Ascention to Heaven

Edward T. Jones has noted, "the technical term for the experience of visiting heaven is ascension." And Mircea Eliade indicated that it is "one of the oldest religious means of personally communicating with the Gods."
Dr. James D. Tabor talks about the different ascent stories in the Bible. He tells how,

"the motif of the journey to heaven is a vitally important phenomenon of ancient Mediterranean religions. There are five figures in the Bible who, according to standard Jewish and Christian interpretation, are reported to have ascended to heaven: Enoch (Genesis 5:24); Elijah (2 Kings 2:1-12); Jesus (Luke 24:51; Acts 1:9); Paul (2 Cor 12:2-4); and John (Rev 4:1). There are also four related accounts in which individuals behold the throne, or heavenly court, of Yahweh: Moses, Aaron, and the elders of Israel (Exodus 24:9-11); Micaiah (1 Kings 22:19-23); Isaiah (Isaiah 6:1-13); and Ezekiel (Ezekiel 1, Ezekiel 10). Finally, there is the scene in which an otherwise unidentified "son of man" comes before the throne of God in an apocalyptic vision of Daniel (Dan 7:11-14). This notion, that mortals enter into, or behold, the realm of the immortal God (or gods) undergoes various complicated developments from the Ancient Near Eastern into the Hellenistic period. It is closely related to a number of other topics such as the descent or journey to the underworld of the dead, the heavenly destiny of the immortal soul, the apotheosis or divinization of selected mortals (rulers, philosophers, divine men), and aspects of Greco-Roman, Jewish and Christian mysticism. Sorting through this complex conceptual web, and trying to understand these Biblical texts with their contexts and complicated traditional development, has occupied historians of ancient religions for the past 150 years." (Bousset 1901; Segal 1980) See more of this article at Ascent to Heaven in Antiquity.

Also See:
Temple Motifs in Jewish Mysticism (gospelink.com)
The Temple as a Place of Ascent to God
Enoch’s Anointing & Investiture during Ascension in 2 Enoch
Ascent to Heaven - in Jewish & Christian Apocalypses by Martha Himmelfarb (book)
Ascension, Testaments, of Prophets, Apocalyptic Instructions, and Prophetic Warnings