The concept of a god usually denotes some form of omnipotence,
at least when one considers a typical monotheistic deity.
A god in that sense is invulnerable, infallible and above all immune to death. But in many ancient
pantheons, the gods, whilst still powerful, did not possess mastery over mortality.
They too could be offended, harmed and even killed and whilst they were indeed considered to be above
humanity, they could still be felled by the same dangers that their worshippers faced. These gods
were known to even suffer alongside their worshippers and experienced the same pains of
childbirth, famine, disease and indeed death. But one Mesopotamian God in the form of Dumuzid would
make something of a habit of dying and whether his death be at the hands of his vengeful wife Inanna
or at the claws of demons, Dumuzid’s yearly deaths would have great ramifications for the humans.
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And now back to Dumuzid.
Commonly referred to as the god of the shepherds,
given his association with agriculture or as a god of change
given his association with the seasons, Dumuzid was considered to be an important deity, despite
his lack of prominence when compared to the likes of Enki, Enlil or even his own wife Inana.
To the Akkadians and in later worship, Dumuzid would be known under perhaps the more popular name
Tammuz, though even with this name change and the increased prominence amongst his worshippers, the
actual worship that took place to this particular god is quite unique. This likely stems from the
fact that Dumuzid either took over certain realms, either through a rise in popularity
or social conflation, or that he was composed of several characters or figures from history.
Going by the list of Sumerian kings from history, Dumuzid is believed to have been
the fifth antediluvian king of a Sumerian city named Bad-tibira,
known as the ‘Fortress of Smiths’ and now located in southern Iraq. Yet, he was also believed to be
an early king of the ancient city of Uruk, also found in what is now modern day Iraq.
Under this guise as a king, he appears to be merely a ruler of his people, though he
is also associated with the goddess Inanna as one of her consorts. Additionally, Dumuzid was
also believed to have been a provider of milk - likely in his stint as the god of shepherds.
This is notable given that milk was considered to be something of a seasonal luxury in Mesopotamia
due to the fact that it was not easy to store and preserve milk without it going off.
Dumuzid was also believed to be an agricultural deity, much like Enlil or Ninhursag, for he
was said to be occupied with the growing and maintaining of crops and plants. With this idea,
Dumuzid was considered to be a friend of humanity, blessing them with trees, flowers,
plants and crops, as well as being seen as their maintainer, protecting them from supernatural
evils and guarding them from ruin. Whilst he was never specifically prayed to, those who did
were likely to request more resources such as grain and cattle given his dominion over them,
or perhaps for an extended period or earlier emergence of spring time.
It was during springtime that Dumuzid would undertake his duties,
for it is during spring that the land was abundant and most fertile.
Now, the Mesopotamians weren’t necessarily as well versed in the science of botany as we are today
and in a time when man was at the mercy of nature and her harsh elements, they found comfort in
embracing fantasy and myth in order to explain why their crops prospered and why they failed.
So by this logic, if springtime proved to be the most fertile time for crops and plants,
then Dumizd was believed to have been amongst them and his careful hand ensured successful
production. But alternatively, if summer brought dry and barren land then Dumuzid was believed
to have been absent and had not only deserted humanity but also forsaken his crops and plants.
Rather than believe that Dumuzid could be as fickle as the seasons,
it was far more noble for the Mesopotamians to view Dumuzid as having died.
So every summer, the people across Sumer would mourn his death with great expression.
In fact, this appears to have been one of the more notable ways in which he was worshipped,
perhaps one of the more unique methods of paying tribute to one’s deity.
In some regions of Sumer, the period of mourning would last an entire month
where residents would openly weep for the death of their god, and perhaps on a more crucial level,
weep for the lack of fertile ground for which to work with. Such a tradition was eventually adopted
by the Babylonians, where the process would be named ‘Tammuz’, the same name that the god would
become to be more recognised by. The cult of this Tammuz consisted of mostly women and when
we speak of people weeping on the streets, it was believed to have mostly been women.
But for the weeping locals, their grief would only be temporary,
for in the autumn seasons when the ‘devastating’ dry season was over,
the land became fertile again and with this Dumuzid had returned from the dead. For the
people of Sumer, this became the status quo - the cycle of life, if you will - with Dumuzid
paying the ultimate price every year, but always returning to bring plants and crops. With this,
Dumuzid was a welcomed deity and his continuous return was a cause for celebration and joy.
