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{{Infobox person | name =Hammurabi

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'''Hammurabi''' ([[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] from [[Amorite language|Amorite]] ''ʻAmmurāpi'', "the kinsman is a healer", from ''ʻAmmu'', "paternal kinsman", and ''Rāpi'', "healer"; died c. 1750 BC) was the sixth [[Amorite]] king of [[Babylon]] (that is, of the [[First Babylonian Dynasty]], the Amorite Dynasty) from 1792 BC to 1750 BC [[middle chronology]] (1728 BC – 1686 BC [[short chronology]]<ref>See Arnold 2006, [http://books.google.com/books?id=nAemO6HmOgYC&pg=PA9#v=onepage&q=1792&f=false p. vii]. His date of birth is around 1810 BC, see for example, Van De Mieroop 2005, [http://books.google.com/books?id=GDr49Nd0jh4C&pg=PA1 p. 1].</ref>). He became the first king of the [[Babylonia|Babylonian Empire]] n Empire following the abdication of his father, [[Sin-Muballit]], who had become very ill and died, extending Babylon's control over [[Mesopotamia]] by winning a series of wars against neighboring kingdoms.<ref>{{cite book | last = Beck | first = Roger B. | authorlink = | coauthors = Linda Black, Larry S. Krieger, Phillip C. Naylor, Dahia Ibo Shabaka, | title = World History: Patterns of Interaction | publisher = McDougal Littell | year = 1999 | location = Evanston, IL | pages = | url = | doi = | id = | isbn = 0-395-87274-X | oclc = 39762695 }}</ref> Although his empire controlled all of Mesopotamia at the time of his death, his successors were unable to maintain his empire.

==Reign and conquests==

Hammurabi was an [[Amorite]] [[First Babylonian Dynasty|First Dynasty]] king of the [[city-state]] of Babylon, and inherited the power from his father, [[Sin-Muballit]], in c. 1792 BC.<ref>{{harvnb|Van De Mieroop|2005|p= 1}}</ref> Babylon was one of the many largely Amorite ruled city-states that dotted the central and southern Mesopotamian plains and waged war on each other for control of fertile [[agriculture|agricultural]] land.<ref>{{harvnb|Van De Mieroop |2005|pp=1–2}}</ref> Though many cultures co-existed in Mesopotamia, Babylonian culture gained a degree of prominence among the [[literacy|literate]] classes throughout the [[Middle East]] under Hammurabi.<ref name="VM3">{{harvnb|Van De Mieroop|2005|p=3}}</ref> The kings who came before Hammurabi had founded a relatively minor City State in 1894 BC which controlled little territory outside of the city itself. Babylon was overshadowed by older, larger and more powerful kingdoms such as [[Elam]], [[Assyria]], [[Isin]], [[Eshnunna]] and [[Larsa]] for a century or so after its founding. However his father [[Sin-Muballit]] had begun to consolidate rule of a small area of south central Mesopotamia under Babylonian [[hegemony]] and, by the time of his reign, had conquered the minor city-states of [[Borsippa]], [[Kish (Sumer)|Kish]], and [[Sippar]].<ref name="VM3"/>

Vast numbers of contract [[Clay tablet|tablettablets]]s, dated to the reigns of Hammurabi and his successors, have been discovered, as well as 55 of his own letters.<ref>{{harvnb|Breasted|2003|p=129}}</ref> These letters give a glimpse into the daily trials of ruling an empire, from dealing with floods and mandating changes to a flawed [[calendar]], to taking care of Babylon's massive herds of livestock.<ref>{{harvnb|Breasted|2003|pp=129–130}}</ref> Hammurabi died and passed the reins of the empire on to his son [[Samsu-iluna]] in c. 1750 BC, under whose rule the Babylonian empire began to quickly unravel.<ref>{{harvnb|Arnold|2005|p=42}}</ref>

