Dumuzid, the Fisherman

Who is Dumuzid, the Fisherman?

Dumuzid "the Fisherman", originally from Kuara in Sumer, was the 3rd king in the 1st Dynasty of Uruk, and Gilgamesh's predecessor, according to the Sumerian king list. The king list also states that he singlehandedly captured Enmebaragesi, ruler of Kish, and it claims he ruled in Uruk for 100 years — far fewer than the 1200 years it ascribes his predecessor, Lugalbanda "the Shepherd".

There may have been some confusion in the early Sumerian compositions between this figure and that of "Dumuzid the Shepherd", whom they call the king of Uruk, and who appears as a deity in later works. However, the Sumerian king list says that Dumuzid the Shepherd ruled before the flood, and in Bad-tibira, not Uruk.