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Fungus threatens food and human health, researchers argue

Mon, 08 Jun 2026 03:21:53 +0600

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Therapy may be judged by the wrong standards, argues new analysis

Mon, 08 Jun 2026 03:21:52 +0600

Psychological therapies may be evaluated using research methods designed for drugs rather than talking treatments—potentially limiting patient choice and shaping mental health services in the wrong way—according to a new academic analysis from The University of Manchester.

Study proposes reconsidering how histone deacetylase inhibitors work in cancer treatment

Mon, 08 Jun 2026 03:21:51 +0600

Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and collaborating institutions are challenging the traditional understanding of how cancer drugs called histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors function. For decades, scientists believed that these drugs blocked HDAC enzymes, which drive cancer development by...

Engineered stem cells reverse new-onset type 1 diabetes in mice

Mon, 08 Jun 2026 03:21:50 +0600

A group of researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) has recently developed a new stem cell therapy with a remarkable ability to reverse new-onset type 1 diabetes (T1D) in a mouse model of the disease. The...

Lab-grown aging eye model reveals early AMD markers in weeks

Mon, 08 Jun 2026 03:21:50 +0600

The rods and cones in your eyes are responsible for helping you see, but what is responsible for helping them? Retinal pigment epithelium cells are their caretakers, but environmental, genetic and aging factors can strain them and make them...

New noninvasive tool may allow early detection of dangerous intestinal disease in preemies

Mon, 08 Jun 2026 03:21:50 +0600

A new noninvasive technology, called broadband optical spectroscopy (BOS), has promise for reliably detecting necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) in premature infants at earlier stages, before this devastating intestinal disease progresses enough to be visible on X-rays, according to a first-in-human...

How mechanical stress can accelerate bone destruction in periodontitis

Mon, 08 Jun 2026 03:21:49 +0600

Excessive bite force does not cause alveolar bone loss but significantly worsens it when combined with periodontitis, report researchers in a new study. While traumatic occlusion has long been suspected to exacerbate periodontitis, the molecular mechanisms behind this link...

Gap widens between expected help and municipal care delivered, complaint review shows

Mon, 08 Jun 2026 03:21:49 +0600

"There is a clear gap between what patients expect from the health care services and what they actually receive," says Alison Axisa Eriksen of the University of Agder (UiA). As part of her Ph.D. research, she has reviewed hundreds...

Poor sleep threatens health, society and the economy

Mon, 08 Jun 2026 03:21:49 +0600

An increasing number of people are suffering from sleep deprivation, difficulty falling asleep, or interrupted sleep—with consequences for health, society, and the economy. An international research team involving the Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine—Brain and Behavior (INM-7) at Forschungszentrum...

CAR-T cells enhanced with navigation system to penetrate lymph nodes more efficiently

Mon, 08 Jun 2026 03:21:48 +0600

Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy, or CAR-T, has transformed treatment for blood cancers. The immunotherapy involves reprogramming a patient's own immune cells to recognize and attack tumor cells. It offers many patients long-lasting remission and even a cure. Yet...

Newly discovered view of brain blood flow during surgery could prevent debilitation, save lives

Mon, 08 Jun 2026 03:21:48 +0600

Tracking the brain's blood flow during neurosurgery represents one of the most critical and challenging parts of the operation. A brief interruption can mean the difference between permanent damage and full recovery, but it's difficult to track blood flow...

AI-designed universal vaccine clears first human trial, targets future coronavirus threats with needle-free delivery

Mon, 08 Jun 2026 03:21:48 +0600

The first human clinical trial of a universal Sarbeco coronavirus vaccine, developed by the University of Cambridge and spin-out DIOSynVax (DVX) Ltd, has shown that the vaccine is safe and has no significant side effects.

The Works Trailer: A Glimpse Into the Almost First-Ever Fully CGI Animated Film

Sun, 07 Jun 2026 21:00:05 +0600

The Works sits on the strangest technological threshold. It was early enough to be a pioneer in the realm of CGI, and yet also early enough to just not get made. While the New York Institute of Technology’s Computer Graphics Lab wanted to tell the story of a post-apocalyptic robot world, and make the first fully CGI animated film ever in the process, the tech just wasn’t quite there.

