TYPE: Creator and National God
ORIGIN: Mesopotamian (Babylonian) [Iraq]
KNOWN PERIOD OF WORSHIP: Circa 2000 BCE, or earlier to circa 200 BCE.
SYNONYMS: Lugal-dimmer-an-ki-a (Divine king of heaven and earth); Asalluhe; Merodach (Hebrew). At least fifty other divine names, according to the Babylonian creation epic.
CENTER(S) OF CULT: Babylon
ART REFERENCES: Plaques, votive stelae, glyptics, etc.
LITERARY SOURCES: Cuneiform texts, particularly the Babylonian creation epic "Enuma Elis".
INFORMATION: Marduk is the chief deity of Babylon and tutelary god of the city of Babylon though perhaps derived, in part, from a Sumerian model. His parents are Enki and Damgalnuna or Ea and Damkina. His consort is the goddess Zarpanitu(m) with whom his marriage was re-enacted in an annual New Year festival. In the Old Babylonian period he was comparatively insignificant, but in subsequent times he rose to prominence, taking over the role of An and replacing Enlil. At the time of the Assyrian takeover, Assyrian scribes replaced Marduk with Assur.
In the mythology of the creation epic, Marduk is engaged in a primordial battle with Tiamat, the power of the ocean. He kills her, splitting her in half and using parts of her corpse to make heaven and earth. Tiamat fought him in revenge for the death of Apsu, the deep, and is said to have created an exact replica of Apsu, the Essara.
The Symbol of Marduk is the triangular device used in Mesopotamia as an agricultural tool and called a mar.
The main Marduk festival was the akitu, also performed at New Year, which continued up to as late as 200 BCE. It was performed by the Persian ruler Cambyses circa 538 BCE. Marduk's sanctuary in Babylon is the Esagila and the E-temen-anki ziggurat.