The most striking tribute, however, that is paid to Marduk in the period of Hammurabi is his gradual assumption of the role played by the old En-lil or Bel of Nippur, once the head of the Babylonian pantheon.

This identification is already foreshadowed in the title _belu rabu_, _i.e._, 'great lord,' which Hammurabi is fond of bestowing upon Marduk.

It is more clearly indicated in an inscription of his son, Samsu-iluna, who represents Bel, 'the king of heaven and earth,' as transferring to Marduk, the 'first-born son of Ea,' rulership over 'the four regions,'-- a phrase that at this time had already assumed a much wider meaning than its original portent.

In the religious literature of this age, which reflects the same tendency, Bel expressly transfers his title 'lord of the lands'[119] to Marduk, while Ea likewise pays homage to his son, declaring that the latter's 'name' shall also be Ea.

The transference of the name, according to Babylonian notions, is equivalent to a transference of power.