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In Zabban, a city in the northeast of Babylonia, Hadad was the head of the pantheon. [38] In the first millennium BCE Marduk became the supreme god in Babylonia, and some late sources omit Anu and Enlil altogether and state that Ea received his position from Marduk. [ 39 ]
Many Babylonian deities, myths, and religious writings are singular to that culture; for example, the uniquely Babylonian deity, Marduk, replaced Enlil as the head of the mythological pantheon. The Enûma Eliš, a creation myth epic was an original Babylonian work.
Feb 25, 2011 · They were also known, by the Akkadians and Babylonians, as The Apkallu or the Apkallu Fish and are depicted with the body of a fish and the head of a man or with the torso of a fish and human arms, legs and head, sometimes with and sometimes without wings.
- Joshua J. Mark
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The name of Marduk was solely spelled as dAMAR.UTU in the Old Babylonian Period, although other spellings such as MES and dŠA.ZU were also in use since the Kassite Period. In the 1st millennium BC, the ideograms dŠU and KU were regularly used.The logogram for Adad is also occasionally used to spell Marduk. Texts from the Old Babylonian period suppo...
3rd millennium BC
Marduk, along with the city of Babylon, was unimportant and sparsely attested in the 3rd millennium BC. The earliest mention to Marduk comes from a fragmentary inscription, most likely dating to the Early Dynastic II period. It is left by an unnamed ruler of the city of BAR.KI.BAR (likely Babylon) who constructed a temple for Marduk. A text from the Fara period seems to mention Marduk without the divine determinative, and a fragment of a god list from Abu Salabikh contains dutu-ama[r], likely...
Old Babylonian Period
Under Sumu-la-El, Marduk appeared in oaths and several year names, namely year name 22, which recorded fashioning a throne for Marduk, and year name 24, which recorded making a statue for Zarpanitum. Marduk also started to appear in theophoric names, which would become more frequent in the following decades but would remain rare, appearing in less than 1% of names, although it would grow to 1-2% under Hammurabi. During the reigns of Sabium, Apil-Sin and Sin-muballit, Marduk started to be ment...
Middle Babylonian Period
In the Kassite period, theophoric names containing Marduk grew to over 10%, and the local temple to Marduk in Nippur was firmly integrated and well established. The Kassite kings sometimes gave Marduk pompous epithets, showing Marduk's growing popularity, however Enlil still ranks as the most important Mesopotamian god, still heading the list along with Anu and Ea. At least five Kassite kings bore theophoric names containing Enlil, and Kassite kings, especially Nazi-Maruttash and Kudur-Enlil,...
Symbol
His symbol is the spade and he is associated with the Mušḫuššu, a dragon-like creature from Mesopotamian mythology.
Original role
Since sources pertaining to Marduk in the early periods are sparse, Marduk's original role is unknown. However, since Marduk appeared in the Abu Salabikh list behind three minor deities whose names point to a possible connection with the underworld, Johandi suggests that Marduk may have been a minor god connected to the underworld. Similarly, Oshima recently proposed that Marduk may have originally had a role similar to Nergal, which may even explain why the logogram dAMAR.UTU is used in Hitt...
Marduk's anger and mercy
Sin-iddinam's prayer to Ninisina shares similar motifs with the Prayer to Marduk no.1 and Ludlul bel nemeqi, where Marduk's anger is blamed for some certain ailment affecting the sufferer, and can only be remedied by Marduk having mercy and forgiving them. In the Prayer to Marduk no.1, Marduk is asked to not kill his client, and in Ludlul Marduk is praised for his mercy after forgiving his client. As such, some scholars claim that Marduk was being praised for his wrath, and others claim that...
Enuma Elish
The Enuma Elish, generally believed to have been composed in the Isin II period, details Marduk's rise to power as the king of the gods. There are similarities between the Epic of Creation and the Anzu myth as well as other traditions related to Ninurta. The Tablet of Destinies is a key object in both myths, and Marduk uses largely the same weapons as Ninurta. A ritual tablet mentions how the Epic of Creation would be recited and possibly reenacted during the Akitu festival, on the fourth day...
Ludlul bel nemeqi
Also known as the "Babylonian Job," the poem describes the narrator's suffering caused by Marduk's anger, causing him to lose his job and to experience hostility from his friends and family. Diviners were incapable of helping him and his personal protective spirits and gods also did not come to help. He claims that nobody understood the actions of the gods, and despite the narrator's protests of innocence and that he had always been pious to the gods and never abandoned him, he quickly became...
Epic of Erra
In the Erra epic, Erra convinced Marduk to leave Esagil and to go to the netherworld, leaving Erra to become king. Afterwards, Erra wreaks havoc on all the cities and causes instability. Marduk came back and lamented the state of Babylon. Unlike the Enuma Elish which championed Marduk as the bringer of peace and stability, Marduk is here the one who brought instability by leaving his seat, thus bringing darkness upon the world.He also indirectly brought war by yielding to Erra.
Asalluhi
The earliest evidence of Asalluhi's syncretism with Marduk is Sin-iddinam's prayer to Ninisina, where Asalluhi was called the "king of Babylon." An Old Babylonian text substitutes "son of Eridu" for "lord of Tintir" as a title for Asalluhi (Tintir being another attested name for Babylon.) In Hammurabi's prayer to Asalluhi, he is clearly viewed as synonymous with Marduk. However, in a prayer for Samsu-iluna, Marduk and Asalluhi were mentioned as separate gods, suggesting that the syncretism Ma...
Enlil
The syncretism of Babylon and Nippur was in place from the Isin II period, and the names of the city walls were switched, with Imgur-Enlil and Nimit-Enlil in Babylon while Imgur-Marduk and Nimit-Marduk were in Nippur. By extension, Marduk was also identified with Enlil, and in the Isin II period Marduk was attested with Enlil's titles. Marduk was often called the "Enlil of the gods" in the First Millennium. A statue of Marduk, conveniently named "King of the gods of Heaven and the Underworld"...
Tutu
The previous patron deity of Borsippa. Although Hammurabi recognized Tutu's dominion as extending over Borsippa and E-zida, Tutu became another name for Marduk after Hammurabi, but became a byname for Nabu in the First Millennium. Tutu was also a name for Marduk in the Enuma Elish.In the bird call text, the bird of Enmesharra calls that he sinned against Tutu, here meaning Marduk.
Aug 17, 2018 · In the 18th century BC, Marduk began to rise to the position of head of the Babylonian pantheon and was fully recognized as such by the second half of the second millennium BC. He is often associated with the planet Jupiter, water, vegetation, judgements, and magic.
- Veronica Parkes
Marduk rose from an obscure deity in the third millennium BCE to become one of the most important gods and the head of the Mesopotamian pantheon in the first millennium. He was the patron god of the city of Babylon, where his temple tower, the ziggurat TT Etemenanki ("Temple (that is) the foundation of the heavens and the earth") served as the ...
Aug 24, 2023 · Marduk, originally a minor deity associated with thunderstorms, became the chief god of the Babylonian pantheon during the second millennium BC, especially under the reign of Hammurabi and subsequent Babylonian rulers.
