Tammuz In Sumerian Mythology - Tammuz the Shepherd #tammuz #sumerian #legend
Channel: Mythology
Date: 2022-11-18

Known in the Bible as Tammuz, the Sumerian shepherd god Dumuzi was the patron and protector of mortal shepherds, as well as the son of the sheep goddess, Duttur, who was the goddess of the sheep.
 
According to the Sumerian King's List, an ancient document listing the Sumerian kings, he was a shepherd king who lived just after the great flood. According to the myth, Dumuzi was a fertility god. The Sumerian Text Dumuzi, the pastoralist, and Enkidu, the god of irrigation and cultivation, were both suitors for the hand of the goddess Inanna in the Sumerian poem “Dispute Between the Shepherd and the Farmer.” 


As an excellent provider, the shepherd was favoured by the god Utu, Inanna's brother. Dumuzi, however, claimed that his animal products were better than the farmers. The two suitors met on a riverbank, and Dumuzi provoked a quarrel. Enkidu, the god-king of the dyke and canal, refused to participate further in the contest. Confident that he would win the goddess's hand, Dumuzi offered friendship. 


Though the end of this story has been lost, other stories indicate that Dumuzi married Inanna. Though Enkidu accepted the offer, he brought wheat, beans, and barley from the threshing floor to Dumuzi.


There are several myths about the shepherd god's death. During Dumuzi's dream, the god wandered into the countryside and had a terrible dream. Terrified, he asked his sister, Geshtinana, to interpret it for him. She told him that the dream predicted his death, and evil demons hunted him. 


The only person he told about his hiding place was his sister and a friend in the tall grasslands. Dumuzi's sister remained loyal, but his friend, bribed by the demons, revealed his whereabouts. The demons encircled him like an animal and caught him in their nets. Finally, they captured him and bound him.


 It was Dumuzi's intention to flee from the demons as quickly as possible, so he prayed to Utu, the sun god. Utu changed Dumuzi into a gazelle, showing mercy and turning him into a gazelle when he reminded him he was his brother-in-law. The demons pursued and captured Dumuzi again. Dumuzi again appealed to Utu, who changed him back into a man. He escaped the demons and sought shelter at an old woman's house. 


He entered her house, telling her he was not just a man, but the husband of a goddess. He begged for food and drink and asked for help. After giving him water and sprinkled flour, the old woman left the house. When the demons came near and saw the woman outside, they assumed Dumuzi must be inside the house. They captured him and once again bound his hands and arms. 


As Dumuzi raised his hands to heaven, he repeated his prayer to Utu, who once again transformed him into a gazelle and helped him escape. Finally, he sought refuge in Geshtinana's sheepfold. Geshtinana began screaming as soon as she saw him approaching. She lacerated her eyes, face, ears, and buttocks. In response, seven demons entered the sheepfold one by one. Her outcry covered the heavens. The shepherd god was killed and the animals were destroyed.
Sumerian myths recount Dumuzi's entry into the underworld. Ishtar, the Akkadian counterpart to Inanna, decided to enter the netherworld, a place of no return, in the myth The Descent of Ishtar. She was stripped naked, like a dead person, and turned into a corpse, which was hung like meat on a hook. 


On condition that she would provide a substitute in her place, Ishtar was revived by magical attendants sent by Enki to the netherworld. When she returned to heaven, her husband, Dumuzi, had dressed in festive attire instead of mourning clothing. Determined to punish him for such indifference, she chose him as her substitute. Demons attempted to take him to the netherworld. 


Again, as in the poem "Dumuzi's Dream," the shepherd god appealed to his brother-in-law, the sun god, for assistance. Utu helped Dumuzi escape and helped him escape. The text is broken at this point, but it seems that Dumuzi was recaptured, imprisoned, and returned to the netherworld. Ishtar now repented, and wept bitterly for her husband, but to no avail. After he died, he was left to spend six months of the year in the netherworld, alternating his imprisonment with his sister, Geshtinana.


In an ancient poem called “Inanna and Bilulu,” the goddess seeks revenge against an old woman by the name of Billu. As a result of her belief that Bilulu killed her beloved Dumuzi, Inanna killed the old woman and turned her into a skin that held cold water while travelling in the desert. The death of Gilgamesh also mentions Dumuzi's residence in the underworld. As a result, Inanna became a protective goddess of the desert. In the Akkadian myth of Adapa, Dumuzi appears in the same role as Gilgamesh, the Sumerian hero-king.