==Code of laws==

:(Text taken from Harper's translation, [[wikisources:The Code of Hammurabi (Harper translation)|readable on wikisource]])* §&nbsp;8 – If any one steal cattle or sheep, or an ass, or a pig or a goat, if it belong to a god or to the court, the thief shall pay thirtyfold therefor; if they belonged to a freed man of the king he shall pay tenfold; if the thief has nothing with which to pay he shall be put to death.* §&nbsp;21 – If a man make a breach in a house, they shall put him to death in front of that breach and they shall thrust him therein.* §&nbsp;55 – If a man open his canal for irrigation and neglect it and the water carry away an adjacent field, he shall measure out grain on the basis of the adjacent fields.* §&nbsp;59 – If a man cut down a tree in a man's orchard, without the consent of the owner of the orchard, he shall pay one-half ''mina'' of silver.* §&nbsp;168 – If a man set his face to disinherit his son and say to the judges: "I will disinherit my son," the judges shall inquire into his antecedents, and if the son have not committed a crime sufficiently grave to cut him off from sonship, the father may not cut off his son from sonship.* §&nbsp;169 – If he have committed a crime against his father sufficiently grave to cut him off from sonship, they shall condone his first (offense). If he commit a crime a second time, the father may cut off his son from sonship.* §&nbsp;195 – If a son strike his father, they shall cut off his fingers.* §&nbsp;196-201 – If a man destroy the eye of another man, they shall destroy his eye. If one break a man's bone, they shall break his bone. If one destroy the eye of a freeman or break the bone of a freeman he shall pay one ''mana'' of silver. If one destroy the eye of a man's slave or break a bone of a man's slave he shall pay one-half his price. If a man knock out a tooth of a man of his own rank, they shall knock out his tooth. If one knock out a tooth of a freeman, he shall pay one-third ''mana'' of silver.* §&nbsp;218-219 – If a physician operate on a man for a severe wound with a bronze lancet and cause that man's death; or open an abscess (in the eye) of a man with a bronze lancet and destroy the man's eye, they shall cut off his fingers. If a physician operate on a slave of a freeman for a severe wound with a bronze lancet and cause his death, he shall restore a slave of equal value.* §&nbsp;229-232 – If a builder build a house for a man and do not make its construction firm, and the house which he has built collapse and cause the death of the owner of the house, that builder shall be put to death. If it cause the death of a son of the owner of the house, they shall put to death a son of that builder. If it cause the death of a slave of the owner of the house, he shall give the owner of the house a slave of equal value. If it destroy property, he shall restore whatever it destroyed, and because he did not make the house which he built firm and it collapsed, he shall rebuild the house which collapsed from his own property (i.e., at his own expense).

*§59 - If a man cut down a tree in a man's orchard, without the consent of the owner of the orchard, he shall pay one-half ''mina'' of silver.*§55 - If a man open his canal for irrigation and neglect it and the water carry away an adjacent field, he shall measure out grain on the basis of the adjacent fields.*§168 - If a man set his face to disinherit his son and say to the judges: "I will disinherit my son," the judges shall inquire into his antecedents, and if the son have not committed a crime sufficiently grave to cut him off from sonship, the father may not cut off his son from sonship.*§169 - If he have committed a crime against his father sufficiently grave to cut him off from sonship, they shall condone his first (offense). If he commit a crime a second time, the father may cut off his son from sonship.*§8 - If any one steal cattle or sheep, or an ass, or a pig or a goat, if it belong to a god or to the court, the thief shall pay thirtyfold therefor; if they belonged to a freed man of the king he shall pay tenfold; if the thief has nothing with which to pay he shall be put to death. *§196-201 - If a man destroy the eye of another man, they shall destroy his eye. If one break a man's bone, they shall break his bone. If one destroy the eye of a freeman or break the bone of a freeman he shall pay one ''mana'' of silver. If one destroy the eye of a man's slave or break a bone of a man's slave he shall pay one-half his price. If a man knock out a tooth of a man of his own rank, they shall knock out his tooth. If one knock out a tooth of a freeman, he shall pay one-third ''mana'' of silver.*§218-219 - If a physician operate on a man for a severe wound with a bronze lancet and cause that man's death; or open an abscess (in the eye) of a man with a bronze lancet and destroy the man's eye, they shall cut off his fingers. If a physician operate on a slave of a freeman for a severe wound with a bronze lancet and cause his death, he shall restore a slave of equal value.*§229-232 - If a builder build a house for a man and do not make its construction firm, and the house which he has built collapse and cause the death of the owner of the house, that builder shall be put to death. If it cause the death of a son of the owner of the house, they shall put to death a son of that builder. If it cause the death of a slave of the owner of the house, he shall give the owner of the house a slave of equal value. If it destroy property, he shall restore whatever it destroyed, and because he did not make the house which he built firm and it collapsed, he shall rebuild the house which collapsed from his own property (i.e., at his own expense).*§21 - If a man make a breach in a house, they shall put him to death in front of that breach and they shall thrust him therein.*§195 - If a son strike his father, they shall cut off his fingers. ==Legacy and depictions==

