Gods, Demons & Immortals
whose Names Start with 'D'
The immortals of ancient Sumer.
by James W. Bell © 2002-3
Dagan (sometimes spelled Dagon)
Biblical Connection: Dagan, a west Semitic god, was widely regarded as the father of Baal. In the Bible, Dagan is spelled'Dagon' and appears in Judges 16:23; 1 Samuel 5:2-5, 7 and 1 Chronicles 10:10..
Dagan (the name means 'grain' in Hebrew and Ugaritic) was originally a god of the upper Euphrates. His spouse was the goddess Ishara (although, in another tradition, his spouse was the goddess Shala).
*[ In my stories, Enlil enlisted Dagan's support to protect the supply of bitumen (tar and pitch) that came from the springs at the city of Is (Tuttul in Sumerian, Hit in modern-day Iraq). In return, Enlil appointed Dagan god of Is and enrolled him in the Sumerian pantheon of gods. ]*
*[ Through the boiling water of the hot springs coming out of the ground, Dagan had direct contact with Ereshkigal and Nergal of the Netherworld. He is reported to have taken pains to please them so they would continue production of large quantities of bitumen. ]*
*[ In appearance, Dagan had a swarthy complexion. Over his curly, black hair, he wore a cap with three pairs of horns. He shaved but always seemed to have a stubble of beard on his face. He dressed in a long, belted robe of natural wool and wore thick leather sandals. He smelled of naphtha and his robe often showed bitumen stains. ]*
Dagan had the E-eshmedagalla Temple, 'House of the Widespread Me's,' at Ur and the E-durkigarra Temple, 'House of the Well Founded Abode,' at Isin.
Damkina (also Ninki, Damgalnuna
and sometimes Ninhursag)
Although Enki seduced many goddesses, Damkina remained his wife throughout the time he was on the Earth. They were a team, swimming across the Lower Sea together for recreation. Their son, Marduk, later became tutelary god of the great city of Babylon and then the god of Babylonia.
*[ In my stories, Damgalnuna, originally a minor goddess until Enki married her and took her with him to Sumer, became known as Damkina (dam=bound, ki=earth, na=person), the 'Dame of Sumer.' Her long, white hair was stringy but mostly covered by a cap with three pairs of horns. She had a thin face with a large, pointed nose. She wore a long robe of tufted wool which she belted with rope made of palm fiber. She usually went about barefooted, but retained her regal bearing. ]*
A temple named E-namtila, 'House of Life,' located near Eridu, was dedicated jointly to Damkina and Enki. Damkina had no other known temples.
To read a Sumerian hymn dedicated to Damgalnuna, click here.
Her cryptographic number was 35.
Damu
A local god of healing, Damu was the son of the goddess, Gula (Ninisina). His sister was named Gunura though she was sometimes rumored to be his consort.
Damu was relatively unimportant and had no temples or shrines but did have a sanctuary in his mother's temple at Isin.
Dumuzi (later known as Tammuz)
Biblical Connection:
This is the Tammuz mentioned in Ezekial 8:14:
Revised Standard Version:
"Then he brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the house of the Lord, and behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz."
The Semitic 'Tammuz' of the Bible and the name of the tenth month of the Jewish calendar, was originally a Sumerian shepherd god named Dumuzi.
*[ In my stories, Dumuzi was a shepherd living in Bad-tibira at the time he first met the young Inanna, soon after she came down to the plain of Sumer and became goddess of the city of Zabalam. Dumuzi courted her and won her in a contest with a farmer named Ekimdu. When Dumuzi married Inanna, she appointed him tutelary god of nearby Bad-tibira. The couple had two sons: Lulal and Shara. ]*
To read a translation of the Sumerian account of Dumuzi's Courtship of Inanna and Dumuzi, click here.
To read a translation of the Sumerian account of the Marriage of Inanna and Dumuzi, click here.
*[ Before meeting Dumuzi, while she was still the god of Aratta, Inanna met Anu while he was on the Earth as patron god of Der. It was Anu who had first called her Inanna, 'Queen of Heaven.' After a problematic marriage with Dumuzi, Inanna's ambitions revived and she left her husband to go to Uruk where she had the Eanna Temple erected. While there, she became infatuated with Gilgamesh, the young lugal (king) of Uruk, and offered to make him her consort, but he turned her down. Angry, Inanna called on her heavenly patron, Anu, to send down Gulgalanna, the Bull of Heaven, to kill Gilgamesh. But Gilgamesh and his friend, Enkidu, slew Gulganlanna in the streets of Uruk instead. ]*
*[ Gulgalanna was one of the husbands of Ereshkigal, Inanna's older sister, who ruled in the Great Below as the Queen of the Netherworld. When Inanna went down into the Netherworld, the Land of No Return, to attend Gulgalanna's funeral, Ereshkigal became furious and killed Inanna, hanging her corpse on a peg on the wall. ]*
*[ Enki, Inanna's grandfather, rescued her, but she was allowed to return to the Great Above only on the condition that she find someone to take her place in the Netherworld. Inanna returned to the surface of the Earth with a troop of galla demons following her. When she went to Bad-tibira, she found her husband, Dumuzi, seated on the royal throne disporting himself with local women. Furious, Inanna gave Dumuzi the 'look of death,' sentencing him eternally to the Land of No Return. She appointed their son, Lulal, to be the tutelary god of Bad-tibira in his stead. ]*
To read a translation of the Sumerian version of the 'The Descent of Inanna' (NOTE: In this translation, Dumuzi is written Dumuzid, Inanna is Inana, Uruk is Unug, and Ninshubur is Nincubura, with a 'c' taking the place of 'sh') click here.
However, Dumuzi appealed to his sister, Geshtinanna, and persuaded her to volunteer to take his place in the Netherworld for six months out of the year. Ever since, winter has come and vegetation died when Dumuz went below to serve his six months in the Netherworld. In the spring, when his sister went below to take his place and Dumuzi returned to the Great Above, the weather warmed and plants came back to life.
To read a translation of the Sumerian version of 'Dumuzi and Geshtinana' (NOTE: This story follows 'The Descent of Inanna') click here.
Dumuzi's primary temple was the 'House of the Netherworld' in Bad-tibira. He had two other temples in Bad-tibra, one which he shared with Inanna, the E.mushkalamma, 'House, Foundation of the Land,' and the other which he shared with his sister, Geshtinanna, the E.niglulu, 'House of the Teeming Flocks.'
Dumuzi also had a temple in Babil (Babylon), the E.zidagishnugal, 'House of Great Light.'
Althought Dumuzi was an extremely popular god, he never had a cryptographic number.
Duttur
Duttur was a Sumerian sheep goddess and protector of flocks. She was better known as the mother of both Dumuzi (Tammuz) and Geshtinanna.
Duttur had no known temples, shrines or sanctuaries.
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