In the last tablet of the series--that recording the praises of Merodach and his fifty new names,--there are a few points that are worthy of examination. In the first place, the arrangement of the first part is noteworthy. The principal name that was given to him seems not to have been Merodach, as one would expect from the popularity of the name in later days, but Tutu, which occurs in the margin, at the head of six of the sections, and was probably prefixed to at least three more. This name Tutu is evidently an Akkadian reduplicate word, from the root _tu_, "to beget," and corresponds with the explanation of the word given by the list of Babylonian gods, K. 2107; _muâllid îlani, mûddis îlani_, "begetter of the gods, renewer of the gods"--a name probably given to him on account of his identification with his father, Aa, for, according to the legend, Merodach was rather the youngest than the oldest of the gods, who are even called, as will be remembered, "his fathers." In the lost portion at the beginning of the final tablet he was also called, according to the tablet here quoted, Gugu = _muttakkil îlani_, "nourisher of the gods"; Mumu = _muspis îlani_, "increaser (?) of the gods"; Dugan = _banî kala îlani_, "maker of all the gods"; Dudu = _muttarrû îlani_, "saviour (?) of the gods"; Sar-azaga = _sa sipat-su êllit_, "he whose incantation is glorious"; and Mu-azaga = _sa tû-su êllit_, "he whose charm is glorious" (cf. p. 31, l. 33). After this we have Sa-zu or Sa-sud = _mûdê libbi ilani_ or _libbi rûku_, "he who knoweth the heart of the gods," or "the remote of heart" (p. 31, l. 35); Zi-ukenna = _napsat naphar îlani_, "the life of the whole of the gods" (p. 30, l. 15); Zi-si = _nasih sabuti_, "he who bringeth about silence" (p. 31, l. 41); Suh-kur = _muballû aabi_, "annihilator of the enemy" (p. 31, l. 43); and other names meaning _muballû naphar aabi, nasih raggi_, "annihilator of the whole of the enemy, rooter out of evil," _nasih naphar raggi_, "rooter out of the whole of the evil," _êsû raggi_, "troubler of the evil (ones)," and _êsû naphar raggi_, "troubler of the whole of the evil (ones)." All these last names were probably enumerated on the lost part of the tablet between where the obverse breaks off and the reverse resumes the narrative, and the whole of the fifty names conferred upon him, which were enumerated in their old Akkadian forms and translated into Semitic Babylonian in this final tablet of the Creation, were evidently repeated in the form of a list of gods, on the tablet in tabular form from which the above renderings are taken.
Water Journal
The Old Testament In the Light of The Historical Records and Legends — Part 27
Tags