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Key Details
Type
Mythical RealmMythology
Mesopotamian Pantheon
Coordinates
34°N, 36°E
About This Location
Humbaba's precinct
The Cedar Forest is Enlil's protected wood, guarded by Humbaba (Huwawa). Gilgamesh and Enkidu cut a road, kill the guardian, and fell the cedars. Tablet V of the standard epic (and older Sumerian Gilgamesh and Huwawa) set the scene in the west, toward Lebanon in later geography. It is a sacred timber reserve, not a city. The crime is against a god's appointment. The forest exists so a name can be made and a curse can follow.
Primary Sources
“They stood at the edge of the Cedar Forest, gazing at the height of the cedars, gazing at the entrance to the forest.”
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