Statue of Marduk

It was used during the Babylonian New Year's festival and the kings of Babylon incorporated it into their coronation rituals, receiving the crown "from the hands" of Marduk.

Enemy powers such as the Hittites, the Assyrians and the Elamites stole the statue during sacks of the city, which caused religious and political turmoil, as Babylon's traditional rituals could then not be completed.

All the foreign kings known to have stolen the statue ended up later being killed by their own family members, something the Babylonians hailed as divine punishment.

Returns of the statue, either through the enemies giving it back or through a Babylonian king campaigning and successfully retrieving it, were occasions for great celebrations.

There are a handful of references to later rulers giving gifts "to Marduk" in the Esagila, some from as late as during the time of Parthian rule in Mesopotamia in the 2nd century BC.

Although Tiamat had revealed the plot to Enki to warn him, the death of Abzu horrified her and she too attempted to kill her children, raising an army together with her new consort Kingu.

The gods agreed, and Marduk was victorious, capturing and executing Kingu and firing a great arrow at Tiamat, killing her and splitting her in two.

Marduk is also described as the creator of human beings, which were meant to help the gods in defeating and holding off the forces of chaos and thus maintain order on Earth.

[3] The statue was traditionally incorporated into the coronation rituals for the Babylonian kings, who received their crowns "out of the hands" of Marduk during the New Year's festival, symbolizing them being bestowed with kingship by the patron deity of the city.

[13] Both his rule and role as Marduk's vassal on Earth were reaffirmed annually at this time of year, when the king entered the Esagila alone on the fifth day of the festivities and met with the chief priest.

[14] The standard full Negative Confession of the king was the following: [I have not] sinned, lord of the lands, I have not neglected your divinity,[I have not] ruined Babylon, I have not ordered its dissolution,[I have not] made the Esagila tremble, I have not forgotten its rites,[I have not] struck the cheek of any privileged subject, I have [not] brought about their humiliation,[I have been taking ca]re of Babylon, I have not destroyed its outer walls!

Such events caused great distress for the Babylonians, as the removal of the statue signified the actual departure of the real deity, their friend and protector.

[16] Gods could exist in heaven and on Earth simultaneously, and their presence on Earth could be in multiple places at the same time: for instance, Shamash and the goddess Ishtar (a goddess of sex, war, justice and political power associated with the planet Venus)[20] were manifested in cult images in many different cities and were also still seen as being present in their respective heavenly bodies.

[3][24] Nebuchadnezzar's successful return of the statue to the city was a monumentous event and several literary works were created to commemorate it, possibly including an early version of the Enûma Eliš.

[2] The statue was finally returned to the city during the coronation of Esarhaddon's successor as Babylonian king, Shamash-shum-ukin, in the spring of 668 BC.

[29] Nabopolassar's son and heir, Nebuchadnezzar II (r. 605–562 BC) widened the streets of Babylon so that the parade of the statue through the city at the New Year's festival would be made easier.

[3] Though the statue was often used as a means of psychological warfare by removing it from the city, powerful foreign rulers who did so had a tendency to die at the hands of their own family members.

[33] Historian Amélie Kuhrt considers it unlikely that Xerxes destroyed the temples, but believes that the story of him doing so may derive from an anti-Persian sentiment among the Babylonians.

[35] The story of Xerxes melting the statue comes chiefly from the ancient Greek writer Herodotus, who isn't otherwise considered entirely reliable and has been noted as being very anti-Persian.

Mark, writing in the Ancient History Encyclopedia, believes that the account of Herodotus, a Persian king destroying the statue of the deity of a city he just razed, could be anti-Persian propaganda.

[39] Although contemporary evidence for Xerxes's retribution against Babylon is missing,[40] later authors mention the damage he inflicted upon the city's temples.

[1] Due to his efforts to respect local religious customs in Mesopotamia, American historian Oliver D. Hoover speculated in 2011 that Seleucus I Nicator (r. 305–281 BC), the first king of the Seleucid Empire, might have undergone a traditional Babylonian coronation ceremony during a New Year's Festival in Babylon, involving the statue.

[41] A late reference comes from the period of Parthian rule in Mesopotamia, with the Characenean ruler Hyspaosines attested as giving gifts "to Marduk" in 127 BC.