HAMMURABI
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HAMMURABI
ScHLOTTMANN", Jo.-ipph VQii Hammer-Purgslall (Zurich, 1857);
Ahlwardt, Chaicf Elahmars Quasside, nehst Wijnligung Joseph
von Hammer ai^ Arahisten (Greifswald, 1859). See also
Goethe, Wentdatliche Divan, notes.
Arthur F. J. Remy.
Hammurabi {Ha-am-mu-ra-bi), the sixth king of the first Babylonian dynasty; well known for over fifty years to students of Babylonian history. Inscrip- tions of Hammurabi were published by Rawlinson in 1S61 and Oppert in 1863; the "Cuneiform Texts from Babylonian tablets, etc., in the British Mu.seum " con- tained many letters and other documents belonging to his period; finally the most valuable work of Ij. W. King, "Letters and Inscriptions of Hammurabi" (1898-1900) supplied a mine of information on the reign of the now famous Babylonian ruler of 4000 years ago. The origin and etymology of Hammurabi's name are somewhat puzzling, for this name does not appear to be distinctly Babylonian. Later scribes regarded it as foreign and translated it Kimla- rapanshtmn, "great family", a fairly good rendering of Hammu-rabi in the S. Arabian dialect. It is note- worthy that, with only two exceptions, the names of the kings of that so-called Babylonian dynasty are likewise best explained from the Arabic. This fact gives much weight to the hypothesis, first suggested by Pognon in 1888, of the Arabic or Aramean origin of that dynasty. All scholars seem to agree that the nationality of these rulers must be sought in the "land of Amurru", whereby the Babylonians designated all the regions lying to the west (N. and S.) of their own country.
There is not so great a divergence of opinions as to the date to be assigned to Hammurabi. The King- lists would suggest 2342 b. c. as the date of his acces- sion; but it is now commonly believed that these lists need to be interpreted, for from the "Chronicles con- cerning early Babylonian Kings", published by L. W. King (1907), it appears that the first and second Baby- lonian dynasties were not succe.ssive, but in part contemporary; the first kings of the second dynasty (that of Shesh-ha) ruled not at Babylon, but on "the Sea-country". Other indications furnished by Na- bonidus, Assurbanipal, and Berosus lead us to lower the above date. Thureau-Dangin and Ungnad place the reign of Hammurabi between 2130 and 2088 b. c; Toffteen adopts the dates 2121-2066 b. c; King sug- gests 1990-1950 B. c; Father Scheil, O.P., says 2056 B. c. is the probable date of the king's accession, which Father Dhorme places in 2041. Hammurabi's was therefore a long reign. Since the victorious expedition of Kutir-Nahhunte, in 2285, against Babylonia, the latter country had been in a condition of vassalage to Elam. Under Hammurabi's predecessors, it gradually improved its condition; but it was reserved to him to free it from the foreign yoke. In the thirtieth year of his reign, Hammurabi defeated the army of Kudur- Lagamar (?), King of Elam, thereby winning Baby- lonia's independence; the ensuing year he completed this success by conquering the lands of lamutbala (W. of Eiam) and Larsa, and taking, in consequence, the title of King of Sumer and Akkad. Other triumphs followed: Rabiqu, Dupliash, Kar-Sharaash, possibly Turukku, Kakmum. and Sube fell into his power, so that towards the end of his life he had knit together into a mighty empire N. and S. Babylonia, and very likely extended his sway, at least nominally, over the land of Amurru as far as Chanaan.
The warlike exploits of "Hammurabi, the strong warrior, the destroyer of his foes, the hurricane of battle ", are not perhaps such as would make him the peer of the most renowned captains; what has won for him a well-deserved prominent place among the rulers of kingdoms is that to his military achievements he joined the wisdom of a consummate statesman in the government of his vast domains. From the brief outline of his reign sketched in the "Chronicles" we
learn that every year there was some important work
accomplished: temples erected or restored, cities built
or embellished, canals dug, agricultural progress pro-
moted, justice re-established; and his letters witness
to the attention given by him to every detail of admin-
istration: revenue, public works, regulation of food
supplies, exemptions from duty. Assyriologists agree
that Hammurabi's reign was, moreover, a period of
great literary activity. The interest which attaches to
his history has waxed more intense since Schrader pro-
posed, in 1887, to identify this prince with Amraphel,
King of Sennaar, mentioned in Gen., xiv. That Sen-
naar (Hebr. Shiriar) corresponds to Shaanhaar, an
AssjTian name for Babylonia, is beyond dispute; that
the two names Hammuralji and Amraphel are phonet-
ically identical, most scholars readily admit; as,
moreover, the other names cited in the same context:
"Arioch, kingof Pontus (Hebr. EUasar), and Chodor-
lahomor, king of the Elamites, and Thadal king of
nations (Hebr. Gdyiin) ", may designate Rim-Sin
(-Riw-Aku), King of Larsa, Kudur-Lagamar, King of
Elam, and a certain Thudhula, otherwise unknown,
srir imWiti, i. e. "king of the (foreign) countries", the
identification of Hammurabi and Amraphel is, to say
the least, very probable. We should gather thence
that the expedition referred to in the Bible must have
taken place before Rim-Sin's downfall, when Babylon
w'as still a vassal to Elam, hence before the thirtieth
year of Hammurabi's reign, that is to say, before
about 2010, a date in perfect agreement with the
probable clu-onology of Abraham.
The discovery of Hammurabi's Code has raised him to a leading place in the roll of the greatest men of antiquity. This wonderful document was unearthed partly in Dec, 1901, and partly in Jan., 1902, by the French Delegation en Perse, untler M. de Morgan, in their excavations at Su.sa, once the capital of Elam and, later, of Persia. The stele containing the Code is an obelisk-like block of lilack diorite measuring 7 ft. 4^ in. in height and 6 ft. 9\ in. in circumference at the base. With the exception of a large carving in relief on the upper end, it was once entirely covered with forty-four columns (over 3800 lines) of text in the old Babylonian wedge-writing. From the inscription we learn that it was engraved for the temple of Shamash at Sippar, and that another copy stood in the temple of Marduk in the city of Babylon, and the discovery of various fragments makes it probable that more copies had been set up in different cities. This stele, now in the Louvre Museum, was carried off from Sippar, about 1120 B. c, by Shutruk-Nahhunte, King of Elam, who set it in his capital as a trophy of his victory. To this circumstance should likely be attrib- uted the cliiselling away of some five columns of the text, probably to make place for a record of the Elam- ite ruler's triumphs, which, however, was never writ- ten. The relief carved at the upper end of the stele represents the king standing before the sun-god Shamash seated upon a throne, clothed in a flounced robe, wearing the swathed head-gear and holding in his hand the sceptre and ring.
With wonderful promptness, the editio princeps of the text, accompanied with a French translation, was published late in 1902. A German version by Winck- ler, and one in English l)y Johns, appeared in 1903. The text of the inscription may be divided into three parts: the introduction, the Code, and the conclusion. In the first part there is a lengthy enumeration of Hammurabi's honorific titles and a recital of his deeds of war and peace, ending with these words, very aptly prefacing the Code: "When Marduk sent me to gov- ern men, to sustain and instruct the world, right and justice in the land I established, I brought about the happiness of men".
According to a fragment found in Assurbanipal's library, the Code contained 285 "legal judgments of Hammurabi" (Cuncif. Texts, etc., XIII, pi. 46 and
