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The Cedar Forest (𒄑𒂞𒄑𒌁giš eren giš tir) is the glorious realm of the gods of Mesopotamian mythology. It is guarded by the demigod Humbaba and was once entered by the hero Gilgamesh who dared cut down trees from its virgin stands during his quest for fame. The Cedar Forest is described in Tablets 4–6 of the Epic of Gilgamesh.[1] Earlier descriptions come from the Ur III poem Gilgamesh and Huwawa.[2]
The Sumerian poems of his deeds say that Gilgamesh traveled east, presumably, to the Zagros Mountains of Iran (ancient Elam) to the cedar forest, yet the later more extensive Babylonian examples place the cedar forests west in Lebanon.[3]
- ^ Sandars, Nancy K., ed. (1977). The epic of Gilgamesh. Penguin classics (Rev. ed. inc. new material ed.). Harmondsworth, Middlesex, Engl: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-044100-0.
- ^ "Gilgamesh and Huwawa, version A: translation". etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 2024-03-21.
- ^ Archaeology and the Homeric Epic, Susan Sherratt, John Bennett. Oxbow Books, 2017. P127