Tammuz

Tammuz is a historical name used for several related concepts in Mesopotamian and Jewish tradition. It most often refers to a deity in ancient Mesopotamian religion, but it also denotes the fourth month of the Hebrew calendar and appears in biblical and post-biblical texts as a reference to that deity.

In Mesopotamian religion, Dumuzid (also spelled Tammuz) is a god of shepherds, vegetation, and fertility. He is the consort of Inanna/Ishtar and is associated with the annual cycle of growth and drought. In myth he dies or descends to the underworld and is later restored, a cycle that underpinned seasonal rites and mourning rituals in various Mesopotamian communities. The cult of Tammuz persisted into the later periods and influenced other Near Eastern religious traditions, including those of the Levant.

In the Hebrew Bible, the name Tammuz appears in Ezekiel 8:14, where women are described as weeping for Tammuz at the entrance to the temple, indicating the presence or memory of this Mesopotamian deity within Judean religious life during the exile. Scholarly interpretation often views this as evidence of syncretic worship rather than an isolated cultural reference.

In the Hebrew calendar, Tammuz is the fourth month of the ecclesiastical year (roughly June to July). It typically has 29 days, sometimes 30, depending on the year’s calendar calculations. In Jewish tradition, the month is followed by a period of heightened mourning known as the three weeks, which culminates in Tisha B’Av; the 17th of Tammuz is observed as a minor fast day commemorating events in Jerusalem’s history during the siege.