Difference between revisions of "Hammurabi"
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+ | {{redirect|Hamurabi|the video game|Hamurabi (video game)}} | ||
{{Other uses}} | {{Other uses}} | ||
{{distinguish|Ammurapi}} | {{distinguish|Ammurapi}} | ||
+ | {{pp-vandalism|expiry=15:52, 22 March 2018|small=yes}} | ||
{{Infobox person | {{Infobox person | ||
| name =Hammurabi | | name =Hammurabi | ||
− | | image = | + | | image =F0182 Louvre Code Hammourabi Bas-relief Sb8 rwk.jpg |
− | | image_size = | + | | image_size =235px |
− | | caption =Hammurabi (standing), depicted as receiving his royal insignia from [[Shamash]]. Hammurabi holds his hands over his mouth as a sign of prayer<ref>Ancient Iraq | + | | caption =Hammurabi (standing), depicted as receiving his royal insignia from [[Shamash]] (or possibly [[Marduk]]). Hammurabi holds his hands over his mouth as a sign of prayer<ref>{{cite |title=Ancient Iraq |first=Georges |last=Roux |author-link=Georges Roux |chapter=The Time of Confusion |page=266 |url=https://books.google.es/books?id=klZX8B_RzzYC&pg=PA266 |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |isbn=9780141938257}}</ref> (relief on the upper part of the stele of [[code of Hammurabi|Hammurabi's code of laws]]). |
− | | birth_date = | + | | birth_date = c. 1810 BC |
− | | birth_place = | + | | birth_place = Babylon |
− | | death_date = 1750 BC [[middle chronology]] | + | | death_date = 1750 BC [[middle chronology]] <small>(modern-day [[Jordan]] and [[Syria]])</small><BR>(aged c. 60) |
| death_place = Babylon | | death_place = Babylon | ||
| death_cause = | | death_cause = | ||
Line 17: | Line 19: | ||
| predecessor = [[Sin-Muballit]] | | predecessor = [[Sin-Muballit]] | ||
| successor = [[Samsu-iluna]] | | successor = [[Samsu-iluna]] | ||
− | |||
| children = [[Samsu-iluna]] | | children = [[Samsu-iluna]] | ||
}} | }} | ||
− | '''Hammurabi''' | + | '''Hammurabi'''{{efn|[[Akkadian language|Akkadian]]: {{script|Xsux|𒄩𒄠𒈬𒊏𒁉}} ''Ḫa-am-mu-ra-bi'', from the [[Amorite language|Amorite]] ''ʻAmmurāpi'' ("the kinsman is a healer"), itself from ''ʻAmmu'' ("paternal kinsman") and ''Rāpi'' ("healer")}} ({{circa|1810 BC|1750 BC}}) was the sixth king of the [[First Babylonian Dynasty]], reigning from 1792 BC to 1750 BC (according to the [[Middle Chronology]]). He was preceded by his father, [[Sin-Muballit]], who abdicated due to failing health. During his reign, he conquered the city-states of [[Elam]], [[Larsa]], [[Eshnunna]], and [[Mari, Syria|Mari]]. He ousted [[Ishme-Dagan I]], the king of [[Assyria]], and forced his son [[Mut-Ashkur]] to pay tribute, thereby bringing almost all of [[Mesopotamia]] under Babylonian rule.<ref>{{cite book |first=Roger B. |last=Beck |first2=Linda |last2=Black |first3=Larry S. |last3=Krieger |first4=Phillip C. |last4=Naylor |first5=Dahia Ibo |last5=Shabaka |title=World History: Patterns of Interaction |url=https://books.google.es/books?id=pQRlSAAACAAJ |publisher=[[McDougal Littell]] |year=1999 |location=Evanston, IL |isbn=0-395-87274-X |oclc=39762695}}</ref> |
− | Hammurabi is known for the | + | |
+ | Hammurabi is best known for having issued the [[Code of Hammurabi]], which he claimed to have received from [[Shamash]], the Babylonian god of justice. Unlike earlier [[Sumer]]ian law codes, such as the [[Code of Ur-Nammu]], which had focused on compensating the victim of the crime, the Law of Hammurabi was one of the first law codes to place greater emphasis on the physical punishment of the perpetrator. It proscribed specific penalties for each crime and is among the first codes to establish the [[presumption of innocence]]. Although its penalties are extremely harsh by modern standards, they were intended to limit what a wronged person was permitted to do in [[Retributive justice|retribution]]. The Code of Hammurabi and the [[Law of Moses]] in the [[Torah]] contain numerous similarities, but these are probably due to shared background and oral tradition, and it is unlikely that Hammurabi's laws exerted any direct impact on the later Mosaic ones. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Hammurabi was seen by many as a god within his own lifetime. After his death, Hammurabi was revered as a great conqueror who spread civilization and forced all peoples to pay obeisance to [[Marduk]], the [[national god]] of the Babylonians. Later, his military accomplishments became de-emphasized and his role as the ideal lawgiver became the primary aspect of his legacy. For later Mesopotamians, Hammurabi's reign became the frame of reference for all events occurring in the distant past. Even after the empire he built collapsed, he was still revered as a model ruler, and many kings across the Near East claimed him as an ancestor. Hammurabi was rediscovered by archaeologists in the late nineteenth century and has since become seen as an important figure in the history of law. | ||
== Reign and conquests == | == Reign and conquests == | ||
− | [[File:Hammurabi's Babylonia 1.svg|thumb| | + | [[File:Hammurabi's Babylonia 1.svg|thumb|left|Map showing the Babylonian territory upon Hammurabi's ascension in {{circa|1792 BC}} and upon his death in {{circa|1750 BC}}]] |
− | + | 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 {{circa|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" /> | |
− | 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 | + | |
− | Thus Hammurabi ascended to the throne as the king of a minor kingdom in the midst of a complex [[geopolitics|geopolitical]] situation. The powerful kingdom of [[Eshnunna]] controlled the upper Tigris River while [[Larsa]] controlled the river delta. | + | Thus Hammurabi ascended to the throne as the king of a minor kingdom in the midst of a complex [[geopolitics|geopolitical]] situation. The powerful kingdom of [[Eshnunna]] controlled the upper Tigris River while [[Larsa]] controlled the river delta. To the east of Mesopotamia lay the powerful kingdom of [[Elam]] which regularly invaded and forced tribute upon the small states of southern Mesopotamia. In northern Mesopotamia, the [[Assyria]]n king [[Shamshi-Adad I]], who had already inherited centuries old Assyrian colonies in [[Asia Minor]], had expanded his territory into the [[Levant]] and central [[Mesopotamia]],<ref>{{harvnb|Van De Mieroop|2005|pp=3–4}}</ref> although his untimely death would somewhat fragment his empire.<ref>{{harvnb|Van De Mieroop|2005|p=16}}</ref> |
