faith with the eagle, I have sworn an oath in your name, I have respected him, his nest is unharmed, but mine is scattered. He came down and ate my children. You know, Shamash, you know how much harm I have done, so I hope that the eagle does not survive your trap.

The god Shamash became angry when he heard this and decided to avenge the snake and said to him:

- Take the road and go up to the mountain and you will find that I have tied the bull of the beast there for you, open its hollow, slit its belly and make its belly your headquarters, and the birds of the sky of all kinds will eat its meat, and the eagle will come down to eat meat with them, and as long as he does not know anything about his unfortunate fate he will go in search of fresh meat and find his way to the hollow, and when he reaches the hollow, grab his wings and smash them, grab his legs and smash them, as well as his claws, pluck his feathers and throw him into a hole, then let him die of hunger and thirst.

So the serpent did as Shamash commanded him until he reached the hollow of the zebra, and the serpent attacked him and grabbed his wings and said to him angrily, “Are you not entering my nest and ruining it?

“Aren't you the one who entered my nest and ruined it?

The eagle realized that he was in a trap and that Shamash's punishment had fallen on him, so he begged the serpent and said: “Have mercy on me!

- Have mercy on me! Have mercy on me! I will give you a wedding gift worthy of a bridegroom.

- If I release you, what will I say to the god Shamash on high and his punishment will be returned to me.

The snake attacked the eagle, broke its wings, feet and claws, and threw it into the pit. The eagle turned to God Shamash and asked for mercy and salvation from him, but the God of Justice was saddened by what the eagle had done, then his heart softened and he promised to send him a savior.

What is the Relationship Between Ancient Myth and Dreams of Flight?

The idea of man ascending to the sky on the back of a bird like an eagle represents a deep inner dream in man to go into space and ascend to the heights by means of an airplane.

This text is the earliest human text that embodies this dream. Some scholars have argued that Etana ascended on the back of a spacecraft in the form of a bird, because his description of the earth as he increased his height was accurate, and therefore they do not believe that this description was a human imagination, but rather an echo of a real experience he had.

Similarly, man's dream of possessing a medicinal herb to solve the issue of infertility was one of his great wishes, and so he imagined its presence in the sky, i.e. a celestial herb. The herb of immortality, on the other hand, is an aquatic herb.

The legend goes on to say

Etana, king of Kish in those times, was barren and childless and visited the temple of Shamash and prayed to him constantly:

Shamash, you ate from my fat ewes until the earth drank the blood of my ewes and my lambs, and you did everything that befits the gods of sanctity and respect, and venerated the spirits, and the priestesses and oracles did what was necessary for my offerings and lambs after their slaughter, so let them speak, O God, so that you know what you have done, and from your mouth, grant me the ability to obtain the plant of offspring, guide me to the plant of offspring, remove my worries from me, make me a name, make children who bear my name after me.

And Shamash said :

- “Take your way and cross the mountain, and as soon as you see a hole, look into it, for in it lies the eagle, who will guide you to the planting of offspring.

Etana got up and prepared himself for a long journey and made his way across the mountain and found a hole with a big eagle in it:

- What brings you here?

- My friend, give me a plant of offspring, show me a plant of offspring, take away my worries and give me a name.

The eagle was happy and clapped his broken wings, but he could not, so Etana helped him, he helped the eagle to clap his wings, but he was troubled, the eagle tried to clap and Etana helped him, and when the eagle was able to do so, he came out of the hole and clapped his wings and said:

-To the highest I will carry you. Put your chest on my chest, your hands on my wing feathers and your arms around me.

What Can We Learn from Etana's Journey to the Sky?

Etana rode on the back of the eagle, which looked like a frightening aerial giant, and the eagle felt the weight of Etana, but he took off upwards. And when he had carried him aloft for a double hour, the eagle said to Etana:

- Etana looked at the sea on both sides of Ikor, where the land looked like a hill and the sea was like water in a stream, and when he had carried him a distance of two times two hours, the eagle said to Etana:

“Look, my friend, what the land looks like.

Etana looked and saw that the land was like a peasant's pit, and when they ascended to the sky of Anu, they arrived at the gate of the Holy Trinity, Anu, Enlil and Ea, and the eagle and Etana offered their obedience:

- “What brings you, Etana?

- Greatest of the gods. I have come to you for the plant of offspring, guide me to it, take away my worries and give me a name.

- I will show you the plant so that your son may succeed you on the throne.

And Anu gave the heavenly plant to Etana, and he thanked him, and he and the eagle returned to the earth, and he descended a double hour down, the eagle came down and was still by his side, and then he descended two double hours down, the eagle came down and was still by his side, and then he descended

Etana returned to Kish and ate from the plant of the offspring and begat his son Balih, who ruled for four hundred years. Then the kingship passed to E-anna in Uruk and twelve great kings ruled there.