Misplaced Pages

Dumuzid
God of shepherds and fertility
Ancient Sumerian depiction of the marriage of Inanna and Dumuzid
Abode	Heaven (for half the year); Kur (for the other half)
Genealogy
Parents	Enki and Duttur
Siblings	Geshtinanna (sister), Amashilama (not usually, but in some texts said to be his sister)
Consort	Inanna (later known as Ishtar)
Equivalents
Greek	Adonis
East Semitic	Tammuz
Levantine	Tammuz/Adonis

Dumuzid or Dumuzi or Tammuz (Sumerian: 𒌉𒍣, romanized: Dumuzid; Akkadian: Duʾūzu, Dûzu; Hebrew: תַּמּוּז, romanized: Tammūz), known to the Sumerians as Dumuzid the Shepherd (Sumerian: 𒌉𒍣𒉺𒇻, romanized: Dumuzid sipad) and to the Canaanites as Adon (Phoenician: 𐤀𐤃𐤍; Proto-Hebrew: 𐤀𐤃𐤍), is an ancient Mesopotamian and Levantine deity associated with agriculture and shepherds, who was also the first and primary consort of the goddess Inanna (later known as Ishtar). In Sumerian mythology, Dumuzid's sister was Geshtinanna, the goddess of agriculture, fertility, and dream interpretation. In the Sumerian King List, Dumuzid is listed as an antediluvian king of the city of Bad-tibira and also an early king of the city of Uruk.

In Inanna's Descent into the Underworld, Inanna perceives that Dumuzid has failed to properly mourn her death and, when she returns from the Underworld, allows the galla demons to drag him down to the Underworld as her replacement. Inanna later regrets this decision and decrees that Dumuzid will spend half of the year in the Underworld, but the other half of the year with her, while his sister Geshtinanna stays in the Underworld in his place, thus resulting in the cycle of the seasons. In the Sumerian poem Inanna Prefers the Farmer, Dumuzid competes against the farmer Enkimdu for Inanna's hand in marriage.

Gilgamesh references Tammuz in Tablet VI of the Epic of Gilgamesh as the love of Ishtar's youth, who was turned into an allalu bird with a broken wing. Dumuzid was associated with fertility and vegetation and the hot, dry summers of Mesopotamia were believed to be caused by Dumuzid's yearly death. During the month in midsummer bearing his name, people all across Mesopotamia would engage in public, ritual mourning for him. The cult of Dumuzid later spread to the Levant and to Greece, where he became known under the West Semitic name Adonis.

The cult of Ishtar and Tammuz continued to thrive until the eleventh century AD and survived in parts of Mesopotamia as late as the eighteenth century. Tammuz is mentioned by name in the Book of Ezekiel (e.g., Ezek. 8:14–15) and possibly alluded to in other passages from the Hebrew Bible. In late nineteenth and early twentieth century scholarship of religion, Tammuz was widely seen as a prime example of the archetypal dying-and-rising god, but the discovery of the full Sumerian text of Inanna's Descent in the mid-twentieth century appeared to disprove the previous scholarly assumption that the narrative ended with Dumuzid's resurrection and instead revealed that it ended with Dumuzid's death. However, the rescue of Dumuzid from the underworld was later found in the text Return of Dumuzid, translated in 1963.

Worship

God of milk and shepherds

The Assyriologists Jeremy Black and Anthony Green describe the early history of Dumuzid's cult as "complex and bewildering". According to the Sumerian King List (ETCSL 2.1.1), Dumuzid was the fifth antediluvian king of the city of Bad-tibira. Dumuzid was also listed as an early king of Uruk, where he was said to have come from the nearby village of Kuara and to have been the consort of the goddess Inanna. As Dumuzid sipad ("Dumuzid the Shepherd"), Dumuzid was believed to be the provider of milk, which was a rare, seasonal commodity in ancient Sumer due to the fact that it could not easily be stored without spoiling.

Plant-growing deity

In addition to being the god of shepherds, Dumuzid was also an agricultural deity associated with the growth of plants. Ancient Near Eastern peoples associated Dumuzid with the springtime, when the land was fertile and abundant, but, during the summer months, when the land was dry and barren, it was thought that Dumuzid had "died". During the month of Dumuzid, which fell in the middle of summer, people all across Sumer would mourn over his death. This seems to have been the primary aspect of his cult. In Lagash, the month of Dumuzid was the sixth month of the year. This month and the holiday associated with it was later transmitted from the Sumerians to Babylonians and other East Semitic peoples, with its name transcribed into those languages as Tammuz. A ritual associated with the Ekur temple in Nippur equates Dumuzid with the snake-god Ištaran, who in that ritual, is described as having died.

Association with date palms

Dumuzid was also identified with the god Ama-ušumgal-ana (𒀭𒂼𒃲𒁔𒀭𒈾 ama-ušumgal-an-na), who was originally a local god worshipped in the city of Lagash. In some texts, Ama-ušumgal-ana is described as a heroic warrior. As Ama-ušumgal-ana, Dumuzid is associated with the date palm and its fruits. This aspect of Dumuzid's cult was always joyful in character and had no associations with the darker stories involving his death. To ancient Mesopotamian peoples, the date palm represented stability, because it was one of the few crops that could be harvested all year, even during the dry season. In some Sumerian poems, Dumuzid is referred to as "my Damu", which means "my son". This name is usually applied to him in his role as the personification of the power that causes the sap to rise in trees and plants. Damu is the name most closely associated with Dumuzid's return in autumn after the dry season has ended. This aspect of his cult emphasized the fear and exhaustion of the community after surviving the devastating summer.

Exchange with other near east religions

Dumuzid had virtually no power outside of his distinct realm of responsibilities. Very few prayers addressed to him are extant and, of those that are, almost all of them are simply requests for him to provide more milk, more grain, more cattle, etc. The sole exception to this rule is a single Assyrian inscription in which a man requests Tammuz that, when he descends to the Underworld, he should take with him a troublesome ghost who has been haunting him. The cult of Tammuz was particularly associated with women, who were the ones responsible for mourning his death.

The custom of planting miniature gardens with fast-growing plants such as lettuce and fennel, which would then be placed out in the hot sun to sprout before withering in the heat, was a well-attested custom in ancient Greece associated with the festival of Adonia in honor of Adonis, the Greek version of Tammuz; some scholars have argued based on references in the Hebrew Bible that this custom may have been a continuation of an earlier oriental practice. The same women who mourned the death of Tammuz also prepared cakes for his consort Ishtar, the Queen of Heaven. These cakes would be baked in ashes and several clay cake molds discovered at Mari, Syria reveal that they were also at least sometimes shaped like naked women.

Role in sacred marriage

According to the scholar Samuel Noah Kramer, towards the end of the third millennium BC, kings of Uruk may have established their legitimacy by taking on the role of Dumuzid as part of a "sacred marriage" ceremony. This ritual lasted for one night on the tenth day of the Akitu, the Sumerian new year festival, which was celebrated annually at the spring equinox. As part of the ritual, it was thought that the king would engage in ritualized sexual intercourse with the high priestess of Inanna, who took on the role of the goddess. In the late twentieth century, the historicity of the sacred marriage ritual was treated by scholars as more-or-less an established fact, but in recent years, largely due to the writings of Pirjo Lapinkivi, some scholars have rejected the notion of an actual sex ritual, instead seeing "sacred marriage" as a symbolic rather than a physical union.

Mythology

Sumerian

Marriage to Inanna

The poem "Inanna Prefers the Farmer" (ETCSL 4.0.8.3.3) begins with a rather playful conversation between Inanna and her brother Utu, who incrementally reveals to her that it is time for her to marry. Dumuzid comes to court her, along with a farmer named Enkimdu. At first, Inanna prefers the farmer, but Utu and Dumuzid gradually persuade her that Dumuzid is the better choice for a husband, arguing that, for every gift the farmer can give to her, the shepherd can give her something even better. In the end, Inanna marries Dumuzid. The shepherd and the farmer reconcile their differences, offering each other gifts. Samuel Noah Kramer compares the myth to the Biblical story of Cain and Abel because both accounts center around a farmer and a shepherd competing for divine favor and, in both stories, the deity in question ultimately chooses the shepherd.

