Tammuz (Hebrew month)

Tammuz (Hebrew תמוז, from Akkadian du- muzu ) is the tenth month of the civil and the fourth in the Jewish religious calendar. He has 29 days and falls in the Gregorian calendar mostly in the period of June and July.

In the Bible this month the numbers of subsequent months following simply carries the name "of the fourth month ": " On the ninth day of the fourth month the famine in the city had grown, and the citizens of the country had no more bread. " (2 Kings 25.3 EU)

The present name has its origins in the month of the ancient Babylonia that were taken during the Babylonian exile between 586 BC and 536 BC by the Jews. Tammuz was the Babylonian deity of the spring fertility, who ruled at that time by performance in the months of Nisan, Iyar and Sivan and died at the end of Siwan: "Then he brought me to the north gate of the house of the Lord. There sat women weeping for Tammuz the. " ( Ez 8.14 EU) Only later did the following in Siwan month was named as month of death of the deity after this.

Tammuz is always 29 days long and marks the beginning of summer. The month is the zodiac sign Cancer.

The Arabic name of the month of Tammuz and the Turkish name of the month Temmuz are also due to the Babylonian deity.

Jewish Holidays in the month of Tammuz

• The fast day Shiva Assar beTammus on 17 Tammuz, which begins at sunset, is the first of the enumerated in the Bible Fasts: "Thus saith the Lord of hosts: The fast of the fourth, the fast of the fifth, the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth month are for the house of Judah days of jubilation and joy and joyful celebrations to be. "(Zech. 8.19 EU) It is in commemoration of the two-time demolition of the Jerusalem city wall first by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BC, then by Vespasian in AD 70, three weeks before the capture of the city and the destruction of the Second Temple of Jerusalem by the Romans on the 9th of Av of the year 70, celebrated.
• The "Three weeks," the period between the 17th of Tammuz and the 9th of Av.