Etana Myth

The oldest Mesopotamian legend of a king carried to heaven on an eagle's back to win an heir.

Core Characteristics

Known from Old Babylonian and Middle Assyrian copies, with a Sumerian precursor tradition.
Etana, childless king of Kish, is promised the plant of birth if he frees the eagle from the pit the serpent left it in.
Flying higher and higher, Etana sees the world shrink beneath him until Ishtar grants him a son.