Marduk: Encyclopedia - Marduk

Marduk

• Marduk
• Tiamat
• Agasaya
• Apsû
• Bel
• Kingu
• Mummu

• Nabu
• Namtar
• Nintu
• Sarpanit
• Tammuz
• Enûma Elish
• Atra-Hasis

Marduk [mär'dook] (Sumerian spelling in Akkadian AMAR.UTU "solar calf"; Biblical Merodach) was the name of a late generation god from ancient Mesopotamia and patron deity of the city of Babylon, who, when Babylon permanently became the political center of the Euphrates valley in the time of Hammurabi (18th century BC), started to slowly rise to the position of the head of the Babylonian pantheon, position he fully acquired by the second half of the second millennium BCE.

Marduk - History

Marduk's original character is obscure, but whatever special traits Marduk may have had were overshadowed by the reflex of the political development through which the Euphrates valley passed and which led to imbuing him with traits belonging to gods who at an earlier period were recognized as the heads of the pantheon. There are more particularly two gods — Ea and Enlil — whose powers and attributes pass over to Marduk. In the case of Ea the transfer proceeds pacifically and without involving the effacement of the older god. Marduk is viewed as the son of Ea. The father voluntarily recognizes the superiority of the son and hands over to him the control of humanity. This association of Marduk and Ea, while indicating primarily the passing of the supremacy once enjoyed by Eridu to Babylon as a religious and political centre, may also reflect an early dependence of Babylon upon Eridu, not necessarily of a political character but, in view of the spread of culture in the Euphrates valley from the south to the north, the recognition of Eridu as the older centre on the part of the younger one.

While the relationship between Ea and Marduk is thus marked by harmony and an amicable abdication on the part of the father in favour of his son, Marduk's absorption of the power and prerogatives of Enlil of Nippur was at the expense of the latter's prestige. After the days of Hammurabi, the cult of Marduk eclipses that of Enlil, and although during the four centuries of Kassite control in Babylonia (c. 1570 BC–1157 BC), Nippur and the cult of Enlil enjoyed a period of renaissance, when the reaction ensued it marked the definite and permanent triumph of Marduk over Enlil until the end of the Babylonian empire. The only serious rival to Marduk after ca. 1000 BC is Anshar in Assyria. In the south Marduk reigns supreme. He is normally referred to as Bel "Lord".

When Babylon became the capital of Mesopotamia, the patron deity of Babylon was elevated to the level of supreme god. In order to explain how Marduk seized power, Enûma Elish was written, which tells the story of Marduk's birth, heroic deeds, and becoming the ruler of the gods. This can be viewed as a form of Mesopotamian apologetics.

In Enûma Elish, a civil war between the gods was growing to a climatic battle. The Anunnaki gods gathered together to find one god who could defeat the gods rising against them. Marduk, a very young god, answered the call, and was promised the position of head god.

When he killed his enemy he "wrested from him the Tablets of Destiny, wrongfully his" and assumed his new position. Under his reign humans were created to bear the burdens of life so the gods could be at leisure.

People were named after Marduk. For example, the Biblical personality Mordechai (Book of Esther) used this Gentile name in replacement of his Hebrew name Bilshan.

Babylonian texts talk of the creation of Eridu by the god Marduk as the first city, 'the holy city, the dwelling of their [the other gods] delight'.

Nabu, god of wisdom, is a son of Marduk.

Marduk - References in Popular Culture

Marduk is the name of a Black Metal band from Sweden.

In the "Stimutacs" episode of Sealab 2021, Stormy claims to be inhabited by "Marduk, son of Ea, slayer of Tiamat."

In the PC game "Sacrifice", the villanous demon-god who attempts to destroy the game world is named Marduk.

In the science fiction series Stargate SG-1, Marduk is a Goa'uld System Lord who was betrayed by his own priests. He was left trapped in a sarcophagus with a flesh-eating parasite which would continually eat away at his flesh as he was being perpetually revived.

In Namco's PS2 game Tekken 4, one of the playable characters is named Craig Marduk.

In author Tracy Harding's Trilogies, The Chosen ones, and Chronical of Ages, Marduk is the son of Enki, and the father of all chosen ones. In fact, Tracy Harding's Trilogies are based almost entitely on Mesopotamian and Sumerian Mythology

In the anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion, the Evangelion pilots are chosen by a mysterious organization called the "Marduk Institute." The Institute is actually a front for SEELE, who are in possession of secret dead sea scrolls that fortell the fate of humanity and the end of the world.

Marduk - Role Playing Games

The ten-part Traveler Saga in the Veluna region of Living Greyhawk dealt with Marduk's attempt to get revenge on former adventurers who had defeated him before the Greyhawk Wars. The least powerful of the adventurers was resurrected, interrogated, and subjected to memory modification to conceal the plan by Marduk's Unholy Trio (a medusa, a lich, and a human cleric.) A man calling himself "The Butterfly" triggered disasters in the country of Veluna in an effort to locate either the original adventurers, or new heroes to combat Marduk and the Trio.

When the plot was first proposed to the Circle of Living Greyhawk, it was criticised as the Circle did not want to introduce "new gods" to the game setting.

The Traveler Saga was abandoned after the premire of part five in November, 2003 when a new plot director was assigned to the Veluna region.

See also

• Chaldean mythology
• Etemenanki

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Marduk", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki