DESTRUCTION OF THE TYRANT KHUMBABA.
Mythical geography.—Forest region.—Khumbaba.—Conversation.—Petition
to Samas.—Journey to forest.—Dwelling of Khumbaba.—Entrance to
forest.—Meeting with Khumbaba.—Death of Khumbaba.—Izdubar king.
The wretchedly mutilated condition of the fragments that belong to the
two next tablets or books of the Epic makes it impossible to ascertain
their correct order and arrangement. The arrangement given here,
accordingly, must be regarded as merely provisional. It may, however,
be taken as certain that they all form part of the fourth and fifth
tablets, and relate the contest between Izdubar and Khumbaba.
Khumbaba, the Kombabos of the Greeks, was the prototype of Geryon.
He dwelt far away in the forest of pines and sherbin cedars, where
the gods and spirits had their abode. It was, consequently, in the
cold region of the Accadian Olympus, now Mount Elwend, that he was
placed by the old mythology, and the similarity of his name to that
of the Elamite god Khumba or Khumbume makes it possible that he was
originally identical with the latter. In this case the antagonism
between Khumbaba and Izdubar would have been merely a reflection of
the antagonism that existed between the inhabitants of Babylonia and
the subjects of the Elamite empire. Mr. Smith even thought that the
overthrow of Khumbaba might have been an echo of the overthrow of some
Elamite dynasty by a Chaldean one.
In the case of the fourth tablet Mr. Smith believed that he had found
fragments of all six columns, but some of these fragments are useless
until we have further fragments to complete them.
TABLET IV.
COLUMN I.
1. .... mu ....
2. .... thy ....
3. .... me, return
4. .... the birds shall rend him
5. .... in thy presence
6. .... of the forest of pine trees
7. .... all the battle
8. .... may the birds of prey surround him
9. .... that, his carcass may they destroy
10. .... to me and we will appoint thee king,
11. .... thou shalt direct after the manner of a king
—–———–———–———–———–———–———–———–———–———–———–—
12. [Izdubar] opened his mouth and spake,
13. and said to Hea-bani:
14. ... he goes to the great palace
15. .... the breast of the great queen
16. ..... knowledge, everything he knows
17. ...... establish to our feet
18. ....... his hand
19. ....... I to the great palace
20. ......... the great queen
(Probably over twenty lines lost here.)
COLUMN II.
1. .... enter
2. .... he raised
3. .... the ornaments of her ....
4. .... the ornaments of her breast
5. .... and her crown I divided
6. .... of the earth he opened
7. he .... he ascended to the city
8. he went up to the presence of Samas he made a sacrifice?
9. he built an altar. In the presence of Samas he lifted his hands:
10. Why hast thou established Izdubar, in thy heart thou hast given him
protection,
11. when the son .... and he goes
12. on the remote path to Khumbaba.
13. A battle he knows not he will confront,
14. an expedition he knows not he will ride to,
15. for long he will go and will return,
16. to take the course to the forest of pine trees,
17. to Khumbaba of [whom his city may] he destroy,
18. and every one who is evil whom thou hatest ...
19. In the day of the year he will ....
20. May she not return at all, may she not ...
21. him to fix ....
(About ten lines lost here.)
Here we see that Izdubar, impressed with the magnitude of the task he
had undertaken, makes a prayer and sacrifice to Samas to aid him in his
task. The next fragment appears also to belong to this column, and may
refer to preliminaries for sacrificing to Istar, with a view also to
gain her aid in the enterprise.
This fragment of Column II. reads
1. .... neighbourhood of Erech ....
2. .... strong and ...
3. he burst open the road ....
4. and that city ....
5. and the collection ....
6. placed the people together ....
7. the people were ended ....
8. like of a king ....
9. which for a long time had been made ....
10. to the goddess Istar the bed ....
11. to Izdubar like the god Sakim ....
12. Hea-bani opened the great gate of the house of assembly ....
13. for Izdubar to enter ....
14. .... in the gate of the house ............
COLUMN III.
1. the corpse of ....
2. to ....
3. to the rising of ....
4. the angels ....
5. may she not return ....
6. him to fix ....
7. the expedition which he knows not ....
8. may he destroy also ....
9. of which he knows ....
10. the road ....
Five more mutilated lines, the rest of the column being lost.
This fragment shows Izdubar still invoking the gods for his coming
expedition. Under the next column Mr. Smith placed a fragment, the
position and meaning of which are quite unknown.
