Marduk (volcano)
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Marduk (;
cuneiform Cuneiform is a Logogram, logo-Syllabary, syllabic writing system that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Near East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. Cuneiform script ...
: AMAR.UTU; Sumerian: "calf of the sun; solar calf"; ) is a god from ancient
Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...
and
patron deity A tutelary (; also tutelar) is a deity or a spirit who is a guardian, patron, or protector of a particular place, geographic feature, person, lineage, nation, culture, or occupation. The etymology of "tutelary" expresses the concept of safety and ...
of
Babylon Babylon ( ) was an ancient city located on the lower Euphrates river in southern Mesopotamia, within modern-day Hillah, Iraq, about south of modern-day Baghdad. Babylon functioned as the main cultural and political centre of the Akkadian-s ...
who eventually rose to prominence in the 1st millennium BC. In Babylon, Marduk was worshipped in the temple
Esagila The Ésagila or Esangil ( , ''"temple whose top is lofty"'') was a temple dedicated to Marduk, the protector god of Babylon. It lay south of the ziggurat Etemenanki. Description In this temple was the statue of Marduk, surrounded by cult ima ...
. His symbol is the spade and he is associated with the
Mušḫuššu The ''mušḫuššu'' (; formerly also read as or ) or mushkhushshu () is a creature from ancient Mesopotamian mythology. A mythological hybrid, it is a scaly animal with hind legs resembling the talons of an eagle, lion-like forelimbs, a long ...
. By the 1st millennium BC, Marduk had become astrologically associated with the planet
Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...
. He was a prominent figure in Babylonian cosmology, especially in the
Enūma Eliš ' ( Akkadian Cuneiform: , also spelled "Enuma Elish"), meaning "When on High", is a Babylonian creation myth ( named after its opening words) from the late 2nd millennium BCE and the only complete surviving account of ancient near eastern cosmol ...
creation myth.


Name

The name of Marduk was solely spelled as dAMAR.UTU in the
Old Babylonian Period The Old Babylonian Empire, or First Babylonian Empire, is dated to , and comes after the end of Sumerian power with the destruction of the Third Dynasty of Ur, and the subsequent Isin-Larsa period. The chronology of the first dynasty of Babyloni ...
, although other spellings such as MES and dŠA.ZU were also in use since the Kassite Period. In the
1st millennium BC File:1st millennium BC.jpg, 400x400px, From top left clockwise: The Parthenon, a former temple in Athens, Greece; Aristotle, Greek philosopher; Gautama Buddha, a spiritual teacher and the founder of Buddhism; Wars of Alexander the Great last from ...
, 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 support the pronunciation Marutu or Marutuk, with the shortened spelling Martuk or Marduk attested starting from the Kassite period. His name in Hebrew, Merodak, supports the longer version, and First Millennium Assyrian and Babylonian texts employ the long spelling when the circumstances call for the precise form of the name. The personal name Martuku is not to be confused with the god Marduk. Marduk was commonly called Bēl (lord) in the First Millennium BC. The etymology for the name Marduk is generally understood to be derived from damar-utu-(a)k, meaning "bull-calf of Utu". Sommerfield suggests this is used to explain the name Marduk in the Enuma Elish as "He is the 'son of the sun' of the gods, radiant is he." While the name may suggest a relationship with
Shamash Shamash (Akkadian language, Akkadian: ''šamaš''), also known as Utu (Sumerian language, Sumerian: dutu "Sun") was the List of Mesopotamian deities, ancient Mesopotamian Solar deity, sun god. He was believed to see everything that happened in t ...
, Marduk has no genealogy with the sun god. However, Babylon was closely associated with the city of
Sippar Sippar (Sumerian language, Sumerian: , Zimbir) (also Sippir or Sippara) was an ancient Near Eastern Sumerian and later Babylonian city on the east bank of the Euphrates river. Its ''Tell (archaeology), tell'' is located at the site of modern Tell ...
in this period, which may have been the reason for the name.


History


3rd millennium BC

Marduk, along with the city of
Babylon Babylon ( ) was an ancient city located on the lower Euphrates river in southern Mesopotamia, within modern-day Hillah, Iraq, about south of modern-day Baghdad. Babylon functioned as the main cultural and political centre of the Akkadian-s ...
, was unimportant and sparsely attested in the
3rd millennium BC File:3rd millennium BC montage.jpg, 400x400px, From top left clockwise: Pyramid of Djoser; Khufu; Great Pyramid of Giza, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World; Cuneiform, a contract for the sale of a field and a house; Enheduana, a high pr ...
. The earliest mention of 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 The archaeological site of Abu Salabikh (Tell Abū Ṣalābīkh), around northwest of the site of ancient Nippur and about 150 kilometers southeast of the modern city of Baghdad in Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate, Iraq marks the site of a small Sume ...
contains dutu-ama likely Marduk written with reversed sign order. A dubious reference to Marduk in the Ur III period comes from the possible personal name “
Amar-Sin Amar-Sin (: '' DAmar D Sîn'', "calf of Sîn", the "𒀭" being a silent honorific for "Divine"),(died c. 2037 BC) initially misread as Bur-Sin (c. 2046–2037 BC) middle chronology, was the third ruler of the Ur III Dynasty. He succeeded his fa ...
is the star of Marduk", although Johandi suggests that the god Martu who appeared together with
Enki Enki ( ) is the Sumerian god of water, knowledge ('' gestú''), crafts (''gašam''), and creation (''nudimmud''), and one of the Anunnaki. He was later known as Ea () or Ae p. 324, note 27. in Akkadian (Assyrian-Babylonian) religion, and ...
and
Damgalnuna Damgalnuna, also known as Damkina, was a Mesopotamian goddess regarded as the wife of the god Enki. Her character is poorly defined in known sources, though it is known that like her husband she was associated with ritual purification and that she ...
in the Ur III period could possibly refer instead to the similarly named Marduk who is otherwise missing in Ur III documentation, as Martu is later attested to have a different parentage ( Anu and Urash) and Marduk is later considered the son of Enki/Ea. If so, this could be evidence that Marduk was already part of the pantheon of Eridu in the Ur III period.


