CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
THE BABYLONIAN
GOD MARDUK
Takayoshi Oshima
T
his chapter will be discussing Marduk’s rise to supremacy in the Mesopotamian
pantheon, various aspects of this deity through an analysis of ancient literature,
and the history of Marduk’s cult centre. The god Marduk was important not just
because he was a god of high status in Babylonia, but also because his multiple
responsibilities were deeply related to the daily life of the ancient Mesopotamians.
He was the king of the gods, the architect of the heavens and the earth, and the
creator of the life. Furthermore, different ancient texts suggest that Marduk was also
the supplier of water, the god of abundance, and the saviour of people.
MARDUK’S RISE TO SUPREMACYThe god Marduk was the patron deity of the city of Babylon, and therefore the history
of Marduk is intimately related to the history of Babylon. Just as political power of
Babylon grew, so did the position of its national god, Marduk, who was also gradually
elevated within the polytheistic religious system of Babylonia. By the end of the
second millennium he had become the Babylonian god par excellenceand was simply
called be ̄l, ‘the Lord’.^1
Marduk had not always been the god of supremacy. Although it is likely that he
was worshipped already in the Early Dynastic period, documentation about him before
the Old Babylonian period is scarce and not conclusive.^2 This fact perhaps reflects
the relatively insignificant position of Marduk and his city Babylon in the early history
of Mesopotamia.
Marduk’s rise began when Hammurabi of the First Dynasty of Babylon ( 1792 – 1750 )
put wide areas of Mesopotamia under his control by conquering Eshnunna, part of
Elam, Larsa, Assur, and Mari.^3 The rise of the political power of the Babylonian king
prompted a new theological view – Marduk as sovereign as manifested in the prologue
of the Codex Hammurabii 1 – 26 :
When the august god Anu, king of the Anunnaku deities, and the god Enlil,
lord of heaven and earth, who determines the destinies of the land, allotted
supreme power over all peoples to the god Marduk, the firstborn son of the god