COLUMN IV.—UNCERTAIN FRAGMENT.
1. he was heavy ....
2. Hea-bani was ....
3. Hea-bani strong not rising ....
4. When ....
5. with thy song? ....
6. the sister of the gods faithful ....
7. wandering he fixed to ....
8. the sister of the gods lifted ....
9. and the daughters of the gods grew ....
10. I Hea-bani .... he lifted to ....
Somewhere here should be the story, now lost, of the starting of
Izdubar on his expedition accompanied by his friend Hea-bani. The
sequel shows they arrive at the palace or residence of Hea-bani, which
is surrounded by a forest of pine and cedar, the whole being enclosed
by some barrier or wall, with a gate for entrance. Hea-bani and Izdubar
open this gate where the story reopens on the fifth column.
COLUMN V.
1. the sharp weapon
2. to make men fear him ....
3. Khumbaba poured a tempest out of his mouth ....
4. he heard the gate of the forest [open]
5. the sharp weapon to make men fear him [he took]
6. and in the path of his forest he stood and [waited]
—–———–———–———–———–———–———–———–———–———–———–—
7. Izdubar to him also [said to Hea-bani]
Here we see Khumbaba waiting for the intruders, but the rest of the
column is lost; it appears to have principally consisted of speeches by
Izdubar and Hea-bani on the magnificent trees they saw, and the work
before them. A single fragment of Column VI., containing fragments of
six lines, shows them still at the gate, and when the next tablet, No.
V., opens, they had not yet entered.
TABLET V.
The fifth tablet is more certain than the last; it appears to refer
to the conquest of Khumbaba. Only fragments of this tablet, which
opens with a description of the retreat of Khumbaba, have as yet been
discovered.
COLUMN I.
1. He stood and surveyed the forest
2. of pine trees, he perceived its height,
3. of the forest he perceived its approach,
4. in the place where Khumbaba went his step was placed,
5. on a straight road and a good path.
6. He saw the land of the pine trees, the seat of the gods, the
sanctuary of the angels,
7. in front? of the seed the pine tree carried its fruit,
8. good was its shadow, full of pleasure,
9. an excellent tree, the choice of the forest,
10. .... the pine heaped ....
11. .... for one kaspu (7 miles) ...
12. .... cedar two-thirds of it ...
13. .... grown ....
14. .... like it ...
(About 10 lines lost here.)
25. .... he looked ....
26. .... he made and he ....
27. .... drove to ....
28. .... he opened and ....
—–———–———–———–———–———–———–———–———–———–———–—
29. Izdubar opened his mouth and spake, [and said to Hea-bani]:
30. My friend ....
31. .... with their slaughter ....
32. .... he did not speak before her, he made with him ....
33. .... knowledge of war who made fighting,
34. in entering to the house thou shalt not fear ...
35. .... and like I take her also they ....
36. to an end may they seat ....
37. .... thy hand ....
38. .... took my friend first ....
39. .... his heart prepared for war, that year and day also
40. .... on his falling appoint the people
41. .... slay him, his corpse may the birds of prey surround
42. ...... of them he shall make
43. .... going he took the weight
44. they performed it, their will they established
—–———–———–———–———–———–———–———–———–———–———–—
45. .... they entered into the forest
COLUMN II.
(Five lines mutilated.)
6. they passed through the forest ....
—–———–———–———–———–———–———–———–———–———–———–—
7. Khumbaba ....
8. he did not come ....
9. he did not ....
(Seven lines lost.)
17. heavy ....
18. Hea-bani opened his mouth ....
19. .... Khumbaba in ....
20. .... one by one and ....
(Many other broken lines.)
There are a few fragments of Columns III., IV., and V., and a small
portion of Column VI., which reads:
1. .... cedar to ....
2. .... he placed and ....
3. .... 120 .... Hea-bani ....
4. .... the head of Khumbaba ....
—–———–———–———–———–———–———–———–———–———–———–—
5. .... his weapon he sharpened ....
6. .... tablet of the story of fate of ....
It appears from the various mutilated fragments of this tablet that
Izdubar and Hea-bani conquer and slay Khumbaba and take his goods, but
much is wanted to connect the fragments.
The conclusion of this stage of the story and triumph of Izdubar
are given at the commencement of the sixth tablet. The conquest of
Khumbaba gave Izdubar the crown and attributes of his fallen rival,
who seems to have been a sun-god, and this caused Istar, who already
appears as the bride of the sun in the myth of Tammuz, to woo the
triumphant hero.