Old Babylonian period

Under
Sumu-la-El Sumu-la-El (also Sumulael or Sumu-la-ilu) was a King in the First Dynasty of Babylon. He reigned c. 1880-1845 BC ( MC). He subjugated and conquered nearby cities like Kish and built a string of fortresses around his territory. He is known to have ...
, 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 A theophoric name (from Greek: , ''theophoros'', literally "bearing or carrying a god") embeds the word equivalent of 'god' or a god's name in a person's name, reflecting something about the character of the person so named in relation to that de ...
, 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 Hammurabi (; ; ), also spelled Hammurapi, was the sixth Amorite king of the Old Babylonian Empire, reigning from to BC. He was preceded by his father, Sin-Muballit, who abdicated due to failing health. During his reign, he conquered the ci ...
. During the reigns of
Sabium Sabium (sà-bu-um) (also Sabum) was an Amorite King in the First Dynasty of Babylon, the ''Amorite Dynasty''. He reigned c. 1844 BC – 1831 BC ( MC), and ruled what was at the time a small recently created Amorite kingdom which included th ...
,
Apil-Sin Apil-Sin was an Amorite King of the First Dynasty of Babylon (the ''Amorite Dynasty''). He possibly reigned between 1830 to 1813 BC. Apil-Sin was the grandfather of Hammurabi, who significantly expanded the Babylonian kingdom. Reign Little ...
and
Sin-muballit Sin-Muballit was the father of Hammurabi and the fifth Amorite king of the first dynasty (the ''Amorite Dynasty'') of Babylonia, reigning c. 1811-1793 or 1748-1729 BC (see Chronology of the Ancient Near East). He ruled over a relatively new and ...
, Marduk started to be mentioned outside of the city of Babylon and was invoked alongside local gods in cities subject to the Babylonian kings. Starting from the reign of Hammurabi, sanctuaries to Marduk were found in other cities. In the Old Babylonian Period, while Marduk is acknowledged to be the ruler of the people, there is no evidence that Hammurabi or his successors promoted Marduk at the expense of other gods.
Enlil Enlil, later known as Elil and Ellil, is an List of Mesopotamian deities, ancient Mesopotamian god associated with wind, air, earth, and storms. He is first attested as the chief deity of the Sumerian pantheon, but he was later worshipped by t ...
was still recognized as the highest authority, and Marduk was far from being the pantheon head, instead appearing to be a mediator between the great gods and Hammurabi. This is also expressed in inscriptions from Hammurabi's successor
Samsu-iluna Samsu-iluna (Amorite: ''Shamshu-iluna'', "The Sun (is) our god") (–1712 BC) was the seventh king of the founding Amorite dynasty of Babylon. His reign is estimated from 1749 BC to 1712 BC (middle chronology), or from 1686 to 1648 BC (short chron ...
, expressing that he receives Enlil's orders through the other gods, such as
Ishtar Inanna is the List of Mesopotamian deities, ancient Mesopotamian goddess of war, love, and fertility. She is also associated with political power, divine law, sensuality, and procreation. Originally worshipped in Sumer, she was known by the Akk ...
,
Zababa Zababa (, ''dza-ba4-ba4'', ) was a Mesopotamian god. He was the tutelary deity of the city of Kish and was regarded as a god of war. He was initially seen as a son of Enlil, though in Assyria during the reign of Sennacherib, he started to be ...
, Shamash and of course Marduk. A key development during the Old Babylonian period was the association of Marduk with the pantheon of Eridu. Marduk was syncretized with
Asalluhi Asalluhi, also spelled as Asarluhi or Asalluhe, also known as Asaralimnuna, Asaralim, Asalim or Asarnuna was a Mesopotamian god primarily associated with the sphere of incantations and exorcism, commonly operating together with his father Enki. He ...
in the later half of the Old Babylonian period, and the opening of the
Code of Hammurabi The Code of Hammurabi is a Babylonian legal text composed during 1755–1750 BC. It is the longest, best-organized, and best-preserved legal text from the ancient Near East. It is written in the Old Babylonian dialect of Akkadian language, Akkadi ...
identify Ea as the father of Marduk, a genealogy that would remain canonical. God lists from the Old Babylonian period sometimes place him within the circle of Enki. TCL 15 10 lists Asalluhi and Marduk as separate gods, but close together in the list. Lambert suggests that this may be an intrusion by another scribe, and that the editor scribe did so under the belief that Marduk and Asalluhi were the same god. Johandi on the other hand suggests that Marduk and Asalluhi were not seen as the same god, but were viewed to be related to one another. The Nippur God List also lists Asalluhi and Marduk separately, with Marduk appearing seventy names before Asalluhi. In the
Weidner god list Weidner god list is the conventional name of one of the known ancient Mesopotamian lists of deities, originally compiled by ancient scribes in the late third millennium BCE, with the oldest known copy dated to the Ur III or the Isin-Larsa period. ...
, however, it appears that Marduk and Asalluhi were viewed as the same god. According to the Marduk prophecy and inscriptions of
Agum II Agum IIInscribed ''a-gu-um-ka-ak-ri-me'' in his eponymous inscription, elsewhere unattested. (also known as Agum Kakrime) was ''possibly'' a Kassite ruler who may have become the 8th or more likely the 9th king of the third Babylonian dynasty som ...
, the statue of Marduk and Zarpanitum were removed from Babylon by
Mursili I Mursili I (also known as Mursilis; sometimes transcribed as Murshili) was a king of the Hittites 1620-1590 BC, as per the middle chronology, the most accepted chronology in our times (or alternatively c. 1556–1526 BC, short chronology), and was ...
during his raid on Babylon (middle chronology 1595 BC), which was returned during the reign of Agum II.


