How Is Jesus Related To Enki

Star-god: Enki/Ea and the biblical god as expressions of a common ancient Near Eastern astral-theological symbol system

Star-god: Enki/Ea and the biblical deity are both manifestations of a similar ancient Near Eastern astral-theological symbol system, which may be traced back to the time of Enki/Ea.

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in Philosophy (PhD)

Subject Categories

Religions of Eastern Origins: A Chronology of Their Origins

Abstract

Although some scholars in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries argued that the Israelite deity Yahweh is a version of the Sumero-Akkadian god Enki/Ea, this thesis was quietly abandoned as part of the scholarly backlash against “Pan-Babylonism” and has not been resurrected since. In view of the new information that has been obtained over the previous century, this hypothesis demands a new and detailed justification in support of it. A major argument in favor of the theory that the biblical god (both as a personified entity and as a figure in Jesus) is a manifestation of Enki/Ea is the striking similarity between their respective theological traditions, which includes divine names, functions, values, and character traits; literary themes; mythic images; ideologies; cultic forms; and socio-historical circumstances.

It is possible to infer the astral symbology of this symbol system from the identification of deities with stars in late Babylonian astronomical and astrological texts, such as Ea = Canopus; the use of a star-sign in cuneiform for the word “deity”; the coherence between gods’ behaviors and characteristics and the heavenly bodies that are their visible manifestations; and the creation of social and cultic institutions that mirror heaven, in accordance with the principle For this conclusion to be reached, it is necessary to have a thorough understanding of the concepts of positional astronomy, as well as data obtained by computer computations of star locations in antiquity, taking the phenomena of precession into mind.

Among the issues the argument faces is that of bridging the gap between polytheism and monotheism, a process facilitated by evidence of considerable vestiges of polytheism in the biblical history, as well as of the monolatrous character of the Enki/Ea tradition.

A discussion of Enki/Ea is presented in Part 1, followed by a discussion of the biblical deity as a development of Enki/Ea in Part 2, and a discussion of the astral character of the symbol system comprising Enki/Ea and the biblical god in Part 3.

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Recommended Citation

Nugent, Tony Ormond, “Star-god: Enki/Ea and the biblical deity as manifestations of a shared ancient Near Eastern astral-theological symbol system” (1993).

(1993). Dissertations.52.sid=1 – Religion – Dissertations.52.sid=1 fmt=2 clientId=3739 RQT=309 VName=PQD fmt=2 clientId=3739 RQT=309 VName=PQD

Enki/Ea (god)

God of wisdom, magic, and incantations who dwells in the seas beneath the surface of the planet and is known for his mischief.

Functions

In this greenstonecylinder sealTTof the scribe Adda, the god Enki is shown with a running stream full of fish; it dates to around 2300-2200 BCE. Enki’s two-faced minister Isimu stands to his right. (BM 89115; BM 89115). It is the responsibility of the Trustees of the British Museum. On the website of the British Museum, you may see a larger version of this photograph. lord of the abbreviation As one of the three most powerful gods in the Mesopotamian pantheon, together with Anu and Enlil, the deity Ea (whose Sumerian counterpart was Enki) is also known as Enki.

1. For example, it has been said that the city of Babylon was erected on top of the abba’s mound.
2. A symbolic relationship exists between the life-giving characteristics of the god’s semen and the invigorating nature of fresh water drawn from the river.
3. Incantations, wisdom, and cleansers are all included.
4. TT(brû) and exorcist priestsTT(aip) revered him as the ultimate source of all ritual knowledge used by exorcists to prevent and expel evil.
5. Ea was a supporter of the arts and crafts, as well as of all other achievements of humankind throughout his lifetime.
6. Created by God and guardian of humanity As depicted in the Babylonian flood mythAtra-hass in theEpic of Gilgames, Ea is both the creator and the defender of humanity.
7. In response, the supreme deity Enlil sought to wipe off Ea’s freshly formed humans with a disastrous flood, claiming that their constant noise was interfering with his ability to sleep.
8. A character in the mythAdapa and the South Wind, Ea is credited with ensuring that mankind retains the gift of magic and incantations by stopping Adapa from becoming eternal (Foster 2005: 525-530; Izre’el 2001; Michaelalowski 1980).

