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In Akkadian mythology Humbaba (Assyrian spelling) or Huwawa (Babylonian) was a monstrous giant personifying the "river of the dead" (see also Styx), who was also the guardian of the Forest of Cedars, where the gods lived.
In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh and Enkidu set out on an adventure to the cedar forest to slay Humbaba. Defeated, Humbaba appeals to a receptive Gilgamesh for mercy but Enkidu convinces Gilgamesh to slay Humbaba. Enlil, the god who set Humbaba as the forest's guardian, becomes enraged upon learning this and redistributes Humbaba's seven splendors (or "auras") to others.
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