Earthenware head, dating back to the Old Babylonian period (2000-1500 B.C.), now in the National Museum of Iraq, Baghdad. It represents a demonic figure with a smile or sneer which discovers his teeth and recalls some Medieval depictions of the Fool with vegetable elements. This image is often described as the representation of the demon Humbaba, a character who appears in an episode of the Gilgamesh Epic. In the narrative, the hero, accompanied by Enkidu, faces the giant Humbaba, guardian of the forest on the Mountain of Cedar. The demon has been identified with a god of Northern Syria or Elam. Humbaba protects the forest with his spells, but his finally defeated by the two heroes: the forest is situated in some parts, at the extreme limits of the earth, in the “Land of the Living” (Leick 1991).

[Image: http://www.artstor.org]