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.
 
 
HE 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 Elamite217 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
—–———–———–———– 218
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,
219
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 ....
220
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.&............