A vast number of erotic love poems celebrating the consummation of Inanna and Dumuzid have survived. Two excerpts from a representative example are translated below:

Death

Main narrative

Towards the end of the epic poem Inanna's Descent into the Underworld (ETCSL 1.4.1), Dumuzid's wife Inanna escapes from the Underworld, but is pursued by a horde of galla demons, who insist that someone else must take her place in the Underworld. They first come upon Inanna's sukkal Ninshubur and attempt to take her, but Inanna stops them, insisting that Ninshubur is her loyal servant and that she had rightfully mourned for her while she was in the Underworld. They next come upon Shara, Inanna's beautician, who is still in mourning. The demons attempt to take him, but Inanna insists that they may not, because he had also mourned for her. The third person they come upon is Lulal, who is also in mourning. The demons try to take him, but Inanna stops them once again. Finally, they come upon Dumuzid, who is lavishly clothed and resting beneath a tree, or sitting on Inanna's throne, entertained by slave-girls. Inanna, displeased, decrees that the demons shall take him, using language which echoes the speech Ereshkigal gave while condemning her. The demons then drag Dumuzid down to the Underworld.

The Sumerian poem The Dream of Dumuzid (ETCSL 1.4.3) begins with Dumuzid telling Geshtinanna about a frightening dream he has experienced. Then the galla demons arrive to drag Dumuzid down into the Underworld as Inanna's replacement. Dumuzid flees and hides. The galla demons brutally torture Geshtinanna in an attempt to force her to tell them where Dumuzid is hiding. Geshtinanna, however, refuses to tell them where her brother has gone. The galla go to Dumuzid's unnamed "friend", who betrays Dumuzid, telling the galla exactly where Dumuzid is hiding. The galla capture Dumuzid, but Utu, the god of the Sun, who is also Inanna's brother, rescues Dumuzid by transforming him into a gazelle. Eventually, the galla recapture Dumuzid and drag him down into the Underworld.

In the Sumerian poem The Return of Dumuzid, which begins where The Dream of Dumuzid ends, Geshtinanna laments continually for days and nights over Dumuzid's death, joined by Inanna, who has apparently experienced a change of heart, and Sirtur, Dumuzid's mother. The three goddesses mourn continually until a fly reveals to Inanna the location of her husband. Together, Inanna and Geshtinanna go to the place where the fly has told them they will find Dumuzid. They find him there and Inanna decrees that, from that point onwards, Dumuzid will spend half of the year with her sister Ereshkigal in the Underworld and the other half of the year in Heaven with her, while Geshtinanna takes his place in the Underworld.

Other versions

Other texts describe different and contradictory accounts of Dumuzid's death. The text of the poem Inanna and Bilulu (ETCSL 1.4.4), discovered at Nippur, is badly mutilated and scholars have interpreted it in a number of different ways. The beginning of the poem is mostly destroyed, but seems to be a lament. The intelligible part of the poem describes Inanna pining after her husband Dumuzid, who is in the steppe watching his flocks. Inanna sets out to find him. After this, a large portion of the text is missing. When the story resumes, Inanna is told that Dumuzid has been murdered. Inanna discovers that the old bandit woman Bilulu and her son Girgire are responsible. She travels along the road to Edenlila and stops at an inn, where she finds the two murderers. Inanna stands on top of a stool and transforms Bilulu into "the waterskin that men carry in the desert", forcing her to pour the funerary libations for Dumuzid.

Dumuzid and Geshtinanna begins with demons encouraging Inanna to conquer the Underworld. Instead, she hands Dumuzid over to them. They put Dumuzid's feet, hands, and neck in the stocks and torture him using hot pokers. They strip him naked, do "evil" to him, and cover his face with his own garment. Finally, Dumuzid prays to Utu for help. Utu transforms Dumuzid into a creature that is part eagle and part snake, allowing him to escape back to Geshtinanna. In the text known as The Most Bitter Cry, Dumuzid is chased by the "seven evil deputies of the netherworld" and, as he is running, he falls into a river. Near an apple tree on the other bank, he is dragged into the Underworld, where everything simultaneously "exists" and "does not exist", perhaps indicating that they exist in insubstantial or immaterial forms.

A collection of lamentations for Dumuzid entitled In the Desert by the Early Grass describes Damu, the "dead anointed one", being dragged down to the Underworld by demons, who blindfold him, tie him up, and forbid him from sleeping. Damu's mother tries to follow him into the Underworld, but Damu is now a disembodied spirit, "lying in" the winds, "in the lightnings and in tornadoes". Damu's mother is also unable to eat the food or drink the water in the Underworld, because it is "bad". Damu travels along the road of the Underworld and encounters various spirits. He meets the ghost of a small child, who tells him that it is lost; the ghost of a singer agrees to accompany the child. Damu asks the spirits to send a message to his mother, but they cannot because they are dead and the living cannot hear the dead's voices. Damu, however, manages to tell his mother to dig up his blood and chop it into pieces. Damu's mother gives the congealed blood to Damu's sister Amashilama, who is a leech. Amashilama mixes the congealed blood into a brew of beer, which Damu must drink in order to be restored to life. Damu, however, realizes that he is dead and declares that he is not in the "grass which shall grow for his mother again", nor in the "waters which will rise". Damu's mother blesses him and Amashilama dies to join him in the Underworld. She tells him that "the day that dawns for you will also dawn for me; the day you see, I shall also see", referring to the fact that day in the world above is night in the Underworld.

Akkadian

In the myth of Adapa, Dumuzid and Ningishzida are the two doorkeepers of Anu, the god of the heavens, who speak out in favor of Adapa, the priest of Ea, as he stands trial before Anu. In Tablet VI of the standard Akkadian Epic of Gilgamesh, Ishtar (Inanna) attempts to seduce the hero Gilgamesh, but he rebuffs her, reminding her that she had struck Tammuz (Dumuzid), "the lover of youth", decreeing that he should "keep weeping year after year". Gilgamesh describes Tammuz as a colorful allalu bird (possibly a European or Indian roller), whose wing has been broken and now spends all his time "in the woods crying 'My wing!'" (Tablet VI, section ii, lines 11–15). Gilgamesh may be referring to an alternative account of Dumuzid's death, different from the ones recorded in extant texts.

Anton Moortgat has interpreted Dumuzid as the antithesis of Gilgamesh: Gilgamesh refuses Ishtar's demand for him to become her lover, seeks immortality, and fails to find it; Dumuzid, by contrast, accepts Ishtar's offer and, as a result of her love, is able to spend half the year in Heaven, even though he is condemned to the Underworld for the other half. Mehmet-Ali Ataç further argues that the "Tammuz model" of immortality was far more prevalent in the ancient Near East than the "Gilgamesh model". In a chart of antediluvian generations in Babylonian and Biblical traditions, William Wolfgang Hallo associates Dumuzid with the composite half-man, half-fish counselor or culture hero (Apkallu) An-Enlilda, and suggests an equivalence between Dumuzid and Enoch in the Sethite Genealogy given in Genesis chapter 5.

Later worship

In the Bible

The cult of Ishtar and Tammuz may have been introduced to the Kingdom of Judah during the reign of King Manasseh and the Old Testament contains numerous allusions to them. Ezekiel 8:14 mentions Tammuz by name: "Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the Lord's house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz. Then said he unto to me, 'Hast thou seen this, O son of man? turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these."

Ezekiel's testimony is the only direct mention of Tammuz in the Hebrew Bible, but the cult of Tammuz may also be alluded to in Isaiah 17:10–11:

Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful of the rock of thy strength, therefore shalt thou plant pleasant plants, and shalt set it with strange slips: In the day shalt thou make thy plant to grow, and in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish: but the harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow.

This passage may be describing the miniature gardens that women would plant in honor of Tammuz during his festival. Isaiah 1:29–30, Isaiah 65:3, and Isaiah 66:17 all denounce sacrifices made "in the gardens", which may also be connected to the cult of Tammuz. Another possible allusion to Tammuz occurs in Daniel 11:37: "Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all." The subject of this passage is Antiochus IV Epiphanes and some scholars have interpreted the reference to the "one desired by women" in this passage as an indication that Antiochus may have persecuted the cult of Tammuz. There is no external evidence to support this reading, however, and it is much more probable that this epithet is merely a jibe at Antiochus's notorious cruelty towards all the women who fell in love with him.

