The Code of Hammurabi
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| Original Basalt Stele in the Louvre, Paris, France |
The 300-line prologue begins with an etiology of Hammurabi's royal authority (1–49). Anum, the Babylonian sky god and king of the gods, granted rulership over humanity to Marduk. Marduk chose the centre of his earthly power to be Babylon, which in the real world worshipped him as its tutelary god. Marduk established the office of kingship within Babylon. Finally, Anum, along with the Babylonian wind god Enlil, chose Hammurabi to be Babylon's king. Hammurabi was to rule "to prevent the strong from oppressing the weak" (37–39: dannum enšam ana lā ḫabālim). He was to rise like Shamash over the Mesopotamians (the ṣalmāt qaqqadim, literally the "black-headed people") and illuminate the land (40–44).
Hammurabi then lists his achievements and virtues (50–291). These are expressed in noun form, in the Akkadian first person singular nominal sentence construction "[noun] ... anāku" ("I am [noun]"). The first nominal sentence (50–53) is short: "I am Hammurabi, the shepherd, selected by the god Enlil" (ḫammurabi rē'ûm nibīt enlil anāku). Then Hammurabi continues for over 200 lines in a single nominal sentence with the anāku delayed to the very end (291).
Hammurabi repeatedly calls himself na'dum, "pious" (lines 61, 149, 241, and 272). The metaphor of Hammurabi as his people's shepherd also recurs. It was a common metaphor for ancient Near Eastern kings, but is perhaps justified by Hammurabi's interest in his subjects' affairs. His affinities with many different gods are stressed throughout. He is portrayed as dutiful in restoring and maintaining temples and peerless on the battlefield. The list of his accomplishments has helped establish that the text was written late in Hammurabi's reign. After the list, Hammurabi explains that he fulfilled Marduk's request to establish "truth and justice" (kittam u mīšaram) for the people (292–302), although the prologue never directly references the laws. The prologue ends "at that time:" (303: inūmišu) and the laws begin.
Epilogue: Unlike the prologue, the 500-line epilogue is explicitly related to the laws. The epilogue begins (3144'–3151'): "these are the just decisions which Hammurabi ... has established" (dīnāt mīšarim ša ḫammurabi... ukinnu-ma). He exalts his laws and his magnanimity (3152'–3239'). He then expresses a hope that "any wronged man who has a lawsuit" (awīlum ḫablum ša awātam iraššû) may have the laws of the stele read aloud to him and know his rights (3240'–3256'). This would bring Hammurabi praise (3257'–3275') and divine favour (3276'–3295'). Hammurabi wishes for good fortune for any ruler who heeds his pronouncements and respects his stele (3296'–3359'). However, he invokes the wrath of the gods on any man who disobeys or erases his pronouncements (3360'–3641', the end of the text).
The epilogue contains much legal imagery, and the phrase "to prevent the strong from oppressing the weak" (3202'–3203': dannum enšam ana lā ḫabālim) is reused from the prologue. However, the king's main concern appears to be ensuring that his achievements are not forgotten and his name not sullied. The list of curses heaped upon any future defacer is 281 lines long and extremely forceful. Some of the curses are very vivid: "may the god Sin ... decree for him a life that is no better than death" (3486'–3508': sîn... balāṭam ša itti mūtim šitannu ana šīmtim lišīmšum); "may he [the future defacer] conclude every day, month, and year of his reign with groaning and mourning" (3497'–3501': ūmī warḫī šanāt palēšu ina tānēḫim u dimmatim lišaqti); may he experience "the spilling of his life force like water" (3435'–3436': tabāk napištišu kīma mê). Hammurabi implores a variety of gods individually to turn their particular attributes against the defacer. For example: "may the [storm] god Adad ... deprive him of the benefits of rain from heaven and flood from the springs" (3509'–3515': adad... zunnī ina šamê mīlam ina nagbim līṭeršu); "may the god [of wisdom] Ea ... deprive him of all understanding and wisdom, and may he lead him into confusion" (3440'–3451': ea... uznam u nēmeqam līṭeršu-ma ina mīšītim littarrūšu).