Other mythological creatures, like as the seven mythical sagesTT(apkall) who were created for the goal of imparting knowledge to humans, also resided in the ab alongside Ea, as did other mythical animals.

Divine Genealogy and Syncretisms

Enki was the godAn’s son, or the goddess Nammu’s son, according to Kramer (1979: 28-29, 43), and he was the twin brother of Adad. Although the exact date of his union with the deity Ea, whose name first occurs in the 24th century BCE, is unknown at this time (Edzard 1965: 56). His wife was Damgalnunna/ Damkina, and their children were the gods Marduk, Asarluhian, and Enbilulu, as well as the goddess Nane and the sage Adapa (Bottéro 2002: 234; Black and Green 1998: 75; Bottéro 2002: 234; Black and Green 1998: 75).

After having sexual relations with Enki, Ninhursanga gives birth to the goddess Ninmu, who later becomes known as Ninmu.

Ninkurra and Uttu were both fathered by Enki through his daughter Ninmu, while the goddess Ninkurra was fathered by Enki through his granddaughter Ninkurra (Kramer and Maier 1989: 22-30).

Cult Place(s)

Enki is linked with the city of Eridu in southern Mesopotamia, where he is worshipped. E-abzu (house of the abzu) was Enki’s temple, which was also known as E-engur-ra (house of the subterranean water) or E-unir (house of the underground water) (Foster 2005: 643-644).

Time Periods Attested

It was during the Early Dynastic IIIa era that the deity Enki was first referenced in manuscripts from Fara that the god’s existence was first confirmed. As late as the third century BCE, he appears as the deity Kronos in a Greek work attributed to the Babylonian priest Berossus (Bl-rûnu), where he is identified as the god of the harvest (Kramer and Maier 1989: 10). Enki’s contribution to the fertility of Mesopotamian fields and the civilization of its towns is documented in key Sumerian literary writings dating back to the second millennium BCE.

Enki and Inana(ETCSL 1.3.1) is a story about a power struggle between Enki, the goddess of sex and war, and Inana, the goddess of war and sex.

Frymer-Kensky (1992: 70-90) has highlighted Enki’s position as a creator of the universe in Enki and the World Order (ETCSL 1.1.3), and his creator element becomes increasingly prominent in subsequent writings, a phenomena that Frymer-Kensky (1992: 70-90) has termed the “marginalization of goddesses.” Later in the second century, rituals and prayers to avoid and remove evil commonly invoked Ea, Ama, and Marduk as a group in order to achieve their goals of protection and removal.

Ea normally gave the magic, Marduk oversaw its application, and ama was in charge of cleansing the spell (Foster 2005: 645).

Incantations to the gods were chanted on the monarch’s behalf by an exorcist, while the king himself washed in an attempt to wash away evil (Robson 2010a;Foster 2005: 643-644).

A common occurrence in first-millennium incantations conducted by exorcists to banish evil or prevent it from visiting in the first place was the appearance of Ea, who was considered the master of the exorcists’ ritual expertise (examples inFoster 2005: 954-992).

Ea was often invoked in prayers for success in divination and for the protection of monarchs.

Iconography

Ea is shown in Mesopotamian art as a bearded deity with a horned hat and lengthy robes, according to the tradition. When you think of a cylinder seal, you probably think of him being encircled by a running stream with fish swimming inside it, reflecting the ab’s underground waters. Others picture him at his underwater house in the abzu, or in his E-abzu temple, which he built for himself (Black and Green 1998: 76;Kramer and Maier 1989: 121-123). When wall reliefs from Ninurta’s temple in the Neo-Assyrian city of Kalhu depicting individuals clothed in the skin of a fish were discovered in the early twentieth century, they were (incorrectly) considered to be images of the god Ea.