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 Nazi-Maruttaš, typically inscribed ''Na-zi-Ma-ru-ut-ta-aš'' or m''Na-zi-Múru-taš'', ''Maruttaš'' (a Kassite deities, Kassite god synonymous with Ninurta) ''protects him'', was a Kassites, Kassite king of Babylon c. 1307–1282 BC (short chron ...
and
Kudur-Enlil Kudur-Enlil, rendered in cuneiform as ''Ku-dur'' dEN.LÍL (c. 1254–1246 BC short chronology), "son of Enlil," was the 26th king of the 3rd or Kassite dynasty of Babylon. He reigned into his ninth year, as attested in contemporary economic table ...
, are known to have visited Nippur at the beginning of the year. Kurigalzu calls himself the "regent of Enlil" and Dur-Kurigalzu's temple complex holds temples to Enlil, Ninlil and Ninurta. There are two administrative documents from Nippur from the reigns of two Kassite kings, perhaps Nazi-Maruttash and
Shagarakti-Shuriash Šagarakti-Šuriaš, written phonetically ''ša-ga-ra-ak-ti-šur-ia-aš'' or d''ša-garak-ti-šu-ri-ia-aš'' in cuneiform or in a variety of other forms, ''Šuriaš'' (a Kassite sun god corresponding to Babylonian Šamaš) ''gives me life'', (124 ...
, that mention the celebration of the
akitu Akitu or Akitum () () is a spring festival and New Year's celebration, held on the first day of the Assyrian and Babylonian Nisan in ancient Mesopotamia and in Assyrian communities around the world, to celebrate the sowing of barley. Akit ...
festival connected to Marduk. Another text claims the late Kassite king
Adad-shuma-usur Adad-šuma-uṣur, inscribed dIM-MU-ŠEŠ, meaning "O Adad, protect the name!," and dated very tentatively 1216–1187 BC ( short chronology), was the 32nd king of the 3rd or Kassite dynasty of Babylon and the country contemporarily known as K ...
embarked on a pilgrimage from Babylon to
Borsippa Borsippa (Sumerian language, Sumerian: BAD.SI.(A).AB.BAKI or Birs Nimrud, having been identified with Nimrod) is an archeological site in Babylon Governorate, Iraq, built on both sides of a lake about southwest of Babylon on the east bank of th ...
and
Kutha Kutha, Cuthah, Cuth or Cutha (, Sumerian: Gû.du8.aki, Akkadian: Kûtu), modern Tell Ibrahim (also Tell Habl Ibrahlm) (), is an archaeological site in Babil Governorate, Iraq. The site of Tell Uqair (possibly ancient Urum) is just to the north. ...
, Marduk,
Nabu Nabu (, ) is the Babylonian patron god of literacy, scribes, wisdom, and the rational arts. He is associated with the classical planet Mercury in Babylonian astronomy. Etymology and meaning The Akkadian means 'announcer' or 'authorised pe ...
and
Nergal Nergal ( Sumerian: d''KIŠ.UNU'' or ; ; Aramaic: ܢܸܪܓܲܠ; ) was a Mesopotamian god worshiped through all periods of Mesopotamian history, from Early Dynastic to Neo-Babylonian times, with a few attestations indicating that his cult surv ...
respectively. However, there are reasons to doubt the historicity of these texts, especially the alleged journey of Adad-shuma-usur since the trio of Marduk, Nabu and Nergal fit the ideology of the 1st millennium BC. Nonetheless, the texts could be evidence that the rise of Marduk was a gradual process that began before Nebuchadnezzar I. Similarly, in the god list
An = Anum ''An = Anum'', also known as the Great God List, is the longest preserved Mesopotamian god list, a type of lexical list cataloging the deities worshiped in the Ancient Near East, chiefly in modern Iraq. While god lists are already known from the ...
the number 50, Enlil's number, was assigned to Marduk instead. A private document dating to the reign of
Ashur-uballit I Ashur-uballit I ''(Aššur-uballiṭ I)'', who reigned between 1363 and 1328 BC, was the first king of the Middle Assyrian Empire. After his father Eriba-Adad I had broken Mitanni influence over Assyria, Ashur-uballit I's defeat of the Mitanni ...
in Assyria refers to a sanctuary of Marduk in the city of
Assur Aššur (; AN.ŠAR2KI, Assyrian cuneiform: ''Aš-šurKI'', "City of God Aššur"; ''Āšūr''; ''Aθur'', ''Āšūr''; ', ), also known as Ashur and Qal'at Sherqat, was the capital of the Old Assyrian city-state (2025–1364 BC), the Midd ...
. A gate of Marduk was also attested in Assur in the 13th Century. Similar to the Neo-Assyrian period, Marduk was mentioned to receive offerings and gifts in Assur. In the Coronation text of Tukulti-Ninurta, Marduk even received the same amount of offerings as Ashur. The statue of Marduk was carried off by
Tukulti-Ninurta I Tukulti-Ninurta I (meaning: "my trust is in he warrior godNinurta"; reigned 1243–1207 BC) was a king of Assyria during the Middle Assyrian Empire. He is known as the first king to use the title "King of Kings". Reign Tukulti-Ninurta I succeed ...
to Assyria, where it would stay until it was returned. The cult of Marduk in Assyria would remain attested in the Neo-Assyrian period. Marduk was found in Ugarit in an Akkadian hymn that may have been part of the scribal school curriculum. During the Kassite period, Nabu, previously the scribe of Marduk, came to be viewed as Marduk's son.


