by
Damien F. Mackey
It
is highly embarrassing if, as according to my revision, an incident pertaining
to Marduk,
that
had occurred during the reign of Nebuchednezzar I (d. 1100 BC, conventional
dating),
and
thought to have been faithfully imitated by Esarhaddon (c. 680 BC, conventional
dating),
approximately
four centuries later, was, in fact, the one and very same Marduk incident.
The potent - but at times hopelessly ill and paranoid
- king, Esarhaddon, whom I have identified with Nebuchednezzar so-called II:
Esarhaddon a tolerable fit for King Nebuchednezzar
“As we know from the correspondence left
by the roya1 physicians and exorcists …
[Esarhaddon’s] days were governed by
spells of fever and dizziness, violent fits of vomiting, diarrhoea and painful
earaches. Depressions and fear of impending death were a constant in his life. …”.
Karen
Radner
but also with his namesake Nebuchednezzar I:
Esarhaddon a tolerable fit for King Nebuchednezzar. Part Three: ‘The
Marduk Prophecy’
had orchestrated the return of the god Marduk into
Babylon in a ritual fashion that was uncannily similar to the procedure
followed by Nebuchednezzar I, supposedly long ago in Esarhaddon’s past. We can get a good sense of this from John P.
Nielsen’s account of the event in The Reign of
Nebuchadnezzar I in History and Historical Memory - the author,
though, following the conventional view that Esarhaddon was significantly later
in time:
For those familiar with the traditions
surrounding Marduk communicated in the Marduk Prophecy, the god's entry into Babylon with Šamaš-šumaukīn
in 668 and the rejoicing of the
crowds along the processional way that led to Esagil
would have been understood as reassuringly consistent with what
was believed to have occurred in the past [sic]. Esarhaddon undoubtedly intended such a
reception for either himself or his son [sic] when he began laying the groundwork for
Marduk's return. However, it is
only certain that the scholarly elite at the city knew of the
tradition that held that
Marduk had departed and returned to Babylon as far back in the past [sic] as
the early Kassite Dynasty. Presumably
there would have been among their numbers assembled that day men
who has engaged in the discourse that had shaped Esarhaddon’s plans to return
Marduk.
What is not known is how aware the common citizens of
Babylon who witnessed the
procession were of the traditions surrounding Marduk and the long-deceased [sic] kings such as Nebuchadnezzar I who had once led Marduk back into
the city. However, given the shared aims of
Esarhaddon and the Babylonian elite, it is possible to speculate on
… by collaborating with Esarhaddon's wishes to
have Babylon rebuilt and Šamaš-šumaukīn installed as king, members of the Babylonian
elite may have been viewed with resentment as Assyrian
collaborators by factions opposed to Assyrian rule. …. For these reasons, it would also
have been in the interest of Esarhaddon and pro-Esarhaddon Babylonians to
present the coronation and return of Marduk as consistent with precedents from Babylon’s
past. ….
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