− | The first few decades of Hammurabi's reign were quite peaceful. | + | The first few decades of Hammurabi's reign were quite peaceful. Hammurabi used his power to undertake a series of public works, including heightening the city walls for defensive purposes, and expanding the temples.<ref>{{harvnb|Arnold|2005|p=43}}</ref> In {{circa|1801 BC}}, the powerful kingdom of Elam, which straddled important trade routes across the [[Zagros Mountains]], invaded the Mesopotamian plain.<ref>{{harvnb|Van De Mieroop|2005|pp=15–16}}</ref> With allies among the plain states, Elam attacked and destroyed the kingdom of Eshnunna, destroying a number of cities and imposing its rule on portions of the plain for the first time.<ref>{{harvnb|Van De Mieroop|2005|p=17}}</ref> |
− | + | {{multiple image | |
+ | | align = right | ||
+ | | direction = horizontal | ||
+ | | header = | ||
+ | | width = | ||
+ | <!-- Image 1 --> | ||
+ | | image1 = King Hammurabi raises his right arm in worship. Detail of a votive monument. Limestone. Circa 1792-1750 BCE. From Sippar, Iraq. The British Museum, London.jpg | ||
+ | | width1 = 213 | ||
+ | | alt1 = | ||
+ | | caption1 = Detail of a [[limestone]] votive monument from Sippar, Iraq, dating to {{circa|1792|1750 BC}} showing King Hammurabi raising his right arm in worship, now held in the [[British Museum]] | ||
+ | <!-- Image 2 --> | ||
+ | | image2 = Royal portrait - Hamurabi - King of Babylon -1900 before JC -.JPG | ||
+ | | width2 = 180 | ||
+ | | alt2 = | ||
+ | | caption2 = This bust, known as the "Head of Hammurabi", is now thought to predate Hammurabi by a few hundred years<ref>{{cite web|last=Claire|first=Iselin|url=http://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/royal-head-known-head-hammurabi|title=Royal head, known as the "Head of Hammurabi"|publisher=[[Musée du Louvre]]|ref=harv}}</ref> (''[[Louvre]]'') | ||
+ | }} | ||
− | + | In order to consolidate its position, Elam tried to start a war between Hammurabi's Babylonian kingdom and the kingdom of Larsa.<ref name="VM18">{{harvnb|Van De Mieroop|2005|p=18}}</ref> Hammurabi and the king of Larsa made an alliance when they discovered this duplicity and were able to crush the Elamites, although Larsa did not contribute greatly to the military effort.<ref name="VM18" /> Angered by Larsa's failure to come to his aid, Hammurabi turned on that southern power, thus gaining control of the entirety of the lower Mesopotamian plain by {{circa|1763 BC}}.<ref name="VM31">{{harvnb|Van De Mieroop|2005|p=31}}</ref> | |
− | + | As Hammurabi was assisted during the war in the south by his allies from the north such as [[Yamhad]] and [[Mari, Syria|Mari]], the absence of soldiers in the north led to unrest.<ref name="VM31" /> Continuing his expansion, Hammurabi turned his attention northward, quelling the unrest and soon after crushing Eshnunna.<ref>{{harvnb|Van De Mieroop|2005|pp=40–41}}</ref> Next the Babylonian armies conquered the remaining northern states, including Babylon's former ally Mari, although it is possible that the conquest of Mari was a surrender without any actual conflict.<ref>{{harvnb|Van De Mieroop|2005|pp=54–55}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Van De Mieroop|2005|pp= 64–65}}</ref><ref name="Ar45">{{harvnb|Arnold|2005|p=45}}</ref> | |
− | Vast numbers of contract [[Clay tablet|tablets]], 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 | + | Hammurabi entered into a protracted war with [[Ishme-Dagan I]] of Assyria for control of Mesopotamia, with both kings making alliances with minor states in order to gain the upper hand. Eventually Hammurabi prevailed, ousting Ishme-Dagan I just before his own death. [[Mut-Ashkur]], the new king of Assyria, was forced to pay tribute to Hammurabi. |
+ | |||
+ | In just a few years, Hammurabi succeeded in uniting all of Mesopotamia under his rule.<ref name="Ar45" /> The Assyrian kingdom survived but was forced to pay tribute during his reign, and of the major city-states in the region, only [[Yamhad|Aleppo]] and [[Qatna]] to the west in the [[Levant]] maintained their independence.<ref name="Ar45" /> However, one stele of Hammurabi has been found as far north as [[Diyarbekir]], where he claims the title "King of the Amorites".<ref>{{cite book |title=The Empire of the Amorites |last=Clay |first=Albert Tobias |author-link=Albert Tobias Clay |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |year=1919 |page=97 |url=https://archive.org/details/empireofamorites00clayuoft}}</ref> | ||
+ | |||
+ | Vast numbers of contract [[Clay tablet|tablets]], 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 {{circa|1750 BC}}, under whose rule the Babylonian empire began to quickly unravel.<ref>{{harvnb|Arnold|2005|p=42}}</ref> | ||
== Code of laws == | == Code of laws == | ||
{{Main|Code of Hammurabi}} | {{Main|Code of Hammurabi}} | ||
− | [[File:P1050763 Louvre code Hammurabi face rwk.JPG|thumb|[[Code of Hammurabi]] stele. [[The Louvre|Louvre Museum]], Paris]] | + | [[File:P1050763 Louvre code Hammurabi face rwk.JPG|thumb|upright=1|[[Code of Hammurabi]] stele. [[The Louvre|Louvre Museum]], Paris]] |
− | Hammurabi is | + | The Code of Hammurabi is not the earliest surviving law code;<ref name="Davies2003">{{cite book|title=Codes of Hammurabi and Moses|author=Davies, W. W.|publisher=Kessinger Publishing|date=January 2003|isbn=0-7661-3124-6|oclc=227972329}}</ref> it is predated by the [[Code of Ur-Nammu]], the [[Laws of Eshnunna]], and the [[Lipit-Ishtar|Code of Lipit-Ishtar]].<ref name="Davies2003"/> Nonetheless, the Code of Hammurabi shows marked differences from these earlier law codes and ultimately proved more influential.<ref name="Breasted2003"/><ref name="Bertman2003"/><ref name="Davies2003"/> |
− | The | + | The Code of Hammurabi was inscribed on a [[stele]] and placed in a public place so that all could see it, although it is thought that few were literate. The stele was later plundered by the Elamites and removed to their capital, [[Susa]]; it was rediscovered there in 1901 in [[Iran]] and is now in the [[Louvre Museum]] in [[Paris]]. The code of Hammurabi contains 282 laws, written by [[scribe]]s on 12 tablets. Unlike earlier laws, it was written in [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]], the daily language of Babylon, and could therefore be read by any literate person in the city.<ref name="Breasted2003">{{harvnb|Breasted|2003|p=141}}</ref> Earlier Sumerian law codes had focused on compensating the victim of the crime,<ref name="Bertman2003">{{cite book|last1=Bertman|first1=Stephen|title=Handbook to Life in Ancient Mesopotamia|date=2003|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford, England|isbn=978-019-518364-1|page=71|url=https://books.google.com/?id=1C4NKp4zgIQC&pg=PA71&dq=adultery+in+ancient+Sumer#v=onepage&q=adultery%20in%20ancient%20Sumer&f=false|ref=harv}}</ref> but the Code of Hammurabi instead focused on physically punishing the perpetrator.<ref name="Bertman2003"/> The Code of Hammurabi was one of the first law code to place restrictions on what a wronged person was allowed to do in [[Retributive justice|retribution]].<ref name="Bertman2003"/> |
