[3] Texts from Lagash indicate that Dumuzi-Abzu was among the deities believed to be responsible for making a ruler virtuous, with the other members of this group being Enki, Gatumdug, Hendursaga, Inanna, Lugalurub, Nanshe, Nindara and Ningirsu.
[10] While Thorkild Jacobsen based on location of her cult center placed her among the deities associated with "the power of water, reeds, birds and fish" alongside Enki, Asalluhi, Nanshe and Nin-MAR.KI,[11] the view that Mesopotamian gods can be grouped based on "the ecological potential of their respective habitats" has been criticized by Wilfred G. Lambert, who characterized it as creating "more system than really existed.
"[12] Frans Wiggermann notes that in some cases such associations, when actually attested, like the connection between the moon god Nanna and cow herding, might at best represent secondary developments.
[14] Andrew R. George acknowledges that this holds true for Dumuzi-abzu as a distinct, female deity, but argues that in the second and first millennia BCE, the name might have functioned as an epithet of the male Dumuzi, designating him in his role of a god of the underworld.
[16] It is a matter of debate whether the theonym Dumuzi present in pre-Sargonic administrative documents and theophoric names should be interpreted as Dumuzi-abzu or as the husband of Inanna.
[18] For instance, it is also uncertain if the deity invoked in a number of theophoric names from Lagash, such as Geme-Dumuzi or Ur-Dumuzi, should be understood as Dumuzi-abzu or Dumuzi.
[15] Manfred Krebernik argues that in the oldest sources, such as these from Early Dynastic Fara, only the name Amaušumgal should be understood as referring to the male Dumuzi.
[5] In addition to Dumuzi-abzu, a second deity with a similar name was also worshiped in Lagash, Dumuzi-gu'ena ("good child of the throne room"), but there is no indication that there was any relation between them.
[26] Other deities invoked in it are Anu, Enlil, Ninhursag, Enki, Sin, Ningirsu, Nanshe, Nindara, Gatumdug, Bau, Inanna, Utu, Hendursaga, Igalim and Shulshaga.
[3] Dumuzi-abzu largely ceased to be worshiped after the Ur III period due to the decline of Lagash as a political and religious center.