Second dynasty of Isin

By the time of the Isin II dynasty, an established syncretism of Babylon and Nippur (and by extension Marduk and Enlil) was in place. 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. A first millennium bilingual hymn to Nippur links Babylon and Nippur together:
Nippur is the city of Enlil, Babylon is his favorite. Nippur and Babylon, their meaning is the same.
The ideology of the supremacy of Marduk is generally viewed to have been promoted by
Nebuchadnezzar I Nebuchadnezzar I ( ; Babylonian: md''Nabû-kudurrī-úṣur'' ()''Babylonian King List C'', 4 or md''Nábû-ku-dúr-uṣur'',''Synchronistic King List'', tablet excavation number Ass. 14616c (KAV 216), ii 15. meaning " Nabû, protect my eldest s ...
and his successors. Nebuchadnezzar's second campaign into Elam and the return of the statue of Marduk that was carried off to
Elam Elam () was an ancient civilization centered in the far west and southwest of Iran, stretching from the lowlands of what is now Khuzestan and Ilam Province as well as a small part of modern-day southern Iraq. The modern name ''Elam'' stems fr ...
by either
Shutruk-Nahhunte Shutruk-Nakhunte (sometimes Nahhunte) was king of Elam from about 1184 to 1155 BC (middle chronology), and the second king of the Shutrukid Dynasty. Elam amassed an empire that included most of Mesopotamia and western Iran. Under his command ...
or his son Kutir-Nahhunte in 1155 BC is thought to be the trigger. However, there are chronological problems regarding the abduction of the statue by the Elamites, as the statue of Marduk abducted by
Tukulti-Ninurta I Tukulti-Ninurta I (meaning: "my trust is in he warrior godNinurta"; reigned 1243–1207 BC) was a king of Assyria during the Middle Assyrian Empire. He is known as the first king to use the title "King of Kings". Reign Tukulti-Ninurta I succeed ...
wasn't returned yet by the Assyrians before the Elamites sacked Babylon in 1155 BC. Johnson suggests that Tukulti-Ninurta could have taken a different statue of Marduk while the main cult statue was taken by Kuter-Nahhunte, while Bányai believes that immediately following the return of the statue of Marduk by
Ninurta-tukulti-Ashur Ninurta-tukulti-Aššur, inscribed md''Ninurta''2''-tukul-ti-Aš-šur'', was briefly king of Assyria 1132 BC, the 84th to appear on the Assyrian Kinglist, marked as holding the throne for his ''ṭuppišu'', "his tablet," a period thought to corre ...
a second invasion by Kuter-Nahhunte carried off the same statue. Nonetheless, beginning from the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, acknowledgement of Marduk's supremacy over other gods was now the norm. A
kudurru A kudurru was a type of stone document used as a boundary stone and as a record of land grants to vassals by the Kassites and later dynasties in ancient Babylonia between the 16th and 7th centuries BC. The original kudurru would typically be stor ...
dating to the reign of Nebuchadnezzar claims that Marduk, now the "king of the gods" directly dispatched Nebuchadnezzar and gave him weapons, and in the Epic of Nebuchadnezzar, it is Marduk who commanded the gods to abandon Babylonia. A kudurru from the reign of
Enlil-nadin-apli Enlil-nādin-apli, "Enlil (is) giver of an heir," reigned 1099–1096 BC, was the 5th king of the 2nd dynasty of Isin, and the 4th dynasty of Babylon. He was the son and successor of Nabu-kudurri-usur''King List C'', 5. and was toppled by a rev ...
calls Marduk the "king of the gods, the lord of the lands," a title that Enlil traditionally held. Likewise, when
Simbar-shipak Simbar-Šipak, or perhaps ''Simbar-Šiḫu'',Earlier readings render his name as ''Simmash-Shipak''. (typically inscribed m''sim-bar-''d''ši-i-''ḪU or ''si-im-bar-ši-''ḪU in cuneiform, where the reading of the last symbol is uncertain) was a ...
, the first king of the Second Dynasty of Sealand, made Enlil a replacement throne for the one made by Nebuchadnezzar, in his mind this was actually dedicated to Marduk. Other texts, such as Akkadian prayers and incantations also call Marduk the king of the gods.


