their messenger in general, especially of Bel-Merodach, the younger
Bel, whose requests he carried to the god Ea in the Deep. In one
inscription he is identified with Nirig or Enu-restu, who is described
above.
Merodach.
Concerning this god, and how he arose to the position of king of all
the gods of heaven, has been fully shown in chapter III. Though there
is but little in his attributes to indicate any connection with Samas,
there is hardly any doubt that he was originally a sun-god, as is
shown by the etymology of his name. The form, as it has been handed
down to us, is somewhat shortened, the original pronunciation having
been /Amar-uduk/, "the young steer of day," a name which suggests that
he was the morning sun. Of the four names given at the end of chapter
III., two--"lord of Babylon," and "lord god of heaven and earth,"--may
be regarded as expressing his more well-known attributes. /En-ab-sar-
u/, however, is a provisional, though not impossible, reading and
rendering, and if correct, the "36,000 wild bulls" would be a
metaphorical way of speaking of "the 36,000 heroes," probably meaning
the gods of heaven in all their grades. The signification of /En-
bilulu/ is unknown. Like most of the other gods of the Babylonian
pantheon, however, Merodach had many other names, among which may be
mentioned /Asari/, which has been compared with the Egyptian Osiris,
/Asari-lu-duga/, "/Asari/ who is good," compared with Osiris Unnefer;
/Namtila/, "life", /Tutu/, "begetter (of the gods), renewer (of the
gods)," /Sar-azaga/, "the glorious incantation," /Mu-azaga/, "the
glorious charm," and many others. The last two refer to his being the
god who, by his kindness, obtained from his father Ea, dwelling in the
abyss, those charms and incantations which benefited mankind, and
restored the sick to health. In this connection, a frequent title
given to him is "the merciful one," but most merciful was he in that
he spared the lives of the gods who, having sided with Taiwath, were
his enemies, as is related in the tablet of the fifty-one names. In
connection with the fight he bore also the names, "annihilator of the
enemy," "rooter out of all evil," "troubler of the evil ones," "life
of the whole of the gods." From these names it is clear that Merodach,
in defeating Tiawath, annihilated, at the same time, the spirit of
evil, Satan, the accuser, of which she was, probably, the Babylonian
type. But unlike the Saviour in the Christian creed, he saved not only
man, at that time uncreated, but the gods of heaven also. As "king of
the heavens," he was identified with the largest of the planets,
Jupiter, as well as with other heavenly bodies. Traversing the sky in
great zigzags, Jupiter seemed to the Babylonians to superintend the
stars, and this was regarded as emblematic of Merodach shepherding
them--"pasturing the gods like sheep," as the tablet has it.
A long list of gods gives as it were the court of Merodach, held in
what was apparently a heavenly /E-sagila/, and among the spiritual
beings mentioned are /Mina-ikul-beli/ and /Mina-isti-beli/, "what my
lord has eaten," and "what has my lord drunk," /Nadin-me-gati/, "he
who gives water for the hands," also the two door-keepers, and the
four dogs of Merodach, wherein people are inclined to see the four
satellites of Jupiter, which, it is thought, were probably visible to
certain of the more sharp-sighted stargazers of ancient Babylonia.
These dogs were called /Ukkumu/, /Akkulu/, /Ikssuda/, and /Iltebu/,
"Seizer," "Eater," "Grasper," and "Holder." Images of these beings
were probably kept in the temple of E-sagila at Babylon.