Tammuz (Dumuzi) (rightful son?) In Near Eastern mythology (Babylonian), god of corn and vegetation; he died each winter and was resurrected each spring; originally a Sumerian deity, Dumuzi. Tammuz was originally a sun god, the son of Ea and the goddess Siduri and the lover or husband of the great goddess Ishtar. His love affair and death are told in the ancient poem Ishtar’s Descent into the Underworld, known in various versions throughout the Near East, in which the goddess offers her youthful lover to be killed in place of herself. In Canaan Tammuz was called Adonai (my lord), and a great festival, celebrating his death and resurrection, was observed in various Near Eastern cities. Gebal was the chief seat of the spring festival in Phoenicia. “Gardens of Adonis” were planted—pots filled with earth and cut herbs (which soon withered away) in which wooden figures of the god had been placed. Wailing women tore their hair and lacerated their breasts during the seven days of the festival. The Hebrew prophet Ezekiel saw women in the north gate of the temple “weeping for Tammuz” (Ezekiel 8:14).

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Encyclopedia of World Mythology and Legend, Third Edition – Written by Anthony S. Mercatante & James R. Dow – Copyright © 2009 by Anthony S. Mercatante