Etana

Etana was a legendary king of Kiš (Kish) in ancient Sumer, best known from the Etana Epic, a text that describes his quest for a "birth plant" or "herb of life" to produce an heir — and his extraordinary flight to heaven on the back of an eagle.

The Etana Epic

The story of Etana is preserved on fragmentary cuneiform tablets from Nineveh, Sippar, and Uruk, dating to the Middle Assyrian and Neo-Assyrian periods (c. 13^th–7^th centuries BCE). The narrative includes:

1. The Childless King — Etana, the king of Kish, has no son to inherit his throne and prays to the gods for an heir
2. The Eagle and the Serpent — An eagle and a serpent make a pact of friendship, but the eagle betrays and devours the serpent's young
3. Shamash's Judgment — The sun god Shamash punishes the eagle by trapping it in a pit
4. Etana Rescues the Eagle — Guided by Shamash, Etana rescues the eagle from the pit
5. The Flight to Heaven — In gratitude, the eagle carries Etana to the heavens in search of the "birth plant"
6. The Earth Below — As they ascend, the Earth shrinks beneath them — a description reminiscent of a view from altitude
7. The Conclusion — The tablet breaks off, but Etana apparently fails to reach his goal; later tradition gives him a son

Sitchin's Interpretation

"The story of Etana is not a fairy tale. It is an eyewitness account of an ancient flight in a spacecraft — a human who was taken to the heavens by one of the Anunnaki."

Sitchin argued:

1. The Eagle — The "eagle" was not a bird but a flying vehicle (a SHEM or rocketship), possibly piloted by a god or guided remotely
2. The View from Above — Etana's description of the Earth shrinking below him as he ascended matches the experience of gaining altitude in a spacecraft
3. The Birth Plant — The "plant" Etana sought was not a literal herb but a form of genetic treatment or Anunnaki medical technology
4. Historical Person — Etana appears in the Sumerian King List as the first king of Kish, ruling after the flood

Etana in the Sumerian King List

"Etana, the shepherd, who ascended to heaven and consolidated all the lands, became king and ruled for 1,560 years."

The extraordinary length of Etana's reign (along with other antediluvian kings) is interpreted by Sitchin as a reflection of the NÉRU system — 1,560 years being 1,560 Nibiru-years or some calendrical calculation.

The Iconography

Cylinder seals from Mesopotamia frequently depict the Etana narrative — a man riding a large eagle ascending toward the sky. Sitchin read these as literal depictions of space flight.

Cuneiform Evidence

The story of Etana, king of Kish, is preserved on Akkadian cuneiform tablets from the Middle Assyrian and Neo-Assyrian periods. The Etana Epic describes his quest for a son and his flight to heaven on an eagle.

• CDLI Corpus: Etana — Browse tablets mentioning Etana
• Key tablet: The Etana Epic (CDLI P348833) — Preserved on fragmentary tablets from Nineveh, Assur, and Sultantepe. The text describes Etana's flight with the eagle, and Sitchin interpreted the "eagle" as a SHEM (rocketship) vehicle. Etana also appears in the Sumerian King List.
• Neo-Assyrian tablet of the Etana Epic, describing the king's flight to heaven. (CDLI P348833)

See Also

• SHEM — The rocketship technology
• Gilgamesh — Another king who sought immortality
• Adapa — Another human who flew to heaven
• Sinai Spaceport — The spaceport
• Kiš — The city Etana ruled

Sources

• Sitchin, Z. (1976). The 12^th Planet.
• Sitchin, Z. (1980). The Stairway to Heaven. Chapter 8.
• Dalley, S. (1989). Myths from Mesopotamia.
• Haayer, G. (1983). The Etana Epic.