A real and legendary king, Hammurabi ruled in the 18th century B.C. He was the most famous and glorified king of Babylonia, or more precisely, of the Ancient Babylonian kingdom, but science did not distinguish him from a number of other outstanding persons of Babylonian-Assyrian history for a long time. Only for bibliographers was he of interest, as his name was considered identical to the biblical "Amrafel". Consequently, Hammurabi himself was one of the four eastern kings who took Lot, Abraham's nephew, as a prisoner during a happy raid on Palestine.
For a long time, there was very little historical information about Hammurabi, his personality and the time of his reign were reported only by hymns, about ten small inscriptions on physical monuments and about 50 letters of the king to his vassal (or viceroy). And this historical evidence shows us the king who has already matured, with a fully developed character. As the Russian professor I.M. Volkov wrote, it was the ruler, who fully understood the political tasks of his time and resolutely began to implement them. Having overthrown the foreign yoke and united the disparate forces of Babylonia, he decided to expand the territory of his kingdom at the expense of neighboring countries. As a result of military campaigns, Hammurabi united in his hands most of the civilized world of that time (spread his influence almost all over the territory of Mesopotamia and Elam, on Assyria and even Syria). A well-thought-out system of political alliances helped him to defeat his opponents, often with the help of strangers. In the end, Hammurabi killed his main ally, Mari, the king of the northern state. In addition to his successful foreign policy, Hammurabi also succeeded in the internal administration of Babylonia. It was this activity that made him most famous.
King Hammurabi's famous code of laws was opened by a French scientific expedition, which in 1897 began excavations in the place where the Susa, the capital of ancient Elam, once stood. Members of the expedition, led by J. de Morgan, have already had on their account a number of valuable finds, when suddenly in December 1901 they first came across a large piece of diorite, and a few days later dug up two more wreckage. When all three fragments were attached to each other, the stele was 2.25 meters high and its width ranged from 1.65 meters above to 1.9 meters below.
When the stele was brought to Paris and exhibited in the Louvre, it was studied by the scientist-astrologist Sheila. For the first researcher, it was not easy, Sheila (and later other scientists) had to deal with difficulties of legal and philological nature, but the result of their research was the deciphering, translation, and publication of the code of laws of the Babylonian king.
On the front side of the stele, there is a carved relief image of the god Shamash sitting on the high throne and standing before him asking Hammurabi. The god sitting on a throne dressed in the usual Babylonian clothes finished with ruffles, on his head - the high four-tier crown. The god Shamash, majestically stretched out with his right hand, hands over a scroll of laws to the king of Babylon. Hammurabi stands before the god in a usual prayer position, on it - tied with a belt long tunic and a hat with a rim.
The part of the stele that follows the bas-relief and the whole back of it is covered with carefully carved, ornate and elegant wedge-shaped text in Babylonian-Semitic language. The text consists of a series of short columns going from right to left, with wedge-shaped signs read from top to bottom. About 10 columns of the inscription Hammurabi devoted to the list of his titles, the glorification of his patron gods and the glorification of his greatness, his care for his subjects, the story of the spread of his power.
"I, Hammurabi, am the shepherd chosen by Enlil, who poured out wealth and abundance, provided all Nippur, the connection between heaven and earth, the glorious patron of E-Kur, the mighty king, who restored Erida, purified E-Ansa, the conqueror of the four countries of the universe, glorified the name of Babylon, rejoicing in the heart of Marduk, his lord, who went to worship in E-Sagil all his days, a royal offspring... enriched the Ur, a humble man of God, who supplied the abundance of Kisshirgal...
The wise king, obedient servant of Shamash, the strong, strengthened foundation of Sippard, dressed with the greenery of Aya's grave, glorified Bubba like a heavenly dwelling, the soldier who had mercy on Larsus, the ruler, the king of kings, the eternal royal offspring, the mighty king ... who gave life to Erectus, who supplied water to his inhabitants in abundance ...
When Marduk called on me to rule the people and deliver prosperity to the country, I gave the right and laws in the language of the country, creating the welfare of the people...
So that the strong would not offend the weak, so that the orphan and the widow would be treated with justice, I wrote in Babylon ... for the establishment of law in the country, for the resolution of lawsuits in the country, for the provision of justice to the oppressed, my precious words on my monument and put in front of the image of me, the king of the legislator ... oppressed, involved in a lawsuit, let him come to the image of me, the king of the legislator, and make him read my inscription on the monument. He will hear my precious words, and my monument will explain to him the case. He will find the right, will give the heart to breathe freely and will tell: " Truly Hammurabi - the lord who for the people as though the father in flesh ... has delivered forever prosperity to people, ruled the country fairly ".
The cuneiform text goes on to say that the king of Babylon called for a blessing on the admirers and executors of the new law and a curse on its violators.
"If this man does not observe my words written on my monument, does not pay attention to my curse, is not afraid of the gods' curse, cancels my legislation, distorts my words, changes my traits ... whether it will be a king or a nobleman, The great Ana, the father of the gods, who called me to reign, should deprive me of his royal grandeur, break his rod and curse his fate. Enlil, the ruler who determines destiny ... let him raise against him in his house of undue turmoil, leading to his death, yes, appoint him as a fate of miserable rule, a few days of life, years of dearness, hopeless darkness, sudden death ...".
To be continued in the next part https://zen.yandex.ru/media/id/5d923f5735c8d800b2dec55f/stella-with-the-king-hammurabis-code-of-laws-part-2-5d948c9035c8d800b14e187a