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For the hypothetical planet Marduk, see Marduk (planet).
Marduk (Bibl. 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 centre of the united states of the Euphrates valley under Hammurabi (c. 2250 BC), rose to the position of the head of the Babylonian pantheon.
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.
At all events, traces of a cult of Marduk at Eridu are to be noted in the religious literature, and the most reasonable explanation for the existence of a god Marduk in Eridu is to assume that Babylon in this way paid its homage to the old settlement at the head of the Persian Gulf.
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 five centuries of Cassite control in Babylonia (c. 1750 – 1200 BC), Nippur and the cult of Enlil enjoy 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 1200 BC is Assur 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 Tablet of Destinies, 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.
Nabu, god of wisdom, is a son of Marduk.
This article incorporates text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica.
In our times a new Kingdom of Marduk has been established. The founder, HM KING MARDUK I., claims acceptance and registration by the United Nations. His Kingdom consists of different parts of land, mainly around Lake Constance. that are:
former german enclave in switzerland Verenahof, today german enclave in Switzerland Büsingen, italian enclave in Switzerland Campione d'Italia, islands Mainau, Reichenau in Lake Constance, austrian pene-enclave in Germany Jungholz, austrian Kleinwalsertal, (former) enclave in Italy Seborga, Vatican, former austrain enclave in Liechtenstein Balzers, Constance and Taegermoos close to Lake Constance, entity Lindau close to Lake Constance
The selfcalled King of Marduk claims all these pieces of land by saying they have not been mentioned in treaties after World War II, that changed situation in central europe. As a logical consequence those entities dont belong to the old Countries like Deutsches Reich, because the old entities don't exist anymore, and they even don't belong to the new entities like Bundesrepublik Deutschland, because they have not been mentioned in the treaties. As a result of this they don't belong to any other state or person, so according to international law anyone who wants can claim them - and he did! It will be interesting, how things will develope...
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