Gods, Demons & Immortals
whose Names Start with 'H'
The immortals of ancient Sumer.
by James W. Bell © 2002-3
Hanish
Hanish was the sukkal of Ishkur, the Sumerian mountain weather god. Hanish and Shullat, servant of the Sumerian sun god, Shamash, worked together as harbingers of storms and bad weather.
Hanish and Shullat once had a shared temple but its name and location have long since been lost.
Haya
Haya was a little known Sumerian god who was the husband of Nisaba. He once had a temple. but both its name and location have been lost.
Hendursag
(often confused with Ishum)
Hendursag was a Sumerian god who served as sukkal to the goddess Nanshe in her E.sirara Temple at Nina in the city-state of Lagash. His wife was a goddess named Nimug, whom he shared with the god Isum. As a result of the two gods having the same wife, the two deities are often confused with each other.
Hendursag was a confidant of Erra, the pseudonym Nergal sometimes used when he was in a violent mood and abroad in the Great Above.
To read a translation of a Sumerian hymn dedicated to Hendursag (spelled 'Hendursanga' and 'Hendursaja') by the translator), click here.
*[In my stories, Hendursag, dwelling at the mouth of the Ninagina Canal and next to marshes of the Sealands, had ill-defined acquaintances with smugglers and others who sometimes championed the Netherworld. Hendursag was generally a benevolent god and made use of his connections to the advantage of all, including the Netherworld. ]*
Hendursag had a temple in the Uru.ku at Girsu.
Humban (the Elamite god)
Humban was an Elamite god, the principal god of Elam and was known there as 'The Master of Heaven.' His first wife was the Elamite goddess Pinikir, but he later married Kiririsha, a goddess from Liyan, an Elamite port on the Lower Sea (Persian/Arabian Gulf). They had a son named Hutran.
Humban is known to have had a temple in Susa.
Humban
(as demonized as Huwawa in Sumer
and as Humbaba in Akkad)
In Sumerian accounts, the Elamite god, Humban, was demonized and referred to as Humbaba or Huwawa. In the Gilgamesh story, he was appointed by Enlil to serve as 'Guardian of the Cedar Forest.'
Elam was a disjointed state, a land of both steppe and mountains and Humban had been one of its primary gods for centuries. *[ But, in my stories, as the civilization of adjoining Sumer prospered and expanded, Enlil, Skylord of the Earth, watching from his E.kur Temple in Nippur and scouting the mountains with Zu-birds, became concerned at the destruction of natural resources in the mountainlands of the Hursag, which were being overgrazed and denuded. ]*
*[ The upland forests of pines and cedars were being stripped bare by shepherds who brought goats up to pasture in the hills during the hot summer months when the plain of Sumer was parched. To protect the forests, particularly the great forest of cedar trees on Green Mountain, Enlil appointed Humban as its guardian. ]*
As Guardian of the Cedar Forest, Humban was given the ability to detect any creature moving within the woods and to cause that creature to fall asleep. For some time, he managed to keep the Cedar Forest safe from shepherds and woodcutters.
Then, for some reason, perhaps because cedar had become the most desired of all woods for temple construction, Shamash, the Sumerian Sun god, started demonizing Humban, portraying him as a monster and calling him by the names of 'Huwawa' and 'Humbaba.'
It was Shamash who urged Gilgamesh and Enkidu to travel to the Cedar Forest on Green Mountain and kill Humbaba. Gilgamesh held the god while Enkidu struck the blow that cut off his head. In revenge, the gods punished Gilgamesh and his friend, Enkidu, by causing Enkidu to die slowly from an incurable sickness while Gilgamesh sat by his side, watching helplessly.
Humban was one of the major gods of Elam, a land to the east of Sumer, but one that was foreign and often hostile. The Elamite god had no known temples, shrines or sanctuaries in Sumer, where he was generally regarded as a fearful demon.
To read a translation of the Sumerian account of the Death of Humbaba (Tablet 5 of the Epic of Gilgamesh), click here.
Humut-tabal
The name, Humut-tabel, means "Hurry and take away." He was the boatman in the Netherworld.
*[ In my stories, Humut-tabal was the boatman who carried new arrivals to the city of Irkalla by poling them in his boat across the Lake of Death, a lake formed by the River Hubur. It was in the city of Irkalla that the newly dead were taken to the Anunnaki gods who sat in judgment. ]*
Humut-tabal had no known temples, sancturaires or shrines in the Great Above.
Hutran
Hutran was an Elamite god, the son of Humban and Kiririsha.
He had no known temples, shrines or sanctuaries in Sumer.
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