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Sumer and Babylon · Gilgamesh, tablets II–V

Humbaba and the seven auras

EvidenceDocumentedThe text exists and is quoted from a published translation. What it describes is a separate question.What this means
ReferenceGilgamesh, tablets II–V
Writtenc. 1800–1000 BCE
SetThe Cedar Forest (Lebanon)
Enlil sets Humbaba to guard the Cedar Forest, the dwelling of the gods. He wears seven terrifying radiances (melammu). Gilgamesh and Enkidu strip them off one by one before killing him.

Summary by the editors. Translation: Summary in my own words

Read it literally

A guardian with layered shields, protecting a site near Hermon. Tie it to the Watchers' landing zone.

What scholars say

The Cedar Forest is in the same region as Mount Hermon.

Giants and hybrids Looks like technology
People and places hereCedar Forest

Quick answers about Gilgamesh, tablets II–V

Where is Gilgamesh, tablets II–V found?

Gilgamesh, tablets II–V (Sumer and Babylon). Translation quoted: Summary in my own words.

When was Gilgamesh, tablets II–V written?

c. 1800–1000 BCE.

What do scholars say about Gilgamesh, tablets II–V?

The Cedar Forest is in the same region as Mount Hermon.

Rabbit holes in this passage

GodEnlilThe king of the gods grew so annoyed by the noise of multiplying humans that he sent plague, then drought, then the Flood. Yet in one Sumerian myth the other gods arrest Enlil himself and expel him from his own city for ritual impurity. Why did the most powerful god in Sumer end up exiled?PersonGilgameshAmong the Dead Sea Scrolls, Gilgamesh turns up as one of the giants born to the fallen Watchers. That is odd for a king of Uruk who was, in his own epic, two-thirds divine and one-third human, and probably a real ruler; historians say the scrolls borrowed his name for effect. Why would giants need it?BeingHumbabaBabylonian fortune-tellers made clay masks of Humbaba whose faces were formed from a single coiled intestine. In the epics he guards the Cedar Forest: his roar is the flood, his mouth is fire, his breath is death; Gilgamesh and Enkidu killed him against the will of the gods. Why strike down a god's own guard?PlaceMount HermonThe story says two hundred angels landed on this mountain and swore an oath, and that the peak got its name from that very oath. In Hebrew, Hermon sounds like a word for a ban or curse. It is a real snowy summit that feeds the Jordan River. Did the legend explain the name, or the name the legend?BeingThe Watchers (Grigori)The story says some angels who never sleep came down to a real mountain summit, picked up human wives, and taught people metalworking, spells and astronomy. Their leaders are named, each in charge of ten others. The same word shows up in the Book of Daniel as a heavenly council. So who exactly were the Watchers?

Sources

  1. Enlil and Ninlil, ETCSL t.1.2.1, University of OxfordPrimary text
  2. Epic of Gilgamesh, Tablet I, trans. R. Campbell Thompson (1928)Primary text
  3. Gilgamesh and Huwawa, version A, ETCSL t.1.8.1.5, University of OxfordPrimary text
  4. 1 Enoch 6:6, trans. R. H. Charles, The Book of Enoch (1917)Primary text

Scholarly dates are rounded. The wording follows the named public-domain translation.

Updated