(1) The name of a deity over whom apostate Hebrew women in Jerusalem wept. It has been suggested that Tammuz was originally a king who was deified after his death. In Sumerian text, Tammuz is called Dumuzi and is identified as the consort or lover of the fertility goddess Inanna (the Babylonian Ishtar). (Eze 8:14) (2) After the Babylonian exile, the name of the fourth Jewish lunar month of the sacred calendar and the tenth month of the secular calendar. This month ran from mid-June to mid-July.​—See App. B15.