Mushhushshu - Babylonian mythical servant of Marduk
“The word that the Lord spoke concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans, by Jeremiah the prophet:
““Declare among the nations and proclaim, set up a banner and proclaim, conceal it not, and say: ‘Babylon is taken, Bel is put to shame, Merodach is dismayed. Her images are put to shame, her idols are dismayed.’” Jeremiah 50:1-2
Marodach or Marduk ( also referred to as Bel) was the most important false god of the neo Babylonian empire. To be the King of Babylon meant that you were favored by Marduk and participated in all of the ceremonies at his temple, the Esagila. When Assyrians periodically ruled Babylon, the conqueror often chose to acknowledge Marduk’s supremacy over the other gods to add legitimacy to their reign.
The neo Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II built the grand processional way and the still famous Ishtar gate. The brilliantly glazed brick procession of lions also included the figure of Mushhushshu. Mushhushshu was believed to be Marduk’s symbolic servant animal. A dragon like creature with eagle talons as back legs, lion like front legs, a scorpion like tail and a serpent like head.
Through Jeremiah the prophet, the one true God foretold the utter destruction of Babylon that would reveal the powerlessness of their false god Marduk.
The tile depiction of Mushhushshu from the Processional way in Babylon in the photo is held at the Detroit Institute of Arts and the processing lion tiles pictured are at the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures in Chicago. The reconstructed Ishtar Gate and Processional Way are in the Pergamon museum in Berlin which closed for renovations in October 2023 and is expected to remain closed until at least spring 2027.
Mushhushshu - mythical animal belonging to the Babylonian god Marduk. Hind legs like eagle talons, front legs like a lion, tail like a scorpion and head like a serpent.