The Hebrew Bible also contains references to Tammuz's consort Inanna-Ishtar. Jeremiah 7:18 and Jeremiah 44:15–19 mention "the Queen of Heaven", who is probably a syncretism of Inanna-Ishtar and the West Semitic goddess Astarte. The Song of Songs bears strong similarities to the Sumerian love poems involving Inanna and Dumuzid, particularly in its usage of natural symbolism to represent the lovers' physicality. Song of Songs 6:10 ("Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners?") is almost certainly a reference to Inanna-Ishtar.

Classical antiquity

The myth of Inanna and Dumuzid later became the basis for the Greek myth of Aphrodite and Adonis. The Greek name Ἄδωνις (Adōnis, Greek pronunciation: [ádɔːnis]) is derived from the Canaanite word ʼadōn, meaning "lord". The earliest known Greek reference to Adonis comes from a fragment of a poem by the Lesbian poet Sappho, dating to the seventh century BC, in which a chorus of young girls asks Aphrodite what they can do to mourn Adonis's death. Aphrodite replies that they must beat their breasts and tear their tunics. Later recensions of the Adonis legend reveal that he was believed to have been slain by a wild boar during a hunting trip. According to Lucian's De Dea Syria, each year during the festival of Adonis, the Adonis River located in what is now Lebanon (renamed the Abraham River) ran red with blood.

In Greece, the myth of Adonis was associated with the festival of the Adonia, which was celebrated by Greek women every year in midsummer. The festival, which was evidently already celebrated in Lesbos by Sappho's time, seems to have first become popular in Athens in the mid-fifth century BC. At the start of the festival, the women would plant a "garden of Adonis", a small garden planted inside a small basket or a shallow piece of broken pottery containing a variety of quick-growing plants, such as lettuce and fennel, or even quick-sprouting grains such as wheat and barley. The women would then climb ladders to the roofs of their houses, where they would place the gardens out under the heat of the summer sun. The plants would sprout in the sunlight, but wither quickly in the heat. Then the women would mourn and lament loudly over the death of Adonis, tearing their clothes and beating their breasts in a public display of grief. The third century BC poet Euphorion of Chalcis remarked in his Hyacinth that "Only Cocytus washed the wounds of Adonis".

Survival into the Christian Era

The Church Father Jerome records in a letter dated to the year 395 AD that "Bethlehem... belonging now to us... was overshadowed by a grove of Tammuz, that is to say, Adonis, and in the cave where once the infant Christ cried, the lover of Venus was lamented." This same cave later became the site of the Church of the Nativity. The church historian Eusebius, however, does not mention pagans having ever worshipped in the cave, nor do any other early Christian writers. Peter Welten has argued that the cave was never dedicated to Tammuz and that Jerome misinterpreted Christian mourning over the Massacre of the Innocents as a pagan ritual over Tammuz's death. Joan E. Taylor has countered this contention by arguing that Jerome, as an educated man, could not have been so naïve as to mistake Christian mourning over the Massacre of the Innocents as a pagan ritual for Tammuz.

During the sixth century AD, some early Christians in the Middle East borrowed elements from poems of Ishtar mourning over the death of Tammuz into their own retellings of the Virgin Mary mourning over the death of her son Jesus. The Syrian writers Jacob of Serugh and Romanos the Melodist both wrote laments in which the Virgin Mary describes her compassion for her son at the foot of the cross in deeply personal terms closely resembling Ishtar's laments over the death of Tammuz.

Tammuz is the month of July in Iraqi Arabic and Levantine Arabic (see Arabic names of calendar months), as well as in the Assyrian calendar and Jewish calendar, and references to Tammuz appear in Arabic literature from the 9th to 11th centuries AD. In what purports to be a translation of an ancient Nabataean text by Qūthāmā the Babylonian, Ibn Wahshiyya (c. 9th-10th century AD), adds information on his own efforts to ascertain the identity of Tammuz, and his discovery of the full details of the legend of Tammuz in another Nabataean book: "How he summoned the king to worship the seven (planets) and the twelve (signs) and how the king put him to death several times in a cruel manner Tammuz coming to life again after each time, until at last he died; and behold! it was identical to the legend of St. George." Ibn Wahshiyya also adds that Tammuz lived in Babylonia before the coming of the Chaldeans and belonged to an ancient Mesopotamian tribe called Ganbân. On rituals related to Tammuz in his time, he adds that the Sabaeans in Harran and Babylonia still lamented the loss of Tammuz every July, but that the origin of the worship had been lost. Ibn Wahshiyya's version of the Tammuz myth is also cited by Maimonides in his Guide for the Perplexed.

In the tenth century AD, the Arab traveler Al-Nadim wrote in his Kitab al-Fehrest that "All the Sabaeans of our time, those of Babylonia as well as those of Harran, lament and weep to this day over Tammuz at a festival which they, more particularly the women, hold in the month of the same name." Drawing from a work on Syriac calendar feast days, Al-Nadim describes a Tâ'ûz festival that took place in the middle of the month of Tammuz. Women bewailed the death of Tammuz at the hands of his master who was said to have "ground his bones in a mill and scattered them to the wind." Consequently, women would forgo the eating of ground foods during the festival time. The same festival is mentioned in the eleventh century by Ibn Athir, who recounts that it still took place every year at the appointed time along the banks of the Tigris river. Tammuz is still the name for the month of July in Iraqi Arabic.

As a dying-and-rising god

The late nineteenth-century Scottish anthropologist Sir James George Frazer wrote extensively about Tammuz in his monumental study of comparative religion The Golden Bough (the first edition of which was published in 1890) as well as in later works. Frazer claimed that Tammuz was just one example of the archetype of a "dying-and-rising god" found throughout all cultures. Frazer and others also saw Tammuz's Greek equivalent Adonis as a "dying-and-rising god". Origen discusses Adonis, whom he associates with Tammuz, in his Selecta in Ezechielem ( “Comments on Ezekiel”), noting that "they say that for a long time certain rites of initiation are conducted: first, that they weep for him, since he has died; second, that they rejoice for him because he has risen from the dead (apo nekrôn anastanti)."

Tammuz's categorization as a "dying-and-rising god" was based on the abbreviated Akkadian redaction of Inanna's Descent into the Underworld, which was missing the ending. Since numerous lamentations over the death of Dumuzid had already been translated, scholars filled in the missing ending by assuming that the reason for Ishtar's descent was because she was going to resurrect Dumuzid and that the text could therefore be assumed to end with Tammuz's resurrection. Then, in the middle of the twentieth century, the complete, unabridged, original Sumerian text of Inanna's Descent was finally translated, revealing that, instead of ending with Dumuzid's resurrection as had long been assumed, the text actually ended with Dumuzid's death.

The rescue of Dumuzid from the underworld was later found in the text Return of Dumuzid, translated in 1963. Biblical scholars Paul Eddy and Greg Boyd argued in 2007 that this text does not describe a triumph over death because Dumuzid must be replaced in the underworld by his sister, thus reinforcing the "inalterable power of the realm of the dead". However, other scholars have cited this as an example of a god who was previously dead and risen again.

Literary references

The references to the cult of Tammuz preserved in the Bible and in Greco-Roman literature brought the story to the attention of western European writers. The story was popular in Early Modern England and appeared in a variety of works, including Sir Walter Raleigh's History of the World (1614), George Sandys's Dictionarium Relation of a Journey (1615), and Charles Stephanus's Dictionarium Historicam (1553). These have all been suggested as sources for Tammuz's most famous appearance in English literature as a demon in Book I of John Milton's Paradise Lost, lines 446–457:

THAMMUZ came next behind,
Whose annual wound in LEBANON allur'd
The SYRIAN Damsels to lament his fate
In amorous dittyes all a Summers day,
While smooth ADONIS from his native Rock
Ran purple to the Sea, suppos'd with blood
Of THAMMUZ yearly wounded: the Love-tale
Infected SION'S daughters with like heat,
Whose wanton passions in the sacred Porch
EZEKIEL saw, when by the Vision led
His eye survey'd the dark Idolatries
Of alienated JUDAH.

