Humbaba
(Akkadian spelling, Huwawa, Sumerian) is a monster appointed by the weather god Enlil to guard
the Forest of Cedars. In Tablet I he is described by Enkidu as:
€€''When he
roars it is like the torrent of the storm, his breath is like fire, and his jaws are death
itself. He guards the cedars so well that when the wild heifer stirs in the forest, though she
is sixty leagues distant, he hears her"
€€In Tablet II:
€€"Humbabas roar is a flood, his mouth is death and his breath is fire! He can
hear a hundred leagues away any [rustling?] in his forest! Who would go down into his
forest!"
€€Essentially, the character of Humbaba is that of an inimical
force of nature, personified as a terrifying giant combining the characteristics of beast and
man magnified to superhuman size.
Initially, Enkidu is restless in Uruk, and
thus the quest. Gilgamesh initially is frightened, but Enkidu encourages him. Next, Humbaba
offers Gilgamesh all the cedars and himself as a servant, but Enkidu (1) wants the fame and
glory of killing him and (2) insists that if they do not kill him quickly before the gods
arrive, the gods will intervene and prevent the death of Humbaba and destruction and looting of
the sacred trees.
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