Among Ea’s emblems are a curving sceptre with a ram’s head, an agoat-fishTT, and a turtle, among others (Black and Green 1998: 179).

However, the tablet was taken by Anzu, a wicked bird-like demon, but the hero Ninurta was successful in reclaiming it.

Ninurta’s goals were foiled, however, by the ever-sly Enki, who created a turtle that grabbed Ninurta by the heel, dug a pit with its claws, and pulled the overconfident hero into it.

Name and Spellings

Enki is spelt asd en-ki ord am-an-ki in the Sumerian language. In Akkadian, Ea’s name is often spelt E 2.A, although it is unknown to which language this name originally belonged because it is not written in the language (Edzard 1965: 56). As an alternate name in literary sources, Enki/Ea was occasionally referred to as Nudimmud or Niiku, the latter of which was originally a SemiticepithetTT(nas(s)iku”prince”) that was later reinterpreted as an apseudologogramTTd nin-i-kù, which is a contraction of the words “enki” and “ea” (Cavigneaux and Krebernik 1998-2001a: 590).

(Foster 2005: 643-644).

Enki/Ea in Online Corpora

• The Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative, the Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature, the Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Royal Inscriptions, and the Corpus of Ancient Mesopotamian Scholarship are only a few examples of the resources available.

• The Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative
• The Corpus of Ancient Mesopotamian Scholarship
• The Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative

References and further reading

• Among those who have written about Enki are Bottéro 2002, “Intelligence and the Technical Function of Power,” Cavigneaux and Krebernik 1998-2001a, “Niiku,” Cooper 1989, “Enki’s member,” Dickson 2007, “Enki and Ninhursag,” Galter 1983, “Der Gott Ea/Enki,” Izre’el 2001, “Adapa and the South Wind,” Kramer and Maier 1989, “Myths of Enki

Enki/Ea (god), Ancient Mesopotamian Gods and Goddesses, edited by Ruth Horry (Oracc and the UK Higher Education Academy, 2016), p. 137.

Enki

Ninsiku (also known as Ea, Enkig, Nudimmud, and Ninsiku) was a Sumeriangod who was the deity of wisdom, fresh water, intellect, trickery and mischief, arts and crafts, magical exorcisms and healing, creation, virility and fertility, and art. Flowing streams of water run from his shoulders, emphasizing his connection to life-giving water, while trees representing the male and female principles stand in the background. In this image, he is depicted as a bearded man wearing a horned cap and long robes as he ascends the Mountain of the Sunrise.

1. His name literally translates as “Lord of the Earth,” and his symbols are the fish and the goat, both of which are symbols of fertility.
2. In the Early Dynastic Period IIIa (c.
3. 2600 BCE, he had established himself as a prominent god of the Akkadians.
4. Excavations at Eridu, on the other hand, have unearthed evidence of a tradition of shrines to Enki that dates back to the city’s founding in 2400 BCE.
5. At Eridu, he was known as Enki, and subsequently at Akkad, he was known as Ea; the two titles are interchangeable for the same deity, much as the Babylonian name Nudimmud is interchangeable for the same deity.

Enki was recognized as Ninsiku exclusively in the context of his role as patron of crafts and art, particularly those devoted to divine matters, and he was not known as Ninsiku elsewhere.

GenealogyOffspring

Enki was the son of Anu, the sky deity, in Sumerian and Akkadian mythology, and the son of Apsu, the primal parent, in Babylonian scriptures. Enki was also the son of Anu, the sky god, in Sumerian and Akkadian mythology. He is also referred to as the son of the goddess Nammu, who was a primordial mother goddess who gave birth to the world and the skies, among other titles. Enki’s wife was Ninhursag (also known by a variety of other names, including Ninmah and Damgalnuna, the Assyrian Damkina), and their sons were Asarluhi (god of magical knowledge), Enbilulu (god of canals and dikes), the human sage Adapa, and the king of the gods,Marduk.