1st millennium BC

The earliest copy of the Enuma Elish, the Babylonian epic of creation, was found in the city of
Assur Aššur (; AN.ŠAR2KI, Assyrian cuneiform: ''Aš-šurKI'', "City of God Aššur"; ''Āšūr''; ''Aθur'', ''Āšūr''; ', ), also known as Ashur and Qal'at Sherqat, was the capital of the Old Assyrian city-state (2025–1364 BC), the Midd ...
and dated to the 9th century, although the text could go back to the Isin II period. Dalley believes that the Enuma Elish may have been composed during the Old Babylonian Period, although other scholars consider it unlikely. The Enuma Elish describes Marduk's ascendance to kingship by defeating Tiamat. In the end, Marduk is proclaimed the ruler, declares Babylon as the city of kingship, received his fifty names (fifty being the number of Enlil), while Enlil is ignored. In Assyrian sources, most of the mentions of Marduk's power and authority came from the reigns of the Sargonids. Generally, the
Neo-Assyrian The Neo-Assyrian Empire was the fourth and penultimate stage of ancient Assyrian history. Beginning with the accession of Adad-nirari II in 911 BC, the Neo-Assyrian Empire grew to dominate the ancient Near East and parts of South Caucasus, Nort ...
kings cared for Babylon and the cult of Marduk.
Shalmaneser III Shalmaneser III (''Šulmānu-ašarēdu'', "the god Shulmanu is pre-eminent") was king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 859 BC to 824 BC. His long reign was a constant series of campaigns against the eastern tribes, the Babylonians, the nations o ...
visited multiple Babylonian sanctuaries, including that of Marduk. Tiglath-pileser III, after conquering Babylonia, participated in the Akitu festival in Babylon, and
Sargon II Sargon II (, meaning "the faithful king" or "the legitimate king") was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 722 BC to his death in battle in 705. Probably the son of Tiglath-Pileser III (745–727), Sargon is generally believed to have be ...
made Babylon his temporary residence while
Dur-Sharrukin Dur-Sharrukin (, "Fortress of Sargon"; , Syriac Language, Syriac: ܕܘܪ ܫܪܘ ܘܟܢ), present day Khorsabad, was the Assyrian capital in the time of Sargon II of Assyria. Khorsabad is a village in northern Iraq, 15 km northeast of Mosul. ...
was under construction and took part in the Akitu. Marduk frequently appears in Assyrian royal inscriptions, before the Assyrian kings even gained control over Babylonia. In continuation from the Middle Assyrian times, an actual cult of Marduk seemed to have also existed in the Neo-Assyrian period. The Assyrian Divine Directory mentioned that a shrine to Marduk existed in the temple of Gula in Ashur in the Neo-Assyrian period. Marduk and his son Nabu also shared a sanctuary in
Nineveh Nineveh ( ; , ''URUNI.NU.A, Ninua''; , ''Nīnəwē''; , ''Nīnawā''; , ''Nīnwē''), was an ancient Assyrian city of Upper Mesopotamia, located in the modern-day city of Mosul (itself built out of the Assyrian town of Mepsila) in northern ...
, although it seemed that Nabu was the main deity in contrast to Marduk. One exception was
Sennacherib Sennacherib ( or , meaning "Sin (mythology), Sîn has replaced the brothers") was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 705BC until his assassination in 681BC. The second king of the Sargonid dynasty, Sennacherib is one of the most famous A ...
, who after a series of revolts and the extradition of the crown prince Assur-nadin-shumi to the Elamites (who then probably killed him), decided to destroy Babylon. The Destruction of Babylon in 689 BCE was, judging from Sennacherib's own accounts, bad by Neo-Assyrian standards. Outside of claiming to have destroyed the temples and the cult statues, there was no explicit mention of the fate of Marduk's statue, although Esarhaddon would later claim that the cult statue was taken from Babylon. Sennacherib followed with what has been called a religious reform, the infrastructure of Assur being refashioned in the model of Babylon's, and the Assyrian edition of the Enuma Elish replaced Marduk with the god Ashur (spelled as
Anshar Anshar ( , , ) was a Mesopotamian god regarded as a primordial king of the gods. He was not actively worshiped. He was regarded as the father of Anu. In the first millennium BCE his name came to be used as a logographic representation of the ...
) and Babylon with Assur (spelled as Baltil). Other texts referencing Marduk were also adapted and changed to fit Ashur instead, and a bed and throne dedicated to Marduk were rededicated to Ashur after the furniture was brought from Babylon to Assur. The Marduk Ordeal contained cultic commentaries on the Akitu festival reinterpreted to refer to instead Marduk’s punishment. However, the more radical reforms were reversed under the reign of his successor
Esarhaddon Esarhaddon, also spelled Essarhaddon, Assarhaddon and Ashurhaddon (, also , meaning " Ashur has given me a brother"; Biblical Hebrew: ''ʾĒsar-Ḥaddōn'') was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 681 to 669 BC. The third king of the S ...
, who also oversaw the reconstruction of Babylon and the eventual return of the statue of Marduk under
Šamaš-šuma-ukin Šamaš-šuma-ukin ( or , meaning "Shamash has established the name"), was king of Babylon as a vassal of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 668 BC to his death in 648. Born into the Assyrian royal family, Šamaš-šuma-ukin was the son of the Neo-As ...
. Esarhaddon also crafted a narrative justifying both Sennacherib's destruction and his rebuilding by citing Marduk's divine anger as the cause for Babylon's destruction, who originally decreed for the city to be abandoned for seventy years, but Marduk relented and allowed Esarhaddon to rebuild it.
Nabonassar Nabû-nāṣir was the king of Babylon from 747 to 734 BC. He deposed a foreign Chaldean usurper named Nabu-shuma-ishkun, bringing native rule back to Babylon after twenty-three years of Chaldean rule. His reign saw the beginning of a new era ...
claimed that Marduk proclaimed him lordship and had ordered him to "plunder his enemy's land" (referring to Assyria), who only ruled Babylonia due to divine anger. He claimed that he killed the Assyrian and laid waste to his lands by the command of Marduk and Nabu and with the weapons of Erra, which was the main trio of the First Millennium Babylonian ideology. In literary texts from the Achaemenid and Seleucid eras, Marduk is said to have commissioned Nabonassar to take revenge on the land of Akkad (Babylonia). In royal inscriptions of the
Neo-Babylonian The Neo-Babylonian Empire or Second Babylonian Empire, historically known as the Chaldean Empire, was the last polity ruled by monarchs native to ancient Mesopotamia. Beginning with the coronation of Nabopolassar as the King of Babylon in 626 BC ...
kings, Marduk is exalted as the king of the gods and as the source of their authority, while Enlil is hardly ever mentioned except when in relation to the city of Nippur. In a Late Babylonian god list, all the gods on the list were identified with Marduk. For example, Ninurta was Marduk of the pickaxe, Nabu was Marduk of accounting, Shamash was Marduk of justice and
Tishpak Tishpak (Tišpak) was a Mesopotamian god associated with the ancient city Eshnunna and its sphere of influence, located in the Diyala area of Iraq. He was primarily a war deity, but he was also associated with snakes, including the mythical mu ...
was Marduk of the troops. This "syncretistic tendency" is observed in other late texts, where the other gods appear as aspects of Marduk.
Cyrus Cyrus () is a Persian-language masculine given name. It is historically best known as the name of several List of monarchs of Iran, Persian kings, most notably including Cyrus the Great, who founded the Achaemenid Empire in 550 BC. It remains wid ...
, justifying his conquest of Babylonia, claimed that Marduk had abandoned
Nabonidus Nabonidus (Babylonian cuneiform: ''Nabû-naʾid'', meaning "May Nabu be exalted" or "Nabu is praised") was the last king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, ruling from 556 BC to the fall of Babylon to the Achaemenian Empire under Cyrus the Great in 53 ...
who offended Marduk by turning his back on the Esagila in the
Cyrus Cylinder The Cyrus Cylinder is an ancient clay cylinder, now broken into several pieces, on which is written an Achaemenid royal inscription in Akkadian cuneiform script in the name of the Persian king Cyrus the Great. Kuhrt (2007), p. 70, 72 It dates fr ...
. Another anti-Nabonidus text, the Verse Account, explains that Nabonidus favoured Sin over Marduk. Nabonidus’ reverence for the moon god may have been because of familial roots to the city of Harran, and later he even revived the religious institutions of Ur, the main sanctuary of Sin.


