The Louvre steleCreatedc. 1792–1750 BC (middle chronology)Location

• The Louvre, Paris, France (originally Sippar, Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq), found at Susa, Iran)
• Replicas: various

Author(s)King Hammurabi of BabylonMedia typeBasalt stele[1][2]SubjectLaw, justicePurposeDebated: legislation, law report, or jurisprudence Code of Hammurabi at Wikisource

The Code of Hammurabi is a Babylonian legal text composed during 1755–1750 BC. It is the longest, best-organized, and best-preserved legal text from the ancient Near East. It is written in the Old Babylonian dialect of Akkadian, purportedly by Hammurabi, sixth king of the First Dynasty of Babylon. The primary copy of the text is inscribed on a basalt stele 2.25 m (7 ft 4+1⁄2 in) tall.

The stele was rediscovered in 1901 at the site of Susa in present-day Iran, where it had been taken as plunder six hundred years after its creation. The text itself was copied and studied by Mesopotamian scribes for over a millennium. The stele now resides in the Louvre Museum.

The top of the stele features an image in relief of Hammurabi with Shamash, the Babylonian sun god and god of justice. Below the relief are about 4,130 lines of cuneiform text: one fifth contains a prologue and epilogue in poetic style, while the remaining four fifths contain what are generally called the laws. In the prologue, Hammurabi claims to have been granted his rule by the gods "to prevent the strong from oppressing the weak". The laws are casuistic, expressed as "if ... then" conditional sentences. Their scope is broad, including, for example, criminal law, family law, property law, and commercial law.

Modern scholars responded to the Code with admiration at its perceived fairness and respect for the rule of law, and at the complexity of Old Babylonian society. There was also much discussion of its influence on the Mosaic Law. Scholars quickly identified lex talionis—the "eye for an eye" principle—underlying the two collections. Debate among Assyriologists has since centred around several aspects of the Code: its purpose, its underlying principles, its language, and its relation to earlier and later law collections.

Despite the uncertainty surrounding these issues, Hammurabi is regarded outside Assyriology as an important figure in the history of law and the document as a true legal code. The U.S. Capitol has a relief portrait of Hammurabi alongside those of other historic lawgivers. There are replicas of the stele in numerous institutions, including the headquarters of the United Nations in New York City and the Pergamon Museum in Berlin.

Hammurabi (or Hammurapi), the sixth king of the Amorite First Dynasty of Babylon, ruled from 1792 to 1750 BC (middle chronology). He secured Babylonian dominance over the Mesopotamian plain through military prowess, diplomacy, and treachery. When Hammurabi inherited his father Sin-Muballit's throne,[3] Babylon held little local sway; the local hegemon was Rim-Sin of Larsa. Hammurabi waited until Rim-Sin grew old, then conquered his territory in one swift campaign, leaving his organisation intact.[4] Later, Hammurabi betrayed allies in Eshnunna, Elam, and Mari to gain their territories.[5]

Hammurabi had an aggressive foreign policy, but his letters suggest he was concerned with the welfare of his many subjects and was interested in law and justice.[6] He commissioned extensive construction works, and in his letters, he frequently presents himself as his people's shepherd.[7] Justice is also a theme of the prologue to the Code,[8] and "the word translated 'justice' [ešērum]... is one whose root runs through both prologue and epilogue".[9]

Main article: Cuneiform law

Although Hammurabi's Code was the first Mesopotamian law collection to be discovered, it was not the first written; several earlier collections survive. These collections were written in Sumerian and Akkadian. They also purport to have been written by rulers. There were almost certainly more such collections, as statements of other rulers suggest the custom was widespread.[10] The similarities between these law collections make it tempting to assume a consistent underlying legal system.[10] As with the Code of Hammurabi, however, it is difficult to interpret the purpose and underlying legal systems of these earlier collections, prompting numerous scholars to question whether this should be attempted.[11] Extant collections include:

• The Code of Ur-Nammu of Ur.
• The Code of Lipit-Ishtar of Isin.
• The Laws of Eshnunna (written by Bilalama or by Dadusha).
• Another collection, which Martha Roth calls the "Laws of X",[12] but which may simply be the end of the Code of Ur-Nammu.[13]

There are additionally thousands of documents from the practice of law, from before and during the Old Babylonian period. These documents include contracts, judicial rulings, letters on legal cases, and reform documents such as that of Urukagina, king of Lagash in the mid-3rd millennium BC, whose reforms combatted corruption. Mesopotamia has the most comprehensive surviving legal corpus from before the Digest of Justinian, even compared to those from ancient Greece and Rome.[14]

Louvre stele

The excavation of the Susa acropolis in 1897–1898, four years before the Code was found at the site. The Royal City (left) and Acropolis (right) of Susa in 2007.