The project is also a bit of a ghost. Tiny clips exist online, along with the teaser trailer (above). But, aside from an early script that surfaced in 2021, that’s about it.

The trailer itself is like a robotic fever dream. “Two thousand years after the end of the world, one human being holds the key to a robot planet gone mad.” Unfortunately, it’s mostly just a short tech demo, with disjointed 3D renders of robots, wormholes, and UFOs. “Simultaneously incredible for the time, and also absolutely terrifying!” writes one YouTube viewer.

Work began on The Works in 1979, and stretched all the way to 1986. But eventually NYIT had to pull the plug. If they had succeeded, The Works would have crossed the feature-length animated CGI finish line first. Instead, that achievement would go to Pixar’s Toy Story in 1995.

Imagine for second, though, what the world of CGI movies might have looked like had The Works actually released. Toy Story led the way for the other classic Pixar movies. It was lighthearted and musical, followed by A Bug’s Life, and Monsters Inc. Then Dreamworks jumped in with Shrek, and later Illumination with Minions, and so on. It’s all family fun time. But The Works, if you take a peek at its screenplay and what little we see from its trailer, was a darker, grittier 80s post-apocalyptic scifi. Tonally something totally different.

If that had been our trajectory, and if the film had been successful, I think maybe we would have seen more of that industrial or even 80s dark fantasy aesthetic in 3D animation. Something more like what you see from early PC games. But that’s just speculation about a different timeline.

The March/April 1983 issue of Computer Pictures was still optimistic about the movie’s release date, opening with “Any year now…” That didn’t happen, but the article itself captured prescient thoughts on where the tech was heading. What we see in movies today was accurate speculation in 1983, for better and for worse:

“With three‑dimensional video, the turnaround time is much quicker and the costs are much lower than using film,” [Lance Williams] said. “This affords us greater opportunity to experiment. We aren’t as limited in our trial‑and error process.”

The early struggles of NYIT trying to get The Works off the ground, and years and years of not quite making it, laid the groundwork for today’s rapidfire CGI that’s now everywhere. My question is: Will The Works ever actually be made? The story’s premise still feels fresh, and I think the world’s first ever 3D animated film (that never was) deserves to be made. It’d be interesting to me, anyway. Maybe you have something against robots.

If you don’t, you can read more about The Works, its plot, and some extra behind-the-scenes details over at its (probably) one existing fansite.

Last Updated: Jun 4, 2026 Movies & TV Published: Jun 4, 2026

About the Author

Rob

Writer, blogger, and part-time peddler of mysterious tales. Editor-in-chief of Stranger Dimensions. View the About Page.

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French and Indian War: The Final Clash of Empires in North America

Sun, 07 Jun 2026 21:00:00 +0600

The French and Indian War (1754-1763) was the last great colonial conflict waged between Great Britain and France in North America. Often considered a theater of the global Seven Years' War (1756-1763), it was sparked over a territorial dispute in the Ohio River Valley but escalated into a full-scale war of conquest and imperial domination. The war reached its climax at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in September 1759, which led to the British capture of Quebec City and the fall of New France. In the Treaty of Paris of 1763, France ceded Canada to Britain, ending the century-long struggle between the two empires for control of the North American continent.

Background

In the first half of the 18th century, the colonial empires of Great Britain and France struggled for dominance in North America. This imperialistic rivalry had already given rise to three almighty wars: King William's War, Queen Anne's War, and King George's War. Villages had been destroyed and farmsteads razed, while rivers of blood – English, French, and Indigenous alike – had watered the rocky fields of New England as well as the dark soil of the Virginian and Pennsylvanian backcountries. But the great appetites of the colonial powers were still unsatiated, and it was clear that another storm was coming, that one final, great war that would engulf Colonial America in its fury.