Characteristics


Symbol

His symbol is the spade and he is associated with the
Mušḫuššu The ''mušḫuššu'' (; formerly also read as or ) or mushkhushshu () is a creature from ancient Mesopotamian mythology. A mythological hybrid, it is a scaly animal with hind legs resembling the talons of an eagle, lion-like forelimbs, a long ...
, 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 Hittite texts to write the name of the god
Šanta Šanta (Santa) was a god worshiped in Bronze Age Anatolia by Luwians and Hittites. It is presumed that he was regarded as a warlike deity, and that he could additionally be associated with plagues and possibly with the underworld, though the latt ...
, who was similar in nature to Nergal. In the earlier forerunners to the Udug Hul where both Marduk and Asalluhi appear together in a passage Marduk, in contrast to Asalluhi, does not help the victim but instead captures him, either because of his powerlessness or because he simply refused to help. Oshima interpreted the passage as supporting the idea that Marduk's original role was illness and death. Similarly, in Sin-iddinam's prayer to
Ninisina Ninisina ( Sumerian: "Mistress of Isin") was a Mesopotamian goddess who served as the tutelary deity of the city of Isin. She was considered a healing deity. She was believed to be skilled in the medical arts, and could be described as a divine ph ...
, Asalluhi (here identified with Marduk) imposing an evil spell on Sin-iddinam (the king of Larsa) causing him to become sick may reflect that Marduk's power to cause illness extended beyond the dominion of Babylon. However Sommerfield, who previously believed that there was little evidence for Marduk being related to magic, more recently suggested that Marduk was originally a god of incantations before his syncretism with
Asalluhi Asalluhi, also spelled as Asarluhi or Asalluhe, also known as Asaralimnuna, Asaralim, Asalim or Asarnuna was a Mesopotamian god primarily associated with the sphere of incantations and exorcism, commonly operating together with his father Enki. He ...
. Jacobsen suggests that Marduk was originally a storm god due to the storm imageries in the Enuma Elish, wielding the four winds and storms as weapons, and assigning to himself the rain and clouds that came from Tiamat's corpse. Abusch, citing Jacobsen, also believes that Marduk was a storm god, and may have been associated with water and vegetation before joining the pantheon of Eridu as it is improbable to suppose that all of Marduk's traits with water as being taken from the circle of Enki. However, there is no other evidence suggesting that Marduk was originally a local storm god, and the usage of wind and storm as weapons are not limited to storm gods. Schwemer points to
Ninurta Ninurta (: , possible meaning "Lord fBarley"), also known as Ninĝirsu (: , meaning "Lord fGirsu"), is an List of Mesopotamian deities, ancient Mesopotamian god associated with farming, healing, hunting, law, scribes, and war who was f ...
(who is not a storm god) as the original model for Marduk using storms, winds and floods as weapons. Schwemer also summarizes that although Marduk has characteristics that overlap with the storm god profile, it does not mean that Marduk or other gods in similar position (such as Ninurta, Martu,
Telepinu Telipinu was the last king of the Hittites Old Kingdom, reigning in middle chronology. At the beginning of his reign, the Hittite Empire had contracted to its core territories, having long since lost all of its conquests, made in the former era ...
and
Tishpak Tishpak (Tišpak) was a Mesopotamian god associated with the ancient city Eshnunna and its sphere of influence, located in the Diyala area of Iraq. He was primarily a war deity, but he was also associated with snakes, including the mythical mu ...
) are necessarily storm gods. Marduk's symbol, the spade, may point to him originally being a god of agriculture, or more likely as a god of canals and by extension fertility. Unlike Abusch, Oshima believes that Marduk's association with water came from his association with canals. He is depicted as the supplier of water in Prayer to Marduk no.2, dating to the Kassite period, and was praised as the bringer of water from rivers, seasonal floods and rains to the fields. Various prayers to Marduk refer to his connection with springs and rivers, and
Ashurbanipal Ashurbanipal (, meaning " Ashur is the creator of the heir")—or Osnappar ()—was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 669 BC to his death in 631. He is generally remembered as the last great king of Assyria. Ashurbanipal inherited the th ...
applies the epithet "the canal inspector of the heavens and the earth" to Marduk.