− | + | The structure of the code is very specific, with each offense receiving a specified punishment. The punishments tended to be very harsh by modern standards, with many offenses resulting in death, disfigurement, or the use of the "[[Eye for an Eye|Eye for eye, tooth for tooth]]" ([[An eye for an eye|Lex Talionis]] "Law of Retaliation") philosophy.<ref>[https://www.jstor.org/stable/3153895 "Review: The Code of Hammurabi," J. Dyneley Prince, ''The American Journal of Theology'' Vol. 8, No. 3 (Jul., 1904), pp. 601–609 Published by: The University of Chicago Press]</ref><ref name="Bertman2003"/> The code is also one of the earliest examples of the idea of [[presumption of innocence]], and it also suggests that the accused and accuser have the opportunity to provide [[evidence]].<ref>''Victimology: Theories and Applications'', Ann Wolbert Burgess, Albert R. Roberts, Cheryl Regehr, Jones & Bartlett Learning, 2009, p. 103</ref> However, there is no provision for [[extenuating circumstances]] to alter the prescribed punishment. | |
− | + | A carving at the top of the stele portrays Hammurabi receiving the laws from [[Shamash]], the Babylonian god of justice,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kleiner|first1=Fred S.|title=Gardner's Art through the Ages: The Western Perspective|date=2010|publisher=Wadsworth Cengage Learning|location=Boston, Massachusetts|isbn=978-0-495-57360-9|volume=1|page=29|edition=Thirteenth|url=https://books.google.com/?id=mBrvazPDFoYC&pg=PT61&dq=Hammurabi+code+Shamash#v=onepage&q=Hammurabi%20code%20Shamash&f=false|ref=harv}}</ref> and the preface states that Hammurabi was chosen by Shamash to bring the laws to the people.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Smith|first1=J. M. Powis|title=The Origin and History of Hebrew Law|date=2005|publisher=The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd.|location=Clark, New Jersey|isbn=978-1-58477-489-1|page=13|url=https://books.google.com/?id=NNgR7RjfSs0C&pg=PA12&dq=Hammurabi+code+Shamash#v=onepage&q=Hammurabi%20code%20Shamash&f=false|ref=harv}}</ref> Parallels between this narrative and the giving of the [[Covenant Code]] to [[Moses]] by [[Yahweh]] atop [[Biblical Mount Sinai|Mount Sinai]] in the [[Bible|Biblical]] [[Book of Exodus]] and similarities between the two legal codes suggest a common ancestor in the Semitic background of the two.<ref name="Douglas">{{cite book|last1=Douglas|first1=J. D.|last2=Tenney|first2=Merrill C.|date=2011|title=Zondervan Illustrated Bible Dictionary|location=Grand Rapids, Michigan|publisher=Zondervan|isbn=978-0310229834|page=1323|ref=harv}}</ref><ref name="Barton_406">[[George Aaron Barton|Barton, G.A]]: ''Archaeology and the Bible''. University of Michigan Library, 2009, p.406.</ref><ref name="Unger">Unger, M.F.: ''Archaeology and the Old Testament''. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing Co., 1954, p.156, 157</ref><ref name="Free">Free, J.P.: ''Archaeology and Biblical History''. Wheaton: Scripture Press, 1950, 1969, p. 121</ref> Nonetheless, fragments of previous law codes have been found and it is unlikely that the [[Law of Moses|Mosaic laws]] were directly inspired by the Code of Hammurabi.<ref name="Douglas"/><ref name="Barton_406"/><ref name="Unger"/><ref name="Free"/>{{efn|Barton, a former professor of Semitic languages at the University of Pennsylvania, stated that while there are similarities between the two texts, a study of the entirety of both laws "convinces the student that the laws of the Old Testament are in no essential way dependent upon the Babylonian laws." He states that "such resemblances" arose from "a similarity of antecedents and of general intellectual outlook" between the two cultures, but that "the striking differences show that there was no direct borrowing."<ref name="Barton_406"/>}} Some scholars have disputed this; David P. Wright argues that the Jewish Covenant Code is "directly, primarily, and throughout" based upon the Laws of Hammurabi.<ref>{{cite book|last=Wright|first=David P.|title=Inventing God's Law: How the Covenant Code of the Bible Used and Revised the Laws of Hammurabi|location=Oxford, England|publisher=Oxford University Press|date=2009|pages=3 and passim|ref=harv}}</ref> In 2010, a team of archaeologists from [[Hebrew University]] discovered a cuneiform tablet dating to the eighteenth or seventeenth century BC at [[Tel Hazor|Hazor]] in [[Israel]] containing laws clearly derived from the Code of Hammurabi.<ref>{{cite news|title=Tablet Discovered by Hebrew U Matches Code of Hammurabi|url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/138788|agency=[[Arutz Sheva]]|publisher=HolyLand Holdings, Ltd.|location=[[Beit El]]|date=26 June 2010|ref=harv}}</ref> | |
− | [[ | + | |
− | === | + | === Example laws in Hammurabi's code === |
− | + | ||
:(Text taken from Harper's translation, [[s:The Code of Hammurabi (Harper translation)|readable on wikisource]]) | :(Text taken from Harper's translation, [[s:The Code of Hammurabi (Harper translation)|readable on wikisource]]) | ||
* § 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. | * § 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. | ||
Line 63: | Line 83: | ||
* § 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. | * § 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. | ||
* § 195 – If a son strike his father, they shall cut off his fingers. | * § 195 – If a son strike his father, they shall cut off his fingers. | ||
− | * § | + | * § 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). |
− | == Legacy | + | ==Legacy== |
− | [[File:Hammurabi bas-relief in the U.S. House of Representatives chamber.jpg|thumb| | + | [[File:Hammurabi bas-relief in the U.S. House of Representatives chamber.jpg|thumb|upright|The bas-relief of Hammurabi at the United States Congress]] |
− | + | ===Commemoration after his death=== | |
