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Hammurabi (1792-1750 BC)

During the time of the sixth ruler in the First Dynasty of Babylon, King Hammurabi (1792-1750 BC), Babylonian rule encompassed a huge area covering most of the Tigris-Euphrates river valley from Sumer and the Persian Gulf in the south to Assyria in the north. To rule over such a large area, Hammurabi (also spelled Hammurapi) devised an elaborate administrative structure. The success of Hammurabi's military operations expanded Babylon north along the Tigris and Euphrates and south to what is now called the Persian Gulf. The empire he created is known as Babylon, while the civilization is often referred to as Old Babylonia.

This Hammurabi is one of the most gigantic figures of the world's history, to be named with Alexander, Caesar, or Napoleon, but best compared to a Charlemagne, a conqueror and a lawgiver, whose powerful genius formed a lasting empire out of chaos, and whose beneficent influence continued for ages throughout an area almost as large as Europe. Doubtless a dozen centuries later Assyrian kings were to make greater conquests than he, but whereas they were giant destroyers he was a giant builder. His large public and private correspondence gives us an insight into his multitudinous cares, his minute attention to details, his constitutional methods.

Until a few decades ago, the reign of Hammurabi was dated to around the year 2100 before the present era. Chief among the factors that demand a radical change in the chronology of early Babylonia and that of the entire Middle Eastern complex - a chronology that for a long time was regarded as unassailable - are the finds of Mari, Nuzi, and Khorsabad. The ancient city of Mari, located in northern Syria, was a thriving metropolis ca. 2800-1760 BC. The French have been excavating Mari almost continuously since 1933. The major discovery was an enormous palace covering 6 acres, with nearly 300 rooms on the ground level and an equal number on a second floor. At Mari on the central Euphrates, among other rich material, a cuneiform tablet was found which established that Hammurabi of Babylonia and King Shamshi-Adad I of Assyria were contemporaries. In 1932 a full and well-preserved list of Assyrian king names was found at Khorsabad, capital of Sargon II. Published ten years later, in 1942, it contains the names of one hundred and seven Assyrian kings with the number of years of their reigns.

A combination of historical and archeological evidence led to the conclusion that only three dates were worth considering for Ammi-saduqa: 1702-1618; 1646-1626; 1582-1562. For a long time it was conventional to accept the "Middle Chronology" of 1646-1626, though recent astronomical analysis has tended to support the Long Chronology of 1702-1618.

When Hammurabi ascended the throne of Babylon, located along the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers, the empire only consisted of a few towns in the surrounding area: Dilbat, Sippar, Kish, and Borsippa. Once Hammurabi was king, his military victories gained land for the empire. However, Babylon remained but one of several important areas in Mesopotamia, along with Assyria, then ruled by Shamshi-Adad I, and Larsa, then ruled by Rim-Sin. In Hammurabi's thirtieth year as king, he really began to establish Babylon as the center of what would be a great empire. In that year, he conquered Larsa from Rim-Sin, thus gaining control over the lucrative urban centers of Nippur, Ur, Uruk, and Isin. In essence, Hammurabi gained control over all of south Mesopotamia.

During Hammurabi's time as king he oversaw a great expansion of his kingdom from a city-state to an empire. However, today he is most famous for a series of judgments inscribed on a large stone stele and dubbed Hammurabi's Code. His famous code of civil and criminal law throws light on his genius as legislator and judge. The stele on which these laws are inscribed was found at Susa by M. de Morgan and the Dominican friar Scheil, and first published and translated by the latter in 1902. This astounding find, giving, in 3638 short lines, 282 laws and regulations affecting the whole range of public and, private life, is unequalled even in the marvellous history of Babylonian research. From no other document can a more swift and accurate estimate of Babylonian civilization be formed than from this code.

Hammurabi's greatest achievement was the issuance of a law code designed "to cause justice to prevail in the country, to destroy the wicked and the evil, that the strong may not oppress the weak." The Code of Hammurabi, not the earliest to appear in the Near East but certainly the most complete, dealt with land tenure, rent, the position of women, marriage, divorce, inheritance, contracts, control of public order, administration of justice, wages, and labor conditions. Scholars are still debating its precise significance as a set of laws, but the Code's importance as a reflection of Babylonian society is indisputable.

The Code of Hammurabi, inscribed on a large stone stele - an upright slab -- was uncovered by a French expedition in 1901. Its leader, Father Vincent Scheil, translated the code the following year. At the time, it was the oldest known set of what appeared to be laws. Since that time, however, earlier similar "codes" have been unearthed. Though Hammurabi's Code is not unique, it is still the longest code yet discovered and one of the only ones known to have been inscribed on a stele. Many scholars now consider Hammurabi's Code part of a longstanding tradition of public display of representative royal pronouncements. The precise intention behind the inscription on Hammurabi's Stela remains unclear.

In Hammurabi's legal code, the civilizing trend begun at Sumer had evolved to a new level of complexity. The sophisticated legal principles contained in the code reflect a highly advanced civilization in which social interaction extended far beyond the confines of kinship. The large number of laws pertaining to commerce reflect a diversified economic base and an extensive trading network. In politics, Hammurabi's code is evidence of a more pronounced separation between religious and secular authority than had existed in ancient Sumer. In addition to Hammurabi's legal code, the Babylonians made other important contributions, notably to the science of astronomy, and they increased the flexibility of cuneiform by developing the pictogram script so that it stood for a syllable rather than an individual word.

In the prologue, Hammurabi claims that his authority comes directly from the gods. He also states that the purpose of the Code is "to bring about the rule of righteousness in the land. so that the strong should not harm the weak." The third precept indicates the existence of a judicial system with elders serving as judges. The fourth precept indicates that fines of money and/or grain were imposed and implies the existence of something akin to our civil suits in which the complainant received a settlement. Number sixty indicates the existence of something akin to a sharecropping system in which one person farms land in exchange for land in five years. Such a system would tend to redistribute land from large to small owners. Number one hundred and eight indicates that women could own at least some kinds of businesses in Old Babylonia. Number one hundred ninty-six is perhaps the most famous of the precepts. It is also found in the Hebrew Bible (Exodus 21:18-19, 22-25, Leviticus 24:17-21) and in the Gospels (Matthew 5:38). Finally, number two hundred twenty-eight shows the specificity of the precepts and implies that there was a set fee schedule for the work of skilled tradesmen, in this case a set fee of two shekels for each sar of building, comparable to modern builders who charge so much per square foot.

The epilogue states that the stone on which the Code is inscribed was set up in the E-Sagil temple in Babylon. It informs the reader that through these precepts one can find out "what is just." In the third paragraph, Hammurabi pledges his allegiance to the god Marduk-the highest in the Babylonian pantheon, comparable to Zeus in the Greek pantheon. The fifth paragraph advises future kings to follow these precepts.

Hammurabi's Code distinguishes between three classes in the application of justice. The amelu, the citizens of the upper class, generally included: government officials, priests, and military officers. The mushkinu, the middle class, consisted of: trades people, professionals, and workers. Slaves, known as wardu, were members of the lowest class. The slave class was created both from prisoners of war and Babylonian citizens forced into slavery, either as a punishment for crimes or for economic reasons. Though slaves were under the complete domination of a master, they could own property, conduct business in their own names, and purchase their freedom.