Morris Jastrow

“ EABANI, the name of the friend of Gilgamesh, the hero in the Babylonian epic (see Gilgamesh, Epic of) . Eabani, whose name signifies “Ea creates,” pointing to the tradition which made the god Ea (q.v.) the creator of mankind, is represented in the epic as the type of the primeval man. He is a wild man who lives with the animals of the field until lured away from his surroundings by the charms of a woman. Created to become a rival to Gilgamesh, he strikes up a friendship with the hero, and together they proceed to a cedar forest guarded by Khumbaba, whom they kill. ”