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TAMMUZ
Chief Sumerian deity whose name derived from the Sumerian dumuzi. He is the god of fertility, of vegetation and agriculture, and of death and resurrection, and he is the patron deity of shepherds. The son and consort of Ashtar (Inanna), Tammuz represented the annual vegetation cycle of death during the heat of summer and the rebirth of life with the coming of the fall and spring rains, as mythically recounted in the Akkadian poem “Inanna’s Descent into the Netherworld.” This rejuvenation of life and defeat of death was annually celebrated during the Babylonian New Year Festival. In the OT, the prophet Ezekiel sees in a vision women weeping for Tammuz at the north gate of the temple; this is a prophetic description of coming desecrations of the Lord’s house (Ez 8:14).
In subsequent cultures following the Sumerian civilization (third millennium BC), the Tammuz cult was carried on. It undoubtedly embodied the worship of Marduk of Babylon, Ashur of Assyria, Baal of Canaan, Attis of Phrygia, and Adonis of Syria (Aram) and Greece. Numerous liturgies and dirges have been found detailing Tammuz worship in ancient Mesopotamian culture. During the postexilic era, the fourth month of the Hebrew calendar was named Tammuz.
See also Calendars, Ancient and Modern.