• Oscar Wilde, "Charmides"

And then each pigeon spread its milky van,
The bright car soared into the dawning sky
And like a cloud the aerial caravan
Passed over the Ægean silently,
Till the faint air was troubled with the song
From the wan mouths that call on bleeding Thammuz all night long

Family tree

See also

• History of Sumer
• Mesopotamian mythology
• Descent of Inanna into the Underworld

Notes

1. Derived from the Sumerian words meaning "faithful son".
2. Syriac: ܬܡܘܙ; Arabic: تمّوز Tammūz
3. Dumuzid's Dream is attested in seventy-five known sources, fifty-five of which come from Nippur, nine from Ur, three probably from the region around Sippar, one each from Uruk, Kish, Shaduppum, and Susa.
4. Remarked upon in passing by Photius, Biblioteca 190 (on-line translation).
5. cf. J.-P. Migne, Patrologiae Cursus Completus: Series Graeca, 13:800

References

1. Lung 2014.
2. Mitchell 2005, p. 169.
3. "The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature". etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 2015-09-08. Retrieved 2017-08-29.
4. ^ Black & Green 1992, p. 72.
5. ^ Jacobsen 2008, p. 74.
6. Jacobsen 2008, p. 84.
7. ^ Ackerman 2006, p. 116.
8. Jacobsen 2008, pp. 87–88.
9. Jacobsen 2008, pp. 83–84.
10. Jacobsen 2008, pp. 83–87.
11. ^ Black & Green 1992, p. 73.
12. Jacobsen 2008, pp. 74–84.
13. Simons 2017, p. 86.
14. Black & Green 1992, pp. 72–73.
15. Jacobsen 2008, pp. 73–74.
16. Black & Green 1992, pp. 57, 73.
17. Jacobsen 2008, pp. 73, 89.
18. Jacobsen 2008, p. 73.
19. ^ Jacobsen 2008, p. 89.
20. Jacobsen 2008, pp. 74–76.
21. ^ Jacobsen 2008, pp. 75–76.
22. Jacobsen 2008, p. 76.
23. ^ Cyrino 2010, p. 97.
24. ^ Detienne 1977.
25. ^ van der Toorn, Becking & Willem 1999, p. 9.
26. ^ Ackerman 2006, pp. 115–117.
27. ^ Kramer 1970.
28. ^ Nemet-Nejat 1998, p. 196.
29. ^ Pryke 2017, p. 128.
30. ^ Kramer 1961, p. 101.
31. Wolkstein & Kramer 1983, pp. 30–49.
32. ^ Kramer 1961, pp. 102–103.
33. Kramer 1961, pp. 101–103.
34. Wolkstein & Kramer 1983, pp. 150–155.
35. Leick 2013, pp. 64–79, 90–96.
36. Black & Green 1992, pp. 157–158.
37. Pryke 2017, pp. 127–128.
38. Wolkstein & Kramer 1983, p. 37.
39. Wolkstein & Kramer 1983, p. 39.
40. ^ Kramer 1961, pp. 94–95.
41. ^ Kramer 1961, p. 95.
42. ^ Wolkstein & Kramer 1983, pp. 68–69.
43. Kramer 1961, pp. 95–96.
44. Wolkstein & Kramer 1983, pp. 69–70.
45. ^ Kramer 1961, p. 96.
46. Wolkstein & Kramer 1983, pp. 70.
47. ^ Wolkstein & Kramer 1983, pp. 70–71.
48. ^ Wolkstein & Kramer 1983, p. 71.
49. Wolkstein & Kramer 1983, pp. 74–78.
50. ^ Tinney 2018, p. 86.
51. Wolkstein & Kramer 1983, pp. 74–84.
52. Wolkstein & Kramer 1983, pp. 83–84.
53. Wolkstein & Kramer 1983, pp. 85–87.
54. Wolkstein & Kramer 1983, pp. 87–89.
55. Wolkstein & Kramer 1983, pp. 88–89.
56. Kramer 1966, p. 31.
57. Penglase 1994, p. 18.
58. Wolkstein & Kramer 1983, pp. 85–89.
59. ^ Shushan 2009, pp. 77–78.
60. ^ Leick 1998, p. 89.
61. ^ Pryke 2017, p. 166.
62. Black & Green 1992, p. 109.
63. ^ Shushan 2009, p. 77.
64. ^ Shushan 2009, p. 78.
65. ^ Kramer 1961, pp. 32–33.
66. Shushan 2009, pp. 78–79.
67. ^ Shushan 2009, p. 79.
68. Dalley 1989, p. 78.
69. ^ Dalley 1989, pp. 129, n. 56.
70. ^ Sandars 1972, p. 86.
71. ^ McCall 1990, p. 66.
72. ^ Dalley 1989, p. 187.
73. ^ Pryke 2017, p. 146.
74. Dalley 1989, pp. 78–79.
75. ^ Ataç 2018, p. 10.
76. Hallo & Simpson 1971, p. 32.
77. ^ Pryke 2017, p. 195.
78. ^ Warner 2016, p. 211.
79. ^ Middlemas 2005, pp. 114–115.
80. ^ Pryke 2017, p. 193.
81. Pryke 2017, pp. 193–195.
82. Ezekiel 8:14
83. ^ Smith 2002, p. 182.
84. ^ Middlemas 2005, p. 115.
85. Isaiah 17:10–11
86. Breitenberger 2007, p. 10.
87. Ackerman 2006, pp. 116–117.
88. ^ Pryke 2017, p. 194.
89. ^ Baring & Cashford 1991.
90. West 1997, p. 57.
91. Kerényi 1951, p. 67.
92. Burkert 1985, pp. 176–177.
93. ^ West 1997, pp. 530–531.
94. ^ Kerényi 1951, p. 76.
95. Cyrino 2010, p. 96.
96. Kerényi 1951, p. 279.
97. Atallah 1966.
98. Cyrino 2010, pp. 97–98.
99. ^ Cyrino 2010, p. 98.
100. ^ Taylor 1993, p. 96.
101. Taylor 1993, pp. 96–97.
102. Warner 2016, pp. 210–212.
103. Warner 2016, p. 212.
104. Cragg 1991, p. 260.
105. ^ Fuller, 1864, pp. 200-201.
106. de Azevedo 2005, pp. 308–309.
107. Klein, Reuven Chaim (2018). God versus Gods: Judasim in the Age of Idolatry. Mosaica Press. p. 358. ISBN 978-1946351463. OL 27322748M.
108. ^ Ehrman 2012, pp. 222–223.
109. ^ Barstad 1984, p. 149.
110. Eddy & Boyd 2007, pp. 142–143.
111. Mettinger 2004, p. 375.
112. Barstad 1984, pp. 149–150.
113. ^ Eddy & Boyd 2007, pp. 140–142.
114. ^ Eddy & Boyd 2007, pp. 144.
115. ^ Mettinger 2004, p. 379.
116. Dalley 1989.
117. Corrente 2012.
118. ^ Milton & Kastan 2005, pp. 25–26.
119. ^ Milton & Kastan 2005, p. 25.

