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Epic of Gilgamesh: Tablet V — The Fight with Humbaba · 1 of 2 · tr. R. Campbell Thompson

Tablet V, Section 1a

THE FIFTH TABLET. OF THE FIGHT WITH HUMBABA. . Stood they and stared at the Forest, they gazed at the height of the Cedars, Scanning the avenue into the Forest: (and there) where Humbaba 5. Stalk’d, was a path, (and) straight were his tracks, and good was the passage. (Eke) they beheld the Mount of the Cedar, the home of th’ Immortals, Shrine [of Irnini , the Cedar uplifting its pride ’gainst the mountain, Fair was its shade, (all) full of delight, with bushes (there) spreading, Spread, too, the . . . . the Cedar the incense . . . . . . 32. "[ Then came another dream to me, comrade, and this second] vision [Pleasant, indeed], which I saw, (for) we (?) [twain were standing together] [High on (?) a] peak of the mountains, [and then did the mountain peak] topple, 35. [Leaving us twain (?)] to be like . . . (?) which are born in the desert." Enkidu spake to his comrade the dream (?) [to interpret], (thus saying): "Comrade, (in sooth, this) vision [of thine unto us] good fortune (forbodeth), (Aye), ’tis a dream of great gain [thou didst see], (for, bethink you), O comrade, 40. (Surely) the mountain which thou hast beholden [must needs be Humbaba(?)]. (Thus doth it mean) we shall capture Humbaba, (and) [throw down his] carcase, [Leaving] his corpse in abasement—to-morrow 's (outcome) will I [shew thee]". ________________________________ (Now) at the fortieth league did they break their fast [with a morsel], 45. (Now) at the sixtieth rested, and hollow’d a pit in the sunshine . . . Gilgamish mounted above [it] . . . (and) pour’d out his meal [for the mountain]: 50. "Mountain, a dream do thou grant . . . breathe on him . . ." Granted [the mountain] a dream . . . it breathed on him . . . Then a chill wind-blast [up]-sprang (and) [a gust] passing over . . . 5. [Made] him to cower, and . . . [thereat he sway’d] like the corn of the mountains . . . Gilgamish, [squatting] bent-kneed, supported his haunches, (and straightway) Sleep (such as) floweth on man descended upon him: [at] midnight Ending his slumber (all sudden), he hied him to speak to his comrade: 10. "Didst thou not call me, O friend? (O), why am I waken’d (from slumber)? Didst thou not touch me—(for), why am I fearful(?), (or) hath not some spirit Pass’d (me)? (Or,) why is my flesh (all) a-quiver? . A third dream, O comrade, I have beheld: but all awesome (this) dream which I have beholden: 15. (Loud) did the firmament roar, (and) earth (with the echo) resounded, Sombre the day, with darkness uprising, (and) levin bolts flashing, Kindled were flames, [and there, too, was Pestilence (?)] fill’d to o’erflowing, Gorgéd was Death!
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Themes
Animismcosmology

The doctrine and worldview that natural phenomena, places, and objects possess inherent spirit, soul, or personality — and that the cosmos is populated by countless local, plural, embodied divine agents: kami in mountain and tree, sidhe in cairn and well, landwights in field and stone, nymphs in spring and grove, haltija in forest and lake, lares and penates in household and threshold, Iamblichean daemons in element and place. Distinct from monotheism (single transcendent God), pantheism (one underlying substance), and emanation_hierarchy (cascading single source); animism's signature is the plurality, locality, and embodied-in-landscape character of the divine.

The passage depicts natural phenomena like the Mountain and Cedar Forest as possessing spirit and agency, with the Mountain granting dreams and breathing upon Gilgamesh.

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Anthropomorphismtheology

Attributing human characteristics, emotions, or form to the divine; embodied divine imagery.

Divine beings (Immortals) and the guardian Humbaba are described with human-like attributes such as pride, homes, and stalking behavior.

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Divine Providencetheology

Pronoia — the doctrine that the divine actively orders the unfolding of the cosmos and human affairs toward intelligible ends, against pure chance or blind necessity.

The dreams granted by the Mountain serve to guide the heroes' actions and foretell their victory, indicating divine ordering of events.

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Living Godtheology

The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality.

The divine or numinous forces are portrayed as active and responsive, with the Mountain breathing on Gilgamesh and granting him a dream.

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Prayerpraxis

Direct address to the divine, whether petitionary, contemplative, or liturgical; speech and silence offered upward.

Gilgamesh explicitly addresses the Mountain in direct petition ('Mountain, a dream do thou grant'), constituting clear prayer.

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World Tree Axiscosmology

A vertical structure connecting cosmic levels — a tree, pillar, mountain, or ladder linking heaven, earth, and underworld around which the cosmos is organised. Yggdrasil binding the Nine Worlds in Norse cosmology, the Kalevala's Sampo as world-pillar, the Mayan ceiba, the Vedic Aśvattha, the shamanic central tree of Eliade's analyses. Cosmic-structural in character: distinct from sefirot_tree (a kabbalistic emanation diagram) and emanation_hierarchy (an ontological cascade); world_tree_axis is the cosmos's spine rather than the divine's outflow.

The Mount of the Cedar functions as a sacred vertical structure connecting the human path to the home of the Immortals.

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