also insults Enkidu, calling him “spawn of a fish, who knew no father, hatchling of terrapin and turtle”, highlights that he “sucked no mother's milk”, referencing the unusual circumstances of his birth and early life; the second insult clarifies the purpose of the first, as the animals mentioned are not mammals and do not consume milk in infancy. He once again remarks that he already met Enkidu in the past, insinuates that bringing Gilgamesh to his forest constitutes treachery, and promises to kill the latter and feed him to carrion birds. Nathan Wasserman points out that since the confrontation between the heroes and Humbaba takes place after Enkidu already became close to Gilgamesh and has been adopted by Ninsun, the insults in addition to targeting what can be assumed to be his vulnerable spot also undermine his newly acquired status as a member of Gilgamesh's family. After Humbaba's speech, Gilgamesh loses his bravado and doubts if he can succeed, but Enkidu encourages him to not give up and the battle begins, with the ferocity of the three participants splitting the mountain apart. It continues until Shamash sends thirteen winds to tilt the scales in favor of Gilgamesh. He earlier prepared them at the request of Gilgamesh's mother, Ninsun. Humbaba is immobilized and blinded, and starts to beg for his life. He praises Gilgamesh, highlighting his descent from Ninsun, and offers that if kept alive, he will guard the forest on his behalf. However, Enkidu urges him to ignore his pleas. Wasserman argues that while he did not respond to Humbaba's insults in the earlier section of the text, it can be assumed that his choice in this passage was likely triggered by them. Humbaba tries to ask him to change his mind, but he is ignored once again. Enkidu instead urges Gilgamesh to kill him quickly to avoid the anger of the gods who might hear about their actions, singling out Enlil and Shamash in particular. Humbaba's reaction is not fully preserved, but it apparently angers Enkidu, who once again tells Gilgamesh to kill him. Humbaba curses his captors in response: This prompts Enkidu to urge Gilgamesh to act yet again, this time successfully. Gilgamesh pulls out a dagger and stabs Humbaba in the neck. Enkidu then eviscerates him and pulls out his teeth; it has been suggested that the passage draws inspiration from imagery associated with elephant hunts, historically