Bibliography

• Ackerman, Susan (2006) , Day, Peggy Lynne (ed.), Gender and Difference in Ancient Israel, Minneapolis, Minnesota: Fortress Press, ISBN 978-0-8006-2393-7, archived from the original on 2023-04-09, retrieved 2020-10-25
• Ataç, Mehmet-Ali (2018), Art and Immortality in the Ancient Near East, Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-1-107-15495-7, archived from the original on 2023-04-09, retrieved 2020-10-25
• Atallah, W. (1966), Adonis dans la littérature et l'art grecs, Paris
• Baring, Anne; Cashford, Jules (1991), The Myth of the Goddess: Evolution of an Image, London, England: Penguin Books, ISBN 978-0140192926, archived from the original on 2023-04-09, retrieved 2020-10-25
• Barstad, Hans M. (1984), The Religious Polemics of Amos: Studies in the Preaching of Am 2, 7B-8; 4,1-13; 5,1-27; 6,4-7; 8,14, Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, ISBN 9789004070172, archived from the original on 2023-04-09, retrieved 2020-10-25
• Black, Jeremy; Green, Anthony (1992), Gods, Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia: An Illustrated Dictionary, The British Museum Press, ISBN 978-0-7141-1705-8, archived from the original on 2023-03-17, retrieved 2020-10-25
• Breitenberger, Barbara (2007), Aphrodite and Eros: The Development of Greek Erotic Mythology, New York City, New York and London, England, ISBN 978-0-415-96823-2, archived from the original on 2023-04-09, retrieved 2020-10-25{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Burkert, Walter (1985), Greek Religion, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, ISBN 978-0-674-36281-9
• Corrente, Paola (2012), Dioniso y los Dying gods: paralelos metodológicos, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, archived from the original on 2022-03-27, retrieved 2019-10-14
• Cragg, Kenneth (1991), The Arab Christian: A History in the Middle East, Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, ISBN 9780664221829
• Cyrino, Monica S. (2010), Aphrodite, Gods and Heroes of the Ancient World, New York City, New York and London, England: Routledge, ISBN 978-0-415-77523-6, archived from the original on 2023-04-09, retrieved 2020-10-25
• Dalley, Stephanie (1989), Myths from Mesopotamia: Creation, the Flood, Gilgamesh, and Others, Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-283589-5, archived from the original on 2023-04-09, retrieved 2020-10-25
• de Azevedo, Mateus Soares (2005), Ye Shall Know the Truth: Christianity and the Perennial Philosophy., United States: World Wisdom, ISBN 978-0941532693
• Detienne, Marcel (1977) , Les jardins d'Adonis, translated by Lloyd, Janet, Hertfordshire, England: Harvester Press
• Eddy, Paul Rhodes; Boyd, Gregory A. (2007), The Jesus Legend: A Case for the Historical Reliability of the Synoptic Jesus Tradition, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, ISBN 978-0801031144, archived from the original on 2023-04-09, retrieved 2020-10-25
• Ehrman, Bart D. (2012), Did Jesus Exist?: The Historical Argument for Jesus of Nazareth, New York City, new York: HarperCollins, ISBN 978-0-06-220644-2
• Hallo, William W.; Simpson, William Kelly (1971), The Ancient Near East: A History, New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc.
• Jacobsen, Thorkild (2008) , "Toward the Image of Tammuz", in Moran, William L. (ed.), Toward the Image of Tammuz and Other Essays on Mesopotamian History and Culture, Eugene, Oregon: Wipf & Stock, pp. 73–103, ISBN 978-1-55635-952-1, archived from the original on 2023-04-09, retrieved 2020-10-25
• Kerényi, Karl (1951), The Gods of the Greeks, London, England: Thames and Hudson, ISBN 978-0-500-27048-6
• Kramer, Samuel Noah (1961), Sumerian Mythology: A Study of Spiritual and Literary Achievement in the Third Millennium B.C.: Revised Edition, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press, ISBN 978-0-8122-1047-7, archived from the original on 2020-08-08, retrieved 2018-02-08
• Kramer, Samuel Noah (October 1966), "Dumuzi's Annual Resurrection: An Important Correction to "Inanna's Descent"", Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, 183 (183): 31, doi:10.2307/1356459, JSTOR 1356459, S2CID 163544444
• Kramer, Samuel Noah (28 April 1970), The Sacred Marriage Rite, Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press, ISBN 978-0253350350
• Leick, Gwendolyn (1998) , A Dictionary of Ancient Near Eastern Mythology, New York City, New York: Routledge, ISBN 978-0-415-19811-0, archived from the original on 2023-04-09, retrieved 2020-10-25
• Leick, Gwendolyn (2013) , Sex and Eroticism in Mesopotamian Literature, New York City, New York: Routledge, ISBN 978-1-134-92074-7, archived from the original on 2023-03-21, retrieved 2020-10-25
• Lung, Tang (2014), "Marriage of Inanna and Dumuzi", World History Encyclopedia, archived from the original on 2023-04-09, retrieved 2021-04-23
• McCall, Henrietta (1990), Mesopotamian Myths, The Legendary Past, Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press, ISBN 978-0-292-75130-9, archived from the original on 2023-04-09, retrieved 2020-10-25
• Mettinger, Tryggve N. D. (2004), "The "Dying and Rising God": A Survey of Research from Frazer to the Present Day", in Batto, Bernard F.; Roberts, Kathryn L. (eds.), David and Zion: Biblical Studies in Honor of J.J.M. Roberts, Winona Lake, Indiana: Eisenbrauns, ISBN 978-1-57506-092-7, archived from the original on 2023-04-09, retrieved 2020-10-25
• Middlemas, Jill (2005), The Troubles of Templeless Judah, Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0199283866, archived from the original on 2023-04-09, retrieved 2020-10-25
• Milton, John; Kastan, David Scott (2005), Paradise Lost (Kastan Edition), Indianapolis, Indiana: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., ISBN 978-0-87220-733-2
• Mitchell, Stephen (2005) , Gilgamesh: A New English Version by Stephen Mitchell, London, England: Profile Books, Ltd., ISBN 978-0743261692, archived from the original on 2023-04-09, retrieved 2020-10-25
• Nemet-Nejat, Karen Rhea (1998), Daily Life in Ancient Mesopotamia, Greenwood, ISBN 978-0313294976
• Penglase, Charles (1994), Greek Myths and Mesopotamia: Parallels and Influence in the Homeric Hymns and Hesiod, New York City, New York: Routledge, ISBN 978-0-415-15706-3, archived from the original on 2023-04-09, retrieved 2020-10-25
• Pryke, Louise M. (2017), Ishtar, New York and London: Routledge, ISBN 978-1-138--86073-5, archived from the original on 2023-04-09, retrieved 2020-10-25
• Sandars, Nancy K. (1972) , The Epic of Gilgamesh, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, ISBN 978-0140441000
• Shushan, Gregory (2009), Conceptions of the Afterlife in Early Civilizations: Universalism, Constructivism, and near Death Experience, New York City, New York and London, England: Continuum International Publishing Group, ISBN 978-0-8264-4073-0, archived from the original on 2023-04-09, retrieved 2020-10-25
• Simons, Frank (2017), Hazenbos, Joost; Mittermayer; Novák, Mirko; Suter, Claudia E. (eds.), "A New Join to the Hurro-Akkadian Version of the Weidner God List from Emar (Msk 74.108a + Msk 74.158k)", Altorientalische Forschungen, 44 (1), Berlin, Germany: Walter de Gruyter: 82–100, doi:10.1515/aofo-2017-0009, ISSN 0232-8461, S2CID 164771112
• Smith, Jonathan Z. (1987), "Dying and Rising Gods", in Eliade, Mircea (ed.), The Encyclopedia of Religion, vol. IV, London, England: Macmillan, pp. 521–527, ISBN 978-0029097007
• Smith, Mark S. (2002), The Early History of God: Yahweh and the Other Deities in Ancient Israel (2nd ed.), Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, ISBN 9780802839725, archived from the original on 2023-04-09, retrieved 2020-10-25
• Taylor, Joan E. (1993), Christians and the Holy Places: The Myth of Jewish-Christian Origins, Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-814785-5, archived from the original on 2023-04-09, retrieved 2020-10-25
• Tinney, Steve (April 2018), Woods, Christopher; Richardson, Seth; Osborne, James; El Shamsy, Ahmed (eds.), ""Dumuzi's Dream" Revisited", Journal of Near Eastern Studies, 77 (1), Chicago, Illinois: The University of Chicago Press: 85–89, doi:10.1086/696146, ISSN 0022-2968, S2CID 165931671
• van der Toorn, Karel; Becking, Bob; Willem, Pieter (1999), Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible (second ed.), Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdman's Publishing Company, ISBN 978-0-8028-2491-2
• Warner, Marina (2016) , Alone of All Her Sex: The Myth and Cult of the Virgin Mary, Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-963994-6, archived from the original on 2023-04-09, retrieved 2020-10-25
• West, M. L. (1997), The East Face of Helicon: West Asiatic Elements in Greek Poetry and Myth, Oxford, England: Clarendon Press, p. 57, ISBN 978-0-19-815221-7, archived from the original on 2023-04-09, retrieved 2018-02-10
• Wolkstein, Diane; Kramer, Samuel Noah (1983), Inanna: Queen of Heaven and Earth: Her Stories and Hymns from Sumer, New York City, New York: Harper&Row Publishers, ISBN 978-0-06-090854-6

