Lipit-Ishtar

king of Isin

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June 17, 2026

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Lipit-Ishtar was a king of Isin, an ancient Mesopotamian city, who reigned from approximately 1934 to 1924 BCE. He is notable for publishing a series of laws in the Sumerian language, which predated the famous Code of Hammurabi by over a century. The Code of Lipit-Ishtar is chronologically midway between the Code of Ur-Nammu and Hammurabi's code, but it is closer to the former in language and legal philosophy, notably not employing the principle of lex talionis (an eye for an eye). Isin eventually lost its independence, first to Larsa and then to Babylon.12

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history of Mesopotamia
Isin and Larsa
Up to the reign of Lipit-Ishtar (c. 1934–c. 1924), the rulers of Isin so resembled those of Ur, as far as the king’s assessment of himself in the hymns is concerned, that it seems almost arbitrary to postulate a break between Ibbi-Sin and Ishbi-Erra. As a further example of continuity…
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Up to the reign of Lipit-Ishtar (c. 1934–c. 1924), the rulers of Isin so resembled those of Ur, as far as the king’s assessment of himself in the hymns is concerned, that it seems almost arbitrary to postulate a break between Ibbi-Sin and Ishbi-Erra. As a further example of continuity…
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Isin
…of the rulers of Isin, Lipit-Ishtar (reigned 1934–24 bc), is famous as having published a series of laws in the Sumerian language anticipating the code of Hammurabi by more than a century. About 1794 Isin lost its independence, first to the neighbouring city of Larsa and later to Babylon. The…
Read More
…of the rulers of Isin, Lipit-Ishtar (reigned 1934–24 bc), is famous as having published a series of laws in the Sumerian language anticipating the code of Hammurabi by more than a century. About 1794 Isin lost its independence, first to the neighbouring city of Larsa and later to Babylon. The…
Read More