+ | Hammurabi was honored above all other kings of the second millennium BC{{sfn|Van De Mieroop|2005|page=128}} and he received the unique honor of being declared to be a god within his own lifetime.{{sfn|Van De Mieroop|2005|page=127}} The personal name "Hammurabi-ili" meaning "Hammurabi is my god" became common during and after his reign.{{sfn|Van De Mieroop|2005|page=127}} In writings from shortly after his death, Hammurabi is commemorated mainly for three achievements: bringing victory in war, bringing peace, and bringing justice.{{sfn|Van De Mieroop|2005|page=127}} Hammurabi's conquests came to be regarded as part of a sacred mission to spread civilization to all nations.{{sfn|Van De Mieroop|2005|page=126}} A stele from Ur glorifies him in his own voice as a mighty ruler who forces evil into submission and compels all peoples to worship [[Marduk]].{{sfn|Van De Mieroop|2005|pages=126-127}} The stele declares: "The people of Elam, Gutium, Subartu, and Tukrish, whose mountains are distant and whose languages are obscure, I placed into [Marduk's] hand. I myself continued to put straight their confused minds."{{sfn|Van De Mieroop|2005|page=126}} A later hymn also written in Hammurabi's own voice extols him as a powerful, supernatural force for Marduk:{{sfn|Van De Mieroop|2005|page=126}} | ||
− | + | <blockquote><poem> | |
+ | I am the king, the brace that grasps wrongdoers, that makes people of one mind, | ||
+ | I am the great dragon among kings, who throws their counsel in disarray, | ||
+ | I am the net that is stretched over the enemy, | ||
+ | I am the fear-inspiring, who, when lifting his fierce eyes, gives the disobedient the death sentence, | ||
+ | I am the great net that covers evil intent, | ||
+ | I am the young lion, who breaks nets and scepters, | ||
+ | I am the battle net that catches him who offends me.{{sfn|Van De Mieroop|2005|pages=126-127}} | ||
+ | </poem></blockquote> | ||
− | + | After extolling Hammurabi's military accomplishments, the hymn finally declares: "I am Hammurabi, the king of justice."{{sfn|Van De Mieroop|2005|page=127}} In later commemorations, Hammurabi's role as a great lawgiver came to be emphasized above all his other accomplishments{{sfn|Van De Mieroop|2005|page=128}} and his military achievements became de-emphasized.{{sfn|Van De Mieroop|2005|page=128}} Hammurabi's reign became the point of reference for all events in the distant past.{{sfn|Van De Mieroop|2005|page=128}} A hymn to the goddess [[Inanna|Ishtar]], whose language suggests it was written during the reign of [[Ammi-Saduqa|Ammisaduqa]], Hammurabi's fourth successor, declares: "The king who first heard this song as a song of your heroism is Hammurabi. This song for you was composed in his reign. May he be given life forever!"{{sfn|Van De Mieroop|2005|page=128}} For centuries after his death, Hammurabi's laws continued to be copied by scribes as part of their writing exercises and they were even partially translated into Sumerian.{{sfn|Van De Mieroop|2005|page=129}} | |
− | + | ===Political legacy=== | |
+ | [[File:Babylonian stele Louvre Sb9.jpg|thumb|Copy of Hammurabi's stele usurped by [[Shutruk-Nakhunte|Shutruk-Nahhunte I]]. The stele was only partially erased and was never re-inscribed.{{sfn|Van De Mieroop|2005|pages=129-130}}]] | ||
+ | |||
+ | During the reign of Hammurabi, Babylon usurped the position of "most holy city" in southern Mesopotamia from its predecessor, [[Nippur]].<ref name="Schneider">{{citation|last=Schneider|first=Tammi J.|title=An Introduction to Ancient Mesopotamian Religion|publisher=William B. Eerdman's Publishing Company|location=Grand Rapids, Michigan|date=2011|isbn=978-0-8028-2959-7|url=https://books.google.com/?id=2HfU9gv0fXYC&pg=PA58&lpg=PA58&dq=Iconography+of+Enlil#v=onepage&q=Iconography%20of%20Enlil&f=false|pages=58–59|ref=harv}}</ref> 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 [[Kassites|Kassite]] allies, a people speaking a [[language isolate]], from the [[Zagros mountains]] region. This [[Kassite Dynasty]] ruled Babylon for over 400 years<ref name="D19"/> and adopted many aspects of the Babylonian [[culture]], including Hammurabi's code of laws.<ref name="D19"/> Even after the fall of the Amorite Dynasty, however, Hammurabi was still remembered and revered.{{sfn|Van De Mieroop|2005|page=129}} When the Elamite king [[Shutruk-Nakhunte|Shutruk-Nahhunte I]] raided Babylon in 1158 BC and carried off many stone monuments, he had most of the inscriptions on these monuments erased and new inscriptions carved into them.{{sfn|Van De Mieroop|2005|page=129}} On the stele containing Hammurabi's laws, however, only four or five columns were wiped out and no new inscription was ever added.{{sfn|Van De Mieroop|2005|pages=129-130}} Over a thousand years after Hammurabi's death, the kings of [[Suhum|Suhu]], a land along the Euphrates river, just northwest of Babylon, claimed him as their ancestor.{{sfn|Van De Mieroop|2005|page=130}} | ||
+ | |||
+ | ===Modern rediscovery=== | ||
+ | In the early twentieth century, many scholars believed that Hammurabi was [[Amraphel]], the King of [[Shinar]] in the Book of Genesis 14:1.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/1440-amraphel|title=AMRAPHEL - JewishEncyclopedia.com|publisher=}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%2014&version=NIV|title=Bible Gateway passage: Genesis 14 - New International Version|publisher=}}</ref> This view has now been largely rejected,<ref>{{cite book|last=North|first=Robert|editor1-last=Metzger|editor1-first=Bruce M.|editor2-last=Coogan|editor2-first=Michael D.|date=1993|title=The Oxford Companion to the Bible|location=Oxford, England|publisher=Oxford University Press|page=5|chapter=Abraham|isbn=0-19-504645-5|ref=harv}}</ref><ref name="Granerød2010">{{cite book|last=Granerød|first=Gard|title=Abraham and Melchizedek: Scribal Activity of Second Temple Times in Genesis 14 and Psalm 110|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m5mlvNPexSEC&pg=PA114|date=26 March 2010|location=Berlin, Germany|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|isbn=978-3-11-022346-0|page=120|ref=harv}}</ref> and Amraphael's existence is not attested in any writings from outside the Bible.<ref name="Granerød2010"/> Because of Hammurabi's reputation as a lawgiver, his depiction can be found in several [[United States|U.S.]] government buildings. Hammurabi is one of the 23 lawgivers depicted in [[marble]] [[bas-relief]]s in the [[United States Capitol#House Chamber|chamber]] of the [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. House of Representatives]] in the [[United States Capitol]].