receive high consideration.

+757+. Enlil, the god of Nippur, had a similar career; originally local,
he became supreme. A peculiar feature of his history is the fact that
the title Bel, 'lord' (which is the Semitic equivalent of the
non-Semitic Enlil), clung to him in a peculiar way and practically
ousted the original name. This title was assigned to various gods (so in
Canaan the title Baal), and its special appropriation by the god of
Nippur must be referred to the preponderant importance of that city in
the period before the rise of Babylon. In the Babylonian system he is
lord of the lower world, that is, apparently, the divine king of the
earth; his original domain, the district of Nippur, was extended to
embrace the whole world--a sort of extension that was common in all
ancient religions. His importance is evident from the fact that he was a
member of the early triad, Anu, Bel, Ea, names that have been supposed
to represent three divisions of the world into heaven, earth, and ocean.
It seems probable, however, that this triadic grouping was the work of
relatively late constructionists; it is more likely that the original
prominence of these three deities was due to the fact that they
represented the more important political communities.[1305]

+758+. A particularly good illustration of the dependence of a god's
position on the political position of his region is furnished by the god
Marduk, a name the meaning of which is uncertain. He is first clearly
mentioned in the inscriptions of Hammurabi (ca. 2000 B.C.), but
mentioned in such a way that his cult must go back to a much earlier
time. From the devotion paid him by Hammurabi, and much later by
Nebuchadrezzar II (sixth century B.C.), it is generally assumed that he
was the local god of Babylon. He rose with the fortunes of this city,
finally becoming supreme: he was regarded as creator, and invested with
all the highest functions; in the later astronomical constructions he is
represented as the arranger of the zodiacal system and all that was
connected with it, but, as is pointed out above, this is no ground for
regarding him as having been originally a sun-god. A glimpse into the
method of theological reconstruction is afforded by the representation
in the cosmogonic epic where he is invested with supreme power by the
older gods--this investiture is with probability regarded by
Assyriologists as representing the leadership attained by the city of
Babylon (ca.