To the ancients, Dumuzid, despite his death, was a stable and reliable God who although left the land
barren, always returned to see it lush. Indeed, with this idea of Dumuzid, he was considered
to be a more favourable and generous deity and though he does die, his death is usually ambiguous
and doesn’t suggest suffering. But when we consider the poems and other narratives involving
Dumuzid and his many deaths, we understand that Dumuzid was far from a selfless being and that his
deaths were certainly not always peaceful, and certainly not without a darker twist.
One of the most infamous accounts of Dumuzid’s death begins on an old Sumerian tablet known
as the Courtship of Inanna and Dumuzid. Whilst his death is not detailed here in this story,
his courtship of Inanna, she who would become his wife, certainly sows the seed of such a
misendeavor. The story begins with Inanna speaking with her brother Utu who determines
that it is high time she took a husband. Dumuzid, considered here to be a shepherd,
presents himself as a candidate, though not without the contest of a farmer named Enkimdu.
Interestingly, at first sight, Inanna prefers Enkimdu but with some mutterings of her brother,
Inanna is led to believe that Dumuzid would make for a better husband. Both shepherd and
farmer argue for Inanna’s hand in marriage, but after some consideration, Inanna chooses Dumuzid.
Fast forwarding to the Epic Poem known as Inanna’s Descent into the Underworld,
where Inanna is exiled to the underworld for her conceit, we see not only a less virtuous side to
Dumuzid but also come to understand the nature of his marriage. Inanna, after having been exiled,
is able to escape the clutches of the Underworld. However, a horde of demons are sent after her
and they follow her up out of the dark depths and onto the surface. The demons, under the
command of Inanna’s sister Ereshkigal, who was the governess of the underworld, decree that if Inanna
won’t return to the Underworld, then someone else will have to take her place. The demons take their
pick from various characters who are loyal to Innana, but because of their devotion and their
heartfelt mourning of her absence, Inanna vouches for them and stops the demons from taking them.
But when the demons come upon Dumuzid, they find him seated in Inanna’s throne, having the time
of his life no less. He is described as being entertained by several slave girls, roaring with
laughter and drinking to his heart’s content - evidently unphased and unbothered that his
wife had been exiled at all. Now, you might argue that this was Dumuzid’s way of processing his loss
and that his debaucherous antics were a unique way of dealing with the grief of losing his wife. But
Inanna doesn’t give him a chance to explain and instead nominates him as the person who should
take her place. The demons were all but happy to oblige and without any hesitation they pluck
Dumuzid from his wife’s throne and carry him off to the underworld, effectively marking his death.
The narrative here does more than just cover the descent and return of Inanna,
but it also offers a cause of death, albeit an insidious one for Dumuzid. Whilst he was
believed to have simply expired in the summer months, this narrative allows for a more concrete
reason as to why he perished. Though, you might say that this only covers one of his deaths,
and you’d be right for thinking so, but there also exist other variations that might cover some of
his other demises. For example, in the Sumerian Poem ‘The Dream of Dumuzid’, the demons who come
for Dumuzid end up finding his sister Geshtinanna instead and take her to the underworld. Whilst he
has the opportunity to protect his sister, he chooses to hide instead. The demons torture
Geshtinanna in the hopes of learning where Dumuzid is, but despite their best efforts,
she does not submit the information. The demons eventually claw the information out of an unnamed
‘friend’ of Dumuzid which leads them to capturing Dumuzid and carrying him off to the Underworld.
So we see here that Dumuzid once again succumbs to an ill fate, though you might
argue that in both these instances, his death is warranted. First he doesn’t mourn for his wife,
which sees him suffer a mortal punishment at her own hand. But secondly, he doesn’t
stand up for his sister and instead proves to be cowardly by allowing her to be tortured,
in exchange for his own freedom. In both cases, you might argue that Dumizid deserved his demise,
as opposed to being ‘necessary’ so as to coincide with the changing of seasons.
It might also be argued that the Sumerians believed that Dumuzid had to die so that the
seasons could change from spring to summer, so in order to rationalise his death, they gave him a
narrative that was easier to digest and in some sense, was justifiable. In an additional part
of this narrative, Utu the sun God turns Dumuzid into a gazelle so that he might escape the demons.