<ref>{{cite web|accessdate=2008-05-19|url=http://www.aoc.gov/cc/art/lawgivers/hammurabi.cfm|title=Hammurabi|publisher=[[Architect of the Capitol]]}}</ref> A [[frieze]] by [[Adolph Weinman]] depicting the "great lawgivers of history", including Hammurabi, is on the south wall of the [[United States Supreme Court building|U.S. Supreme Court building]].<ref>{{cite web|accessdate=2008-05-19 |url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/about/north&southwalls.pdf |title=Courtroom Friezes |publisher=[[Supreme Court of the United States]] |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100601113942/https://www.supremecourt.gov/about/north%26southwalls.pdf |archivedate=June 1, 2010 |df= }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Biskupic|first1=Joan|title=LAWGIVERS: FROM TWO FRIEZES, GREAT FIGURES OF LEGAL HISTORY GAZE UPON THE SUPREME COURT BENCH|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/1998/03/11/lawgivers-from-two-friezes-great-figures-of-legal-history-gaze-upon-the-supreme-court-bench/b9372b89-5b94-4fa2-81d9-300ee24913db/|accessdate=28 November 2017|agency=The Washington Post|publisher=WP Company LLC|date=11 March 1998|ref=harv}}</ref> At the time of [[Saddam Hussein]], the [[Iraqi Army]]'s [[1st Hammurabi Armoured Division]] was named after the ancient king as part of an effort to emphasize the connection between modern Iraq and the pre-Arab Mesopotamian cultures. | ||
== See also == | == See also == | ||
Line 82: | Line 119: | ||
* [[Cuneiform law]] | * [[Cuneiform law]] | ||
* [[Short chronology timeline]] | * [[Short chronology timeline]] | ||
− | * [[ | + | * [[Manusmṛti]] |
− | == | + | == Further reading == |
− | {{ | + | * {{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|jstor=1359643 }} | ||
+ | * {{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. |authorlink1=Margaret Munn-Rankin |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|jstor=4199599 }} | ||
+ | * {{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}} | ||
− | == | + | ==Notes== |
− | + | {{notelist}} | |
− | + | ||
− | + | ||
− | + | ||
− | == | + | ==References== |
− | + | {{Reflist|24em}} | |
− | + | ||
− | * {{cite | + | ===Bibliography=== |
− | + | {{refbegin}} | |
− | * {{cite book|last= | + | * {{cite book |last=Arnold |first=Bill T. |year=2005 |title=Who Were the Babylonians? |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |isbn=90-04-13071-3 |oclc=225281611 |ref=harv}} |
− | + | * {{cite book |last=Breasted |first=James Henry |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 book|last= | + | * {{cite book |last=DeBlois |first=Lukas |year=1997 |title=An Introduction to the Ancient World |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=0-415-12773-4 |oclc=231710353 |ref=harv}} |
− | + | * {{cite book |last=Van De Mieroop |first=Marc |year=2005 |title=King Hammurabi of Babylon: A Biography |publisher=[[Blackwell Publishing]] |isbn=1-4051-2660-4 |oclc=255676990 |ref=harv}} | |
− | * {{cite book|last= | + | {{refend}} |
− | + | ||
== External links == | == External links == | ||
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{{Commons}} | {{Commons}} | ||
{{Wikisource author}} | {{Wikisource author}} | ||
− | * [http://www.louvre.fr/ | + | * [http://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/law-code-hammurabi-king-babylon A Closer Look at the Code of Hammurabi (Louvre museum)] |
* {{Gutenberg author |id=Hammurabi,+King+of+Babylonia | name=Hammurabi}} | * {{Gutenberg author |id=Hammurabi,+King+of+Babylonia | name=Hammurabi}} | ||
* {{Internet Archive author}} | * {{Internet Archive author}} | ||
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{{Authority control}} | {{Authority control}} | ||
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− | [[Category: | + | |
[[Category:18th-century BC deaths]] | [[Category:18th-century BC deaths]] | ||
[[Category:18th-century BC rulers]] | [[Category:18th-century BC rulers]] | ||
[[Category:Amorite kings]] | [[Category:Amorite kings]] | ||
[[Category:Babylonian kings]] | [[Category:Babylonian kings]] | ||
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[[Category:Ancient legislators]] | [[Category:Ancient legislators]] | ||
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]] | [[Category:Year of birth unknown]] |
Latest revision as of 11:35, 18 March 2018
Hammurabi | |
---|---|
Hammurabi (standing), depicted as receiving his royal insignia from Shamash (or possibly Marduk). Hammurabi holds his hands over his mouth as a sign of prayer[1] (relief on the upper part of the stele of Hammurabi's code of laws). | |
Born |
c. 1810 BC Babylon |
Died |
1750 BC middle chronology (modern-day Jordan and Syria) (aged c. 60) Babylon |
Known for | Code of Hammurabi |
Title | King of Babylon |
Term | 42 years; c. 1792 – 1750 BC (middle) |
Predecessor | Sin-Muballit |
Successor | Samsu-iluna |
Religion | Babylonian religion |
Children | Samsu-iluna |
HammurabiTemplate:Efn (c. 1810 BC – c. 1750 BC) was the sixth king of the First Babylonian Dynasty, reigning from 1792 BC to 1750 BC (according to the Middle Chronology). He was preceded by his father, Sin-Muballit, who abdicated due to failing health. During his reign, he conquered the city-states of Elam, Larsa, Eshnunna, and Mari. He ousted Ishme-Dagan I, the king of Assyria, and forced his son Mut-Ashkur to pay tribute, thereby bringing almost all of Mesopotamia under Babylonian rule.[2]
Hammurabi is best known for having issued the Code of Hammurabi, which he claimed to have received from Shamash, the Babylonian god of justice. Unlike earlier Sumerian law codes, such as the Code of Ur-Nammu, which had focused on compensating the victim of the crime, the Law of Hammurabi was one of the first law codes to place greater emphasis on the physical punishment of the perpetrator. It proscribed specific penalties for each crime and is among the first codes to establish the presumption of innocence. Although its penalties are extremely harsh by modern standards, they were intended to limit what a wronged person was permitted to do in retribution. The Code of Hammurabi and the Law of Moses in the Torah contain numerous similarities, but these are probably due to shared background and oral tradition, and it is unlikely that Hammurabi's laws exerted any direct impact on the later Mosaic ones.