External links

• ETCSL: Texts and translations of Dumuzid myths (alternate site)

v t e Rulers of the Ancient Near East

Territories/ dates Egypt Canaan Ebla Mari Kish/ Assur Akshak/ Akkad Uruk Adab Umma Lagash Ur Elam 4000–3200 BCE Naqada I Naqada II Egypt-Mesopotamia relations Pre-Dynastic period (4000–2900 BCE) Susa I Uruk period (4000–3100 BCE) (Anu Ziggurat, 4000 BCE) (Anonymous "King-priests") Susa II (Uruk influence or control) 3200–3100 BCE Proto-Dynastic period (Naqada III) Early or legendary kings: Upper Egypt Finger Snail Fish Pen-Abu Animal Stork Canide Bull Scorpion I Shendjw Iry-Hor Ka Scorpion II Narmer / Menes Lower Egypt Hedju Hor Ny-Hor Hsekiu Khayu Tiu Thesh Neheb Wazner Nat-Hor Mekh Double Falcon Wash 3100–2900 BCE Early Dynastic Period First Dynasty of Egypt Narmer Menes Neithhotep (regent) Hor-Aha Djer Djet Merneith (regent) Den Anedjib Semerkhet Qa'a Sneferka Horus Bird Canaanites Jemdet Nasr period (3100–2900 BCE) Proto-Elamite period (Susa III) (3100–2700 BCE) 2900 BCE Second Dynasty of Egypt Hotepsekhemwy Nebra/Raneb Nynetjer Ba Nubnefer Horus Sa Weneg-Nebty Wadjenes Senedj Seth-Peribsen Sekhemib-Perenmaat Neferkara I Neferkasokar Hudjefa I Khasekhemwy Early Dynastic Period I (2900–2700 BCE) First Eblaite Kingdom First kingdom of Mari Kish I dynasty Jushur, Kullassina-bel Nangishlishma, En-tarah-ana Babum, Puannum, Kalibum 2800 BCE Kalumum Zuqaqip Atab Mashda Arwium Etana Balih En-me-nuna Melem-Kish Barsal-nuna Uruk I dynasty Mesh-ki-ang-gasher Enmerkar ("conqueror of Aratta") 2700 BCE Early Dynastic Period II (2700–2600 BCE) Zamug, Tizqar, Ilku Iltasadum Lugalbanda Dumuzid, the Fisherman Enmebaragesi ("made the land of Elam submit") Aga of Kish Gilgamesh Old Elamite period (2700–1500 BCE) Indus-Mesopotamia relations 2600 BCE Third Dynasty of Egypt Djoser (First Egyptian pyramids) Sekhemkhet Sanakht Nebka Khaba Qahedjet Huni Early Dynastic Period III (2600–2340 BCE) Sagisu Abur-lim Agur-lim Ibbi-Damu Baba-Damu Kish II dynasty (5 kings) Uhub Mesilim Ur-Nungal Udulkalama Labashum Lagash En-hegal Lugal- shaengur Ur A-Imdugud Ur-Pabilsag Meskalamdug (Queen Puabi) Akalamdug Enun-dara-anna Mes-he Melamanna Lugal-kitun Adab Nin-kisalsi Me-durba Lugal-dalu 2575 BCE Old Kingdom of Egypt Fourth Dynasty of Egypt Snefru Khufu Djedefre Khafre Bikheris Menkaure Shepseskaf Thamphthis Ur I dynasty Mesannepada "King of Ur and Kish", victorious over Uruk 2500 BCE Phoenicia (2500-539 BCE) Second kingdom of Mari Ikun-Shamash Iku-Shamagan Ansud Sa'umu Ishtup-Ishar Ikun-Mari Iblul-Il Nizi Kish III dynasty Ku-Baba Akshak dynasty Unzi Undalulu Uruk II dynasty Ensha- kushanna Mug-si Umma I dynasty Pabilgagaltuku Lagash I dynasty Ur-Nanshe Akurgal A'annepada Meskiagnun Elulu Balulu Awan dynasty Peli Tata Ukkutahesh Hishur 2450 BCE Fifth Dynasty of Egypt Userkaf Sahure Neferirkare Kakai Neferefre Shepseskare Nyuserre Ini Menkauhor Kaiu Djedkare Isesi Unas Enar-Damu Ishar-Malik Ush Enakalle Elamite invasions (3 kings) Shushun- tarana Napilhush 2425 BCE Kun-Damu Eannatum (King of Lagash, Sumer, Akkad, conqueror of Elam) 2400 BCE Adub-Damu Igrish-Halam Irkab-Damu Kish IV dynasty Puzur-Suen Ur-Zababa Urur Lugal-kinishe-dudu Lugal-kisalsi E-iginimpa'e Meskigal Ur-Lumma Il Gishakidu (Queen Bara-irnun) Enannatum Entemena Enannatum II Enentarzi Ur II dynasty Nanni Mesh-ki-ang-Nanna II Kiku-siwe-tempti 2380 BCE Sixth Dynasty of Egypt Teti Userkare Pepi I Merenre Nemtyemsaf I Pepi II Merenre Nemtyemsaf II Netjerkare Siptah Adab dynasty Lugalannemundu "King of the four quarters of the world" 2370 BCE Isar-Damu Enna-Dagan Ikun-Ishar Ishqi-Mari Invasion by Mari Anbu, Anba, Bazi, Zizi of Mari, Limer, Sharrum-iter Ukush Lugalanda Urukagina Luh-ishan 2350 BCE Puzur-Nirah Ishu-Il Shu-Sin Uruk III dynasty Lugalzagesi (Governor of Umma, King of all Sumer) 2340 BCE Akkadian Period (2340–2150 BCE) Akkadian Empire Sargon of Akkad Rimush Manishtushu Akkadian Governors: Eshpum Ilshu-rabi Epirmupi Ili-ishmani 2250 BCE Naram-Sin Lugal-ushumgal (vassal of the Akkadians) 2200 BCE First Intermediate Period Seventh Dynasty of Egypt Eighth Dynasty of Egypt Menkare Neferkare II Neferkare Neby Djedkare Shemai Neferkare Khendu Merenhor Neferkamin Nikare Neferkare Tereru Neferkahor Neferkare Pepiseneb Neferkamin Anu Qakare Ibi Neferkaure Neferkauhor Neferirkare Second Eblaite Kingdom Third kingdom of Mari (Shakkanakku dynasty) Ididish Shu-Dagan Ishma-Dagan (Vassals of the Akkadians) Shar-Kali-Sharri Igigi, Imi, Nanum, Ilulu (3 years) Dudu Shu-turul Uruk IV dynasty Ur-nigin Ur-gigir Lagash II dynasty Puzer-Mama Ur-Ningirsu I Pirig-me Lu-Baba Lu-gula Ka-ku Hishep-Ratep Helu Khita Puzur-Inshushinak 2150 BCE Ninth Dynasty of Egypt Meryibre Khety Neferkare VII Nebkaure Khety Setut Ur III period (2150–2000 BCE) Nûr-Mêr Ishtup-Ilum Ishgum-Addu Apil-kin Gutian dynasty (21 kings) La-erabum Si'um Kuda (Uruk) Puzur-ili Ur-Utu Umma II dynasty Lugalannatum (vassal of the Gutians) Ur-Baba Gudea Ur-Ningirsu Ur-gar Nam-mahani Tirigan 2125 BCE Tenth Dynasty of Egypt Meryhathor Neferkare VIII Wahkare Khety Merykare Uruk V dynasty Utu-hengal 2100 BCE (Vassals of UR III) Iddi-ilum Ili-Ishar Tura-Dagan Puzur-Ishtar (Vassals of Ur III) Ur III dynasty "Kings of Ur, Sumer and Akkad" Ur-Nammu Shulgi Amar-Sin Shu-Sin 2025-1763 BCE Amorite invasions Ibbi-Sin Elamite invasions Kindattu (Shimashki Dynasty) Middle Kingdom of Egypt Eleventh Dynasty of Egypt Mentuhotep I Intef I Intef II Intef III Mentuhotep II Mentuhotep III Mentuhotep IV Third Eblaite Kingdom (Amorites) Ibbit-Lim Immeya Indilimma (Amorite Shakkanakkus) Hitial-Erra Hanun-Dagan (...) Lim Dynasty of Mari (Amorites) Yaggid-Lim Yahdun-Lim Yasmah-Adad Zimri-Lim (Queen Shibtu) Old Assyria Puzur-Ashur I Shalim-ahum Ilu-shuma Erishum I Ikunum Sargon I Puzur-Ashur II