Why am I including this Babylonian deity in TheBibleNet, when his name does not appear in the Tanach anywhere, or perhaps once, if you count Merodach in Jeremiah 50:2 as a variant on his name - that reference is probably to Merodach-Baladan, the 8th century BCE king of Bavel (Babylon) who was known in his own language as Marduk-apal-iddina II; and so, yes, it is a variant)?
Marduk was regarded as the son of Enki, though that was probably a late syncretisation as he rose to power. He was also called Bel (whence Ba'al), and in some cults he is known as Bel-Marduk, which suggests the amalgamation or assimilation of two cults; or it may be just that Bel/Ba'al is a title, like Ar Thur, "The King".
Later he became the chief of the gods in a patriarchal Trimurti echoed in the Greek Ouranos-Chronos-Zeus as well as the Yisra-Eli Av-Raham-Yitschak-Ya'akov.
In the ancient Persian myth of Creation, Marduk, the king of the gods, slices the serpent Orphis in two, unwrapping him thereby from his stranglehold around the unhatched egg of Earth, enabling Creation; the myth recurs in modified form in both of the Yisra-Eli accounts of Creation (Genesis 1:1-2:3 and 2:4-3:24). Marduk also reappears, with his wife Ishtar and his Chamanim (cf Leviticus 26:30), the statues at which he was worshipped as the sun, in the Purim story of Mardechai (מָרְדֳּכַי - Mordechai), Ester (אֶסְתֵּר - Esther) and - the Chet changed to a Hey to disguise him - Haman (הָמָן).
Later he became the chief of the gods in a patriarchal Trimurti echoed in the Greek Ouranos-Chronos-Zeus as well as the Yisra-Eli Av-Raham-Yitschak-Ya'akov.
In the ancient Persian myth of Creation, Marduk, the king of the gods, slices the serpent Orphis in two, unwrapping him thereby from his stranglehold around the unhatched egg of Earth, enabling Creation; the myth recurs in modified form in both of the Yisra-Eli accounts of Creation (Genesis 1:1-2:3 and 2:4-3:24). Marduk also reappears, with his wife Ishtar and his Chamanim (cf Leviticus 26:30), the statues at which he was worshipped as the sun, in the Purim story of Mardechai (מָרְדֳּכַי - Mordechai), Ester (אֶסְתֵּר - Esther) and - the Chet changed to a Hey to disguise him - Haman (הָמָן).
But this is most likely a late retelling of the ancient Babylonian version, in which Marduk, in one of his earlier incarnations as Enki or Ea, overthrew Tiamat, the goddess of the primordial sea who appeared in the shape of a sea-serpent, and with her the forces of chaos - the Tohu and Bohu of Genesis 1 - and brought order to the universe which the gods and humans work together to maintain.
At his earliest incarnation, in the Old Babylonian period, he appears to have been syncretised with the gods Asalluhi and Tutu (the latter the patron deity of the city of Borsippa), although in some Old Babylonian sources Asalluhi and Marduk were still understood as separate deities. The syncretism with Asalluhi is mentioned in a Sumerian literary letter to the goddess Nin-Isinna, in which Asalluhi is described as the "king of Babylon."
Marduk rose (just like YHVH later on) from being an obscure deity in the third millennium BCE, to become one of the most important gods and the head of the Mesopotamian-Babylonian pantheon in the first millennium. But Babylonia became Marduk's realm in the latter millennia BCE, and through him the city of Babylon, of which he was the patron god, became the religious centre of Mesopotamia at that epoch. Marduk's main temples were located in Babylon itself: the most famous was the ziggurat Etemenanki ("the Temple that is the foundation of the heavens and the Earth"), his temple tower in Babylon, which served as a model for the Biblical "Tower of Babel." The temple where Marduk was worshipped was called the Esagil (literally: "The Temple whose top is raised," or perhaps better "Proud/Honoured Temple"). In addition, there was the akītu-house at Babylon, where the New Year's festival was celebrated. The akītu-house was located just outside the sacred district of Babylon. A ritual text dating to the Parthian period describes how the Enūma eliš (known, wrongly, as the "Babylonian Epic of Creation"; the title is also the opening phrase, and means ""when on high" - the same form and process as the opening of the Book of Genesis) was recited in front of Marduk's statue during the New Year's festival, which also involved a ritual slapping of the king.
Marduk was also worshipped in other Babylonian cities, such as Sippar, Borsippa, and Nippur. His cult in Assyria was only minor.