Hammurabi was seen by many as a god within his own lifetime. After his death, Hammurabi was revered as a great conqueror who spread civilization and forced all peoples to pay obeisance to Marduk, the national god of the Babylonians. Later, his military accomplishments became de-emphasized and his role as the ideal lawgiver became the primary aspect of his legacy. For later Mesopotamians, Hammurabi's reign became the frame of reference for all events occurring in the distant past. Even after the empire he built collapsed, he was still revered as a model ruler, and many kings across the Near East claimed him as an ancestor. Hammurabi was rediscovered by archaeologists in the late nineteenth century and has since become seen as an important figure in the history of law.
Contents
Reign and conquests
Hammurabi was an Amorite First Dynasty king of the city-state of Babylon, and inherited the power from his father, Sin-Muballit, in c. 1792 BC.[3] 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 agricultural land.[4] Though many cultures co-existed in Mesopotamia, Babylonian culture gained a degree of prominence among the literate classes throughout the Middle East under Hammurabi.[5] 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, and Sippar.[5]
Thus Hammurabi ascended to the throne as the king of a minor kingdom in the midst of a complex geopolitical situation. The powerful kingdom of Eshnunna controlled the upper Tigris River while Larsa controlled the river delta. To the east of Mesopotamia lay the powerful kingdom of Elam which regularly invaded and forced tribute upon the small states of southern Mesopotamia. In northern Mesopotamia, the Assyrian king Shamshi-Adad I, who had already inherited centuries old Assyrian colonies in Asia Minor, had expanded his territory into the Levant and central Mesopotamia,[6] although his untimely death would somewhat fragment his empire.[7]
The first few decades of Hammurabi's reign were quite peaceful. Hammurabi used his power to undertake a series of public works, including heightening the city walls for defensive purposes, and expanding the temples.[8] In c. 1801 BC, the powerful kingdom of Elam, which straddled important trade routes across the Zagros Mountains, invaded the Mesopotamian plain.[9] With allies among the plain states, Elam attacked and destroyed the kingdom of Eshnunna, destroying a number of cities and imposing its rule on portions of the plain for the first time.[10]
In order to consolidate its position, Elam tried to start a war between Hammurabi's Babylonian kingdom and the kingdom of Larsa.[12] Hammurabi and the king of Larsa made an alliance when they discovered this duplicity and were able to crush the Elamites, although Larsa did not contribute greatly to the military effort.[12] Angered by Larsa's failure to come to his aid, Hammurabi turned on that southern power, thus gaining control of the entirety of the lower Mesopotamian plain by c. 1763 BC.[13]
As Hammurabi was assisted during the war in the south by his allies from the north such as Yamhad and Mari, the absence of soldiers in the north led to unrest.[13] Continuing his expansion, Hammurabi turned his attention northward, quelling the unrest and soon after crushing Eshnunna.[14] Next the Babylonian armies conquered the remaining northern states, including Babylon's former ally Mari, although it is possible that the conquest of Mari was a surrender without any actual conflict.[15][16][17]
Hammurabi entered into a protracted war with Ishme-Dagan I of Assyria for control of Mesopotamia, with both kings making alliances with minor states in order to gain the upper hand. Eventually Hammurabi prevailed, ousting Ishme-Dagan I just before his own death. Mut-Ashkur, the new king of Assyria, was forced to pay tribute to Hammurabi.
In just a few years, Hammurabi succeeded in uniting all of Mesopotamia under his rule.[17] The Assyrian kingdom survived but was forced to pay tribute during his reign, and of the major city-states in the region, only Aleppo and Qatna to the west in the Levant maintained their independence.[17] However, one stele of Hammurabi has been found as far north as Diyarbekir, where he claims the title "King of the Amorites".[18]
Vast numbers of contract tablets, dated to the reigns of Hammurabi and his successors, have been discovered, as well as 55 of his own letters.[19] 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.[20] 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.[21]
Code of laws
The Code of Hammurabi is not the earliest surviving law code;[22] it is predated by the Code of Ur-Nammu, the Laws of Eshnunna, and the Code of Lipit-Ishtar.[22] Nonetheless, the Code of Hammurabi shows marked differences from these earlier law codes and ultimately proved more influential.[23][24][22]
The Code of Hammurabi was inscribed on a stele and placed in a public place so that all could see it, although it is thought that few were literate. The stele was later plundered by the Elamites and removed to their capital, Susa; it was rediscovered there in 1901 in Iran and is now in the Louvre Museum in Paris. The code of Hammurabi contains 282 laws, written by scribes on 12 tablets. Unlike earlier laws, it was written in Akkadian, the daily language of Babylon, and could therefore be read by any literate person in the city.[23] Earlier Sumerian law codes had focused on compensating the victim of the crime,[24] but the Code of Hammurabi instead focused on physically punishing the perpetrator.[24] The Code of Hammurabi was one of the first law code to place restrictions on what a wronged person was allowed to do in retribution.[24]
The structure of the code is very specific, with each offense receiving a specified punishment. The punishments tended to be very harsh by modern standards, with many offenses resulting in death, disfigurement, or the use of the "Eye for eye, tooth for tooth" (Lex Talionis "Law of Retaliation") philosophy.[25][24] The code is also one of the earliest examples of the idea of presumption of innocence, and it also suggests that the accused and accuser have the opportunity to provide evidence.[26] However, there is no provision for extenuating circumstances to alter the prescribed punishment.