Naram-Sin Erishum II Isin-Larsa period (Amorites) Dynasty of Isin: Ishbi-Erra Shu-Ilishu Iddin-Dagan Ishme-Dagan Lipit-Eshtar Ur-Ninurta Bur-Suen Lipit-Enlil Erra-imitti Enlil-bani Zambiya Iter-pisha Ur-du-kuga Suen-magir Damiq-ilishu Dynasty of Larsa: Naplanum Emisum Samium Zabaia Gungunum Abisare Sumuel Nur-Adad Sin-Iddinam Sin-Eribam Sin-Iqisham Silli-Adad Warad-Sin Rim-Sin I (...) Rim-Sin II Uruk VI dynasty: Alila-hadum Sumu-binasa Naram-Sin of Uruk Sîn-kāšid Sîn-iribam Sîn-gāmil Ilum-gamil An-am Irdanene Rîm-Anum Nabi-ilišu Sukkalmah dynasty Siwe-Palar-Khuppak Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt Amenemhat I Senusret I Amenemhat II Senusret II Senusret III Amenemhat III Amenemhat IV Sobekneferu 1800–1595 BCE Thirteenth Dynasty of Egypt Fourteenth Dynasty of Egypt Abraham (Biblical) Kings of Byblos Kings of Tyre Kings of Sidon Yamhad (Yamhad dynasty) (Amorites) Old Assyria (Shamshi-Adad dynasty 1808–1736 BCE) (Amorites) Shamshi-Adad I Ishme-Dagan I Mut-Ashkur Rimush Asinum Ashur-dugul Ashur-apla-idi Nasir-Sin Sin-namir Ipqi-Ishtar Adad-salulu Adasi (Non-dynastic usurpers 1735–1701 BCE) Puzur-Sin Ashur-dugul Ashur-apla-idi Nasir-Sin Sin-namir Ipqi-Ishtar Adad-salulu Adasi (Adaside dynasty 1700–722 BCE) Bel-bani Libaya Sharma-Adad I Iptar-Sin Bazaya Lullaya Shu-Ninua Sharma-Adad II Erishum III Shamshi-Adad II Ishme-Dagan II Shamshi-Adad III Ashur-nirari I Puzur-Ashur III Enlil-nasir I Nur-ili Ashur-shaduni Ashur-rabi I Ashur-nadin-ahhe I Enlil-Nasir II Ashur-nirari II Ashur-bel-nisheshu Ashur-rim-nisheshu Ashur-nadin-ahhe II First Babylonian dynasty ("Old Babylonian Period") (Amorites) Sumu-abum Sumu-la-El Sin-muballitSabium Apil-Sin Sin-muballit Hammurabi Samsu-iluna Abi-eshuh Ammi-ditana Ammi-saduqa Samsu-Ditana Early Kassite rulers Second Babylonian dynasty ("Sealand Dynasty") Ilum-ma-ili Itti-ili-nibi Damqi-ilishu Ishkibal Shushushi Gulkishar DIŠ+U-EN Peshgaldaramesh Ayadaragalama Akurduana Melamkurkurra Ea-gamil Second Intermediate Period Sixteenth Dynasty Abydos Dynasty Seventeenth Dynasty Fifteenth Dynasty of Egypt ("Hyksos") Semqen 'Aper-'Anati Sakir-Har Khyan Apepi Khamudi Mitanni (1600–1260 BCE) Kirta Shuttarna I Parshatatar 1531–1155 BCE New Kingdom of Egypt Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt Ahmose I Amenhotep I Third Babylonian dynasty (Kassites) Agum-Kakrime Burnaburiash I Kashtiliash III Ulamburiash Agum III Karaindash Kadashman-harbe I Kurigalzu I Kadashman-Enlil I Burnaburiash II Kara-hardash Nazi-Bugash Kurigalzu II Nazi-Maruttash Kadashman-Turgu Kadashman-Enlil II Kudur-Enlil Shagarakti-Shuriash Kashtiliashu IV Enlil-nadin-shumi Kadashman-Harbe II Adad-shuma-iddina Adad-shuma-usur Meli-Shipak II Marduk-apla-iddina I Zababa-shuma-iddin Enlil-nadin-ahi Middle Elamite period (1500–1100 BCE) Kidinuid dynasty Igehalkid dynasty Untash-Napirisha Thutmose I Thutmose II Hatshepsut Thutmose III Amenhotep II Thutmose IV Amenhotep III Akhenaten Smenkhkare Neferneferuaten Tutankhamun Ay Horemheb Hittite Empire Ugarit Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt Ramesses I Seti I Ramesses II Merneptah Amenmesses Seti II Siptah Twosret Elamite Empire Shutrukid dynasty Shutruk-Nakhunte 1155–1025 BCE Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt Setnakhte Ramesses III Ramesses IV Ramesses V Ramesses VI Ramesses VII Ramesses VIII Ramesses IX Ramesses X Ramesses XI Third Intermediate Period Twenty-first Dynasty of Egypt Smendes Amenemnisu Psusennes I Amenemope Osorkon the Elder Siamun Psusennes II Phoenicia Kings of Byblos Kings of Tyre Kings of Sidon Kingdom of Israel Saul Ish-bosheth David Solomon Syro-Hittite states Middle Assyria Eriba-Adad I Ashur-uballit I Enlil-nirari Arik-den-ili Adad-nirari I Shalmaneser I Tukulti-Ninurta I Ashur-nadin-apli Ashur-nirari III Enlil-kudurri-usur Ninurta-apal-Ekur Ashur-dan I Ninurta-tukulti-Ashur Mutakkil-Nusku Ashur-resh-ishi I Tiglath-Pileser I Asharid-apal-Ekur Ashur-bel-kala Eriba-Adad II Shamshi-Adad IV Ashurnasirpal I Shalmaneser II Ashur-nirari IV Ashur-rabi II Ashur-resh-ishi II Tiglath-Pileser II Ashur-dan II Fourth Babylonian dynasty ("Second Dynasty of Isin") Marduk-kabit-ahheshu Itti-Marduk-balatu Ninurta-nadin-shumi Nebuchadnezzar I Enlil-nadin-apli Marduk-nadin-ahhe Marduk-shapik-zeri Adad-apla-iddina Marduk-ahhe-eriba Marduk-zer-X Nabu-shum-libur Neo-Elamite period (1100–540 BCE) 1025–934 BCE Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Babylonian dynasties ("Period of Chaos") Simbar-shipak Ea-mukin-zeri Kashshu-nadin-ahi Eulmash-shakin-shumi Ninurta-kudurri-usur I Shirikti-shuqamuna Mar-biti-apla-usur Nabû-mukin-apli 911–745 BCE Twenty-second Dynasty of Egypt Shoshenq I Osorkon I Shoshenq II Takelot I Osorkon II Shoshenq III Shoshenq IV Pami Shoshenq V Pedubast II Osorkon IV Twenty-third Dynasty of Egypt Harsiese A Takelot II Pedubast I Shoshenq VI Osorkon III Takelot III Rudamun Menkheperre Ini Twenty-fourth Dynasty of Egypt Tefnakht Bakenranef Kingdom of Samaria Kingdom of Judah Neo-Assyrian Empire Adad-nirari II Tukulti-Ninurta II Ashurnasirpal II Shalmaneser III Shamshi-Adad V Shammuramat (regent) Adad-nirari III Shalmaneser IV Ashur-Dan III Ashur-nirari V Eight Babylonian Dynasty Ninurta-kudurri-usur II Mar-biti-ahhe-iddina Shamash-mudammiq Nabu-shuma-ukin I Nabu-apla-iddina Marduk-zakir-shumi I Marduk-balassu-iqbi Baba-aha-iddina (five kings) Ninurta-apla-X Marduk-bel-zeri Marduk-apla-usur Eriba-Marduk Nabu-shuma-ishkun Nabonassar Nabu-nadin-zeri Nabu-shuma-ukin II Nabu-mukin-zeri Humban-Tahrid dynasty Urtak Teumman Ummanigash Tammaritu I Indabibi Humban-haltash III 745–609 BCE Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt ("Black Pharaohs") Piye Shebitku Shabaka Taharqa Tanutamun Neo-Assyrian Empire (Sargonid dynasty) Tiglath-Pileser