the Egyptian Osiris and the Phrygian Attis. The cross was Tammuz’ symbol.

Alexander Hislop, in his book The Two Babylons, pages 21 to 23, identifies Tammuz with Nimrod, “a mighty hunter in opposition to Jehovah” (Gen. 10:9), saying: “In Scripture he is referred to (Ezek. viii. 14) under the name of Tammuz, but he is commonly known among classical writers under the name of Bacchus, that is, ‘The Lamented one.’ To the ordinary reader the name of Bacchus suggests nothing more than revelry and drunkenness, but it is now well known, that amid all the abominations that attended his orgies, their grand design was professedly ‘the purification of souls,’ and that from the guilt and defilement of sin. This lamented one, exhibited and adored as a little child in his mother’s arms, seems, in point of fact, to have been the husband of Semiramis, whose name, Ninus, by which he is commonly known in classical history, literally signified ‘The Son.’ . . . Now, this Ninus, or ‘Son,’ borne in the arms of the Babylonian Madonna, is so described as very clearly to identify him with Nimrod. ‘Ninus, king of the Assyrians,’ says Trogus Pompeius, epitomised by Justin, ‘first of all changed the contented moderation of the ancient manners, incited by a new passion, the desire of conquest. He was the first who carried on war against his neighbours, and he conquered all nations from Assyria to Lybia, as they were yet unacquainted with the arts of war.’ This account points directly to Nimrod, and can apply to no other.”—See ADONIS.

TAMMUZ, II

(Tamʹmuz).

The postexilic name given to the fourth Jewish lunar month of the sacred calendar, but the tenth of the secular calendar. Thus, in the Targum of Jonathan the expression “the tenth month” at Genesis 8:5 is rendered “the month Tammuz.” Tammuz was the name of a Babylonian deity. (Ezek. 8:14) The Bible record does not apply this name to the fourth month but merely refers to the month by its numerical order. (Ezek. 1:1) The name does appear, however, in the Jewish Talmud and other postexilic works. The use of the pagan name “Tammuz” as applying to the fourth month as well as the use of the other postexilic names may have been only a matter of convenience among the Jews. It should be remembered that they were then a subjugated people, obliged to deal with and report to the foreign powers dominating them, and in view of this it is no strange thing if they utilized the names of the months employed by these foreign powers. The Gregorian calendar used today has months named after the gods Janus, Mars and Jupiter, as well as for Julius and Augustus Caesar, yet it continues to be used by Christians who are subject to the “superior authorities.”—Rom. 13:1.

This month, Tammuz, corresponded to part of June and part of July and, therefore, came in the growing heat of summer. By now the grapevines were beginning to yield their first ripe fruit and in some of the lowland areas the olive trees were approaching harvesttime.—Num. 13:20.

It was on the ninth day of this fourth month (Tammuz) that Nebuchadnezzar breached the walls of Jerusalem in 607 B.C.E. after an eighteen-month siege. (2 Ki. 25:3, 4; Jer. 39:2; 52:6, 7) During the seventy years of exile that followed, the Jews customarily fasted on the ninth day of the fourth month in memory of this blow against Jerusalem. (Zech. 8:19) However, following the second destruction of Jerusalem, in the year 70 C.E., the fast was observed on the seventeenth day of the fourth month, the day the walls of the temple were breached by Roman General Titus. There were no festivals appointed by Jehovah for this month.

TANHUMETH

(Tan·huʹmeth) [consolation].

The Netophathite father of Seraiah, a military leader of the Jews left in Jerusalem after the deportation to Babylon.—2 Ki. 25:23; Jer. 40:8.

TANNER

A person skilled in the tanning profession, the craft of converting animal hides into leather that can then be used to make articles of various kinds. (2 Ki. 1:8; Matt. 3:4) Doubtless the tanning operation was performed in the past as it has been recently in the Middle East, in a one- or two-room tannery housing tools and vats for preparing the hides. The basic process of preparing leather involved (1) loosening the hair, usually with a lime solution, (2) removing the hair, bits of flesh and fat adhering to the hide, and (3) tanning the hide with a liquor made from such things as sumac or oak bark, or from certain kinds of plants.

Peter spent “quite a few days . . . in Joppa with a certain Simon, a tanner,” whose house was by the sea.—Acts 9:43; 10:32.

TAPHATH

(Taʹphath).

A daughter of King Solomon and wife of one of his twelve deputies.—1 Ki. 4:7, 11.

TAPPUAH

(Tapʹpu·ah) [apple].

1. One of Hebron’s four sons and a descendant of Caleb. (1 Chron. 2:42, 43) Some suggest that his name is to be connected with Beth-tappuah, a town near Hebron.—See BETH-TAPPUAH.

2. A town in the Shephelah region assigned to the tribe of Judah. (Josh. 15:20, 33, 34) It is thus distinct from Beth-tappuah in the Hebron area. Beit Nettif, about twelve miles (19 kilometers) W of Bethlehem, is tentatively identified as the site.

3. A town on the boundary between Ephraim and Manasseh. (Josh. 16:8) The surrounding area, the “land of Tappuah,” was allotted to Manasseh, but the city to Ephraim. (Josh. 17:8) En-Tappuah (Josh. 17:7) evidently refers to a nearby spring (Heb., ʽAʹyin, or En, meaning “spring,” when used as a prefix) and may have been a more complete name used for the city of Tappuah.

The “king of Tappuah” is mentioned among the rulers vanquished by Joshua in the conquest of Canaan (Josh. 12:17), and there is some difference of opinion as to whether “Tappuah” here refers to the city in the Shephelah or to the Ephraimite city. The more prominent mention made of the latter place, as well as the reference to the “land of Tappuah” (perhaps having some connection with the domain of the king of Tappuah), may indicate the Ephraimite Tappuah as the more likely of the two.

Most authorities identify the Ephraimite Tappuah with Tell Sheikh Abu Zarad, some eight miles (13 kilometers) S of Shechem and just below the town of Yasuf.

TAR

See BITUMEN.

TARALAH

(Tarʹa·lah) [perhaps, reeling].

A Benjamite city, the location of which is today unknown. It is listed, however, with other cities situated in the mountainous region N of Jerusalem.—Josh. 18:25-28.

TAREA

(Ta·reʹa).

A descendant of Saul through Jonathan; also called Tahrea (Tahrʹe·a).—1 Chron. 8:33-35; 9:39-41.

TARSHISH

(Tarʹshish) [perhaps chrysolite, or some gold-colored stone].

1. One of Javan’s four sons born after the Flood. (Gen. 10:4; 1 Chron. 1:7) He is included among the seventy family heads from whom the nations were “spread about in the earth.” (Gen. 10:32) As in the case of Javan’s other sons, the name Tarshish came to apply to a people and region. There are some indications of the direction in which the descendants of Tarshish migrated during the centuries following the Flood.

The prophet Jonah (c. 844 B.C.E.), commissioned by Jehovah to go to Nineveh in Assyria, tried to escape his assignment by going to the Mediterranean seaport of Joppa (modern Tel Aviv—Jaffa) and buying passage on “a ship going to Tarshish.” (Jonah 1:1-3; 4:2)