A carving at the top of the stele portrays Hammurabi receiving the laws from Shamash, the Babylonian god of justice,[27] and the preface states that Hammurabi was chosen by Shamash to bring the laws to the people.[28] Parallels between this narrative and the giving of the Covenant Code to Moses by Yahweh atop Mount Sinai in the Biblical Book of Exodus and similarities between the two legal codes suggest a common ancestor in the Semitic background of the two.[29][30][31][32] Nonetheless, fragments of previous law codes have been found and it is unlikely that the Mosaic laws were directly inspired by the Code of Hammurabi.[29][30][31][32]Template:Efn Some scholars have disputed this; David P. Wright argues that the Jewish Covenant Code is "directly, primarily, and throughout" based upon the Laws of Hammurabi.[33] In 2010, a team of archaeologists from Hebrew University discovered a cuneiform tablet dating to the eighteenth or seventeenth century BC at Hazor in Israel containing laws clearly derived from the Code of Hammurabi.[34]
Example laws in Hammurabi's code
- (Text taken from Harper's translation, readable on wikisource)
- § 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.
- § 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.
- § 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.
- § 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.
- § 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.
- § 195 – If a son strike his father, they shall cut off his fingers.
- § 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).
Legacy
Commemoration after his death
Hammurabi was honored above all other kings of the second millennium BC[35] and he received the unique honor of being declared to be a god within his own lifetime.[36] The personal name "Hammurabi-ili" meaning "Hammurabi is my god" became common during and after his reign.[36] In writings from shortly after his death, Hammurabi is commemorated mainly for three achievements: bringing victory in war, bringing peace, and bringing justice.[36] Hammurabi's conquests came to be regarded as part of a sacred mission to spread civilization to all nations.[37] A stele from Ur glorifies him in his own voice as a mighty ruler who forces evil into submission and compels all peoples to worship Marduk.[38] The stele declares: "The people of Elam, Gutium, Subartu, and Tukrish, whose mountains are distant and whose languages are obscure, I placed into [Marduk's] hand. I myself continued to put straight their confused minds."[37] A later hymn also written in Hammurabi's own voice extols him as a powerful, supernatural force for Marduk:[37]
<poem>I am the king, the brace that grasps wrongdoers, that makes people of one mind, I am the great dragon among kings, who throws their counsel in disarray, I am the net that is stretched over the enemy, I am the fear-inspiring, who, when lifting his fierce eyes, gives the disobedient the death sentence, I am the great net that covers evil intent, I am the young lion, who breaks nets and scepters, I am the battle net that catches him who offends me.[38]
</poem>
After extolling Hammurabi's military accomplishments, the hymn finally declares: "I am Hammurabi, the king of justice."[36] In later commemorations, Hammurabi's role as a great lawgiver came to be emphasized above all his other accomplishments[35] and his military achievements became de-emphasized.[35] Hammurabi's reign became the point of reference for all events in the distant past.[35] A hymn to the goddess Ishtar, whose language suggests it was written during the reign of Ammisaduqa, Hammurabi's fourth successor, declares: "The king who first heard this song as a song of your heroism is Hammurabi. This song for you was composed in his reign. May he be given life forever!"[35] For centuries after his death, Hammurabi's laws continued to be copied by scribes as part of their writing exercises and they were even partially translated into Sumerian.[39]
Political legacy
During the reign of Hammurabi, Babylon usurped the position of "most holy city" in southern Mesopotamia from its predecessor, Nippur.[41] 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-speaking ruler, c. 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.[42]
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.[43] 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 ruled Babylon for over 400 years[43] and adopted many aspects of the Babylonian culture, including Hammurabi's code of laws.[43] Even after the fall of the Amorite Dynasty, however, Hammurabi was still remembered and revered.[39] When the Elamite king Shutruk-Nahhunte I raided Babylon in 1158 BC and carried off many stone monuments, he had most of the inscriptions on these monuments erased and new inscriptions carved into them.[39] On the stele containing Hammurabi's laws, however, only four or five columns were wiped out and no new inscription was ever added.[40] Over a thousand years after Hammurabi's death, the kings of Suhu, a land along the Euphrates river, just northwest of Babylon, claimed him as their ancestor.[44]
Modern rediscovery
In the early twentieth century, many scholars believed that Hammurabi was Amraphel, the King of Shinar in the Book of Genesis 14:1.[45][46] This view has now been largely rejected,[47][48] and Amraphael's existence is not attested in any writings from outside the Bible.[48] Because of Hammurabi's reputation as a lawgiver, his depiction can be found in several U.S. government buildings. Hammurabi is one of the 23 lawgivers depicted in marble bas-reliefs in the chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives in the United States Capitol.[49] A frieze by Adolph Weinman depicting the "great lawgivers of history", including Hammurabi, is on the south wall of the U.S. Supreme Court building.[50][51] At the time of Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi Army's 1st Hammurabi Armoured Division was named after the ancient king as part of an effort to emphasize the connection between modern Iraq and the pre-Arab Mesopotamian cultures.
See also
Further reading
- Finet, André (1973). 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. Bruxelles: Institut des Hautes Études de Belgique. OCLC 652257981.
- Jacobsen, Th. (1943). "Primitive democracy in Ancient Mesopotomia". Journal of Near Eastern Studies. 2 (3): 159–172. doi:10.1086/370672.
- Finkelstein, J. J. (1966). "The Genealogy of the Hammurabi Dynasty". Journal of Cuneiform Studies. 20 (3): 95–118. doi:10.2307/1359643. JSTOR 1359643.
- Hammurabi (1952). Driver, G.R.; Miles, John C., eds. The Babylonian Laws. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
- Leemans, W. F. (1950). The Old Babylonian Merchant: His Business and His Social Position. Leiden: Brill.
- Munn-Rankin, J. M. (1956). "Diplomacy in Western Asia in the Early Second Millennium BC". Iraq. 18 (1): 68–110. doi:10.2307/4199599. JSTOR 4199599.
- Pallis, S. A. (1956). The Antiquity of Iraq: A Handbook of Assyriology. Copenhagen: Ejnar Munksgaard.
- Richardson, M.E.J. (2000). Hammurabi's laws : text, translation and glossary. Sheffield: Sheffield Acad. Press. ISBN 1-84127-030-X.
- Saggs, H.W.F. (1988). The greatness that was Babylon : a survey of the ancient civilization of the Tigris-Euphrates Valley. London: Sidgwick & Jackson. ISBN 0-283-99623-4.
- Yoffee, Norman (1977). The economic role of the crown in the old Babylonian period. Malibu, CA: Undena Publications. ISBN 0-89003-021-9.