In addition, they had eight children who were born as a result of Ninhursag’s efforts to heal Enki in the mythEnki and Ninhursag: Abu (god of plants and growth); Nintulla (Lord of Dilmun and preciousmetal); Ninsitu (goddess of healing, wife of healing-god Ninazu); Ninkasi (goddess of beer); Nanshe (also Nanse, social justice; fertility; (goddess of the rib, giver of life).

Adad (also known as Ishkur), the deity of weather and storms, was his identical twin brother.

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Appearance inLiterature

Several Mesopotamian myths, traditions, prayers, and royal inscriptions feature Enki, who is considered to be the creator of the universe. He is notably featured in works about Ninhursag (Ninmah), such as Enki and NinhursagandEnki and Ninmah, both of which are concerned with the creation of the universe and humanity, as well as in the work Enki and Ninhursag. It is said that Enki was the father of Marduk, the champion who defeated the forces of chaos, and that he was also a co-creator with his son in theEnuma Elish, a Babylonian epic about the beginning of time.

Inanna and the God of Wisdom Anu (Lord of Heaven), Enlil (Supreme Lord of Air), and Inanna were some of the most significant deities in the Mesopotamian Pantheon, which he shared with the other gods.

The other two were Anu and Enlil.

Mythological Origin fromEnuma Elish

Enuma Elish (c. 1100 BCE) described Enki as the oldest son of the initial gods, Apsu andTiamat, and as the eldest son of Apsu and Tiamat. It is believed that at the beginning of time, the earth was an unexplained whirling chaos that was divided into Apsu, the masculine principle represented by fresh water, and Tiamat, the feminine principle represented by salt water, respectively. Despite the fact that Apsu and Tiamat gave birth to the younger gods, these deities were bored and entertained themselves as much as they could.

• Adda Seal (also known as Adda Seal) is a seal that is found on the shores of Adda Seal Island.
• Enki weighed the pros and disadvantages of many strategies before settling on the one he believed would be the most effective: he put his father into a deep slumber and then murdered him as punishment.
• Her consort and champion Quingu then led an army of demons and monsters against her, resulting in her defeat (sometimes Kingu).
• This was the point at which Enki’s son Marduk entered the fray and made an offer: if the gods would accept his leadership, he would lead them to triumph.
• Once Marduk was crowned king, he faced Quingu in single combat and vanquished him before shooting Tiamat with an arrow that was so powerful that it split her in half.

Quingu, as well as other gods who had promoted Tiamat’s battle, were executed, and Quingu’s body was used to produce human beings in the afterlife. Enki was consulted by Marduk on all of these decisions, and as a result, Enki is sometimes referred to as a co-creator of the universe and life.

Enki inThe Atrahasis

The Atrahasis (c. 17th century BCE) is an Akkadian/Babylonian creation narrative that tells a different version of the story, but in which Enki plays a crucial part nonetheless. In this myth, the elder gods live a life of ease and pleasure while requiring the younger gods to carry out all of the necessary tasks for the preservation of creation. Because there is always so much to accomplish, the younger gods have little time to relax. As a result, Enki advises that they create lower creatures who would labor alongside them as co-workers on their projects.

