Dumuzi = King (1)

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The Sumerian king was identified with the mortal ruler Dumuzi, who was long ago deified. According to the Sumerian King List, there were two Dumuzis: one was called the “Shepherd,” and was said to have ruled the antediluvian dynasty of Badtibira for 36,000 years; the other, known as the “Fisherman,” whose city was Kua(ra),” succeeded Lugalbanda as king of Uruk in the second dynasty after the Flood. The divine Dumuzi appears in the early god-lists, along with Amaušumgalanna, frequently quoted as another name of Dumuzi. Therefore, the king was really Dumuzi the god, but now in human disguise, serving as the king of the country. Moreover, the king was said to have divine parents, thus securing his divinity even from his birth, not just through his relationship with Inanna as her divine lover and husband in the sacred marriage rite. Therefore, it is the goddess from Uruk who actually joins the family and lineage of the divine king, ruling in his city of Ur or Isin.

Bibliography

Pirjo Lapinkivi

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