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Gilgamesh and Enkidu slaying Humbaba at the Cedar Forest (from Iraq, 19th–17th century BCE, Vorderasiatisches Museum Berlin) 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. [20]
Humbaba begs to be spared, but Enkidu urges Gilgamesh to kill him, and he eventually follows his advice. [14] Before dying, Humbaba curses both of them, stating that they will never grow old, foreshadowing both Enkidu's premature death and Gilgamesh's fruitless quest for immortality. [62]
Enkidu (Sumerian: ð’‚—ð’† ð’„ EN.KI.DU 10) [6] was a legendary figure in ancient Mesopotamian mythology, wartime comrade and friend of Gilgamesh, king of Uruk.Their exploits were composed in Sumerian poems and in the Akkadian Epic of Gilgamesh, written during the 2nd millennium BC.
In the earlier Sumerian texts, Enkidu is Gilgamesh's servant, [47] but, in the Epic of Gilgamesh, they are companions of equal standing. [47] In tablets III through IV, Gilgamesh and Enkidu travel to the Cedar Forest, which is guarded by Humbaba (the Akkadian name for Huwawa). [47]
Gilgamesh and Enkidu kill the Bull of Heaven, insulting Ishtar in the process, after which the gods decide to sentence Enkidu to death and kill him by giving him a fatal illness. In the second half of the epic, distress over Enkidu's death causes Gilgamesh to undertake a long and perilous journey to discover the secret of eternal life.
Enkidu shouts at Humbaba that the two of them are much stronger than the demon, but Humbaba, who knows Gilgamesh is a king, taunts the king for taking orders from a nobody like Enkidu. Turning his face into a hideous mask, Humbaba begins to threaten the pair, and Gilgamesh runs and hides.
Henceforth, Gilgamesh and Enkidu become the best of friends and undergo many adventures (starting with the Cedar Forest and the encounter with Humbaba). When Enkidu is dying, he expresses his anger at Shamhat for making him civilized, blaming her for bringing him to the new world of experiences that has led to his death.
In the Sumerian poem Gilgamesh and the Bull of Heaven, Gilgamesh and Enkidu slay the Bull of Heaven, who has been sent to attack them by the goddess Inanna, the Sumerian equivalent of Ishtar. [4] [5] [6] The plot of this poem differs substantially from the corresponding scene in the later Akkadian Epic of Gilgamesh. [7]