• He is kneaded into clay by the goddess Ninhursag, from which she makes seven male and seven female human beings from his flesh, blood, and intelligence.
• At first glance, these people appear to be just what the gods had hoped for; yet, as their numbers increase, they become increasingly disruptive and a source of contention.
• Each time the people experience a drought, they turn to Enki, their father-god and the one who created them, and he responds by instructing them on how to restore the earth’s balance and production, as well as the health of their communities, as they have done from the beginning of time.
• In order to unleash a catastrophic flood that would kill mankind, he persuades the other gods to grant him permission to do so.
• Enki realizes the harshness and unfairness of Enlil’s scheme, but he is powerless to stop him, so he travels to Earth and meets an honest man named Atrahasis, who has always been both intelligent and compassionate, and who has committed his life to Enki with great devotion and devotion.
• After completing his goal just as the water begins, Atrahasis flees.
• Ninhursag weeps for the humans and is distraught, and the other gods join him in his grief, but no one is able to stop the flood.
• Enki whispers to Atrahasis that the moment has come for him to open the ark and make sacrifices to the gods as the floodwaters recede and the ark comes to a complete stop.
• He recognizes Enki as the perpetrator right once and, despite the fact that he had just recently come to terms with his actions, he directs all of his rage upon him.
• Enki, on the other hand, explains himself and demonstrates what a fine and loving guy Atrahasis is by directing them all to the lovely sacrifice.
• Furthermore, humans will not have very lengthy life spans, and during the time they do have, there will be numerous possibilities every day for their deaths to occur from a variety of reasons.

Atrahasis, the last of his kind, is carried away to the realms of the blessed, and Ninhursag produces the new creatures in accordance with the gods’ wishes.

Enki as Trickster God

In each of these instances, Enki acts in the best interests of the community, despite the fact that the community does not recognize or appreciate his decisions. Enlil is inspired to give mankind another opportunity to live when Elishhe rejects his mother’s wishes by murdering Apsu, but he must do so for the greater good in theEnuma, and he rescues one decent man in theAtrahasis, inspiring Enlil to give humanity a second chance to live in theAtrahasis. In the majority of the other stories, he is shown in the same manner.

When Inanna is slain by her sister Ereshkigal, her father concocts a plan to bring her back from the underworld.

In the storyInanna and the God of Wisdom, he is shown as the proprietor of themeh, the laws and powers that govern all of existence, as well as the gifts of civilization, which are considered to be the only possession of the gods, which he allows Inanna to take from him after a drunken celebration.

1. Enki is shown in this work in the same way that he is depicted in earlier works about Inanna: as the father of a daughter who would go to any length to protect her, even if it did not appear to be the smartest or even the fairest course of action given the circumstances.
2. Enki, on the other hand, restores equilibrium to the world by assisting Inanna and, once again, makes his decision based on the greater benefit of the many.
3. The Epic of Gilgamesh has a Flood Tablet.
4. This is the case when he allows himself to become intoxicated and enables Inanna to have themeh, but it is also the case in The Epic of Gilgamesh when he consents to the killing of Enkidu, the hero Gilgamesh’s best friend.
5. Inanna sends her sister Ereshkigal’s spouse, Gugulana (the bull of heaven), to destroy Gilgamesh’s empire, and Enkidu is the one who ends up killing Gugulana.
6. Enki agrees to this – despite the fact that he realizes that Inanna is to blame for the crisis – because human people must not be so self-confident that they defy the gods.
7. The character of Enki is presented compassionately throughout the film, even in the scene where he seduces his adult daughters because they remind him of his wife.
8. It is clear that he plays the role of the Trickster God in this, as his many missteps and misdeeds result in the birth of deities who are beneficial to humanity.

Throughout all of these stories, his mischief serves as a demonstration of his sageness and desire to do his best for humanity.

Patron of EriduWorship

The fact that Enki is the patron deity of the city of Eridu is noteworthy in terms of his function as the god of wisdom. After Eridu was believed to be the first city constructed by God upon which order and law were given at the beginning of time, it was known as the “city of the first kings” or “city of the first gods.” For thousands of years after it was founded about 5400 BCE, Eridu would serve as a major religious center and as the setting for myths and legends about a “golden period” in much the same manner that later Hebrew writers would utilize the term “Garden of Eden.” In the city, archaeologists discovered a number of shrines to Enki that had been erected and re-built in the same spot over thousands of years.

