The Reception of the “Marduk Prophecy” in Seventh-Century B.C. Assur

A new analysis of the 'Marduk Prophecy' reveals that its reception in 7th-century B.C. Assur was not primarily to glorify Nebuchadnezzar I, as previously assumed, but rather to serve theological discourse on the relationship between Assyrian and Babylonian state gods. The prophecy, which predicts a king would return Marduk's statue from Elam, was found in a house of exorcists linked to Assur Temple, alongside texts asserting Assur's superiority over Marduk. This suggests that its transcription and reading in Assur were stimulated by the Assyrian abduction of the Marduk statue under Sennacherib (689 B.C.), indicating a shift in its interpretive context over centuries.

SUGIE, T. (2011). The Reception of the “Marduk Prophecy” in Seventh-Century B.C. Assur. Bulletin of the Society for near Eastern Studies in Japan, 53(2), 74–93. https://doi.org/10.5356/jorient.53.74