The trouble would begin along the banks of the Ohio River, a lush & fertile valley lusted after by both colonial powers.

The trouble would begin along the banks of the Ohio River, a lush and fertile valley lusted after by both colonial powers. Of course, the Ohio Country was not unoccupied but was, at least nominally, controlled by the powerful Iroquois Confederacy and was home to several Indigenous peoples living under Iroquois protection; these included the Algonquin-speaking Delawares and Shawnees, and the Iroquoian-speaking Mingos. By midcentury, British traders had begun to operate in the Ohio Country, building commercial ties with various Native American villages. This activity threatened the French, who had spent decades weaving a delicate web of Indigenous alliances that could quickly unravel should the British gain too much influence.

The British, however, did not only want to establish a trading presence along the Ohio but were interested in something more permanent. The British colony of Virginia was particularly interested in expanding westward. Not only did Virginia already claim the Ohio Country – indeed, its colonial charter grandly proclaimed that its western border reached all the way to the shores of the Pacific – but it desperately needed the fertile lands along the river. Virginia's economy centered around the production of tobacco, a crop that depleted the nutrients of the soil it was planted in. As such, Virginian planters were in constant need of fresh lands and naturally turned toward the untouched soil of the Ohio Valley. Wealthy investors pooled their funds to form land speculation companies, like the Ohio Company, that quickly bought up land.

The French looked on this development with apprehension, for they had every reason to fear Anglo-American westward expansion. So long as the British colonies were contained to the east of the Appalachian Mountains, a certain balance of power could be maintained in North America. But if the British penetrated the interior of the continent, French trading interests could easily be upset. Moreover, the French relied on the Ohio River as a waterway connecting the two disparate parts of New France, including Canada to the north and Louisiana to the south. They could not afford to lose control of the river. In June 1747, the French sent a military expedition to the region under Pierre-Joseph de Céloron, both to ward off the pesky British traders and to remind the Indigenous peoples where their loyalties should lie.

Map of New France Nicolas de Fer (Public Domain)

Céloron's expedition failed to scare off the British, who continued to be active in the Ohio Country in the early 1750s. In 1752, the new governor-general of New France, the Marquis de Duquesne, dispatched a new expedition into the Ohio Country with the goal of punishing the Indigenous village of Pickawillany for ignoring his orders and continuing to trade with the British. The French brought fire and blood to the village, capturing three British traders and killing 14 Native Americans. The following spring, the French acted with even more aggression and began building a series of fortresses along the river. This directly interfered with the interests of the Ohio Company; if they could not convince the French to stand down, they would lose all the land they had purchased.

Lt. Governor Robert Dinwiddie of Virginia was an investor in the company and was determined to use his office to enforce Britain's claims to the land. He decided to send a diplomatic mission to the newly built Fort Le Bœuf to remind the French that the land did not belong to them and to demand that they leave immediately. The only question was who Dinwiddie would choose to lead this sensitive expedition.

Washington's Folly

The man that Dinwiddie chose was certainly an unconventional candidate. At only 21 years old, he was young and inexperienced, with little formal education and no grasp of the French language. But in other ways, George Washington was the perfect man for the job. He was hungry for glory and eager to win a lasting reputation for himself. Moreover, he had a personal stake in the success of the Ohio Company – his late half-brother, Lawrence, had been one of its first investors. Whether or not it was a good idea, Dinwiddie placed the fate of the Ohio Country in Washington's untried hands. On 1 November 1753, Washington left the colonial capital of Williamsburg bearing a letter from the lieutenant governor. As he made his way into the wilderness towards the French forts, he was joined by several companions, including an Ohio Company guide, a translator, and a cunning Mingo sachem named Tanacharison, known to the British as the Half-King.

