Marduk (mythology)

Marduk, also known as Merodach, was the national god of Babylon, who would eventually become, with the rise of the city, the head of the Mesopotamian pantheon

Mythology

Marduk is the central figure within Enūma Eliš, the Babylonian creation-myth. According to this story, Marduk is the son Ea, god of wisdom and the subterranean water, and grandson of Anu, the god of the sky. Eventually Anunnaki and Igigi (the major groups of Mesopotamian deities) get into a fight with Tiamat, the goddess and personification of the chaotic sea and ancestor to all gods, and Kingu, he consort, who was also armed with the Tablets of Destiny. Many deities (including Ea and Anu) are sent to defeat the ancient goddess, but all are terrified of her. Eventually Marduk, as the brightest and faired of the gods, is chosen, and he agrees to this, if he gets to be the king of the gods after this. The other gods agree and equip him for his mission with wisdom and weapons.

Marduk goes to to face Tiamat, Kingu and the hordes of demons, monsters and evil gods that serve, and manages to defeat them all with his godly powers. He kills Tiamat by allowing himself to be swallowed by her and pierces her heard with a spear while being inside the goddess. With Tiamat killed, all her followers scatter, but Marduk captures them and ties most of them to his foot. Marduk also takes the Tablets of Destiny from Kingu officially making him the head of the pantheon, as he now controlled the fates of everything.

Marduk would then also take the corpse of Tiamat and fashion the world out of it, everything from the heavens, the earth, the underworld, as well as the rivers of the Tigris and Euphrates. He also orders the stations of all the other deities, and decided to create humanity to work the earth on behalf of the gods and to create the various religious cults for the gods (a common motive in Mesopotamian mythology). The humans are created out mud and the blood of Kingu, who was sentenced to death for siding with Tiamat agains the gods.

In the end Babylon, the city over which Marduk presides, is built, and the gods take residence there.

Trivia

• Marduk and his battle with Tiamat shares similarities with several other Ancient Near Eastern and Mediterranean combat myths: Ninurta's battle with the Anzu and Asag, Baal's battle with Yamm, YHWH's battle with Leviathan, Teshub's battle with Ullikummi, Zeus' battle with Typhon and Ra's battle with Apep.