Dumuzi

deity underworld Mesopotamian single tradition · 13

Dumuzi is the husband of Inanna. It is nonetheless possible that after she ceased to be worshiped, the name Dumuzi-abzu was misunderstood as belonging to him.

↻ synthesized from 13 sources

When

First attested
3000 BCE
Attested period
-3000 – 2020
Historical notes
Mesopotamian cuneiform tablets

Relationships

consort of
Inanna
syncretized with
Lulal, Alla, Ningishzida, Tammuz
sibling of
Geshtinanna

Expand to full subgraph →

Sources

Source passages

“Confusion between Dumuzi-abzu and Dumuzi does appear to be present in a few literary texts. For example, in one love song Inanna addresses her lover as Dumuzi-abzu, rather than Dumuzi. It is a matter of debate whether the theonym Dumuzi present in pre-Sargonic administrative documents and theophoric names should be interpreted as Dumuzi-abzu or as the husband of Inanna.”

#10982 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001

“She also proposes that Damu only acquired his own character as a healing deity due to his new status as Ninisina's son, and that originally his primary role was that of a dying god comparable to Dumuzi and Ningishzida.”

#11294 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001

“Whether Lulal himself could be regarded as a divine lover is uncertain, though it has been proposed that in some cases he could be identified with Dumuzi, well attested in such a role.”

#11874 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001

“Her husband, the vegetation god Dumuzi, agrees to spend half the year in the underworld, during which time vegetation dies off. His return brings regrowth.”

#14058 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001

“In god lists, Shara consistently occurs in the circle of Inanna and Dumuzi after the Ur III period.”

#34022 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001