Under the rule of Hammurabi's successor [[Samsu-iluna]], the short-lived Babylonian Empire began to collapse. In northern Mesopotamia, both the Amorites and Babylonians were driven from [[Assyria]] by [[Puzur-Sin]] a native [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]]-speaking ruler, circa 1740 BC. Around the same time, native Akkadian speakers threw off Amorite Babylonian rule in the far south of Mesopotamia, creating the [[Sealand Dynasty]], in more or less the region of ancient Sumer. Hammurabi's ineffectual successors met with further defeats and loss of territory at the hands of Assyrian kings such as [[Adasi]] and [[Bel-ibni]], as well as to the Sealand Dynasty to the south, [[Elam]] to the east, and to the [[Kassites]] from the northeast. Thus was Babylon quickly reduced to the small and minor state it had once been upon its founding.<ref>Georges Roux - – Ancient Iraq</ref> The ''coup de grace'' for the Hammurabi's Amorite Dynasty occurred in 1595 BC, when Babylon was sacked and conquered by the powerful [[Hittite Empire]], thereby ending all Amorite political presence in Mesopotamia.<ref name="D19">{{harvnb|DeBlois|1997|p=19}}</ref> However, the Indo-European-speaking Hittites did not remain, turning over Babylon to their [[Kassite]] allies, a people speaking a [[language isolate]], from the [[Zagros mountains]] region. This [[Kassite Dynasty]] was to rule Babylon for over 400 years, adopting parts of the Babylonian [[culture]], including Hammurabi's code of laws.

==See also==

*[[Babylonian law]]*[[Cuneiform law]]*[[Short chronology timeline]]*[[Manusmriti]]

==Notes==

==References==*{{Cite cite book|first=Bill T.|last=Arnold|year=2005|title=Who Were the Babylonians?|publisher=[[Brill Publishers]]|isbn=90-04-13071-3|oclc=225281611|ref=harv}}.*{{Cite cite book|first=James Henry|last=Breasted|year=2003|title=Ancient Time or a History of the Early World, Part 1|publisher=Kessinger Publishing|isbn=0-7661-4946-3|oclc=69651827|ref=harv}}.*{{Cite cite book|first=Lukas|last=DeBlois|year=1997|title=An Introduction to the Ancient World|publisher=[[Routledge]]|isbn=0-415-12773-4|oclc=231710353|ref=harv}}.*{{Cite cite book|first=Marc|last=Van De Mieroop|year=2005|title=King Hammurabi of Babylon: A Biography|publisher=[[Blackwell Publishing]]|isbn=1-4051-2660-4|oclc=255676990|ref=harv}}

==Further reading==*{{Cite cite book|last=Finet|first=André |title=Le trone et la rue en Mésopotamie: L'exaltation du roi et les techniques de l'opposition, in La voix de l'opposition en Mésopotamie|year=1973|publisher=Institut des Hautes Études de Belgique|location=Bruxelles|oclc=652257981}}*{{cite journal|last=Jacobsen|first=Th.|title=Primitive democracy in Ancient Mesopotomia|journal=Journal of Near Eastern Studies|year=1943|volume=2|pages=159–172|doi=10.1086/370672|issue=3}}*{{cite journal|last=Finkelstein|first=J. J.|title=The Genealogy of the Hammurabi Dynasty|journal=Journal of Cuneiform Studies|year=1966|volume=20|pages=95–118|doi=10.2307/1359643|issue=3}}*{{cite book|last=Hammurabi|title=The Babylonian Laws|year=1952|publisher=Clarendon Press|location=Oxford|editor1-last=Driver|editor1-first=G.R.|editor2-last=Miles|editor2-first=John C.}}*{{cite book|last=Leemans|first=W. F.|title=The Old Babylonian Merchant: His Business and His Social Position|year=1950|publisher=Brill|location=Leiden}}*{{cite journal|last=Munn-Rankin|first=J. M.|title=Diplomacy in Western Asia in the Early Second Millennium BC|journal=Iraq|year=1956|volume=18|pages=68–110|doi=10.2307/4199599|issue=1}}*{{cite book|last=Pallis|first=S. A.|title=The Antiquity of Iraq: A Handbook of Assyriology|year=1956|publisher=Ejnar Munksgaard|location=Copenhagen}}*{{cite book|last=Richardson|first=M.E.J.|title=Hammurabi's laws : text, translation and glossary|year=2000|publisher=Sheffield Acad. Press|location=Sheffield|isbn=1-84127-030-X}}*{{cite book|last=Saggs|first=H.W.F.|title=The greatness that was Babylon : a survey of the ancient civilization of the Tigris-Euphrates Valley|year=1988|publisher=Sidgwick & Jackson|location=London|isbn=0-283-99623-4}}*{{cite book|last=Yoffee|first=Norman|title=The economic role of the crown in the old Babylonian period|year=1977|publisher=Undena Publications|location=Malibu, CA|isbn=0-89003-021-9}}<<

==External links==

{{commonsCommons}}

{{s-bef|before = [[Sin-muballit]]}} {{s-ttl|title = [[Kings of Babylon]]|years =}}

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