Washington Crossing the Aleghany Daniel Huntington (Public Domain)

Washington made his way to Fort Le Bœuf, where he was politely but firmly turned away by the French commander. After a death-defying journey back to Virginia – Washington nearly drowned while crossing the icy Alleghany River – the disappointed young officer reported his failure to Dinwiddie. But Dinwiddie was undeterred and, early the following year, sent Washington back with 159 men, most of whom were, in the words of historian Fred Anderson, "paupers and vagabonds coerced into service" (45). On 27 May 1754, as he was setting up camp in an area called the Great Meadows, Washington learned that a party of French soldiers had been spotted in the area. Early the next morning, Washington surrounded the French encampment as the groggy soldiers were stumbling out of their tents and preparing to make breakfast.

What happened next is still uncertain. Either Washington's troops ambushed the unassuming French soldiers or the French, startled to find the Virginians outside their camp, fired first. In any case, by the time the smoke cleared, 14 French soldiers lay dead or wounded. Amongst the wounded was a 35-year-old ensign, Joseph Coulon de Villiers de Jumonville. With the help of a translator, Jumonville began to explain that, much like Washington the year before, he was merely on a diplomatic mission, meant to warn the British away from the Ohio. But he had not yet finished his explanation when Tanacharison stepped over him and said in French, "Thou art not yet dead, my father," before burying his hatchet in Jumonville's head and washing his hands in the brains. While Tanacharison's motives cannot be known for certain, Anderson suspects that he committed the act to bind his people to the British.

Ambush of Jumonville Unknown Artist (Public Domain)

The battle – or some would say massacre – of Jumonville Glen was the start of the French and Indian War. Aware that the die had been cast, Washington withdrew to Great Meadows, where he constructed a rudimentary fort that he dubbed Fort Necessity. It did not take long for the French to follow him there. On 3 July 1754, the fort was surrounded by 700 French soldiers, more than double Washington's number. They kept up "galling fire" for the next eight hours, from "every little rising, tree, stump, stone and bush" (Freeman, 60). By 8 p.m., Washington had lost a third of his force and was compelled to surrender. After signing articles of capitulation – in which he unwittingly admitted to assassinating Jumonville – Washington and his ragged men were allowed to leave, beginning their long and humiliating retreat to Virginia.

Braddock's Defeat

Far from settling the Ohio question, Washington's misadventures only served to make matters worse. If the British truly wished to dislodge the French, a larger show of force needed to be made. In February 1755, Major General Edward Braddock arrived in America at the head of two regiments of British regulars. Braddock made it clear that he acted with the authority of the king and that he would suffer no fools amongst the provincials – he scolded the colonial governors for the "pusillanimous and improper" manner they had been conducting themselves and began coordinating a large-scale expedition into the west (Anderson, 86). His goal was to capture Fort Duquesne, the mightiest of the French bastions located at the confluence of the Alleghany and Monongahela rivers. In doing so, he hoped to send a message to the French that the Ohio belonged to Britain, now and forever.

The Battle of the Monongahela, better known as Braddock's Defeat, was one of Britain's worst military losses of the 18th century.

On 29 May 1755, Braddock set out from Fort Cumberland, Maryland, with 2,200 men (including Washington, who had signed on as Braddock's aide-de-camp). The going was slow; the route he had chosen was bumpy and ill-suited for columns of marching men hauling cannons and wagons of provisions. Frustrated, Braddock ultimately decided to split his army in two, sending a 'flying column' of 1,300 men on ahead, while the rest of the army played catch-up. On 9 July, the flying column crossed the Monongahela River, within 10 miles (16 km) of Fort Duquesne. There, they encountered 800 French soldiers and Indigenous warriors, who had sallied out from the fort to confront the invading horde. Despite their exhaustion, the British soldiers were confident of victory and opened fire. The French commander, Captain Beaujeau, was instantly killed, while the French and Indians ran for cover.

But this was only the beginning. Sheltered behind shrubs, rocks, and other cover, the French and Indians returned fire at the British. Standing shoulder-to-shoulder in an open clearing, the British had little room to move and nowhere to take cover. For the next three hours, they made easy targets, dropping like flies as bullets zipped around their heads. Braddock attempted to restore order until he was knocked from his horse by a bullet; though Washington managed to extricate him from the field, the wound was mortal, and the general would soon be dead. The surviving British and colonial troops soon fled, leaving nearly 1,000 of their comrades dead, wounded, or captured by the enemy. The Battle of the Monongahela, better known as Braddock's Defeat, was one of Britain's worst military losses of the 18th century, and a sign that the struggle for the Ohio was just beginning.

