Etana
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Etana was an ancient, legendary Sumerian king of the city of Kish and was, according to the Sumerian king list, one of the kings who reigned after the deluge. He is listed as the successor of "Arwium, the son of Mashda", as king of Kish. It also calls Etana "the shepherd, who ascended to heaven and consolidated all the foreign countries", and states that he ruled 1560 years (some copies read 635) before being succeeded by Balih, said to have ruled 400 years.
Another legend says that Etana was desperate to have a child, until one day he helped an eagle from starving, who then took him up into the sky to find the plant of birth. This led to the birth of his son Balih. [1]
In the detailed form of the legend, there is a tree with the eagle's nest at the top, and a serpent at the base. Both the serpent and eagle have promised Utu (the sun god) to behave well toward one another, and they share food with their children.
But one day, the eagle eats the serpent's children. The serpent comes back and cries. Utu tells the serpent to hide inside of a dead bull stomach. The eagle goes down to eat the bull. The serpent captures the eagle, and throws him into a pit to die of hunger and thirst. Utu sends a man, Etana to help the eagle. Etana saves the eagle, but he also asks the bird to find the plant of birth to become father of a son. The eagle takes Etana up to the heaven of the god Anu, but Etana becomes afraid in the air and he goes back to the ground. He makes another attempt, and finds the plant of birth to have Balih.
[edit] External links :
THE MYTH OF ETANA http://www.angelfire.com/tx/gatestobabylon/mythetana.html
J. L. Hilton Webpage http://www.classics.und.ac.za/etana.htm
| History of Sumer: Notable Rulers of Sumer |
|
|---|---|
| Legendary Kings: | Alulim Dumuzid Ziusudra |
| First Dynasty of Kish: | Etana Enmebaragesi |
| First Dynasty of Uruk: | Enmerkar Lugalbanda Gilgamesh |
| First Dynasty of Ur: | Meskalamdug Mesannepada Puabi |
| Dynasty of Adab: | Lugal-Anne-Mundu |
| Third Dynasty of Kish: | Kubaba |
| First Dynasty of Lagash: | Ur-Nanshe Eannatum En-anna-tum I Entemena Urukagina |
| Third Dynasty of Uruk: | Lugal-Zage-Si |
| Dynasty of Akkad: | Sargon Enheduanna Manishtushu Naram-Sin Shar-Kali-Sharri Dudu Shu-turul |
| Second Dynasty of Lagash: | Gudea |
| Fifth Dynasty of Uruk: | Utu-hegal |
| Third Dynasty of Ur: | Ur-Nammu Shulgi Amar-Sin Shu-Sin Ibbi-Sin |
