| Marduk-bēl-zēri | |
| King of Babylon | |
| Reign: | 8th century BC |
| Predecessor: | Ninurta-apla-X |
| Successor: | Marduk-apla-uṣur |
| Royal House: | Dynasty of E (mixed dynasties) |
Marduk-bēl-zēri, inscribed in cuneiform as dAMAR.UTU.EN.NUMUN[1] [2] or mdŠID.EN.[x][3] and meaning 'Marduk (is) lord of descendants (lit. seed)',[4] was one of the kings of Babylon during the turmoil following the Assyrian invasions of Šamši-Adad V (ca. 824 – 811 BC). He is identified on a Synchronistic King List fragment[3] as Marduk-[''bēl'']-x, which gives his place in the sequence and reigned around the beginning of the 8th century BC. He was a rather obscure monarch and the penultimate predecessor of Erība-Marduk who was to restore order after years of chaos.[5]
He is known from a single economic text[1] from the southern city of Udāni dated to his accession year (MU.SAG.NAM.LUGAL). This city was a satellite cultic center to Uruk, of uncertain location but possibly near Marad, later to be known as Udannu, associated with the deities dIGI.DU (the two infernal Nergals) and Bēlet-Eanna (associated with Ištar).[6] The document records the parts of a chariot including the wagon pole (mašaddu) which had been entrusted by Belšunu, the šangû or chief administrator[7] of Udāni to the temple of dIGI.DU (Igišta, Palil?).[4] He is tentatively restored to the Dynastic Chronicle[2] where he is described as "a soldier" (lúaga.[úš]) but his circumstances are otherwise unknown.[8]