Biblical Hebrew Forum

[George Athas <gathas AT mail.usyd.edu.au>]

peter_kirk AT SIL.ORG wrote:

> >From "The Greek Myths" by Robert Graves (Penguin 1960):
>
> "Adonis (Phoenician: adon 'lord') is a Greek version of the Syrian
> demi-god Tammuz, the spirit of annual vegetation... the Adonia, a
> mourning festival in honour of Tammuz, was held at Byblus every
> spring."
>
> See also Ezekiel 8:14: mourning for Tammuz reached Jerusalem also, and
> was condemned as idolatry.

Thanks Peter. A query though: Why the very semitic looking "Adonis" in Greek, 
but "Tammuz" in
Semitic? Should we perhaps be talking about Lord Tammuz?

Regards.
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GEORGE ATHAS
 Dept of Semitic Studies,
 University of Sydney
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http://web.infoave.net/~jwest/athas1.html
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