Washington at the Battle of the Monongahela Reǵnier (Public Domain)

Escalation

Braddock's ill-fated expedition was not the only British offensive launched in 1755. Sir William Johnson led a combined force of colonial militia and Mohawk warriors to victory at the Battle of Lake George (8 September), while another British expedition captured Fort Beauséjour in modern New Brunswick (the victorious British proceeded to expel thousands of French-speaking Acadians from their homes in this region, an early modern example of ethnic cleansing). But the ever-shifting fortunes of war would change again in 1756. For one thing, the war escalated that year when Britain officially declared war on France, triggering the Seven Years' War in Europe. For another, a new French commander arrived in the New World. Louis-Joseph, marquis de Montcalm, was a 44-year-old soldier experienced in the art of European battles. He played by the book, and it remained to be seen how he would fare in the wild frontier warfare of North America.

The answer, it would prove, was that he was quite effective. In August 1756, he captured Fort Oswego on Lake Ontario after a brief siege; having judged that the British garrison did not put up much of a fight, he refused to allow them the honors of war. The next year, Montcalm outdid himself, leading 7,000 French, Canadian, and Indigenous troops against Fort William Henry along Lake George. This time, Montcalm decided that the garrison had fought honorably and, when they surrendered, he agreed to allow them to withdraw to nearby Fort Edward. Unbeknownst to Montcalm – who did not care for his Native American allies and did not take the time to understand them – this offended his Indigenous warriors, who had only signed on to the expedition with the expectation that they would receive plunder and captives.

Anishinaabe War Club The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Public Domain)

Outraged, some of the warriors decided to get what they had come for. They followed the British soldiers for a while as they withdrew from the fort and then struck. Before Montcalm and his officers could stop them, hundreds of men, women, and children had been slaughtered or carried away as captives. The massacre at Fort William Henry was a watershed moment of the war. It drove a rift between Montcalm and his Indigenous allies, led to a feud between Montcalm and Governor-General Vaudreuil of New France (the governor-general understood the need for Indigenous allies and blamed Montcalm for misusing them), and caused the British colonists to hate the French, believing that they had intentionally allowed the killings to occur.

The winter of 1757-58 proved disastrous to the French war effort. A smallpox epidemic broke out amongst the Indigenous communities, depriving the French of their valuable aid. Moreover, a poor harvest led to famine in much of New France, forcing Montcalm's Canadian militiamen to return home to tend to their families. As such, Montcalm faced a severe manpower shortage at the time he could least afford it. In London, William Pitt the Elder, the secretary of state for the colonies, had decided that it was not enough to merely drive the French from the Ohio Country – it was time to conquer New France, and dislodge the French from North America altogether. He ordered three offensives, two of which were successful; by the end of the year, both Fort Duquesne and the mighty French stronghold of Louisbourg were in British hands. Lt. Colonel John Bradstreet, an American of Acadian origin, also took it upon himself to assault Fort Frontenac, which he captured without the loss of a single life.

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The one British defeat of 1758 took place outside the walls of Fort Carillon on 8 July. Montcalm had gathered what few forces he could – amounting to less than 3,500 men – and furiously dug in, building strong fortifications on the high ground outside the fort. When British Major General James Abercromby arrived with 18,000 men, he anticipated a quick victory and ordered a frontal assault without the support of field artillery. The mass of British troops broke against the French breastworks and were mowed down "like grass" (Anderson, 244). By the time the sun set, Montcalm retained control of the fort at the cost of around 500 casualties, while close to 2,500 British and colonial troops lay dead or wounded. Abercromby had no choice but to withdraw. The Battle of Fort Carillon was not only Montcalm's finest hour, but the bloodiest battle of the war.

