old god of Nippur who was conceived as the god of earth
_par excellence_, and to whom therefore the task of preparing the earth
for the habitation of mankind properly belonged. How do the Babylonian
theologians, who stand under the influence of the political conditions
prevailing in Babylonia after the union of the Babylonian states,
reconcile this older and true form of the episode with the form in which
they have recast it? The gods who are called the progenitors of Marduk
are represented as rejoicing upon seeing Marduk equipped for the fray.
In chorus they greet and bless him, "Marduk be king." They present him
with additional weapons, and encourage him for the contest. Upon hearing
of his success the gods vie with one another in conferring honors upon
Marduk. They bestow all manner of glorious epithets upon him; and, to
cap the climax, the old Bel, known as 'father Bel,' steps forward and
transfers to him his name, _bel matati_,[142] 'lord of lands.' To bestow
the name was equivalent to transferring Bel's powers to Marduk; and so
Marduk is henceforth known as _Bel_. But Ea must be introduced into the
episode. It is not sufficient that Bel, the original subduer of Tiamat,
should pay homage to Marduk; Ea also greets his son, and bestows his
name upon him,[143]--that is, transfers his powers to his son. There is
a special reason for this. The overthrow of Tiamat is followed by the
creation of man. This function properly belongs to Bel, both as the god
of earth and as the subduer of Tiamat. According to one--and probably
the oldest--version of this part of the Babylonian cosmogony which was
embodied in the work of Berosus[144], it is Bel who creates mankind. The
substitution of Marduk for Bel necessitated the transference of the role
of creator to Marduk likewise, and yet the latter could not take this
upon himself without the consent of his father Ea, who had become the
god of humanity _par excellence_. Ea could interpose no objection
against Bel being replaced by Marduk in vanquishing the monster, but
when it came to drawing the conclusion and replacing Bel by Marduk also
in the creation of man, the case was different. If Bel was to be
replaced, Ea had a prior claim. Marduk could only take the new functions
upon himself after receiving the powers of Ea. That is the force of Ea's
saying that Marduk's name also shall be Ea just as his. This
transference of the name of Ea to Marduk is in itself an indication that
there mus