TAMMUZ. The Sumer. deity of spring vegetation, he was also husband and brother of Ishtar, and goddess of fertility, who seduced and then betrayed him. He is represented on seals as the protector of flocks against wild beasts. In the Babylonian saga his death and visit to the underworld represents the annual wilting of vegetation in the scorching heat of summer. His return to earth, brought about by the descent of the mourning Ishtar into the nether world, represents the renewal of nature. The annual mourning rites for Tammuz took place on the second day of the fourth month (June/July), giving rise in post-Biblical times to the Jewish practice of naming their fourth month Tamuz. In Ezekiel’s time, a variation of this rite of mourning found women weeping at the N gate of the Temple (Ezek 8:14). The cult of Adonis in Syria and that of Osiris in Egypt had many affinities with the Tammuz rites. In remote parts of Kurdistan a variation of the rite is still practiced. In the opinion of some scholars, Tammuz stands for the king, who, in turn, represents all men in their potential for participating in the divine nature of Ishtar, the principle of life and fertility.