Amēl-Marduk (biblical Evil-Merodach), whose name means "man of Marduk," became king after his father Nebuchadnezzar II died.[[1]] His duties, however, probably started earlier, during the final weeks or months of his father's extremely long reign, when Nebuchadnezzar was sick and dying. Despite being the legitimate, designated successor to the Babylonian throne, Amēl-Marduk appears to have faced opposition from the very start of his reign. This is not only suggested by the fact that his reign lasted a mere two years and ended with his murder, but also from later sources that portray him negatively. For example, the Babylonian author Berossos is reported to have stated that he "ruled capriciously and had no regard for the laws" and a fragmentarily preserved, Akkadian propagandistic text records that he concerned himself only with the veneration of the god Marduk, that he neglected his family, and that his officials did not carry out his orders.[[2]]
Almost nothing is known about his accomplishments. One inscription of his alludes to him having renovated Esagil ("House whose Top Is High") at Babylon and Ezida ("True House") at Borsippa, however, there is no concrete textual or archaeological proof that he actually undertook construction on either of those temples.[[3]] The fact that inscriptions of his are known from baked bricks and a paving stone does suggest that he did sponsor construction work at Babylon during his short reign. According to the Bible (2 Kings 25: 27–30 and Jeremiah 52: 31–34), Amēl-Marduk liberated the imprisoned, exiled Judean king Jehoiachin after he had spent thirty-seven years in captivity.[[4]] This is the only political act of Amēl-Marduk that we know about.
Amēl-Marduk's tenure as king came to an abrupt and violent end in the summer of 560, when his brother-in-law Neriglissar had him killed and seized the Babylonian throne for himself.[[5]]
1 For studies on his reign, see, for example, Da Riva, GMTR 4 pp. 14–15; Finkel, CDOG 2 pp. 333–338; and Sack, Amēl-Marduk. Nebuchadnezzar had at least ten children: seven sons and three daughters; see Beaulieu, Orientalia NS 67 (1998) pp. 173–201; and M.P. Streck, RLA 9/3–4 (1999) p. 197. As I. Finkel (CDOG 2 pp. 323–342) has convincingly argued on the basis of BM 40474, a late Neo-Babylonian clay tablet inscribed with a plea of a jailed son of Nebuchadnezzar, Nabû-šum-ukīn and Amēl-Marduk might have been one and the same person and, thus, it is very plausible that that Nabû-šum-ukīn changed his name to Amēl-Marduk since Marduk, Babylon's tutelary deity, came to his aid when his father had him imprisoned (with the exiled Judean king Jehoiachin). According to the 5th–7th-century-AD, rabbinical Midrashic text Vayikra Rabbah (XVIII 2), Amēl-Marduk was imprisoned because some officials had declared him king while his father was away.
2 Respectively, Verbrugghe and Wickersham, Berossos and Manetho p. 60; and Schaudig, Inschriften Nabonids pp. 589–590 P3 (Amīl-Marduk Fragment). Berossos' statement about Amēl-Marduk having "no regard for the laws" might have been based on the fact that Nebuchadnezzar had his son arrested and thrown in jail. The Bible (2 Kings 25: 27–30 and Jeremiah 52: 31–34) and the "Uruk Prophecy" (Beaulieu, Studies Hallo p. 47), however, depict Amēl-Marduk in a positive manner.
3 In Amēl-Marduk 1, Amēl-Marduk refers to himself as muddiš esagil u ezida "the one who renovates Esagil and Ezida," which could be true or simply an honorific title.
4 The reason(s) for Jehoiachin's release is/are uncertain and subject to scholarly debate. S. Zawadzki (Šulmu 4 [1993] pp. 307–317, esp. p. 315) has suggested that Amēl-Marduk may have released the exiled Judean king in order to gain support among the Judean deportees living in Babylonia since the king's own magnates were constantly opposing him. Another possible explanation is that Amēl-Marduk and Jehoiachin became friends while they were imprisoned together and that former released the latter on account of that (close) friendship; Amēl-Marduk's incarceration is recorded in the rabbinical Midrashic text Vayikra Rabbah (XVIII 2), as well as in the Medieval Chronicles of Jerahmeel.
5 Da Riva, GMTR 4 p. 15; and Wiseman, Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon p. 10.
Frauke Weiershäuser & Jamie Novotny
Frauke Weiershäuser & Jamie Novotny, 'Amēl-Marduk', RIBo, Babylon 7: The Inscriptions of the Neo-Babylonian Dynasty, The RIBo Project, a sub-project of MOCCI, 2022 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/ribo/babylon7/rinbe2introduction/amlmarduk/]