• The deity of Eridu and theabzu(alsoabsu), the underground waters there, remained to be linked with him even after he was extensively revered in other parts of Africa.
• Priests took care of the god’s statue, temple, and temple complex, which served the people in a variety of ways, just as they did with all other significant Mesopotamian gods and goddesses at the time.
• There were no temple services in the manner in which we would know them today, and people mostly communicated with the gods during festivals, via communion with the lesser priests, or at home, through private rituals, rather than through formal religious ceremonies.
• Enki was accompanied by his minister Isimud, and he had a slew of monsters at his disposal, including giants, demons (both protective and destructive), and other magical entities, all of whom served him.
• As a character in every narrative or legend, Enki represents both the peaks and valleys of global awareness, and he is universally recognized as a friend of humanity.
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Pagan parallels of Jesus Christ

The majority of Christians aren’t interested in learning about the history of their religion, let alone their beliefs and traditions. Then they might be in for the surprise of their lives. This column is not intended for folks who are pleased with what they are told by Church leaders. As the phrase goes, “Let sleeping dogs lie” is appropriate here. This is for individuals who are intellectually interested and dissatisfied, rather than for those who are simply bored. The birth and life of Jesus Christ, who is revered as a great prophet by Muslims but worshipped as God by his followers, is, of course, the key event in the celebration of the holiday season.

• I was of the opinion that it was true since I was raised in a Catholic home and attended Catholic schools from elementary through college.
• The tale of Jesus Christ is not original, and it is possible that it was stolen from some far older accounts of gods dying and rising from the dead found in ancient pagan faiths.
• It is true that there are more than a dozen pagan gods whose stories appear to be a parallel to Jesus’ life and death, despite the fact that they lived hundreds or even thousands of years before Christ.
• In Egypt, he was known as Osiris; in Greece, he was known as Dionysus; in Asia Minor, he was known as Attis; in Syria, he was known as Adonis; in Italy, he was known as Bacchus; and in Persia, he was known as Mithras.
• 1) Tammuz (2,000 B.C.) was a fertility deity who lived in Mesopotamia.
• Tammuz is commemorated in the months of March and April.
• He gave his life in order to spare others from famine and death.

He died on the summer solstice but came back to life during the winter solstice.

2) Osiris was the most significant deity of ancient Egypt, having been born around 2,500 B.C.

On December 25, he was born in a cave in front of three shepherds.

He fell into the underworld, and on the third day rose from the dead.

Osiris was the central figure of ancient Egyptian religion, according to noted Egyptologist E.A.

Nana was his mother, and she was a virgin.

On March 25, he was revived.

After three days, he died and was revived by the gods.

There were several hidden rites performed by the sect.

God and man are two different things.

Jesus’ father was the creator of the universe, and his mother was a mortal virgin.

In addition to performing miracles, Jesus was crucified and afterwards fell into the underworld.

The commemoration of his death and resurrection is marked by the consumption of bread and wine.

In response to their discovery of far older myths of pagan gods dying and rising from the dead that were comparable to those of Jesus Christ, the early Church fathers accused Satan of being responsible for their “deception.” A renowned Christian historian and apologist, Tertullian, argued that “the devil had imitated Christianity by anticipation in order to lead people astray.” Tertullian was a notable Christian historian and apologist.

• The devil merely reproduced his own life and used it to inspire the myths of Osiris, Mithras, and other gods.
• Modern Christian apologists contend that the parallels between the stories of Jesus Christ and the pagangods are only coincidental and superficial.
• Given that there is virtually no record of Jesus’ presence outside of the four canonical gospels, the disagreement has reignited the age-old debate over whether or not he actually existed on earth or whether or not he was a fiction.
• The question is, how could an ancient contemporary historian have overlooked such a man of miracles?
• 2,000 years ago, did Jesus actually walk among us as a historical figure, or was he merely an invented story by the early Christian gospel writers?

“Jesus was really a myth who became a reality in your world,” I think. It is now possible to purchase the latest version of my best-selling book “Soulmates, Karma, and Reincarnation” at any of the National Book Store locations nationwide. Contact information: e-mail; phone: 09886292 or 8107245.

Who was Tammuz?

