The Retrieval of Marduk’s Statue by Nebuchadnezzar I

A Historical Reappraisal

Bibliographic Data

ID19488111
AuthorsYuval Darabi (0000-0002-1493-1856, Bar-Ilan University, corresponding author)
Year2026
Volume13
Issue1
Pages1-21
Publication date2026-05-26
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Ancient Near Eastern History (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2328-9554 • E-ISSN: 2328-9562
PublisherWalter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1515/janeh-2025-0018
OpenAlexW7162647935
LanguageEN
References cited33

This study questions the historicity of Marduk’s return to Babylon during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar I, an event of comparable significance in modern Assyriology to its importance in ancient Mesopotamia. The paper surveys the sources pertaining to Nebuchadnezzar I’s military campaign against Elam and the retrieval of Marduk’s statue, differentiating – primarily following Nielsen’s methodology – between primary and secondary sources. The survey and examination of available evidence leads to the conclusion that Nebuchadnezzar I’s retrieval of the statue of Marduk is far less firmly grounded in primary sources than generally assumed. Consequently, the possibility cannot be ruled out that this tradition, attested predominantly in literary sources preserved in first-millennium manuscripts, is neither historical nor contemporaneous with Nebuchadnezzar I, but rather represents a later construct that originated in subsequent periods

Construct (python library) · Historicity (philosophy) · Reign · Statue · Verisimilitude · Ancient Near East History · Eurasian Exchange Networks · History and Cultural Heritage

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