MARDUK. – The national god of Babylon bore the name of M., of Sumerian origin, since in the earliest period of the country he had been the local god of the city of Babel, even before it was elevated to the capital of the kingdom under the First Dynasty, that of Hammurabi.
M. was regarded as the son of Ea, the god of wisdom, water, and the arts, and like his father he was also a god of exorcisms and incantations, capable of restraining the demons that ever seek to harm men. When he became the national god, all those qualities of power, excellence, and primacy that the Babylonians deemed fitting for the mightiest deities of their pantheon were attributed to him. How M. became the supreme god is narrated in poetic form in the Babylonian epic poem entitled Enūma elīš, which is the poem of the exaltation of this god. M. was invoked especially by the sick, the bewitched, and the oppressed as a healing and saving god from demonic attacks.