The first copy of the text found, and still the most complete, is on a 2.25 m (7 ft 4+1⁄2 in) stele. The stele is now displayed on the ground floor of the Louvre, in Room 227 of the Richelieu wing.[15] At the top is an image of Hammurabi with Shamash, the Babylonian sun god and god of justice. Below the image are about 4,130 lines of cuneiform text: One fifth contain a prologue and epilogue, while the remaining four fifths contain what are generally called the laws.[16] Near the bottom, seven columns of the laws, each with more than eighty lines, were polished and erased in antiquity.[17] The stele was found in three large fragments and reconstructed.[18] It is 225 cm (7 ft 4+1⁄2 in) high, with a circumference is 165 cm (5 ft 5 in) at the summit and 190 cm (6 ft 3 in) at the base.[18] Hammurabi's image is 65 cm (2 ft 1+1⁄2 in) high and 60 cm (1 ft 11+1⁄2 in) wide.[18]

The Louvre stele was found at the site of the ancient Elamite city of Susa. Susa is in modern-day Khuzestan Province, Iran (Persia at the time of excavation). The stele was excavated by the French Archaeological Mission under the direction of Jacques de Morgan.[19] Father Jean-Vincent Scheil published the initial report in the fourth volume of the Reports of the Delegation to Persia (Mémoires de la Délégation en Perse). According to Scheil, the stele's fragments were found on the tell of the Susa acropolis (l'Acropole de Suse), between December 1901 and January 1902.[18] The few, large fragments made assembly easy.[18]

Scheil hypothesised that the stele had been taken to Susa by the Elamite king Shutruk-Nakhunte and that he had commissioned the erasure of several columns of laws to write his legend there.[18] It has been proposed that the relief portion of the stele, especially the beards of Hammurabi and Shamash, was reworked at the same time.[20] Roth suggests the stele was taken as plunder from Sippar,[21] where Hammurabi lived towards the end of his reign.[22]

Fragments of a second and possibly third stele recording the Code were found along with the Louvre stele at Susa.[23] Over fifty manuscripts containing the laws are known. They were found not only in Susa but also in Babylon, Nineveh, Assur, Borsippa, Nippur, Sippar, Ur, Larsa, and more.[24] Copies were created during Hammurabi's reign, and also after it, since the text became a part of the scribal curriculum.[25] Copies have been found dating from one thousand years after the stele's creation,[17] and a catalogue from the library of Neo-Assyrian king Ashurbanipal (685–631 BC) lists a copy of the "judgments of Hammurabi".[26] The additional copies fill in most of the stele's original text, including much of the erased section.[17]Code of Hammurabi

Early scholarship

Father Jean-Vincent Scheil, first modern editor of the Code

The editio princeps of the Code was published by Father Jean-Vincent Scheil in 1902,[27] in the fourth volume of the Reports of the Delegation to Persia (Mémoires de la Délégation en Perse). After a brief introduction with details of the excavation,[28] Scheil gave a transliteration and a free translation into French,[29] as well as a selection of images.[30] Editions in other languages soon followed: in German by Hugo Winckler in 1902,[31] in English by C. H. W. Johns in 1903,[32] and in Italian by Pietro Bonfante, also in 1903.[33]

The Code was thought to be the earliest Mesopotamian law collection when it was rediscovered in 1902—for example, C. H. W. Johns' 1903 book was titled The Oldest Code of Laws in the World.[32] The English writer H. G. Wells included Hammurabi in the first volume of The Outline of History, and to Wells too the Code was "the earliest known code of law".[34] However, three earlier collections were rediscovered afterwards: the Code of Lipit-Ishtar in 1947, the Laws of Eshnunna in 1948, and the Code of Ur-Nammu in 1952.[35] Early commentators dated Hammurabi and the stele to the 23rd century BC.[36] However, this is an earlier estimate than even the "ultra-long chronology" would support. The Code was compiled near the end of Hammurabi's reign.[37] This was deduced partly from the list of his achievements in the prologue.[38]