Answer In the book of Ezekiel, the false deity Tammuz is referenced by name. A vision that the prophet had, according to which the Lord “took me to the entrance of the north gate of the temple of the LORD, and I saw ladies sitting there, grieving the deity Tammuz,” was described by the prophet (Ezekiel 8:14). God condemns the pagan practice of crying for Tammuz as “detestable,” which is rendered much worse by the fact that it was taking place at the Temple in Jerusalem at the time. Tammuz the demigod is said to have started out as a Sumerian shepherd named Dumu-zid or Dumuzi, according to legend.

Dumuzid/Tammuz was the god of sheep, lambs, and sheep’s milk in ancient Sumerian culture, and he was considered a pastoral deity.

Tammuz was renowned as “the good, youthful one,” and his beauty drew the attention of Inanna (known to the Akkadians as Ishtar), who chose him as her consort and married him off to him.

The most widely accepted version of the narrative is that Ishtar traveled to the netherworld in order to usurp the throne of her sister, Ereshkigal, who had died.

While Inanna/Ishtar was no longer alive, sexual interactions were prohibited across the whole cosmos.

She traversed the globe in search of someone who wasn’t grieving her loss as she did.

Inanna/Ishtar sent her demons to Tammuz as a form of revenge for his lack of loyalty to her.

Following some time in the underworld, Inanna/Ishtar came to regret her extreme measures, and the gods reached a compromise by having Dumuzid/Tammuz and his sister alternate time in the underworld.

The legend of Inanna and Dumuzid spread throughout the world, not just among the Sumerian and Akkadian empires, but also among other civilizations.

Osiris, who was married to the devoted Isis, was murdered by his brother Set in order to take over the kingdom.

In recognition of Isis’ devotion, the gods elevated Osiris to the position of ruler of the underworld, the Nile (whose tides bring life and death to the land), and agricultural development (with its cycle of dormancy and restoration).

Aphrodite entrusted the care of the baby Adonis to her sister Persephone, who was responsible for his protection in the underworld.

Zeus ultimately interfered, ordering Adonis to spend four months with Persephone, four months with Aphrodite, and four months with whoever he chose for the remaining four months.

Zeus showed his respect for Aphrodite’s grief by permitting him to spend half of the year above earth.

Because of this, as well as his early identity as a shepherd, Tammuz is renowned throughout history as the deity of fertility and agriculture in all of his incarnations.

In the ancient world, Tammuz’s descent into the underworld, which is commonly thought to occur during the summer solstice when the weather becomes hot and dry, signaled the end of fertility in all things, including plants, animals, and people.

Later observance of the Tammuz/Adonis rites was distinct in that it was predominantly carried out by women, and, while worship may have included celebrations for Tammuz’s return, the grief of his death was stressed more strongly than the rejoicing of his homecoming.

According to Ezekiel 8, this is exactly what the women at the temple’s entrance were doing.

Tammuz’s identification is further complicated by legends that are less well established.

It begins with a shepherd who reigned for 36,000 years as the fifth king before the Flood, and continues with a fisherman who reigned for 100 years around 2700 BC, immediately preceding Gilgamesh as the second monarch.

Critics have argued that the mythology of Dumuzid/Tammuz/Osiris/Adonis provided as inspiration for the “legend” of Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection, which they say was based on a myth about Osiris and Adonis.

Jesus was resurrected from the dead by Himself, working in collaboration with God, according to the Scriptures.

Jesus died only once on the cross.

Jesus resurrected from the dead once and for all.

Psalm 16:10 says that The death and rebirth of Tammuz/Osiris ushered in the age of agriculture.

The Bible says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whomever believes in him will not perish but will have eternal life” (John 3:16) However, while the worship of Tammuz promised abundant supply in the shape of grain and livestock, it is only Jesus who provides life, and he gives it to the fullest extent possible (John 10:10).

One exception is Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd, who voluntarily lay down his life for His flock (John 10:11, 18). No matter what modern-day idols we pursue in our quest for abundance, only God is capable of providing what we require (James 1:17).