We can sum it up as follows: The god Marduk is arrested, led to a mountain, interrogated, wounded, killed. Another character called Son of Assur, is accused of the crime and acquitted. He is released and he is in charge of the custody of the dead god. The goddess Ishtar goes to the mountain and laments; she takes the clothes of Marduk. We evocate the dead god by reciting the poem of creation. Marduk, though dead remains god and he implores his return to life. At last Isthar removes the trait that pierced her husband's heart, she wipes the blood and Marduk resuscitates. During the disappearance of Marduk a ruler of masquerade reigned.
The point of contact with Christian texts are striking. Jesus, too, goes to the mountains; he is arrested, interrogated, killed. Barabbas, son of the Father, a criminal is released. Jesus is derided by the title of king by derision; they take off his clothes; Mary Magdalene comes to her tomb as Ishtar; finally, he resurrects like Marduk.
The reign of the king of the Saceae lasted five days; but five days separate Jesus' entry into Jerusalem from his crucifixion.
Until the time of Diocletian (284-305), more than two and a half centuries after Jesus, the Jews used to crucify and burn an effigy every year, during the Feast of Purim (or Sorts) derived from the Feast of Saceae, a character named Hamman. He was the substitute of Mordecai-Marduk, while the prisoner of the Feast was called Zoganes, like the Sagan of the High Priest.
Some of these parallels made Guignebert say: "... There are between some of these traits and those who are most noticeable in the evangelical scene of derision, striking resemblances. I do not dream of denying it. But whoever says resemblance does not say relation and, in this case, it is the relation of derivation that counts ".
This opinion is questionable. When the similarities exist in large numbers between two legends, the relation exists even if one does not see how it occurred. This clarified, the derivation can, in the present case, be put easily in evidence.
This is the episode of Barabbas. "It was the annual custom, say the gospels, that a prisoner is released to the Jews on the occasion of their Easter" (John 18:39). However, while the critics neglected to mention in this mention the very important reminder of an annual rite, they are unanimous in declaring that this custom was unknown in Palestine and, in particular, in Jerusalem. We are not so sure.
For criticism forgets the essential: this custom existed in Babylon. A criminal was released there every year on the occasion of Marduk, while the man who represented the god was killed in the place of the criminal; in Diocletian's time the victim was replaced by his effigy.
Therefore, the Gospels do not describe a historical event that took place in Jerusalem during a Easter but an episode of the Purim Festival. This holiday is not mentioned in the New Testament, but some critics have assumed that the "feast of the Jews" mentioned in John (5: 1-18) was the Feast of Purim; indeed, the Jews were looking for Jesus to kill him.
If, therefore, the passages concerning Barabbas in our gospels are primitive, they merely translate an annual rite derived from a very ancient myth; if they were interpolated, it is because their author or copyist did not think to distort the original text, which would keep us in the realm of the myth. But many insertions in our texts have definitely distorted the meaning.
(Georges Ory, Le Christ et Jésus, p. 207-208, my free translation)
What is extremely interesting is that Barabbas, as 'Son of Father', finds an analogous character with the enigmatic 'Son of Assur' who would replace Marduk in the role of who is freed just before the Passion of the God.
It is curious that this particular point is escaped to the attention of this poor mythicist:
http://www.bobkwebsite.com/belmythvjesusmyth.htmlp. 32. The tablet, recovered by Germans from excavations in Assyria, refer to a New Year’s festival celebration performed in Assyria which was very similar to a New Year’s festival celebration performed in Babylon. The Babylonian poem, The Epic of Creation, celebrated the Babylonian god, Marduk, and the Babylonian New Year’s festival celebration therefore celebrated also Marduk; but Assyrians substituted their deity, Assur, in place of Marduk.