Shalmaneser Marduk-apla-iddina II Sargon Sennacherib Marduk-zakir-shumi II Marduk-apla-iddina II Bel-ibni Ashur-nadin-shumi Nergal-ushezib Mushezib-Marduk Esarhaddon Ashurbanipal Ashur-etil-ilani Sinsharishkun Sin-shumu-lishir Ashur-uballit II Assyrian conquest of Egypt Assyrian conquest of Elam 626–539 BCE Late Period Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt Necho I Psamtik I Necho II Psamtik II Wahibre Ahmose II Psamtik III Neo-Babylonian Empire Nabopolassar Nebuchadnezzar II Amel-Marduk Neriglissar Labashi-Marduk Nabonidus Median Empire Deioces Phraortes Madyes Cyaxares Astyages 539–331 BCE Twenty-seventh Dynasty of Egypt (First Achaemenid conquest of Egypt) Kings of Byblos Kings of Tyre Kings of Sidon Achaemenid Empire Cyrus Cambyses Darius I Xerxes Artaxerxes I Darius II Artaxerxes II Artaxerxes III Artaxerxes IV Darius III Twenty-eighth Dynasty of Egypt Twenty-ninth Dynasty of Egypt Thirtieth Dynasty of Egypt Thirty-first Dynasty of Egypt 331–141 BCE Argead dynasty and Ptolemaic Egypt Ptolemy I Soter Ptolemy Keraunos Ptolemy II Philadelphus Arsinoe II Ptolemy III Euergetes Berenice II Euergetis Ptolemy IV Philopator Arsinoe III Philopator Ptolemy V Epiphanes Cleopatra I Syra Ptolemy VI Philometor Ptolemy VII Neos Philopator Cleopatra II Philometor Soter Ptolemy VIII Physcon Cleopatra III Ptolemy IX Lathyros Cleopatra IV Ptolemy X Alexander Berenice III Ptolemy XI Alexander Ptolemy XII Auletes Cleopatra V Cleopatra VI Tryphaena Berenice IV Epiphanea Ptolemy XIII Ptolemy XIV Cleopatra VII Philopator Ptolemy XV Caesarion Arsinoe IV Hellenistic Period Argead dynasty: Alexander III Philip III Alexander IV Antigonid dynasty: Antigonus I Seleucid Empire: Seleucus I Antiochus I Antiochus II Seleucus II Seleucus III Antiochus III Seleucus IV Antiochus IV Antiochus V Demetrius I Alexander III Demetrius II Antiochus VI Dionysus Diodotus Tryphon Antiochus VII Sidetes 141–30 BCE Kingdom of Judea Simon Thassi John Hyrcanus Aristobulus I Alexander Jannaeus Salome Alexandra Hyrcanus II Aristobulus II Antigonus II Mattathias Alexander II Zabinas Seleucus V Philometor Antiochus VIII Grypus Antiochus IX Cyzicenus Seleucus VI Epiphanes Antiochus X Eusebes Antiochus XI Epiphanes Demetrius III Eucaerus Philip I Philadelphus Antiochus XII Dionysus Antiochus XIII Asiaticus Philip II Philoromaeus Parthian Empire Mithridates I Phraates Hyspaosines Artabanus Mithridates II Gotarzes Mithridates III Orodes I Sinatruces Phraates III Mithridates IV Orodes II Phraates IV Tiridates II Musa Phraates V Orodes III Vonones I Artabanus II Tiridates III Artabanus II Vardanes I Gotarzes II Meherdates Vonones II Vologases I Vardanes II Pacorus II Vologases II Artabanus III Osroes I 30 BCE–116 CE Roman Empire (Roman conquest of Egypt) Province of Egypt Judea Syria 116–117 CE Province of Mesopotamia under Trajan Parthamaspates of Parthia 117–224 CE Syria Palaestina Province of Mesopotamia Sinatruces II Mithridates V Vologases IV Osroes II Vologases V Vologases VI Artabanus IV 224–270 CE Sasanian Empire Province of Asoristan Ardashir I Shapur I Hormizd I Bahram I Bahram II Bahram III Narseh Hormizd II Adur Narseh Shapur II Ardashir II Shapur III Bahram IV Yazdegerd I Shapur IV Khosrow Bahram V Yazdegerd II Hormizd III Peroz I Balash Kavad I Jamasp Kavad I Khosrow I Hormizd IV Khosrow II Bahram VI Chobin Vistahm 270–273 CE Palmyrene Empire Vaballathus Zenobia Antiochus 273–395 CE Roman Empire Province of Egypt Syria Palaestina Syria Province of Mesopotamia 395–618 CE Byzantine Empire Byzantine Egypt Palaestina Prima, Palaestina Secunda Byzantine Syria Byzantine Mesopotamia 618–628 CE (Sasanian conquest of Egypt) Province of Egypt Shahrbaraz Sahralanyozan Shahrbaraz Sasanian Empire Province of Asoristan Khosrow II Kavad II 628–641 CE Byzantine Empire Ardashir III Shahrbaraz Khosrow III Boran Shapur-i Shahrvaraz Azarmidokht Farrukh Hormizd Hormizd VI Khosrow IV Boran Yazdegerd III Peroz III Narsieh Byzantine Egypt Palaestina Prima, Palaestina Secunda Byzantine Syria Byzantine Mesopotamia 639–651 CE Muslim conquest of Egypt Muslim conquest of the Levant Muslim conquest of Mesopotamia and Persia Chronology of the Neolithic period Rulers of Ancient Central Asia Rulers with names in italics are considered fictional. Hallo, W.; Simpson, W. (1971). The Ancient Near East. New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich. pp. 48–49. "Rulers of Mesopotamia". cdli.ox.ac.uk. University of Oxford, CNRS. Thomas, Ariane; Potts, Timothy (2020). Mesopotamia: Civilization Begins. Getty Publications. p. 14. ISBN 978-1-60606-649-2. Roux, Georges (1992). Ancient Iraq. Penguin Books Limited. pp. 532–534 (Chronological Tables). ISBN 978-0-14-193825-7. ^ Per Sumerian King List Unger, Merrill F. (2014). Israel and the Aramaeans of Damascus: A Study in Archaeological Illumination of Bible History. Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 5. ISBN 978-1-62564-606-4.

v t e Sumerian mythology
Primordial beings	Abzu An Enmesharra Ki Nammu
Primary deities	Enki Enlil Inanna Nanna Ninhursag Utu
Other major deities	Dumuzid the Shepherd Ereshkigal Ishtaran Nergal Nisaba Ninazu Ninegal Ningal Ningishzida Ninlil Ninshubur Ninurta Nuska
Minor deities	Azimua Bitu Geshtinanna Gugalanna Hushbishag Isimud Namtar Ninimma Ninkasi Ninsianna Nimintabba Ninsun Nungal Sherida Ugur Uttu
Demons, spirits, and monsters	Asag Anzû Gallu Huwawa Mušḫuššu Udug Rabisu
Mortal heroes	Enkidu Enmerkar Etana Gilgamesh Lugalbanda Ziusudra

• Antediluvian Sumerian kings
• Characters in the Epic of Gilgamesh
• Deities in the Hebrew Bible
• Fertility gods
• Inanna
• Levantine mythology
• Life-death-rebirth gods
• Mesopotamian gods
• Pastoral gods
• Phoenician mythology
• Sumerian kings
• Underworld gods
• Killed deities
• Adonis