In the second half of the second millennium BCE, Marduk was often invoked by rulers of the Kassite dynasty, who had made Babylon their capital. With the Elamite invasion of Babylonia, which ended the Kassite dynasty, the divine statue of Marduk was abducted to Elam (Persia) together with other Babylonian cultural goods. It was not until Nebuchadnezzar I of the Second Dynasty of Isin that Marduk's statue could be retrieved and returned to Babylon in triumph. The Enūma eliš was probably composed, or at least popularised, at this period.
Due to tensions between Assyria and Babylonia during the Neo-Assyrian period, Marduk's cult and the city of Babylon often became the focus of Assyrian kings, both in positive and negative ways. It was not until the Neo-Babylonian period that Babylon and Marduk were at the apex: Nebuchadnezzar II (reigned 604-562 BCE) rebuilt the city of Babylon and with it the sacred district of Babylon. Most of the renowned architecture that was excavated in Babylon, such as the famous Ishtar Gate with its glazed brick reliefs showing the symbolic animals of Ishtar and Marduk, dates to this period.
Due to tensions between Assyria and Babylonia during the Neo-Assyrian period, Marduk's cult and the city of Babylon often became the focus of Assyrian kings, both in positive and negative ways. It was not until the Neo-Babylonian period that Babylon and Marduk were at the apex: Nebuchadnezzar II (reigned 604-562 BCE) rebuilt the city of Babylon and with it the sacred district of Babylon. Most of the renowned architecture that was excavated in Babylon, such as the famous Ishtar Gate with its glazed brick reliefs showing the symbolic animals of Ishtar and Marduk, dates to this period.
Astrologically he is identified with the planet Jupiter.
He is the god of healing, justice, compassion, regeneration, magic and fairness. He was known as the peacekeeper among the gods and was referred to, in this regard, as "Shepherd of the Gods". In "The Epic of Irra", Marduk leaves the city of Babylon in the hands of Nergal (Irra, Erra) who destroys it in a rage. Marduk was one of the most popular and enduring gods of Mesopotamia and was adopted by the Assyrians as son of their supreme god Ashur.
Marduk's wife was the goddess Ṣarpanitum. The god Nabu, who was first Marduk's minister, later became identified as his son and then became his co-regent at the helm of the Babylonian pantheon.
All of this is best read in the Enūma eliš, which recounts Marduk's rise to the head of the pantheon, and uses the creation story as a vehicle. First he fights the goddess Tiamat, the deified ocean or primoridal sea, whic really means the prfe-creational elements, and specifically the female, where Marduk represents the male. Marduk wins, kills Tiamat, and creates the world from her body. In gratitude the other gods then bestow fifty names upon Marduk and select him to be their head. The number fifty is significant, because it was previously associated with the god En-Lil, the former head of the pantheon, who was now replaced by Marduk.
This supplanting can also be read in the prologue to the Code of Hammurabi, a collection of "laws," issued by Hammurabi (r. 1792-1750 BCE), the most famous king of the first dynasty of Babylon. In the prologue, Hammurabi mentions that the gods Anu and En-Lil determined for Marduk to receive the "Enlil-ship" (stewardship) of all the people, and with this elevated him into the highest echelons of the Mesopotamian pantheon.
Another important literary text offers a different perspective on Marduk. The composition, one of the most intricate literary texts from ancient Mesopotamia, is often classified as "wisdom literature," and ill-defined and problematic category of Akkadian literature. Assyriologists refer to this poem as Ludlul bēl nēmeqi - "Let me praise the Lord of Wisdom" - after its first line, or alternatively as "The Poem of the Righteous Sufferer". Four tablets, each containing 120 lines, it starts with a 40-line hymn of praise to Marduk, in which his dual nature is described in complex poetic wording: Marduk is powerful, both good and evil; just as he can help humanity, he can also destroy people. The story then launches into a first-person narrative, in which the hero tells us of his continued misfortunes. It is this element that has often been compared to the Biblical story of Job. In the end the sufferer is saved by Marduk, and the poem ends by praising the god once more.
In the Old Babylonian period, Marduk's symbol was the spade, and his totem animal the mušḫuššu, the "snake-dragon," which is frequently represented on the glazed brick reliefs from Babylon. There are very few anthropomorphic depictions of Marduk; most of them can be found on cylinder seals.
The etymology of Marduk's name is controversial. It is difficult to determine whether the logographic writing of his name dAMAR.UD, Sumerian for "calf of the sun/sun-god," is in any way significant or not. The suggestion to translate this spelling as "calf of the storm" should probably be rejected as there is no evidence for Marduk originally having been a storm god nor is there evidence for his association with the storm god Iškur/Adad (see above).
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