Cedar Forest- Mesopotamian LocationLocation · Landmark"Dwelling of the Gods"

The Sacred Wilderness

The Epic of Gilgamesh calls the Cedar Forest the "dwelling of the gods," a vast sacred woodland of towering cedars in remote mountains far from the cities of southern Mesopotamia. Its cedars reached heights that inspired awe, their canopy so dense that walking beneath them meant moving through perpetual shadow. Enlil placed the forest under the guardianship of Humbaba, a terrifying being armed with seven divine radiances. When Humbaba donned all seven, no one could approach. The forest was inviolate.

The Quest of Gilgamesh

Driven by desire to establish an eternal name, Gilgamesh proposed to journey to the Cedar Forest, slay Humbaba, and harvest the timber. Despite Enkidu's warnings and the counsel of Uruk's elders, Gilgamesh was undeterred. The sun god Shamash supported the expedition, and when Gilgamesh confronted Humbaba, Shamash sent thirteen winds to immobilize the guardian.

With Humbaba defeated and pleading for mercy, Gilgamesh and Enkidu killed him. Enlil, furious at the death of his appointed guardian, redistributed Humbaba's seven auras to the rivers and the lions so the protective power would not be lost.

The Wasteland

After Humbaba's death, the heroes felled the tallest cedar, which Enkidu fashioned into a great gate for the temple of Enlil at Nippur. But the triumph was shadowed by foreboding. Enkidu voiced the dread: "My friend, we have made the forest a wasteland." The killing of a divinely appointed guardian and the desecration of his sacred forest set in motion the chain of divine punishment that ended with Enkidu's death, which in turn drove Gilgamesh on his doomed quest for immortality.