Notes
References
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Bibliography
- Arnold, Bill T. (2005). Who Were the Babylonians?. Brill Publishers. ISBN 90-04-13071-3. OCLC 225281611.
- Breasted, James Henry (2003). Ancient Time or a History of the Early World, Part 1. Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 0-7661-4946-3. OCLC 69651827.
- DeBlois, Lukas (1997). An Introduction to the Ancient World. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-12773-4. OCLC 231710353.
- Van De Mieroop, Marc (2005). King Hammurabi of Babylon: A Biography. Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 1-4051-2660-4. OCLC 255676990.
External links
Wikiquote has quotations related to: Hammurabi |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hammurabi. |
Wikisource has original works written by or about: Hammurabi |
- A Closer Look at the Code of Hammurabi (Louvre museum)
- Works by Hammurabi at Project Gutenberg
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Preceded by Sin-muballit |
Kings of Babylon | Succeeded by Samsu-iluna |
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Lua error in Module:Authority_control at line 346: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).- ↑ Template:Cite
- ↑ Beck, Roger B.; Black, Linda; Krieger, Larry S.; Naylor, Phillip C.; Shabaka, Dahia Ibo (1999). World History: Patterns of Interaction. Evanston, IL: McDougal Littell. ISBN 0-395-87274-X. OCLC 39762695.
- ↑ Van De Mieroop 2005, p. 1
- ↑ Van De Mieroop 2005, pp. 1–2
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Van De Mieroop 2005, p. 3
- ↑ Van De Mieroop 2005, pp. 3–4
- ↑ Van De Mieroop 2005, p. 16
- ↑ Arnold 2005, p. 43
- ↑ Van De Mieroop 2005, pp. 15–16
- ↑ Van De Mieroop 2005, p. 17
- ↑ Claire, Iselin. "Royal head, known as the "Head of Hammurabi"". Musée du Louvre.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Van De Mieroop 2005, p. 18
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Van De Mieroop 2005, p. 31
- ↑ Van De Mieroop 2005, pp. 40–41
- ↑ Van De Mieroop 2005, pp. 54–55
- ↑ Van De Mieroop 2005, pp. 64–65
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 Arnold 2005, p. 45
- ↑ Clay, Albert Tobias (1919). The Empire of the Amorites. Yale University Press. p. 97.
- ↑ Breasted 2003, p. 129
- ↑ Breasted 2003, pp. 129–130
- ↑ Arnold 2005, p. 42
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 Davies, W. W. (January 2003). Codes of Hammurabi and Moses. Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 0-7661-3124-6. OCLC 227972329.
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 Breasted 2003, p. 141
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 24.3 24.4 Bertman, Stephen (2003). Handbook to Life in Ancient Mesopotamia. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. p. 71. ISBN 978-019-518364-1.
- ↑ "Review: The Code of Hammurabi," J. Dyneley Prince, The American Journal of Theology Vol. 8, No. 3 (Jul., 1904), pp. 601–609 Published by: The University of Chicago Press
- ↑ Victimology: Theories and Applications, Ann Wolbert Burgess, Albert R. Roberts, Cheryl Regehr, Jones & Bartlett Learning, 2009, p. 103
- ↑ Kleiner, Fred S. (2010). Gardner's Art through the Ages: The Western Perspective. 1 (Thirteenth ed.). Boston, Massachusetts: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. p. 29. ISBN 978-0-495-57360-9.
- ↑ Smith, J. M. Powis (2005). The Origin and History of Hebrew Law. Clark, New Jersey: The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. p. 13. ISBN 978-1-58477-489-1.
- ↑ 29.0 29.1 Douglas, J. D.; Tenney, Merrill C. (2011). Zondervan Illustrated Bible Dictionary. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan. p. 1323. ISBN 978-0310229834.
- ↑ 30.0 30.1 Barton, G.A: Archaeology and the Bible. University of Michigan Library, 2009, p.406.
- ↑ 31.0 31.1 Unger, M.F.: Archaeology and the Old Testament. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing Co., 1954, p.156, 157
- ↑ 32.0 32.1 Free, J.P.: Archaeology and Biblical History. Wheaton: Scripture Press, 1950, 1969, p. 121
- ↑ Wright, David P. (2009). Inventing God's Law: How the Covenant Code of the Bible Used and Revised the Laws of Hammurabi. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. pp. 3 and passim.
- ↑ "Tablet Discovered by Hebrew U Matches Code of Hammurabi". Beit El: HolyLand Holdings, Ltd. Arutz Sheva. 26 June 2010.
- ↑ 35.0 35.1 35.2 35.3 35.4 Van De Mieroop 2005, p. 128.
- ↑ 36.0 36.1 36.2 36.3 Van De Mieroop 2005, p. 127.
- ↑ 37.0 37.1 37.2 Van De Mieroop 2005, p. 126.
- ↑ 38.0 38.1 Van De Mieroop 2005, pp. 126-127.
- ↑ 39.0 39.1 39.2 Van De Mieroop 2005, p. 129.
- ↑ 40.0 40.1 Van De Mieroop 2005, pp. 129-130.
- ↑ Schneider, Tammi J. (2011), An Introduction to Ancient Mesopotamian Religion, Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdman's Publishing Company, pp. 58–59, ISBN 978-0-8028-2959-7
- ↑ Georges Roux – Ancient Iraq
- ↑ 43.0 43.1 43.2 DeBlois 1997, p. 19
- ↑ Van De Mieroop 2005, p. 130.
- ↑ "AMRAPHEL - JewishEncyclopedia.com".
- ↑ "Bible Gateway passage: Genesis 14 - New International Version".
- ↑ North, Robert (1993). "Abraham". In Metzger, Bruce M.; Coogan, Michael D. The Oxford Companion to the Bible. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. p. 5. ISBN 0-19-504645-5.
- ↑ 48.0 48.1 Granerød, Gard (26 March 2010). Abraham and Melchizedek: Scribal Activity of Second Temple Times in Genesis 14 and Psalm 110. Berlin, Germany: Walter de Gruyter. p. 120. ISBN 978-3-11-022346-0.
- ↑ "Hammurabi". Architect of the Capitol. Retrieved 2008-05-19.
- ↑ "Courtroom Friezes" (PDF). Supreme Court of the United States. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 1, 2010. Retrieved 2008-05-19.
- ↑ Biskupic, Joan (11 March 1998). "LAWGIVERS: FROM TWO FRIEZES, GREAT FIGURES OF LEGAL HISTORY GAZE UPON THE SUPREME COURT BENCH". WP Company LLC. The Washington Post. Retrieved 28 November 2017.