Fort Ticonderoga Layout, 1758 Matt Wade (Public Domain)

Fall of New France

Despite the setback at Carillon, the British were in a much better position now than they had been a year earlier. In July 1759, they continued to squeeze the French by taking Fort Carillon (renamed Ticonderoga by the victorious British) and Fort Niagara in quick succession; the latter was taken by Sir William Johnson, who had finally managed to mobilize a significant number of Iroquois warriors against the French. But the main show would play out in Canada, where a young major general named James Wolfe was leading 4,500 men in an expedition against Quebec City itself. The climactic confrontation would take place outside the city at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham on 13 September. The engagement was over in 20 minutes and left roughly 600 casualties on each side; these casualties included the respective army commanders, Wolfe and Montcalm, both of whom had been mortally wounded and would die within hours.

Despite the loss of their general, the British pressed on and entered Quebec City a few days later. In 1760, Sir Jeffrey Amherst struck the killing blow, leading a three-pronged offensive against Montreal. The 3,500 sick and undersupplied French defenders of Montreal were no match against Amherst's 18,000 men, and the city capitulated on 8 September 1760. With the fall of Montreal, all of New France had come under British occupation. Though the Treaty of Paris would not be signed for another three years, the war in North America was effectively over. When the peace was formalized, France ceded control of Canada to Britain. The question of colonial dominance in North America was finally answered – Britain had come out on top. But this victory would prove more costly than Britain had bargained for. The war had put Britain into mountainous debt, which Parliament decided to pass off to the Thirteen Colonies. Resistance to these new taxes would lead to unrest and, ultimately, to the American Revolution.

Marduk: The Great God of Babylon

Sun, 07 Jun 2026 20:59:59 +0600

Marduk was the patron god of Babylon who presided over justice, compassion, healing, regeneration, magic, and fairness, although he is also sometimes referenced as a storm god and agricultural deity. He rose to prominence during the reign of King Hammuabi of Babylon (1792-1750 BCE). His temple, the famous ziggurat described by Greek historian Herodotus, is considered the model for the biblical Tower of Babel.

The Greeks associated him with Zeus and the Romans with Jupiter, as he was known as the Babylonian King of the Gods. He is depicted as a human in royal robes, carrying a snake-dragon and a spade. Marduk seems to have originated from a local deity known as Asarluhi, a farmer's god symbolized by the spade, known as a marru, which continued as part of his iconography.

Marduk's name, however, though linked to the marru, translates as "bull-calf", although he was commonly referred to simply as Bel (Lord). Far from the local deity he sprang from, Marduk would become one of the most prestigious gods of the Mesopotamian pantheon.

Marduk became the most important & powerful god of the Babylonian pantheon & attained a level of worship bordering on monotheism.

He was the son of the god of wisdom Enki (also known as Ea, considered a creator god in some myths), who was also associated with fresh, life-giving water. Marduk's association with Enki is no doubt linked to the earlier regional deity Asarluhi, who had the same relationship and shared many of Marduk's characteristics. Marduk's wife was the fertility goddess Sarpanitu (though in some myths his wife is Nanaya), and their son was Nabu, the patron god of scribes, literacy, and wisdom.

From a regional agricultural deity, Marduk took on increasing significance for the city of Babylon (and later the Assyrian and Neo-Assyrian Empire), finally becoming the most important and powerful god of the Babylonian and wider Mesopotamian pantheon and attaining a level of worship bordering on monotheism. He was regarded as the creator of the heavens and earth, co-creator with Enki of human beings, and originator of divine order following his victory over the forces of chaos led by the goddess Tiamat, as told in the Enuma Elish. Once he legitimized his rule, he conferred upon the other gods their various duties and responsibilities and organized both the world and the netherworld.

