This is a copy from the "
The Deities of Ancient Mesopotamia, an overview" post
From:
A Dictionary of Ancient Near Eastern Mythology
by Gwendolyn Leick,
first published 1991 by RoutledgeMarduk—Babylonian god
His name was usually written logographically as
damar.UD, more rarely
as
dMES,
dŠÀ.ZU or
dŠÙ. Syllabic versions from various periods allow the
phonetic reading of Marduk. While the most common logogram,
damar.UD, may be read either as a genitive construction, ‘the Young Bull
of the Sun’, or an apposition, meaning something like ‘the son, the sun’,
it is not certain that Marduk was a Sumerian name. Like the etymology
of his city Babylon, it may belong to a proto-Sumerian, non-Semitic
linguistic stratum which is as yet unknown. The very obscurity of the
divine name provoked numerous attempts at etymological speculation
among the scholars of ancient Mesopotamia, which is reflected in godlists
and the Enuma eliš (Bottéro). Isolated examples of the mention of
Marduk exist since the Old Sumerian period, as for instance in a god-list
from Abu Salabikh. His rise to national importance, however, was directly
linked with the political success of the First Dynasty of Babylon, and
specifically its most famous king, Hammurabi. His elevation to one of the
great gods of Hammurabi’s empire found expression in the prologue to
his ‘law-code’ (I, 1–15): ‘When the exalted Anu, king of the Anunnaki
and Ellil (Enlil), lord of heaven and earth, …allotted the divine lordship
(ellilutu) of the multitude of the people unto Marduk, the first-born son
of Ea, he magnified him amongst the Igigi…’ There is little evidence
outside the royal inscriptions of the Old Babylonian Dynasty that the cult
of Marduk reached much beyond the sanctuary of Babylon. There are
also very few religious texts from this period which concern the god. His
growing popularity among the people, however, seems to be proved by
the fact, that even at the beginning of his ‘career’ he appears in a significant
list of personal names (Lambert 1984). The popular success of Marduk
is one of the most interesting religious developments of the second
millennium BC, as it cannot be reduced to political or theological
promotion alone. At an age when personal piety was an important element
of worship, Marduk was seen as an approachable deity, who cares for
human beings and their sufferings. Together with the sun-god Šamaš and
the other ‘friendly’ god, Ea, he was one of the triad of the most important
gods of incantations, who avert evil influences. Although there was no
genealogical relationship between Šamaš and Marduk, there was much
the two deities had in common, especially the aspects of justice, impartiality
and compassion. Ea was considered the father of Marduk (see above, in
the prologue).
During the Kassite period, the cult of Marduk gradually spread beyond
central Mesopotamia. The great god-list An=anum, which probably dates
from this period, attributes the sacred number fifty to Marduk, which
had hitherto been accorded to Enlil. By the time of the Babylonian
‘restoration’, the second Dynasty of Isin, Marduk was officially
acknowledged as the ‘lord of the gods’. The most comprehensive text
arguing for this pre-eminence, the Enuma eliš, was probably composed
at this period. Marduk was also introduced to Assyria, where he was
honoured as one of the great gods in official inscriptions, without quite
reaching the popularity of his son Nabû. In the Neo-Babylonian period
Marduk, the national god, the chief of the pantheon and the ‘father of
mankind’, had no rival. His main sanctuary, the temple É-sagil and the
ziggurat, É-temenanki, formed the pivot of the universe; their wealth
and splendour was still proverbial when Herodotus visited the city several
hundred years after its destruction.
The nature of Marduk became increasingly complex as he gradually
absorbed the functions and characteristics of many other gods. This is
well documented by the great number of hymns and prayers (Seux
1973, passim), of theological works dedicated to Marduk, as well as
numerous references in private and official documents, personal names
etc. (For the range of official epithets, see Tallqvist 1938, 362–72). As
the son of Ea, Marduk was a god of wisdom, healing, the magic arts,
and to some extent, irrigation and fertility. The connection with magic
was further strengthened by his identification with the Sumerian
incantation-god Asarluhi. The Enuma eliš celebrates the glory of Marduk
by enumerating his fifty names and functions. It provided a mythological
justification for his superior position in the pantheon, as the deliverer
from the forces of primeval chaos and the organizer of the known
universe. In these multiple capacities he virtually replaced Anu, Ellil and
some of the energetic young warrior gods who traditionally battled
against demonic powers (e.g. Ninurta). For his relationship with Šamaš,
see above. In the Erra-Epic he is the guarantee of peace and prosperity;
war and rebellion are the direct consequence of his absence; not a new
theological explanation for the existence of evil, but dramatically
expressed to suit the historical events of the Neo-Babylonian period.
Marduk’s wife was Sarpanitum, his son Nabû, and Ištar became his
sister. Numerous other minor gods were employed in his ‘court’.
The emblematic animal of Marduk is the Mušhuššu, a composite
snake and dragon, his symbol the marrn a hoe-shaped implement.
Lambert 1964; van Dijk 1966, 61f; Edzard, WdM 1965, 96–7; Borger 1971; Lambert
1975, 193–4; Bottéro 1977, 5–18; Sommerfeld 1982; RLA VII 1989, 360–70;
Lambert 1984, 1–9
