GILGAMESH AND ENKIDU SLAY HUMBABA - Pt. Three
This is the third and final instalment of the killing of the ogre Humbaba by the Mesopotamian heroes, Gilgamesh and his friend Enkidu. It is sung in Old Babylonian and based on translations of three thousand year old cuneiform clay tablets.
The story itself has its origins in ancient Sumer, a culture that existed in Mesopotamia long before the arrival of the Babylonians and Akkadians, and comes from a time when it was believed that the gods, known as the Annunaki, dwelt among human beings. As for the creature called Humbaba, although he was widely regarded as a monster, he was created by the gods simply to guard the great cedar forest which covered much of the fertile crescent in ancient time.
Not surprisingly, once Gilgamesh and Enkidu had killed Humbaba, they proceeded to do the very thing that Humbaba was placed in the forest to prevent. They cut down the cedar trees, and floated the logs down the Euphrates river in order to use them for building projects.
One of the interesting aspects of the story is that Gilgamesh’s friend, the wild man Enkidu, prior to his being “civilized”, had been a friend of Humbaba. There is a point in the story where Humbaba begs his old friend Enkidu to ask Gilgamesh to spare his life. Enkidu does exactly the opposite. He tells Gilgamesh to kill Humbaba, and to do it fast before the angry gods find out what they have done!
Would this story have been performed in ancient Sumer and Babylon? We know from cuneiform tablets that there were travelling singers and musicians as early as the 24th century B.C., and that they played for religious ceremonies, festivals and marriages, much as professional musicians do today. Works like the Epic of Gilgamesh would not have been performed verbatim the way operas are performed today. Rather, a singer would memorize the story and then perform it in his or her own way, varying the length of the narrative according to the moment. I have heard Middle Eastern singers spend ten minutes or more on a single phrase with each interpretation of the words followed by enthusiastic applause from an audience.
Today, music is universally available to everyone all the time, and it is hard for us to imagine what a rare thrill it must have been three thousand years ago for ordinary people to hear skilled travelling musicians.
Once again, I am deeply indebted to Assyriologist, Andrew R. George, and his colleague Professor Farouk al-Rawi for their remarkable work of transliteration and translation of the Babylonian Epic Of Gilgamesh. Their works are available on line for those who are interested.