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 Marduk comes off as having "unpredictable mood swings." Lambert also points to one of Marduk's names in the Enuma Elish, Meršakušu ("savage, yet relenting"), suggests that the Babylonians may have stressed Marduk's mercy so he could be less savage, although Oshima proposes that the Babylonians had to stress both his wrath and mercy to appease him. Others believe that the purpose of the poem was to stress that Marduk's true inner quality was mercy and benevolence. The Prayer to Marduk no.2, on the other hand, praises Marduk's power to heal, which may have been as a result of syncretism with Asalluhi.


Connections to the River Ordeal

Due to being the son of Ea, Marduk had connections with the River Ordeal. Sin-iddinam's prayer to Ninisina also identified
Idlurugu Idlurugu ( Sumerian: ''i7-lú-ru-gú'', also read Ilurugu) or Id (dÍD) was a Mesopotamian god regarded as both a river deity and a divine judge. He was the personification of a type of trial by ordeal, which shared its name with him. Idlurugu w ...
(the river ordeal) as the father of Marduk/Asalluhi, in contrast to the standard genealogy.


Incantations

Marduk features in incantations of the Marduk-Ea type formula, in which the god Ea/Enki engages in dialogue with his son Marduk/Asalluhi. The structure of the formula starts with Marduk/Asalluhi noticing a problem and reporting to his father. Ea reassures his son about his knowledge and then proceeds to instruct his son on the procedures. In later incantations from the First Millenium BC, the priests usually claim to be direct representations of Marduk/Asalluhi, replacing the divine dialogue between father and son, for example in Marduk's Address to the Demons the priest starts by declaring themselves to be Marduk. In Neo-Assyrian Assyria, Marduk was one of the major gods that incantation-prayers were directed at, with only
Shamash Shamash (Akkadian language, Akkadian: ''šamaš''), also known as Utu (Sumerian language, Sumerian: dutu "Sun") was the List of Mesopotamian deities, ancient Mesopotamian Solar deity, sun god. He was believed to see everything that happened in t ...
being invoked more than Marduk. It is difficult to tell if Marduk originally had a role in incantations prior to being identified with Asalluhi. Marduk sometimes appears in the Sumerian-Akkadian bilinguals as the Akkadian name for Asalluhi, although Marduk and Asalluhi were also attested to appear separately in two different texts, one being the incantation against the evil Udug where Marduk captured the victim instead of helping in contrast to Asalluhi who sought out Enki, the other being an incantation against
Lamashtu In Mesopotamian mythology, Lamashtu (; Akkadian d''La-maš-tu''; Sumerian ''Dimme'' d''Dim3-me'' or ''Kamadme'') is a demonic Mesopotamian deity with the "head of a lion, the teeth of a donkey, naked breasts, a hairy body, hands stained (w ...
that listed Marduk and Asalluhi separately as deterrence to the demon.


Epics and literature


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 of the month of Nisannu. The epic starts off by mentioning Apsu and Tiamat, here the oldest gods, and created a younger generation of the gods. However, Apsu was disturbed by their noisiness and decided to kill them. Ea, however, found out about the plot and kills Apsu and takes his splendour. Later Marduk was born to Ea and Damkina, and already at birth he was special. Tiamat then decides to wage war against the younger generation of the gods, giving Kingu the Tablet of Destinies and appointing him as the commander. Marduk volunteers to do battle against Tiamat and defeats her. The world was fashioned from Tiamat's corpse with Babylon as the center, and Marduk assumes kingship and receives his fifty names. The fifty names taken was based on the An = Anum god list, the columnar arrangement removed and slotted in. One of his titles, bēl mātāti (king of the lands) originally belonged to Enlil, who was conspicuously missing from the epic except when he gave this title to Marduk


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 ill and was on death's bed. Then, in a series of dreams, he met a young man, an incantation priest that purified him, a young woman with a godlike appearance who came to say that his suffering had ended, and an incantation priest from Babylon. Afterwards, the narrator praises Marduk's mercy which was the main point of the text despite the expressions of Marduk's anger.


