Ḫumbaba

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Humbaba in the Louvre room 3

Ḫumbaba (pronounced Chumbaba), early also Huwawa, is the guardian of the cedar forest in Lebanon in Sumerian mythology . It occurs in several Sumerian myths , for example in the Gilgamesh epic .

Gilgamesh and Enkidu plan to perform a heroic deed together and kill Ḫumbaba in order to fell cedars in the Inanna forest . After a long struggle, supported by Šamaš , they kill Ḫumbaba and cut the cedars. There are several differing versions of the fight.

From 20 lines in Plate V of the Epic of Gilgamesh, which were only rediscovered in 2011, it emerges that Ḫumbaba is not described as a wild monster, but as a foreign ruler whose music resembles that of a court through the sounds of monkeys and other animals in the forest equals. Enkidu regrets his crime and says: "We made the forest a wasteland." At the end it is pointed out that the last witnesses, Ḫumbaba's seven sons, are killed. This mention of the seven sons has so far only been preserved on a single fragment and cannot be clearly inserted into the context.

Gilgamesh and Ḫumbaba

For the Sumerian story of Gilgamesh and Humbaba , which was the basis for the humbaba episode in the Gilgamesh epic, there are two different versions, humbaba A and humbaba B called. For Ḫumbaba A (Sumerian name en-e kur-lú-ti-la-šè "The Lord, to the mountain whose he lives [went]") there is an unusually high number of 80 text witnesses as of 1992, while the story Ḫumbaba B (Sumerian name: ia lum-lum "Heho, heroic") is not completely preserved until today. In terms of the plot, Ḫumbaba A and B do not differ significantly, but the text is very different. Due to the widespread use of version A, it is assumed that this was the more popular version.

Ḫumbaba A

Gilgamesh seeks fame. Therefore he wants to go to the “mountain of him who lives”. His slave Enkidu points out to him that they need the blessing of Utu, the sun god, if they want to go to the mountains.

He sacrifices a white and a brown goat and tells Utu that he wants to go to the mountains to fell cedar trees and gain fame for himself.

Utu agrees with Gilgamesh's plan and gives him seven warriors to support him. Gilgamesh, for his part, urges the young men of his city to follow him. Fifty bachelors are to accompany him. So they move to the mountains. But only behind the seven mountains do you find the cedar forest.

When Gilgamesh begins to fell the cedars there, the guardian of the forest Ḫumbaba wakes up from the noise and sends off his beam of terror. Gilgamesh and Enkidu fell into a deep sleep.

When Enkidu wakes up, he notices that Gilgamesh is still passed out. He yells in his ear, he rubs his chest with oil. Gilgamesh awakens through it. But after Gilgamesh wakes up, he wants to know what attacked him. Enkidu advises against it, as he already knows Ḫumbaba from earlier, and prefers to flee. Enkidu warns of the abilities of the Ḫumbaba: whoever approaches him becomes rigid with fear, and his gaze is the gaze of death.

Gilgamesh devises a ruse to overpower Ḫumbaba: When he finds Ḫumbaba and he yells at him, Gilgamesh kneels before Ḫumbaba and promises him gifts and friendship. For the first ray he offers his older sister as wife, for the second ray his younger sister as concubine, for the third ray he offers flour and water, for the fourth ray he offers small shoes, for the fifth ray he offers big shoes, for the sixth ray he offers precious stones. What he offers for the seventh ray has not been preserved.

With every ray of terror that Ḫumbaba casts, Gilgamesh comes closer to him and the men from Uruk can cut more cedars. After he has cast off the seventh and final ray of terror, Gilgamesh can approach and pretend to kiss him. However, he knocks him down and ties him up.

However, Ḫumbaba reacts unexpectedly. The promises of Gilgamesh aroused hopes in him that he would no longer have to live alone in the forest. Now that he realizes that none of this will happen, he throws himself in front of Gilgamesh and begins to cry. He weeps so bitterly that Gilgamesh wants to have mercy and let Ḫumbaba live. But Enkidu warns him that he must now end the path, because if they spare Ḫumbaba now, they would not return to Uruk. When Ḫumbaba realizes that Enkidu is speaking against him, he insults Enkidu and describes him as a tenant who works for food. Enkidu is so angry that he chops off Ḫumbaba's head. After the deed, they bring the cedars to Uruk and build a gate for the Temple of Enlil from them. They also bring lagenumbaba's severed head to Enlil. But the god Enlil is not happy about the deed that Ḫumbaba was under his protection. Enlil takes Ḫumbaba's head and sees the seven rays of terror that are still clinging to him. He distributed these rays to the field, the river, the Red Sea, the lion, the palace, the forest and the goddess Nungal.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ NH Al-Rawi; AR George: BACK TO THE CEDAR FOREST: THE BEGINNING AND END OF TABLET V OF THE STANDARD BABYLONIAN EPIC OF GILGAMEŠ . In: Journal of Cuneiform Studies. tape 66 , 2014, p. 69-90 , JSTOR : 10.5615 / jcunestud.66.2014.0069 ( soas.ac.uk [PDF]).
  2. ^ Dietz Edzard: Gilgamesch and Huwawa. in: Texts from the environment of the Old Testament. AF Volume 3. Wisdom Texts, Myths and Epics . Ed .: Römer, Willem H. Ph. Volume 3 . Gütersloher Verl.-Haus Mohn, Gütersloh 1997, ISBN 978-3-579-00082-4 , p. 540 .
  3. ^ Dietz Edzard: Gilgamesch and Huwawa. in: Texts from the environment of the Old Testament. AF Volume 3. Wisdom Texts, Myths and Epics . Ed .: Römer, Willem H. Ph. Volume 3 . Gütersloher Verl.-Haus Mohn, Gütersloh 1997, ISBN 978-3-579-00082-4 , p. 540 .
  4. ↑ George, AR: The epic of Gilgamesh: the Babylonian epic poem and other texts in Akkadian and Sumerian . Penguin, London 2000, ISBN 978-0-14-044721-7 .
  5. ↑ Gilgamesh and Huwawa, version A: translation. Retrieved September 26, 2017 (English).

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