In ancient Mesopotamian religion, Humbaba was one of the heroes of the Epic of Gilgamesh and believed to be a giant raised by Utu, the Sun god. He was the doorkeeper of the Cedar Forest where the gods lived, and was regarded as a very dangerous and fearsome monster. Stone heads, such as this fine example, were worn as apotropaic amulets, to ward off bad luck and misfortune. The practice of wearing Humbaba’s head-shaped amulets has been documented from the Old Babylonian Period until the Persian Achaemenid rule. The beheading of Humbaba finds parallels in the Greek myth of Perseus and Medusa.
To discover more about the Babylonians, please visit our relevant post: Civilisations of the Ancient Near East.