Marduk in the Enuma Elish

The Babylonian creation myth, Enuma Elish, tells the story of Marduk's rise to power. In the beginning of time, the universe was undifferentiated swirling chaos, which separated into sweet freshwater, known as Apsu (the male principle), and salty, bitter water, known as Tiamat (the female principle). These two deities then gave birth to the other gods. Tiamat loved her children, but Apsu complained because they were too noisy and kept him up at night while distracting him from his work during the day. Eventually, he decided to kill them, and Tiamat, horrified, told her eldest son, Enki, about the plan. Enki then considered the best possible course of action, put his father into a deep sleep, and killed him.

From Apsu's remains, he created his home, the earth, in the marshy region of Eridu. Tiamat never expected her son to kill his father and so declared war on her children, raising up an army of chaos to assist her. At the head of her forces she placed the god Quingu, her new consort, who was victorious over the younger gods in every battle.

Mesopotamian Epic of Creation Tablet Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin (Copyright)

At this point in the story, Enki and his siblings begin to despair when the young god Marduk steps forward and says he will lead them to victory if they would first proclaim him their king. Once this is accomplished, Marduk defeats Quingu in single combat and then kills Tiamat by shooting her with an arrow that splits her in two; from her eyes flow the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, and from her corpse, Marduk forms the heavens and completes the creation begun by Enki of the earth (in some myths Enki is not mentioned and Marduk is the sole creator of the world).

In consultation with Enki, Marduk then created human beings from the remains of the defeated gods, who had encouraged Tiamat to wage war on her children. The defeated Quingu is executed, and his remains are used to create the first man, Lullu. Marduk then regulates the workings of the world, which includes humanity as co-workers with the gods against the forces of chaos. Henceforth, Marduk decrees, humans will do the work which the gods have no time for, freeing the divine to concentrate on higher purposes and care for human needs. As the gods will care for humans and supply all their needs, humans will respect and heed the will of the gods, and Marduk will reign over all in benevolence.

Marduk's Reign in Babylon

This reign was centered, not in the heavens, but in the temple – the Esagila – in Babylon. Deities in ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, and elsewhere were thought to literally reside in the temple built for them, and this was as true for Marduk as any other deity.

Marduk came to prominence in Babylon during the reign of Hammurabi. Prior to the elevation of Marduk, Inanna – goddess of sexuality and warfare – was the principal deity worshiped in Babylon and elsewhere throughout Mesopotamia; afterwards, although Inanna continued to be widely venerated, Marduk was the supreme deity of the city, and his worship spread as Babylon conquered other regions. Scholar Jeremy Black writes:

The rise of the cult of Marduk is closely connected with the political rise of Babylon from city-state to the capital of an empire. From the Kassite Period, Marduk became more and more important until it was possible for the author of the Babylonian Epic of Creation to maintain that not only was Marduk king of all the gods but that many of the latter were no more than aspects of his persona.

(128)

The golden statue of Marduk, housed in the inner sanctum of his temple, was considered a vital aspect of the coronation of kings. A new king needed to 'take the hands of Marduk' to legitimize his rule, a practice that seems to have been initiated during the Kassite Period (1595-1155 BCE) when the Kassites made Babylon their capital after driving out the Hittites. Some scholars maintain that the new king had to literally take the hands of the statue – and this seems to be corroborated by ancient texts on the subject – while others claim 'taking the hands of Marduk' was a symbolic statement referring to submitting to the guidance of the god. It seems likely, however, based on the ancient written evidence, that the statue needed to be present at the succession of a new ruler and that the king needed to actually touch the statue's hands.

Votive Plaque Dedicating a Property to Nabu's Temple Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin (Copyright)

Marduk Prophecy

The importance of the statue is attested by the ancient work known as The Akitu Chronicle, which relates a time of civil war in which the Akitu festival (New Year's celebration) could not be observed because the statue of Marduk had left the city. On New Year's Day, it was customary for the people to carry the statue of Marduk through the city and out to a little house beyond the walls where he could relax and enjoy some different scenery. During those times when the statue was carried off by hostile nations, the Akitu festival could not be observed because the patron god of the city was not present. Further, disaster was thought imminent when the god was not in the city, as there was no one to stand between the people and the forces of chaos.