Gods and Goddesses are invoked in this order:
- Anum (3387'–3394')
- Enlil (3395'–3422')
- Ninlil (3423'–3439')
- Ea (3440'–3458')
- Shamash (3459'–3485')
- Sin (3486'–3508')
- Adad (3509'–3525')
- Zababa (3526'–3536')
- Ishtar (3537'–3573')
- Nergal (3574'–3589')
- Nintu (3590'–3599')
- Ninkarrak (3600'–3619')
- All the gods (3620'–3635')
- Enlil, a second time (3636'–3641')
The Code of Hammurabi is the best-preserved and best-organised legal text from the ancient Near East, The classification below (columns 1–3) is Driver & Miles',with several amendments, and Roth's translation is used. Laws represented by letters are those reconstructed primarily from documents other than the Louvre stele.
| Legal area | Laws | Specific provisions | Example (English) | Example (Akkadian) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Offences against the administration of law | 1–5 |
| If a man accuses another man and charges him with homicide, but cannot bring proof against him, his accuser shall be killed. (1) | šumma awīlum awīlam ubbir-ma nērtam elišu iddi-ma lā uktīnšu mubbiršu iddâk (1) |
| Property offences | 6–25 |
| If a man breaks into a house, they shall kill him and hang him(?) in front of that very breach. (21) | šumma awīlum bītam ipluš ina pāni pilšim šuāti idukkūšu-ma iḫallalūšu (21) |
| Land and houses | 26–k | If a man has a debt lodged against him, and the storm-god Adad devastates his field or a flood sweeps away the crops, or there is no grain grown in the field due to insufficient water—in that year he will not repay grain to his creditor; he shall suspend performance of his contract [literally "wet his clay tablet"] and he will not give interest payments for that year. (48) | šumma awīlum ḫubullum elišu ibašši-ma eqelšu adad irtaḫiṣ u lū bibbulum itbal u lū ina lā mê še'um ina eqlim lā ittabši ina šattim šuāti še'am ana bēl ḫubullišu ul utār ṭuppašu uraṭṭab u ṣibtam ša šattim šuāti ul inaddin (48) | |
| Commerce | l–126 |
| If a merchant should give silver to a trading agent for an investment venture, and he [the trading agent] incurs a loss on his journeys, he shall return silver to the merchant in the amount of the capital sum. (102) | šumma tamkārum ana šamallim kaspam ana tadmiqtim ittadin-ma ašar illiku bitiqtam ītamar qaqqad kaspim ana tamkārim utār (102) |
| Marriage, family, and property | 127–194 |
| If a man takes in adoption a young child at birth [literally "in its water"] and then rears him, that rearling will not be reclaimed. (185) | šumma awīlum ṣeḫram ina mêšu ana mārūtim ilqe-ma urtabbīšu tarbītum šī ul ibbaqqar (185) |
| Assault | 195–214 |
| If an [awīlum] should blind the eye of another [awīlum], they shall blind his eye. (196) | šumma awīlum īn mār awīlim uḫtappid īnšu uḫappadū (196) |
| Professional men | 215–240 |
| If a builder constructs a house for a man but does not make it conform to specifications so that a wall then buckles, that builder shall make that wall sound using his own silver. (233) | šumma itinnum bītam ana awīlim īpuš-ma šipiršu lā ušteṣbi-ma igārum iqtūp itinnum šū ina kasap ramānišu igāram šuāti udannan (233) |
| Agriculture | 241–273 |
| If an ox gores to death a man while it is passing through the streets, that case has no basis for a claim. (250) | šumma alpum sūqam ina alākišu awīlam ikkip-ma uštamīt dīnum šū rugummâm ul išu (250) |
| Rates of hire | 274–277 |
| If a man rents a boat of 60-[kur] capacity, he shall give one sixth [of a shekel] of silver per day as its hire. (277) | šumma awīlum elep šūšim īgur ina ūmim ištēn šuduš kaspam idīša inaddin (277) |
| Slaves | 278–282 |
| If a slave should declare to his master, "You are not my master", he [the master] shall bring charge and proof against him that he is indeed his slave, and his master shall cut off his ear. (281) | šumma wardum ana bēlišu ul bēlī atta iqtabi kīma warassu ukānšu-ma bēlšu uzunšu inakkis (281) |
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