Duku (Dais of Destinies, seat of Lugaldimmeranki in Esagil at Babylon)

Esagil

Duku was the "Dais of Destinies" (Akkadian parak šīmāti) upon which the god Marduk (as Lugaldimmeranki) in Ub­šuk­kin­a (the court of divine assembly), which convened on the eighth and eleventh days of the New Year's festival (Akkadian akītu). This holy seat of Babylon's tutelary god was most likely located inside Esagil (or its complex), since it was on Marduk's processonal route, between his cella in the temple's main building of Esagil and the Processional Way Ay-ibūr-šābû. The Neo-Assyrian king Ashurbanipal (r. 668–ca. 631 BC) and the Neo-Babylonian ruler Nebuchadnezzar II (r. 604–562 BC) worked on this seat of Marduk.

Names and Spellings

The Sumerian ceremonial name of Marduk's seat in Ub­šuk­kin­a (whose full name is Ub­šuk­kin­a-mezuhalhala) means "Pure Mound," which is a cosmic location situated somewhere in the eastern mountains, behind which the sun-god rises each and every day. The full name of Duku is Du­ku­ki­nam­tar­ta­re­de, which translates as "Pure Mound, Where Destinies are Determined." Akkadian parak šīmāti ("Dais of Destinies") is a byname of Duku.

East India House

BM 129397, a large stone tablet that bears a long Akkadian inscription that is now commonly referred to as the "East India House Inscription." The description of Nebuchadnezzar's casting of Duku with gold is recorded in lines ii 54–iii 7. Image adapted from the British Museum Collection website. Credit: Trustees of the British Museum.

Written Forms: du₆-ku₃, du₆-ku₃-ki-nam-tar-tar-e-de₃; du₆-ku₃-ki-nam-tar-tar-re-e-de₃.

Known Builders

Building History

An Akkadian inscription of his written on a large stone tablet (the so-called "East India House Inscription") provides some details on the project. The relevant passage of that text reads:

(As for) Dukukinamtartarede of Ubšukkina, the "Dais of Destinies," in which the god Lugaldimmeranki, the lord, the god, takes up residence during the New Year's festival, (at) the beginning of the year, (on) the eighth day (and on) the eleventh day, (where) the gods of heaven and earth pay reverent attention to him, bow down (and) stand in his presence, in which they (the gods) determine (for me) a fate of long days (and) a fate of (the preservation of) my life, (as for) that dais, the dais of kingship, (and) the dais of supreme power of the wisest of the gods, the prince, the god Marduk, whose structure a king of the past had cast with silver, I had it clad with bright gold (and) ornaments (imbued with) brilliance.

It is unclear if Nebuchadnezzar had the entire structure of Duku recast with bricks made of gold — just like how Ashurbanipal, the last great king of Assyria, created Marduk's throne-dais in his cella Eumuša — or if he simply had it plated with metal. As to the identity of the "king of the past" mentioned in this inscription, the most likely candidate is probably Ashurbanipal because a badly damaged inscription of his preserves the very beginning of a description of his rebuilding of Duku. It is not impossible that Esarhaddon (r. 680–669 BC), Ashurbanipal's father, also worked on this "Dais of Destinies" since that Neo-Assyrian king sponsored a great deal of work on Esagil and it known to have built a Dais of Destinies" for the god Nabû (Marduk's son) at Borsippa.

Archaeological Remains

Duku has not yet been positively identified in the archaeological record. It was located somewhere between Marduk's seat (probably called Tiamat) in his cella Eumuša and Kasikila, the main gate of the Esagil complex, at the Processional Way Ay-ibūr-šābû. Although the "Dais of Destinies" was located in Ubšukkina (the court of divine assembly), it is not certain if that divine meeting place (which was used on the eighth and eleventh days of the New Year's festival) was in the Court of Bēl (the central courtyard of the main part of Esagil) or in courtyard of the eastern annex building. At present, the issue cannot be resolved with absolute certainty, given the lack for firm evidence.

Further Reading

Banner image: areal photograph of the excavation pits and trenches in the area of the remains of Esagil and Etemenanki taken in 1923 (left); a reconstruction of Esagil and Etemenanki during the reign of the Neo-Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II (center); a plan of Esagil, and Etemenanki (right). Images from O. Pedersén, Babylon: The Great City, pp. 144–145 figs. 4.3–4.4 and p. 151 fig. 4.11.

Jamie Novotny

Jamie Novotny, 'Duku (Dais of Destinies, seat of Lugaldimmeranki in Esagil at Babylon)', Babylonian Temples and Monumental Architecture online (BTMAo), The BTMAo Project, a sub-project of MOCCI, [http://oracc.org/btmao/Babylon/TemplesandZiggurat/Esagil/RoomsandGates/Duku/]

 
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