Our first paragraph may describe him as a resident of one of the ancient cities of southern Babylonia. The city of his residence was Eridu on the banks of the Euphrates. His official title is that of sun-god and his occupation is to care for the growth of plants. The name of his father was Ea, the lord of the city of Eridu, whose duties consisted in governing the waters of the river on whose shore the city rested. Tammuz had a mother, whose name was Davkina, the mistress of the vine. Tammuz also had a sister Belili whose calling was, like that of Tammuz her brother, the care of plant growth. Tammuz also had a bride, the famous and treacherous Ištar, the goddess of love, represented by the evening star; she was mistress of the neighbouring city of Erech, a little to the north-west, and on the other side of the Euphrates. The life of Tammuz at Eridu was romantic and his days ended in tragedy. There is a little poem, giving a picture of his home. There was a garden, a holy place, abundantly shaded with profuse leafage of trees whose roots went down deep into the waters over which Ea presided. His couch was hung under the rich foliage of the vine which his mother tended. There Tammuz dwelt and there was his shrine. His dwelling of foliage in his youthful days was symbolic of the domain in which the virtue of his power was to be exercised. His real home was in heaven, for from heaven the virtue of plant-growth proceeds with the heat of the sun. But his connection with heaven had been forgotten, except in reminiscence found in legend. In the legend of Adapa, for instance, we find a hint of it. Tammuz and his companion Gišzida are seen mounting up to heaven where they receive stations as door-keepers in the gate of Anu’s house; in heaven they properly belong.