MARDUK. - The national god of Babylon bore the name M., of Sumerian origin, since in the most ancient period of the country he had been the local god of the city of Babel, even before that city, under the first dynasty, that of Hammurabi, was raised to the rank of capital of the kingdom.

M. was regarded as the son of Ea, god of wisdom, of water, and of the arts, and he too, like his father, was a god of exorcisms and incantations, capable of holding in check the demons that are always seeking to waylay men. When he became the national god, all those qualities of power, excellence and primacy that the Babylonians believed belonged to the most powerful deities of their pantheon were poured upon his person. How M. became the supreme god is narrated in poetic form in the epic in the Babylonian language that bears the name Enāma elīf and is the poem of the exaltation of this god. M. was invoked especially by the sick, the bewitched and the oppressed as a god who heals and saves from the attacks of demons.

Bibliography3 works

BIBL.: J. Hehn, Hymnen und Gebete an M., in Beiträge zur Assyriologie, 5 (1902-1906), pp. 279-400; G. Furlani, La religione babilonese e assira, I. Bologna 1928, pp. 198-207; id., Il poeme della Creazione (Enāma elīf), ivi 1934.

Giuseppe Furlani

@incollection{ec8_marduk, author = {Furlani, Giuseppe}, title = {Marduk}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {VIII}, pages = {59--60}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1952}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/marduk} }

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