Scheil enthused about the stele's importance and perceived fairness, calling it "a moral and political masterpiece".[18] C. H. W. Johns called it "one of the most important monuments in the history of the human race".[39] He remarked that "there are many humanitarian clauses and much protection is given the weak and the helpless",[40] and even lauded a "wonderful modernity of spirit".[41] John Dyneley Prince called the Code's rediscovery "the most important event which has taken place in the development of Assyriological science since the days of Rawlinson and Layard".[42] Charles Francis Horne commended the "wise law-giver" and his "celebrated code".[43] James Henry Breasted noted the Code's "justice to the widow, the orphan, and the poor", but remarked that it "also allows many of the old and naïve ideas of justice to stand".[44] Commentators praised the advanced society they believed the Code evinced.[45] Several singled out perceived secularism: Owen Jenkins,[46] for example, but even Charles Souvay for the Catholic Encyclopedia, who opined that unlike the Mosaic Law the Code was "founded upon the dictates of reason".[27] The question of the Code's influence on the Mosaic Law received much early attention.[47] Scholars also identified Hammurabi with the Biblical figure Amraphel,[48] but this proposal has since been abandoned.[49]

The relief on the Louvre stele

The relief appears to show Hammurabi standing before a seated Shamash.[23] Shamash wears the horned crown of divinity[50] and has a solar attribute, flames,[51] spouting from his shoulders.[52] Contrastingly, Scheil, in his editio princeps,[27] identified the seated figure as Hammurabi and the standing figure as Shamash.[18] Scheil also held that the scene showed Shamash dictating to Hammurabi while Hammurabi held a scribe's stylus, gazing attentively at the god.[18] Martha Roth lists other interpretations: "that the king is offering the laws to the god; that the king is accepting or offering the emblems of sovereignty of the rod and ring; or—most probably—that these emblems are the measuring tools of the rod-measure and rope-measure used in temple-building".[53] Hammurabi may even be imitating Shamash.[54] It is certain, though, that the draughtsman showed Hammurabi's close links to the divine realm,[55] using composition and iconography.[56]

The prologue and epilogue together occupy one-fifth of the text. Out of around 4,130 lines, the prologue occupies 300 lines and the epilogue occupies 500.[16] They are in ring composition around the laws, though there is no visual break distinguishing them from the laws.[57] Both are written in poetic style,[58] and, as William W. Davies wrote, "contain much ... which sounds very like braggadocio".[59]

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).[60][note 1]

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]").[61] 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).[62][note 1]

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.[63] 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.[64] The prologue ends "at that time:" (303: inūmišu) and the laws begin.[65][note 1]

Unlike the prologue, the 500-line epilogue is explicitly related to the laws.[64] 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').[66] 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').[67] This would bring Hammurabi praise (3257'–3275') and divine favour (3276'–3295').[68] Hammurabi wishes for good fortune for any ruler who heeds his pronouncements and respects his stele (3296'–3359').[69] However, he invokes the wrath of the gods on any man who disobeys or erases his pronouncements (3360'–3641', the end of the text).[70][note 1]

The epilogue contains much legal imagery, and the phrase "to prevent the strong from oppressing the weak" (3202'–3203': dannum enšam ana lā ḫabālim)[71] 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.[72] 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);[73] "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);[73] may he experience "the spilling of his life force like water" (3435'–3436': tabāk napištišu kīma mê).[74] 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);[73] "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).[74][note 1] 

Gods and goddesses are invoked in this order:[70]

1. Anum (3387'–3394')
2. Enlil (3395'–3422')
3. Ninlil (3423'–3439')
4. Ea (3440'–3458')
5. Shamash (3459'–3485')
6. Sin (3486'–3508')
7. Adad (3509'–3525')
8. Zababa (3526'–3536')
9. Ishtar (3537'–3573')
10. Nergal (3574'–3589')
11. Nintu (3590'–3599')
12. Ninkarrak (3600'–3619')
13. All the gods (3620'–3635')
14. Enlil, a second time (3636'–3641')

Laws

The Code of Hammurabi is the longest and best-organised legal text from the ancient Near East,[75] as well as the best-preserved.[76] The classification below (columns 1–3) is Driver & Miles',[77] with several amendments, and Roth's translation is used.[78] Laws represented by letters are those reconstructed primarily from documents other than the Louvre stele.