This situation is depicted clearly in the document known as The Marduk Prophecy (circa 713-612 BCE, though the story is probably older), which relates Marduk's 'travels' when his statue is stolen from the city during various eras. Scholar Marc van de Mieroop comments:

The absence of the patron deity from his or her city caused great disruption in the cult [of that deity and city in general]. The absence of the divinity was not always metaphorical but often the result of the theft of the cult statue by raiding enemies. Divine statues were commonly carried off in wars by the victors in order to weaken the power of the defeated cities.

The consequences were so dire that the loss of the statue merited recording in the historiographic texts. When Marduk's statue was not present in Babylon, the New Year's festival, crucial to the entire cultic year, could not be celebrated.

(48)

The Marduk Prophecy relates how the Hittites, Assyrians, and Elamites all captured Marduk's statue at one time or another and how it was finally returned to the city when King Nebuchadnezzar I (reign 1121-1100 BCE) defeated the Elamites. The document is written as though Marduk himself chose to visit those foreign lands – except for Elam – and how it was prophesied that a great Babylonian king would rise and bring the god back from the Elamites.

The Marduk Prophecy was most likely written as a propaganda piece during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar I, although the only extant copy is a much later Assyrian copy. This work, as well as the Akitu Chronicle and others, makes clear how vital Marduk's presence in the city was to the people. Without their divine protector, the people felt helpless, knowing that they and their city were left vulnerable to widespread and also personal attacks.

Marduk the Protector

Although Marduk is referenced in a number of works throughout Mesopotamian literature, two of them make especially clear how dangerous life was for a person or city once one's god was absent. The Ludlul-Bel-Nemeqi (circa 1700 BCE) and The Wrath of Erra (circa 800 BCE) treat the individual's problem and a city's suffering, respectively, both making clear the necessity of a protector deity.

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The Ludlul-Bel-Nemeqi is a treatise on suffering, on why a good person should seemingly be punished for no reason, framed as a long complaint by Tabu-utu-bel, an official of the city of Nippur, another city in which Marduk was worshiped. The speaker relates how he has called out for help from his goddess but has not heard back from her. Marduk, from afar, tries to send him help, but nothing can alleviate the suffering. The speaker lists all of the good gifts Marduk tries to help him with, but none of them do any good, and possibly, this is because Marduk is not close at hand.

The Ludlul-Bel-Nemeqi has often been compared to the biblical book of Job in examining the problem of suffering and the seeming absence of one's god. The work never explicitly claims that Marduk has left the person, but it certainly implies that Marduk is 'far off' and can only send what meager help is available.

Stela from Babylonian Marduk Temple Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin (Copyright)

The Wrath of Erra is a very different work in which the war god Erra (also known as Irra or Nergal) becomes bored and falls into a lethargy, which he feels can only be cured by attacking Babylon. He is urged to abandon his plan by other gods, but he ignores them. He travels to Babylon, where he distracts Marduk by telling him that his clothes have become shabby and he should really attend to his wardrobe. Marduk protests that he is too busy, but Erra assures him that all will be well and he, Erra, will watch over the city. Once Marduk leaves to have a new suit of clothes made, Erra destroys the city, killing the people indiscriminately until he is stopped by the other gods and called to account (in some versions, he is stopped by Marduk's return). The piece ends with praise for Erra, god of war, who decided to spare a remnant of the city so it could be repopulated.

Marduk the protector was so important to Babylon's sense of security and personal identity that when the city revolted against Persian rule circa 485 BCE, the Persian king Xerxes I (reign 486-465 BCE) had the statue destroyed when he sacked the city.

After Alexander the Great defeated the Persians of the Achaemenid Empire in 330 BCE, he made Babylon his capital and initiated efforts to restore the city to its former glory, but he died before this could be accomplished. Worship of Marduk declined as the city steadily lost prestige and power. By the time the Parthians ruled the region in 141 BCE, Babylon was a deserted ruin and Marduk had been forgotten.