Code of Hammurabi
What is the Code of Hammurabi?
What does the image on the Law Stela of Hammurabi show?
In what ways did the Code of Hammurabi remain important after Hammurabi’s reign?
Code of Hammurabi, collection of Babylonian laws, developed during the reign of Hammurabi (1792–1750 bce) of the first dynasty of Babylon. It was composed toward the end of his reign and inscribed on a stone stela. These 282 laws include economic provisions (prices, tariffs, trade, and commerce), family law (marriage and divorce), criminal law (assault and theft), and civil law (slavery and debt). Penalties varied according to the status of the offenders and the circumstances of the offenses.
Discovery and description of the Law Stela of Hammurabi
The Code of Hammurabi is principally known from a stela that was discovered at Susa in late 1901 or early 1902 by the French Orientalist Jean-Vincent Scheil and now preserved in the Louvre. Although the text of the stela states that it was originally set up in Babylon, some scholars believe that this copy of the text actually stood in Sippar before being taken as booty to Susa.
The stela is roughly 88.5 inches (225 cm) high and is made of diorite (or possibly olivine basalt). The upper part of the object is dominated by a relief carving some 25.5 inches (65 cm) high. The relief depicts Hammurabi standing before Shamash, the god of justice and the sun. In a style common to both Mesopotamian and Egyptian art, the figures are shown largely in profile but with their torsos squared to the viewer. Hammurabi stands on the left of the image, wearing a hat and long robes. Shamash, portrayed as larger than Hammurabi, is seated on a throne. His identity is confirmed by the horned helmet that he wears, symbolizing divinity in Mesopotamian tradition, as well as by the sunbeams emanating from his shoulders and mountains (over which the sun rises in Mesopotamia) that make up the foot of his throne. Shamash’s right hand is outstretched toward Hammurabi and holds the rod and ring, symbols of authority.
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The scene atop the Law Stela affirms the power of Hammurabi as king. Shamash is larger than Hammurabi, showing the hierarchy between the god and the king. However, Hammurabi’s power and authority are highlighted through several aspects of the image. While Shamash would be much taller if he were standing, Hammurabi’s eye level is above that of Shamash so that the king looks down to make eye contact with the god. The image is compositionally balanced, giving Hammurabi and Shamash equal visual weight and creating a degree of equivalence between the two.
Contents of the code
The majority of the stela is a cuneiform inscription, written in Akkadian. The text begins with a prologue, which describes how Hammurabi was chosen by the gods to bring justice to the people of Babylonia. Following this is a series of 282 statements, which the epilogue frames as the legal decisions of Hammurabi, although whether they represent specific cases brought before the king or if they are more hypothetical situations is unknown. Each statement opens with a conditional statement, i.e., “if a man…” and ends with a statement of the just outcome. The punishments for different transgressions varied based on the class and gender of the perpetrator and the aggrieved. An example adapted from cuneiform law scholar Martha Roth’s translation of the laws is illustrative:
Money in ancient Babylon was based on weights of metals, usually silver. The smallest unit was the shekel, with the standard southern Mesopotamian shekel weighing about 0.3 ounces (8.4 grams). The next largest weight was the mina, consisting of 60 shekels, the equivalent of a little more than a pound (about 500 grams). A talent was made of 60 minas, weighing some 66 pounds (30 kg).
If an awīlum [literally “man,” a member of the privileged class of Babylonian society] strikes a daughter of an awīlum and causes her to miscarry her fetus, he shall weigh and deliver 10 shekels of silver for her fetus.
As can be seen in the passage, the punishment for causing a woman to miscarry was dependent on her class status, with the amount of the fine an awīlum would pay decreasing in each circumstance. The talion principle is present, as the second stipulation calls for the death of the awīlum’s daughter if he kills an awīlum’s daughter. The awīlum’s life is not on the line in this circumstance, as he outranks the daughter in the gender- and family-based hierarchies of ancient Mesopotamia.
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Precursors and legacy
The Code of Hammurabi was not the first legal text known from Mesopotamia. Other law collections are known from earlier times, including the Code of Ur-Nammu, dating to the third dynasty of Ur, and the Code of Lipit-Ishtar, dating to the Isin-Larsa period. While these particular texts were written in Sumerian centuries before Hammurabi came to rule Babylon, the codes share many of the same textual features and a number of the same notions of justice.
After the time of Hammurabi, his law code continued to be of importance. The text was copied as an exercise for students in scribal schools in the major cities of Mesopotamia and Elam for more than 1,000 years. Commentaries on the code also exist, as does a bilingual Sumerian-Akkadian excerpt of it. A fragmentary text suggests that a copy of the text was in the library of the Neo-Assyrian king Ashurbanipal, who lived in the 7th century bce.