When I began putting together my musical interpretation of the killing of Humbaba by Gilgamesh and Enkidu, I thought I would be able to do it in a single six or seven minute video. I quickly realized this would not be possible without editing out too much of the original Babylonian and Akkadian text, so I decided to do it in two parts instead of one, and I posted the first video as PART ONE OF TWO.
Once I embarked on Part Two, I realized the adventure was going to require not two, but three parts. Consequently, this video is PART TWO OF THREE. Hence the discrepancy in the titles of the videos, for which I apologize.
Part Two of the adventure begins with Enkidu getting cold feet! He is terrified of taking on Humbaba, the guardian of the cedar forest, appointed by the gods, and provided with divine weapons in order to destroy intruders. It is up to Gilgamesh (who was himself two thirds divine and one third mortal) to urge his friend Enkidu on, and give him the courage to continue. It is my feeling that Enkidu, while he may have feared the divine powers of Humbaba, also felt guilty about any attempt to destroy him. In the past, when Enkidu lived as a wild man and ran with the beasts of the forest, Humbaba had been his friend. It was only now that Enkidu had become “civilized” that Humbaba, guardian of the natural world, became his enemy.
The visual portion of this video consists mainly of representations of Mesopotamian statuary, bas reliefs and cylinder seals. Since understanding the text is essential, I have provided subtitles.
Musically, this video is a bit different because of the heavy use of percussion. I have a large collection of drums of different sizes, and I have used several of them together to lend a sense of urgency to the adventure. The Babylonians and Sumerians also had a variety of flutes and oboe-like instruments, as do their modern counterparts in Mesopotamia and Anatolia, but the problem is you cannot play them and sing at the same time, so I have had to overdub. All the sounds you hear would have been possible for the ancient musicians, though no one can say whether or not they would have used them as I have.
This interpretation is based on the Babylonian Epic Of Gilgamesh, and the remarkable work of transliteration and translation done by Assyriologist, Andrew R. George, and his colleague Professor Farouk al-Rawi. Their works are available on line for those who are interested.