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.


Marduk Ordeal

Written in the Assyrian dialect, versions of the so-called Marduk Ordeal Text are known from Assur,
Nimrud Nimrud (; ) is an ancient Assyrian people, Assyrian city (original Assyrian name Kalḫu, biblical name Calah) located in Iraq, south of the city of Mosul, and south of the village of Selamiyah (), in the Nineveh Plains in Upper Mesopotamia. ...
and
Nineveh Nineveh ( ; , ''URUNI.NU.A, Ninua''; , ''Nīnəwē''; , ''Nīnawā''; , ''Nīnwē''), was an ancient Assyrian city of Upper Mesopotamia, located in the modern-day city of Mosul (itself built out of the Assyrian town of Mepsila) in northern ...
. Using sceneries and language familiar to the procession of the Akitu Festival, here Marduk is instead being held responsible for crimes committed against Ashur and was subject to a river ordeal and imprisonment. The text opens with Nabu arriving in Babylon looking for Marduk, his father. Tashmetum prayed to Sin and Shamash. Meanwhile, Marduk was being held captive, the color red on his clothes was reinterpreted to be his blood, and the case was brought forward to the god Ashur. The city of Babylon also seemingly rebelled against Marduk, and Nabu learned that Marduk was taken to the river ordeal. Marduk claims that everything was done for the good of the god Ashur and prays to the gods to let him live. After various alternate cultic commentaries, the Assyrian version of the Enuma Elish was recited, proclaiming Ashur's superiority. However, despite the content, the Marduk Ordeal was not simply an anti-Marduk piece of literature. At no point was Marduk actually accused of a crime, and the end of the text seems to suggest that the gods fought to get Marduk out by drilling holes through the door which he is locked behind. Marduk also appeared in the curse section, so it is possible that the majority of the blame was put on the Babylonians for leading Marduk astray, while Marduk retains a position within the pantheon. While most attribute this text to Sennacherib's destruction of Babylon, Frymer-Kensky suggests that the background could be the return of Marduk's statue to Babylon in 669 BCE.


Enmesharra's Defeat

Known from only one copy and with a badly damaged top half, Enmesharra's Defeat is likely composed in the Seleucid or Parthian era. Structurally similar to the Enuma Elish, the text starts with Enmesharra and his seven sons going against Marduk, who subsequently defeated them and threw them into jail with Nergal as the prison warden. The preserved portion starts with Nergal announcing Marduk's judgement to Enmesharra that he and his sons would all be put to death, and Enmesharra laments about Marduk's terrible judgement and pleads with Nergal. Nergal replies, but the text breaks off. Nergal is then shown to be escorting Enmesharra and his sons to Marduk, who first beheads the sons, and Enmesharra's radiance was then taken and given to Shamash. Nabu was also given the power of Ninurta, Nergal those of Erra, and Marduk took Enlil's power. Marduk, Nabu and Nergal then shared the throne, which likely previously belonged to Anu, together. The gods were then assigned their cities, and a voice from heaven could be heard. A fish-goat praised Marduk as the exalted lord, and the text ends with the gods gathering at Babylon.


Syncretisms


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 Eridu (; Sumerian: eridugki; Akkadian: ''irîtu'') was a Sumerian city located at Tell Abu Shahrain (), also Abu Shahrein or Tell Abu Shahrayn, an archaeological site in Lower Mesopotamia. It is located in Dhi Qar Governorate, Iraq, near the ...
" 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 Marduk = Asalluhi was not yet fully established as canonical in the Old Babylonian period. Johandi also suggests that keeping Marduk and Asalluhi separate was a deliberate act on the part of Samsu-iluna to reclaim authority over the southern cities, which were centers of rebellion during the early years of his reign. Sommerfield suggested that the syncretism of may have been due to both having a similar role as a god of incantations, or because Asalluhi was more well known in Southern Babylonia compared to Marduk, who was still a local god. Lambert also believes the syncretism to be a means to elevate Marduk to a more respectable position. Johandi proposes that Marduk and Asalluhi were identified for some other reason other than magic, and Marduk only became a god associated with magic after being syncretized with Asalluhi.


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 Enlil, later known as Elil and Ellil, is an List of Mesopotamian deities, ancient Mesopotamian god associated with wind, air, earth, and storms. He is first attested as the chief deity of the Sumerian pantheon, but he was later worshipped by t ...
, 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" was placed in Enlil's sanctuary in Babylon, and Marduk receives the title bēl mātāti "king of the lands" in the Enuma Elish.


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.


See also

*
Mesopotamian Religion Ancient Mesopotamian religion encompasses the Religion, religious beliefs (concerning the gods, Ancient near eastern cosmology, creation and the cosmos, the origin of man, and so forth) and practices of the civilizations of ancient Mesopotamia, ...
* Zakmuk *
Akitu Akitu or Akitum () () is a spring festival and New Year's celebration, held on the first day of the Assyrian and Babylonian Nisan in ancient Mesopotamia and in Assyrian communities around the world, to celebrate the sowing of barley. Akit ...


Notes


Citations


References

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External links

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Ancient Mesopotamian Gods and Goddesses: Marduk (god)


{{Authority control Characters in the Enūma Eliš Creator gods Deities in the Hebrew Bible Jovian deities Justice gods Magic gods Health gods Mesopotamian gods Nature gods Tutelary gods Water gods Kings of the gods Ancient Near Eastern cosmology