It is doubtful whether any phonetic representative of Merodach has been found on the monuments; if so, the pronunciation should, apparently, be _Amardak,_ whence we might derive the Amordacia of Ptolemy.
The titles and attributes of Merodach are of more than usual vagueness.
In the most ancient monuments which mention him, he seems to be called "the old man of the gods," and "the judge;" he also certainly has the gates, which in early times were the seats of justice, under his special protection.

Thus he would seem to be the god of justice and judgment--an idea which may have given rise to the Hebrew name of the planet Jupiter, viz.

_sedek,_ "justitia." Bel-Merodach was worshipped in the early Chaldaean kingdom, as appears from the Tel-Sifr tablets.

He was probably from a very remote time the tutelary god of the city of Babylon; and hence, as that city grew into importance, the worship of Merodach became more prominent.

The Assyrian monarchs always especially associate Babylon with this god; and in the later Babylonian empire he becomes by far the chief object of worship.