3

Humbaba was the guardian of the Cedar Forest and was fought by Gilgamesh.

Some say Humbaba is a monstrous giant and some say he was a dangerous mechanical monster (like a robot).

For example in Flying Serpents and Dragons by R. A. Boulay we can read:

enter image description here

Is it true that he was a robot? If it's not, what kind of being he/it was?

yannis
  • 17,215
  • 8
  • 77
  • 209
kenorb
  • 2,555
  • 3
  • 21
  • 44

1 Answers1

10

Clay Mask of Huwawa

Clay mask of the demon Huwawa, The British Museum. From Sippar, southern Iraq, about 1800-1600 BC.

Huwawa was a demonic creature, of neither mortal nor godly origin, created by Enlil to guard the forest of Lebanon :

I never knew a mother who bore me, nor a father who brought me up! I was born in the mountains...

He is described in The Epic of Gilgamesh, tablet 2, as:

Humbaba's 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!

He was not, however, a mechanical creature such as a robot, as such things did not exist in Ancient Mesopotamia. He had human characteristics, and a physical body which Gilgamesh could capture:

they pulled out his insides including his tongue.

(tablet 5, The Epic of Gilgamesh)

And:

Huwawa bared his teeth at him [...] He tied up his arms like a captured man [...] Huwawa sat down and began to weep, shedding tears...

He is also easily slayed by Enkidu:

Enkidu, full of rage and anger, cut his throat...

Furthermore, Enlil adds further evidence to Huwawa's mortal characteristics when, upset by Huwawa's death, he cries out:

He should have eaten the bread that you eat, and should have drunk the water that you drink.

(all quotes from Gilgamesh and Huwawa unless mentioned)

He appears, then, to be a monstrous but mortal creature. Parallels have been drawn between the stories of Huwawa and Medusa(1), because of their similarities of a hero beheading a demonic creature.


Source:

  1. Clark Hopkins, "Assyrian elements in the Perseus–Gorgon story," American Journal of Archaeology 38 (1934:341-ff)
Piper
  • 1,905
  • 18
  • 23