Humbaba
Humbaba, originally known as Ḫuwawa in Sumerian, was a figure in Mesopotamian mythology. The origin and meaning of his name are unknown. He was portrayed as an anthropomorphic figure comparable to an ogre or giant. He is best known from Sumerian and Akkadian narratives focused on the hero Gilgamesh, including short compositions belonging to the curriculum of scribal schools, various versions of the Epic of Gilgamesh, and several Hurrian and Hittite adaptations. He is invariably portrayed as the inhabitant or guardian of the cedar forest, to which Gilgamesh ventures with his companion Enkidu. The subsequent encounter leads to the death of Humbaba, which provokes the anger of the gods. Humbaba is also attested in other works of Mesopotamian literature. Multiple depictions of him have also been identified, including combat scenes and apotropaic clay heads.
It has been suggested that the iconography of Humbaba influenced depictions of the gorgons in Greece, in particular scenes of Perseus slaying Medusa with the help of Athena. A late derivative of Humbaba also seems to be found in both Jewish and Manichaean versions of the Book of Giants, where one of the eponymous beings is referred to as Ḥôbabiš, Ḥôbabis or Ḥōbāīš. While it is agreed the name is derived from his own, the context in which it appears shows no similarity to known myths involving him. Traces of Ḥôbabiš have also been identified in a number of later works belonging to Islamic tradition, such as religious polemics. A number of connections have also been proposed between Humbaba and figures such as Kombabos from the works of Lucian or biblical Hobab, but they are not regarded as plausible.
Name
The name Humbaba first occurs as an ordinary personal name in documents from the Ur III period. The modern spelling reflects the Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian copies of the Epic of Gilgamesh, where it is consistently written in cuneiform as Ḫum-ba-ba, but this variant is not attested before the first millennium BCE. The oldest attested form is conventionally rendered as Ḫuwawa, though multiple cuneiform spellings are attested: Ḫu-wa-wa, Ḫu-ba-ba and Ḫu-Ú-Ú, the last of which has two possible readings due to the sign Ú standing for both ba6 and wax. In texts from Mari and Tell Harmal, in which the scribal conventions reflect the closely related traditions of the Middle Euphrates and the Eshnunna-influenced Diyala area, the name is instead spelled as Ḫu-bi-bi, which seemingly reflects the pronunciation /Ḫuppipi/. On lexical grounds it is presumed that similar reading of the name, even when it was written as Ḫu-wa-wa, might have also been the norm elsewhere in Syria, for example in Alalakh, as well as in Hittite and Hurrian sources, which might indicate Ḫuppipi was the default form in both north and west of the Mesopotamian cultural sphere of influence. Unique forms showing inflection are attested in copies from Ugarit and from Assyria from the Middle Assyrian period. Additionally abbreviated forms, Ḫuwa and Ḫu, are known from an Old Babylonian version of the Epic of Gilgamesh presently belonging to the Schøyen Collection.Many of the variants of Humbaba's name are attested both with and without the so-called "divine determinative". Examples of its use have been identified in texts from Kish, Ur, Nerebtum, Susa and possibly Larsa and Shaduppum. A fragment of a Hurrian literary text using it is also known. However, no sources indicate that Humbaba was necessarily regarded as a god. In modern literature, he is variously described as an "ogre", "demon" or "giant". In a passage from one of the Old Babylonian copies of the Epic of Gilgamesh, he is described as ḫarḫaru, based on context presumably "ogre", "monster" or "freak". He is generally portrayed as anthropomorphic.
Humbaba’s name shows no obvious signs of specific linguistic affiliation and its meaning is unknown. Similarly structured names are sometimes referred to as “banana names” in Assyriology. It is sometimes assumed that they belong to a linguistic substrate, but this view is not universally accepted, and it is not certain if all of them come from the same language. Frans Wiggermann instead suggests that Humbaba’s name might have originally been an onomatopoeia: he argues he was in origin an apotropaic grinning face hung on doors to ward off evil, with his name being a representation of the sounds he was believed to make. He assumes the myths involving him served as an etiology meant to explain this custom.
The phonetically similar names of a stone, na5ḫúb-be-be, and a lizard, ḫuwawītum, were both derived from Humbaba's own.
Disproved proposals
While such a possibility has been suggested in older scholarship, the name Ḫumḫum does not refer to Humbaba, but to an unrelated minor god worshiped in Dūr-Šarrukku, as attested in a text from the reign of Esarhaddon mentioning the return of his statue.It has also been argued that Humbaba was derived from the Elamite god Humban, but according to Andrew R. George this proposal is not plausible in the light of available evidence, and the most recent attempt at justifying this connection, undertaken by John Hansman in the 1970s, rests on "unsafe historical conclusions".
