Babylon

Life and Code of Hammurabi

• He was the sixth and best ruler of the 1st dynasty of
Babylon (1792-1750 BC)
• Promulgation of the earliest known laws in Human
history
• He had a tribal Amorite name belonging to Amnanum
– unlike his father and Grandfather
• Very scanty information is known about his immediate
family
• His father ‘s name was Sin-muballit, his sister is Iltani
and his first born son and successor Samsuiluna
His reign
• Hammurabi succeeded Sin-muballit in 1792
BC
• He was still young – but customary in the
Mesopotamian royal court
• He probably already been entrusted with
some official duties in the administration
• In that same year the Rim Sin of Larsa – ruler
of entire South of Babylonia conquered Isin- a
buffer between the Babylon and Larsa
• Rim-Sin became the Hammurabi’s chief rival
 His activities
• He engaged in the traditional activities of an
ancient Mesopotamian king ie. Building and
restoring temples, city walls, public buildings,
digging canals, dedicating cult objects to the
deities in the city and town of his realm and
fighting wars
• The Size, location and military strength – major
powers of Babylonia
• Hammurabi was not strong enough to change
the balance of power – his diplomatic reports
justify this
• His decision to control the water of Euphrates
water naturally led to conflict with the Kingdom
of Larsa- situated in downstream
• This policy actually started by his grandfather,
perused by father aswell
 Conflict with Rim-Sin
• Hammurabi took up the Euphrates project in
1787 BC in the beginning of his year
• He directly clashed with Rim Sin when he
captures the Uruk and Isin held by Rim Sin
• But Hammurabi led this operation no further
but he concentrated towards north west and
the East
• For almost 20 years no war like activities are
reported
• During this time there was a lot of change in
the contemporary main kingdoms- Mari. Ashur,
Eshnunna, Babylon and Larsa
• Hammurabi fortified his northern borders this
time (1776-1768 BC)
 The war time
• Last 14 years of Hammurabi's reign was overshadowed by
continuous warfare
• In 1764 BC- Hammurabi dealt with a coaliation of Ashur,
Eshnunna, and Elam- the main powers east of the Tigris
• Their position blocked his access to the metal producing
area of Iran
• Later he took the intiative of moving towards Rim Sin of
Larsa (1763 BC)
• He used the water in the Eupherates river against the Rim
Sim
• He dammed the water and released it suddenly to create a
flood or simply withholding it – cutting off the water
supply
• The final siege of Larsa Rim Sin’s las t stronghold lasted for
several months before Hammurabi's victory
• In 1762 BC he again engaged in the hostilities with the eastern
powers.
• There was a move against the long term Allya Zimrilim, the king of
Mari – this remains enigmatic- could be to get the control of the
water rights upstream or location of Mari as a crossroad to ancient
middle east overland trade
• Two years later he directed his army eastwards for a third time (1757-
1755 BC)
• The final destruction of Eshnunna achieved by damming up the
waters – removed the buffer zone with the people of East
• In the last two years he concentrated more on the fortification of the
city.
• He fall sick and he died in the 1750 BC
• He was succeeded by his son Samsuiluna
Hammurabi's Achievements and failures
• Saw the consolidation of conditions resulting from the transformation of a
small city states into large territorial state
• He personally engaged in the detail of implementing these change
• This personal style of Hammurabi was also followed by other
contemporary rulers
• He failed to set up and effective bureaucratic system – he was slo fully
engaged in the war in the last part of his reign
• The lack of effective administration led to the fast deterioration of his
empire after his death
• After conquering the southern Babylonia – he didn’t deified himself
following the tradition
• He may be credited with bringing the Mesopotamia again under
single rule
• With his rule the focus of the Medetarnean history was shifted to the
north and it remained for 1000 years.
Hammurabi's Code
• The most complete and perfect extant collection of
Babylonian laws developed during the reign of
Hammurabi (1792-1750 BC)
• Its his legal,decision inscribed ona diorite stela in
the Babylon’s temple of Marduk- National God of
Babylonia
• These 282 case laws include economic
provisions(price, tarrif, trade and commerce),
family law (marriage and divorce), as well as
criminal law (Assult and theft) and Civil Law
(Slavery and debt)
• Penalties varied according to the statys of the
offender and the circumstances of the offences
• Back ground of the code is a body od Sumerian law under which civilized
communities had lived for many centuries
• The existing text is Akkadian (Semitic) language- the code was meant to be
applied to a wider places than single country- may be to integrate the
semetic and Sumerian tradition
• There are also few primitive survival relating to family, solidarity, district
responsibility, trial by ordeal, and the lex talionis (ie, eye for an eye, tooth
for a tooth)
• The code was advanced far beyond tribal customs an recognized no blood
feud, private retribution, or marriage by capture.
• Discovered at Susa in 1901 by French Orientalist –Jean-Vincent Scheil- now
in Louvre museum Paris.
Religion and science
• The Babylonian Religion is greatly influenced by the Sumerian
• Information mostly from the clay tablets written in cuneiform writing
• The Myths were either written in Sumerian or Akkadian
• Some influence can be traced from the Gods from Near East
especially some stories from Tanakh (Hebrew Bible)
• Though there are similarities with the Sumerian Gods, there are some
Babylonian Gods unique to that culture Viz. Marduk (replaced Enlil) as
the head of Gods
• The Enuma Elis- a creation mythic epic
Gods
• Marduk – Primary god of
Babylonians and city God
of Babylonia. Head of all
Gods and have 50
different titles for himself.
Sometimes pictured with
a dragon
Nergal

