Dumuzid the Fisherman

Dumuzid, called "the Fisherman" (cuneiform:π’Œ‰π’£π’‹—π’„©; Sumerian: Dumuzid Ε‘ukud),[1] originally from Kuara in Sumer, was the 4th king in the 1st Dynasty of Uruk, and Gilgamesh's predecessor, according to the Sumerian King List. The king list also states that, "He (Dumuzid) was taken captive by the (single) hand of Enmebaragesi.",[2] and claims he ruled in Uruk for 100 years β€” far fewer than the 1200 years it ascribes his predecessor, Lugalbanda "the Shepherd". His given name means "faithful child" in Sumerian.

Dumuzid the Fisherman
π’Œ‰π’£π’‹—π’„©
King of the First dynasty of Uruk
Reignc. 2900-2700 BC (EDI)
PredecessorLugalbanda
SuccessorGilgamesh
DynastyUruk I

The Tale of Gudam

In The Tale of Gudam, first published by A. Poebel in 1914, an enemy named Gudam is leading an attack on Uruk, but is defeated by a "A junior fisherman, a fisherman of Inana"[3] The account goes as follows:

He lopped off the crossbeams of E-ana as if (?) they were branches. Gudam went out into the street. Gudam crushed many on the streets of Unug, and killed many with his mace. He hacked down the door of the city gate (the other ms. has instead: ...... the gate, the gate of Ickur). He went out from ......A junior fisherman, a fisherman of Inana, turned (the other ms. has instead: ......) the double-axe against him and struck Gudam down. Gudam began to weep, and turned pale:[4]

Gianni Marchesi has suggested the "junior fisherman" of this story is the self same Dumuzid the Fisherman, evidencing that "A junior fisherman, a fisherman of Inana" is easily a corruption of Dumuzid the Fisherman:

In this connection, it is tempting to suggest that tur (-re) represents a textual corruption stemming from a misinterpretation of a partially preserved dumu(TUR)-z[i] (the initial part of the signs ri and zi being almost identical) and that the line might originally read *Ε‘u-ha6 dumu-zi Ε‘u-ha6 dinana-ke4, "the fisherman Dumuzi(d), the fisherman of Inana(k)".[5]

Marchesi also notes the occurrence of Lugal-gabagal, a character that appears in the epic of Gilgamesh, giving further credence to Dumuzid the Fisherman's identification as the "junior fisherman".[5]

See also

References
  1. "The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature". etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 2017-08-29.
  2. Klein, Jacob. "A Dupicate of the Sumerian Kinglist (BT 14) Sigrist FS". Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  3. Bendt, Alster. "Alster, Bendt with Laura Feldt. The Tale of Gudam. In Assyria and Beyond. Studies Presented to Mogens Trolle Larsen. Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten, 2004, p.21-45". Assyria and Beyond.Studies Presented to Mogens Trolle Larsen. Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten, 2004, p.21-45.
  4. "The tale of Gudam: translation". etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 2020-12-18.
  5. Marchesi, Gianni (2004). "Who Was Buried in the Royal Tombs of Ur? The Epigraphic and Textual Data". Orientalia. 73 (2): 153–197. ISSN 0030-5367.
Regnal titles
Preceded by
Lugalbanda		 Sumerian ruler
En of Uruk
c. 2900-2700 BC (EDI)		 Succeeded by
Gilgamesh


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