But in the end, the demons catch up to him and once again drag him down into the underworld.
Several other accounts of Dumuzid’s death are also recorded on various ancient tablets.
In a damaged text known as Inanna and Bilulu, Dumuzid is believed to have been murdered by
a female bandit named Bilulu. Due to the text being mostly unintelligible,
there are many scholarly theories as to what the text means and how exactly Dumuzid’s death occurs.
Though the only thing that’s certain however is that Inanna is able to achieve her revenge
by transforming Bilulu into a waterskin,
so that she is forced to be the instrument that serves as libation during Dumuzid’s funeral.
In yet another text known as ‘The Most Bitter Cry’,
we see Dumuzid being chased by several demons and that as he is running, he falls into a river
where he either drowns or is dragged down into the underworld.
As we can see, the death of Dumuzid seems to have been inevitable, no matter how much he tried to
avoid it. Not even Gesthinana or Utu could protect Dumuzid from expiring, much as we cannot prevent
the season of Spring from fading. But the ancients were likely not keen on creating a new death for
Dumuzid every single year, so luckily, a creative approach was taken in sequelising the narrative
that not only redeemed Dumuzid but also provided a continuous reason as to why spring had to end.
This came about from Sumerian Poem ‘The Return of Dumuzid’,
where Gesthinana laments over the death of her brother - even though he did leave her
to be tortured. She is also joined by Inanna who appears to also mourn for her husband and arguably
has either forgiven him or dearly misses him. Together, they journey to find Dumuzid in the
Underworld and decide that their ill-fated relative is to be offered some peace.
It is then decreed that Dumuzid will spend half of the year with his sister
Geshtinana in the Underworld and the other half of the year in heaven with Inanna. With this,
Dumuzid is still punished for his previous malfeasances, but he is also offered respite by
getting to be with his sister (albeit, in hell), and getting to visit his wife in the heavens.
With this narrative, it can be argued that Dumuzid died every year when spring came to an end, where
he was returned to the underworld to be with his sister. But come autumn, he was risen again to be
with his wife and brought with him the blessings that were expected of an agricultural god.
The only loser here appears to be Gestihanna, who despite having done nothing wrong and having been
previously tortured by the demons, now has to live in the underworld to provide her brother company.
Dumuzid’s powers are often up for some questioning.
We know he doesn’t possess considerable strength or mastery over magic, for if he
did he probably would have fared better against the demons which come to routinely capture him.
Despite being a deity, it’s reasonable to believe that he didn’t possess any distinct power at all,
at least not outside of his realm of responsibility. In one interpretation,
he was also referred to as ‘my Damu’, which meant ‘my son’ and this name was used to personify him
as the power which caused sap to rise in trees. But beyond his usual dominion over fertile land
in the spring, Dumuzid doesn’t have much going for him - though you might argue
that this influence was sufficient enough power, given that he kept humanity alive in the spring.
It’s also true that unlike other Mesopotamian gods, Dumizid certainly had some staying power
given that worship of him was said to have continued well into the tenth and eleventh
centuries of the common era. This would be well after the decline of the Mesoptomain religions
during the fifth century, where the Assyrians converted to Chrsitinaity.
Speaking of Christinaity, it’s interesting that despite not being one of the more popular deities,
Dumuzid or ‘Tammuz’ earns a mention in the bible. In chapter 8 of Ezekiel’s account,
Ezekiel is shown by his God the women who mourn Tammuz outside the second temple. We are told,
“Then he (God) brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the house of the Lord,
and I saw women sitting there, mourning the god Tammuz.” (Genesis 8:14) Ezekiel’s god refers to
these worshippers and their god as abominations and it’s likely that they were included in this
account by the original authors to show believers that God disapproved of idolatry.
But with the specific mention of women mourning Tammuz, it’s likely that the
authors were referencing Tammuz’ several deaths and that at this time, it was likely summer,
a time where Tammuz died and his worshippers mourned him.
But let me know what your thoughts are on today’s episode of Mesopotamian Mythology
explained and as alway, if you’ve enjoyed today’s instalment then
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Until next time!