Geography/Culture: Syria: Early Hebraic.
Linguistic Note: apparently from Arabic tamr, 'date palm'. The botanical name for the date palm is phoenix dactylifera. The Greek word phi-omicron-iota-nu-iota-xi, (phoinix) means 'palm tree'. In Egypt, the word bennu, for a species of stork (sacred at Heliopolis and connected with sun-worship) also meant 'palm tree'. English palm is derived from the Latin palma, meaning 'palm of the hand', since the palm leaf was likened to the hand with fingers extended; but Latin palma itself, also meant part of the trunk of a tree from which branches spring.
The god name Tammuz itself appears to be etymologically related to Tamar. The ending zi comes from the root zig, 'to rise up'.
Description: Goddess of earth, prophesy, the calendar and nourishment; Bestower of sovereignty; Savior in times of drought; Tree of Life; Tree of Birth; Great Provider -- Her fruits, fresh or dried, provide food; incisions in Her crown leak sweet juices which boiled yield gur (a thick brown syrup) and jaggery (a type of sugar), and when fermented yield arrack (wine) and vinegar; from Her trunk comes timber, from Her leaves thatch, baskets from Her leaflets, fuel from Her leaf-bases and fruit stalks, rope from Her fibers; roasted, Her pits are a substitute for coffee, while soaked in water or ground into meal, Her pits feed camels -- indeed She is a great provider.
Perhaps She is more properly Shehe since Her flowers are of separate sexes borne by different trees. The date palm requires human assistance in pollination if a substantial crop is to be harvested.
To Whom Sacred: salt; the sea: dates (symbol of fertility and fecundity); palm leaves (adopted by Christians as symbol of Christ's victory, extended to success, joy or triumph, they were also used in Jewish festivals); the date palm, especially when bearing fruit (it is thought possible that the Sumerian huluppu-tree may have been a date palm); [tamarisk (and if so, the sweet manna it provides); tamarind (the name means 'palm tree from India')]; the phoenix (or perhaps the Sumerian Anzu bird), born and reborn in Her branches; the color purple.
Male Associates: consort, perhaps originally Amaushumgalanna, The-One-Great-Source-of-the-Date-Clusters, (a title of Dummuzi, ----), personified in the enormous bud that the date palm sprouts each year -- the source of the leaves, flowers, and fruit. Perhaps later, Baal-Tamar, God-of-the-Date-Palm, a title of Tammuz, The-Son-Who-Rises.

Titles/Variants, etc:
• Perhaps an aspect of Astart, Conceiving-Womb, to Whom the date palm is sacred.
• Tamar's description recalls the image of Ephesaia, {She-Whose-Court-is-Highest}.
• Gbadu, ----, Who is linked with Mawu, ----, sat guarding Mawu's creation from a palm tree.
• Perhaps She is related to Hat-Hor, Womb-of-the-Sun, as the Goddess Who bestows nourishment on souls in the form of a sycamore tree [maybe in mistake for a palm].
• According to some the original title and significance of Inanna, Queen-of-Heaven, was Goddess-of-the-Date-Storehouse.
• The date palm is sacred to Ishtar, Light-Giving, a reflection of Her assimilation of Inanna.
• Leto, Lady, during Her nine days labor on Delos, embraced a palm tree.
• In Muslim tradition Mary, {Sea-Queen}, gave birth to Jesus beneath a palm.
• See also Nin-Kasi, Lady-Horn-Face, Who is linked with Aa, Great-Mother.