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HAMMURAPI

(Amor. ʿammu-rapi)
(also HAMMURABI, AMMURAPI)

Diorite stela of Hammurapi receiving symbols of authority from the seated sun-god Šamaš (Susa, ca. 1750 b.c.e.). Below are listed 282 laws (Louvre)

The sixth king (1792-1750 b.c.e.) of the First Dynasty of Babylon (1894-1595). This was but one of the Amorite families that came to power in Mesopotamia in the centuries following the fall of the Third Dynasty of Ur (2112-2004). Many of the kings of this dynasty had Amorite names. Hammurapi’s name is probably either Amorite (ʿammu-rapi, most probably “the paternal uncle is a healer/heals”) or an Akkadianized version of such a name. When Hammurapi came to the throne, his small state was but one of the small kingdoms vying for power in Mesopotamia. To the north lay the powerful kingdom of Šamši-addu and in the south he was hemmed in by the state of Larsa. During the first years of rule, the new king expanded his territory and Babylon in the power politics of the Middle East, a regional balance of power that ranged from the Mediterranean coast to Iran. The true hegemons of the time were on the far flanks — Yamhad, centered around Aleppo, and Elam in the east. The smaller kingdoms of Larsa and Babylon in Babylonia, Eshnunna to the northeast, and Mari on the Euphrates made alliances, frequently broken, between and among themselves. These rulers pledged themselves as vassals, in theory at least, of an Elamite overlord, allowing him to arbitrate territorial disputes. After the Elamites marched into northern Syria and took over, for a short period of time, many of the local principalities, the major states created an alliance and defeated Elam and Eshnunna, creating a new political situation. The destruction of Eshnunna took place in Hammurapi’s 29th year. With no major enemy on his northeastern flank, the king marched against his only Babylonian rival, Rim-sin of Larsa, who controlled all of southern Mesopotamia, took his city, and captured him alive. With the south firmly in his hands, Hammurapi now turned against his old ally, Zimri-lim of Mari, who had aided him in the wars against Elam, Eshnunna, and Larsa. His troops occupied the city for two years and then destroyed it. The Babylonians did not stay in the city and retreated back to the south after two years. Although at the beginning of his reign Hammurapi’s kingdom was but one among many in Mesopotamia and Syria, at the time of his death most of the other states were gone and he stood alone between the other major powers of Aleppo and Elam. This grand kingdom did not last long; the south revolted during the reign of Hammurapi’s son, Samsu-iluna. The uprising was put down, but the south of Mesopotamia was soon lost as most of the major cities along the Euphrates seem to have been abandoned at the end of his reign. The focus of the state shifted northwards, and Babylon seems to have had intermittent control of only a small area in northern Babylonia and up the Euphrates to Haradum and Terqa. The weakening kingdom apparently fell when a Hittite raid overcame Babylon.

The older levels of Babylon are, for the most part, inaccessible to archaeologists because of changes in the water table, and therefore Hammurapi’s own archives have not been found. The thousands of contemporary letters from Mari provide rich documentation of the period, and include many references to Hammurapi. This city’s archives gives us an outsider’s view of the inner workings of the Babylonian court, and of the local and international intrigues of the time, including the draft of an anti-Elamite oath between the kings of Babylon and Mari. The information from Mari presents a distorted picture of events, however, because Hammurapi’s officials took with them most of the diplomatic archives from the conquered city.

Hammurapi’s administration of Babylonia is primarily documented in the correspondence between the king and his representatives in the south, as well as from economic texts from Sippar and, to a lesser extent, from other cities such as Dilbat, Larsa, and Kish. These provide extensive information on the organization of the south following the fall of Larsa, the interaction between the crown and local elite families, as well as the adjudication of legal disputes.

Hammurapi is best remembered for his so-called Law Code, a monumental inscription with a long prologue, legal provisions, and a final curse formula. The “laws” are exemplary in nature and were meant as representations of an abstract notion of royal justice. Contrary to popular understanding, they were not intended for practical legal use. Although at least three earlier texts of this genre have survived, the Hammurapi text is the longest known and the only one to survive intact in the form of a monumental stela. Although Hammurapi issued this text in a number of copies, some of which were standing in Babylonian cities for centuries, none of these have survived. The one intact version was discovered in the Elamite city of Susa, where it had been taken as war booty from Sippar in the 12th century. Like other texts of this type, portions of the Hammurapi stela were copied on tablets for scribal training, but only this one survived the Old Babylonian period. Copies of the “code” were studied in schools well into the 1st millennium. As was the custom at the time, the composition was copied, excerpted, and commented upon. Aside from this text, known in the late period as the “legal provisions of Hammurapi,” the king was mentioned only a few times in chronicles and royal inscriptions. He was not remembered as one of the great ancient kings in the same league as Sargon or Naram-sin. Earlier in the 20th century scholars had identified king Amraphel of Shinar in Gen. 14 with Hammurapi, but this view is no longer held.

Although Hammurapi was a unique figure in Babylonian history, his importance should not be overestimated. His reign was actually more important for the destruction he brought on other states than for the long-term development of Mesopotamian culture.

Bibliography. J. M. Sasson, “King Hammurabi of Babylon,” CANE 2:901-15; C. J. Gadd, “Hammurabi and the End of His Dynasty,” CAH³ 2/1: 176-224; M. T. Roth, Law Collections from Mesopotamia and Asia Minor. 2nd ed. SBLWAW 6 (Atlanta, 1997).

Piotr Michalowski

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HAMMURAPI

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)