In the form of the story, as we have it, this hero is Marduk, but it is quite evident[141] that the honor originally belonged to an entirely different god, one who is much older, and who stands much higher than the god of Babylon.

This was Bel,--the old god of Nippur who was conceived as the god of earth _par excellence_, and to whom therefore the task of preparing the earth for the habitation of mankind properly belonged.

How do the Babylonian theologians, who stand under the influence of the political conditions prevailing in Babylonia after the union of the Babylonian states, reconcile this older and true form of the episode with the form in which they have recast it?
The gods who are called the progenitors of Marduk are represented as rejoicing upon seeing Marduk equipped for the fray.
In chorus they greet and bless him, "Marduk be king." They present him with additional weapons, and encourage him for the contest.

Upon hearing of his success the gods vie with one another in conferring honors upon Marduk.

They bestow all manner of glorious epithets upon him; and, to cap the climax, the old Bel, known as 'father Bel,' steps forward and transfers to him his name, _bel matati_,[142] 'lord of lands.' To bestow the name was equivalent to transferring Bel's powers to Marduk; and so Marduk is henceforth known as _Bel_.