Humbaba and Gilgamesh
Humbaba appears in multiple works of Mesopotamian literature focused on the hero Gilgamesh, in which he invariably acts as his adversary during a quest to obtain cedar wood from a distant forest.''Gilgamesh and Huwawa'' A and B
The oldest composition describing the confrontation between Gilgamesh and Humbaba has two versions, the Sumerian Gilgamesh and Huwawa A and Gilgamesh and Huwawa B. Copies of version A are more common. Of all known Gilgamesh texts it was seemingly the most often copied one, with between 85 and 92 examples identified by 2010. Their broad distribution reflects the use of the text in scribal training. It belonged to the so-called "decad", a set of texts which formed the basis of scribal education in the early second millennium BCE.In the early poems, Humbaba is described as an intimidating "mountain man" of unknown origin, but there is no indication that his appearance was distinct from that of a human, and he is chiefly set apart from mortals by his supernatural powers. The source of his invulnerability are his seven “auras” or “terrors”, Sumerian ni2 or me2-lam. While a singular aura was a common attribute of deities, seven auras are for the most part exclusively attested in connection to Humbaba, though an exception, the tablet CBS 7972 + N 3718, a fragment of a hymn dedicated to Nergal, has been identified and subsequently published by Jeremiah Peterson in 2008.
The location of the forest where Humbaba lives is not precisely defined outside of a reference to “seven ranges” which need to be crossed to reach it, but it is commonly assumed that the heroes’ destination was the Iranian highlands. Similar formulaic phrases are used to refer to this area in myths about Lugalbanda and Enmerkar known to partially take place in this area. It has been proposed that making an eastern location the target of the expedition was meant to symbolically reflect the geopolitics of the Ur III period. However, a western location, specifically Lebanon, is also sometimes proposed.
In version A, Gilgamesh encounters Humbaba after realizing the impermanence of life prompts him to embark on a quest to bring cedar wood to his city to acquire lasting fame. When Humbaba notices Gilgamesh and his companion Enkidu cut down one of the trees, he uses one of his auras to stun them. After awakening Gilgamesh vows that he will not go back before he finds out whether the attacker is human or divine. Enkidu doubts if they can defeat him, but he is eventually convinced by Gilgamesh’s bravado. Due to the powers the auras grant to Humbaba, he cannot be defeated through conventional means, and Enkidu suggests tricking him into willfully casting them off. Gilgamesh accomplishes that by offering him various bribes, including goods not available in the remote forest such as fine flour, water in leather containers, small and big sandals, gemstones and other similar gifts, as well as a promise that he will be able to marry his sisters:
The scene is presumed to be humorous, and seems to portray Humbaba as lonely and gullible. Piotr Michalowski additionally notes the quoted passage might be a satire targeting the well attested custom of marrying the daughters from the royal line to rulers of neighboring kingdoms in the Ur III period. Similar interpretation has also been proposed by Andrew R. George. The episode is absent from the later editions of the narrative. Humbaba accepts Gilgamesh’s proposal, and offers him his auras, which are described as cedar-like and possible to cut into logs for transport. According to George, their form might be an indication that while seemingly anthropomorphic, Humbaba was himself envisioned as partially tree-like. As soon as he gives up on the last of the auras and loses his invulnerability, Gilgamesh strikes him. After being punched in the face, he pleads to be let go. He first addresses Utu, lamenting that he never knew his parents and was instead raised by the sun god himself and by the mountains, and then Gilgamesh, who at first takes pity on him. He asks Enkidu if he agrees to let Humbaba go, but he rejects this proposal. Humbaba turns towards him, and complains that he has no place to advise on such matters because he is only a servant:
In response, Enkidu cuts his throat. This constitutes a reversal, as through the earlier sections of the story he was meant to act as a voice of reason, advising Gilgamesh to act cautiously. He then cuts off his head and places it in a leather bag. The protagonists take their trophy to the god Enlil, angering him, possibly because he finds the abuse of Humbaba’s trust unacceptable. He states that Gilgamesh should have treated him with respect, and that they both deserved to be similarly honored. However, neither Gilgamesh or Enkidu are punished for their actions in the end. Enlil subsequently redistributes Humbaba’s auras:
One of the copies might mention Humbaba in the closing formulaic doxology alongside Gilgamesh and Enkidu, which would indicate a degree of veneration, though the restoration of the name is uncertain and it has been proposed that the goddess Nisaba was meant instead.
The plot of version B is largely analogous. It is substantially shorter than version A, and it is often proposed that it is more archaic, though the available copies of both are contemporaneous with each other. A difference between the plots of the two versions occurs after the heroes wake up after being stunned by Humbaba’s aura: in version B Gilgamesh doubts his ability, and invokes the god Enki to help him, which the latter does by apparently providing the instructions for tricking Humbaba through Enkidu, enabling the rest of the events to unfold similarly. However, only the footwear is mentioned among the offered gifts. The ending of version B is not preserved, but it is sometimes argued that Humbaba was spared in it.
The defeat of Humbaba is also mentioned as one of the great deeds of Gilgamesh in Bilgames’ Death, another of the early standalone Gilgamesh narratives.