• Nergal – God of the

Underworld. He was an evil
God who brought war and
famin on the people. His city
was Kuthu. Other name for
him was Erra and Irra
Tiamat
• Tiamat – She is the Goddess of sea. Tiamat is
shown as a huge dragon and Marduk defeatd
her in battle.
• She is the symbol of chaos and primordial
creation
• She is refered to as a woman and as a
‘glistering one’
• Her consort is Abzu
Shamash- Babylonian Version of Utu

• Shamash as a solar deity

exercised the power of light
over darkness and evil.
• Known as the God of Justice and
equality- Judge of both Men
and Gods
• He was alaso the Governer of
the whole universe
• He is shown as seated on a
throne, holding in his hand the
symbol of Justice and
righteousness – picturesd with
disc that Symbolosed the Sun
Ea
• Ea– Same as Enki, the Sumerian God- he was originally the patron god
of the city of Eridu
• His sacred number is 40
Science
• Babylonians thinkers were outstanding mathematicians
• Used fractions
• Build advanced siege weaponries for war and parceled out the limited
farmable land in their kingdom
• Earliest people to develop the study of Astronomy and astrology
• But their concept of science dramatically different from present day-
but all of their science was used for practical applications
• There was no such thing as abstract science in Babylonia
Mathematics
• Mesopotamian science and Babylonian
science specifically awas extremely advanced
in many ways
• It was devoid of any abstract reasoning such
as theorems or proofs
• Eg. The advanced maths were used to divide
farmable lands into plots that resulted not
only in standard rectangular parcels but also
triangular and even polygon plots of land
• Theier calculating methods and multiplication
tables were inscribed in clay tablets- shows
that there is far more to than simple addition
and substraction
• Babylonians were using the equations to produce siege equipment
and in other facets in warfare
• The students were taught how to divert the water through cities to
take down defensive walls
• These maths made by the Babylonian scholars were later used by the
Assyrians to invent siege engines that were truly ahead of their time.
Astronomy and Astrology
• They were known for their knowledge in the Astronomy and Astrology
• It played a subordinate role in the mathematics for quiet some time in
Babylonean history
• It was not until the later times that the astronomy began to becaome the
most important Babylonian science
• Babylonian astronomers began mapping out constellations, dividing thirty
six into three circles represented by the Gods Anu, Ellil, and Ea.
• Thus Babylonian astronomy represented the melding of science and
religion Ziggurates all throughout not only played as a Scribal school but
also as celestial observatories
• Tney made calenders more accurate than
the one produced by their contemperories
– helped to solve the potential problems
• The connection between the day, month
and year which could not be rectified by
the Babylonians thought out their
observation of the stars and use of maths
Art and Architecture