The entire religious system of Babylonia is overshadowed by Merodach,
its great patron deity. We remember how he usurped the place of Ea,
and in what manner even the legends of that god were made over to him,
so that at last he came to be regarded as not only the national god of
Babylonia but the creator of the world and of mankind. He it was who,
at the pleading of the other gods, confronted the grisly Tiawath, and
having defeated and slain her, formed the earth out of her body and
its inhabitants out of his own blood. It is almost certain that this
cosmological myth was at one time recounted of Ea, and perhaps even
at an earlier date of Bel. The transfer of power from Ea to Merodach,
however, was skilfully arranged by the priesthood, for they made
Merodach the son of Ea, so that he would naturally inherit his father's
attributes. In this transfer we observe the passing of the supremacy of
the city of Eridu to that of Babylon. Ea, or Oannes, the fish-tailed
god of Eridu, stood for the older and more southerly civilization of
the Babylonian race, whilst Merodach, patron god of Babylon, a very
different type of deity, represented the newer political power.
Originally Merodach appears to have been a sun-god personifying more
especially the sun of the springtime. Thus he was a fitting deity to
defeat the chaotic Tiawath, who personified darkness and destruction.
But there is another side to him--the agricultural side. Says Jastrow
(_Religion in Babylonia and Assyria_, p. 38): "At Nippur, as we shall
see, there developed an elaborate lamentation ritual for the occasions
when national catastrophes, defeat, failure of crops, destructive
storms, and pestilence revealed the displeasure and anger of the
gods." At such times earnest endeavours were made, through petitions
accompanied by fasting and other symbols of contrition, to bring
about a reconciliation with the angered power. This ritual, owing to
the religious pre-eminence of Nippur, became the norm and standard
throughout the Euphrates Valley, so that when Marduk (Merodach) and
Babylonia came practically to replace En-lil and Nippur, the formulas
and appeals were transferred to the solar deity of Babylon, who,
representing more particularly the sun-god of spring, was well adapted
to be viewed as the one to bring blessings and favours after the
sorrows and tribulations of the stormy season.
Strange as it will appear, although he was patron god of Babylon he
did not originate in that city, but in Eridu, the city of Ea, and
probably this is the reason why he was first regarded as the son of
Ea. He is also directly associated with Shamash, the chief sun-god
of the later pantheon, and is often addressed as the 'god of canals'
and 'opener of subterranean fountains.' In appearance he is usually
drawn with tongues of fire proceeding from his person, thus indicating
his solar character. At other times he is represented as standing
above the watery deep, with a horned creature at his feet, which also
occasionally serves to symbolize Ea. It is noteworthy, too, that his
temple at Babylon bore the same name--E-Sagila, 'the lofty house,'--as
did Ea's sanctuary at Eridu.
We find among the cuneiform texts--a copy of an older Babylonian
text--an interesting little poem which shows how Merodach attracted the
attributes of the other gods to himself.
Ea is the Marduk (or Merodach) of canals;
Ninib is the Marduk of strength;
Nergal is the Marduk of war;
Zamama is the Marduk of battle;
Enlil is the Marduk of sovereignty and control;
Nebo is the Marduk of possession;
Sin is the Marduk of illumination of the night;
Shamash is the Marduk of judgments;
Adad is the Marduk of rain;
Tishpak is the Marduk of the host;
Gal is the Marduk of strength;
Shukamunu is the Marduk of the harvest.
This would seem as if Merodach had absorbed the characteristics of all
the other gods of any importance so successfully that he had almost
established his position as the sole deity in Babylonia, and that
therefore some degree of monotheism had been arrived at.
A New-Year's Ceremony
On the first day of the Babylonian New Year an assembly of the gods
was held at Babylon, when all the principal gods were grouped round
Merodach in precisely the same manner in which the King was surrounded
by the nobility and his officials, for many ancient faiths imagined
that the polity of earth merely mirrored that of heaven, that, as
Paracelsus would have said, the earth was the microcosm of the heavenly
macrocosm--"as above, so below." The ceremony in question consisted in
the lesser deities paying homage to Merodach as their liege lord. In
this council, too, they decided the political action of Babylonia for
the coming year.
It is thought that the Babylonian priests at stated intervals enacted
the myth of the slaughter of Tiawath. This is highly probable, as in
Greece and Egypt the myths of Persephone and Osiris were represented
dramatically before a select audience of initiates. We see that these
representations are nearly always made in the case of divinities who
represent corn or vegetation as a whole, or the fructifying power of
springtime. The name of Merodach's consort Zarpanitum was rendered by
the priesthood as 'seed producing,' to mark her connexion with the god
who was responsible for the spring revival.
Merodach's ideograph is the sun, and there is abundant evidence that he
was first and last a solar god. The name, originally Amaruduk, probably
signifies 'the young steer of day,' which seems to be a figure for the
morning sun. He was also called Asari, which may be compared with Asar,
the Egyptian name of Osiris. Other names given him are Sar-agagam, 'the
glorious incantation,' and Meragaga, 'the glorious charm,' both of
which refer to the circumstance that he obtained from Ea, his father,
certain charms and incantations which restored the sick to health and
exercised a beneficial influence upon mankind.
Merodach was supposed to have a court of his own above the sky, where
he was attended to by a host of ministering deities. Some superintended
his food and drink supply, while others saw to it that water for his
hands was always ready. He had also door-keepers and even attendant
hounds, and it is thought that the satellites of Jupiter, the planet
which represented him, may have been dimly visible to those among
the Chaldean star-gazers who were gifted with good sight. These dogs
were called Ukkumu, 'Seizer,' Akkulu, 'Eater,' Iksuda, 'Grasper,' and
Iltehu, 'Holder.' It is not known whether these were supposed to assist
him in shepherding his flock or in the chase, and their names seem
appropriate either for sheep-dogs or hunting hounds.