United States or Antigua and Barbuda ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
It then contains prayers and invocations to the Gods, Merodach and Nebo. The extent of N.'s power is spoken of it reaches from one sea to the other. An account is then given of the wonders of Babylon, viz.: 1. The great temple of Merodach. Various other temples in Babylon and Borsippa.
Bel-Merodach is, beyond all doubt, the planet Jupiter, which is still called Bel by the Mendaeans. The name Merodach is of uncertain etymology and meaning. It has been compared with the Persian Mardak, the diminutive of mard, "a man," and with the Arabic Mirrich, which is the name of the planet Mars.
The great extent of the inclosures is readily explained by the crowds they were then required to accommodate. "I undertook in Bit-Saggatu," says the king, "the restoration of the chamber of Merodach; I gave to its cupola the form of a lily, and I covered it with chiselled gold, so that it shone like the day," London inscription, translated by M. Fr.
Merodach is praised for his mercy; he not only accompanies the king in his wars, of which the inscriptions give us so many a wearisome catalogue, but he heals the sick, he brings relief to him who is mourning for his transgressions, and he brings life out of death and receives the soul committed to his mercy to a blessed dwelling above.
The Yapur-Shapu-the reservoir of Babylon by the grace of Merodach I filled completely full of water. With that which my father had made I joined it. I made the way of Nana, the protectress of her votaries. These gates I raised. Behold! besides the Ingur-Bel, the impregnable fortification of Babylon.
He is "the supreme," "the father of the gods," "the procreator," "the Lord," par excellence, "the king of all the spirits," "the lord of the world," and again, "the lord of all the countries." There is some question whether he is altogether to be identified with the Belus of the Greek writers, who in certain respects rather corresponds to Merodach.
When the good King of Judah recovered from his illness by a miracle, the sign of which was, that the sun seemed to retreat in his course, it probably won the attention of the Chaldeans, who were great star-gazers; and Merodach Baladan sent messengers to compliment the king, whose favour with Heaven had thus been shown to all the earth.
The temples were miniature reproductions of the arrangements of the universe. The "ziggurat" represented in its form the mountain of the world, and the halls ranged at its feet resembled approximately the accessory parts of the world; the temple of Merodach at Babylon comprised them all up to the chambers of fate, where the sun received every morning the tablets of destiny.
He officiated for Merodach here below, and the scrupulously minute devotions daily occupied many hours. On great days of festival or sacrifice they laid aside all insignia of royalty and were clad as ordinary priests.
The lords of Babylon had, ordinarily, a twofold function, the priest at first taking precedence of the soldier, but gradually yielding to the latter as the city increased in power. Each ruler was obliged to go in state to the temple of Bel Merodach within a year of his accession, there to do homage to the divine statue.
Word Of The Day