all manifestations of Life.

This is very clearly brought out in the beautiful Lament for Tammuz,
published by Mr Langdon in Tammuz and Ishtar, and also in Sumerian and
Babylonian Psalms.[7]

"In Eanna, high and low, there is weeping,
Wailing for the house of the lord they raise.
The wailing is for the plants; the first lament is 'they grow not.'
The wailing is for the barley; the ears grow not.
For the habitations and flocks it is; they produce not.
For the perishing wedded ones, for perishing children it is; the
dark-headed people create not.
The wailing is for the great river; it brings the flood no more.
The wailing is for the fields of men; the gunu grows no more.
The wailing is for the fish-ponds; the dasuhur fish spawn not.
The wailing is for the cane-brake; the fallen stalks grow not.
The wailing is for the forests; the tamarisks grow not.
The wailing is for the highlands; the masgam trees grow not.
The wailing is for the garden store-house; honey and wine are
produced not.
The wailing is for the meadows; the bounty of the garden, the
sihtu plants grow not.
The wailing is for the palace; life unto distant days is not."

Can anything be more expressive of the community of life animating the
whole of Nature than this poignantly worded lament?

A point which differentiates the worship of Tammuz from the kindred,
and better known, cult of Adonis, is the fact that we have no