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Hammurapi Biography

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HAMMURAPI, King of Babylonia (2124-2081 B.C.). He was the sixth ruler of the so-called first dynasty of Babylon, founded by the Amoritish chief Sumuabu, (2232-2217), and a son of Sinmuballit (2149-2124). In the beginning of his reign he probably recognized the suzerainty of the Elamitish King, Kudur Mabuk, and it is possible, though it cannot be strictly proved, that he accompanied another Elamitish king, Kudur Lagamar (see CHEDORLAOMER), on a raid into Syria, as is suggested by Gen. xiv. 1 ff. (See AMRAPHEL.) If the identification is correct, and the notice reliable, this event, in which Rim Sin of Larsa (see Arioch) also participated, is likely to have occurred c.2100 B.C., after the conquests of Mesopotamian cities which occupied the King during the first half of his reign. In 2094 he conquered Rim Sin, took possession of Emutbal, and made himself independent of Elam. He seems to have forced his suzerainty on Assyria, whose ruler Samsi Adad I apparently was dependent on him, and whose great cities, Assur and Nineveh, he mentions as belonging to his realm. Beyond Ematbul he does not seem to have possessed any part of Elamitish territory; and whether the title "adda Martu" shows that he held control of Syria is doubtful. It is as an organizer of his Empire that he became particularly famous. In his inscriptions he records the building of canals, the construction of a granary for the storing of wheat against times of famine, and numerous building enterprises in Babylon and other cities. The correspondence between the King and a high official, Sin-idinam, Governor of the Sumerian South, with the cities of Larsa, Ur, Uruk, and Lagash, which has been compared to that between Trajan and Pliny the Younger, throws a vivid light on the organization of the Empire. The King takes a personal interest in the administration of justice, the condition of the standing army, the development of the financial resources, the welfare of all classes of the population. He prides himself on being "the king of righteousness." To secure justice and prosperity he undertook an extensive codification of the law (see HAMMURAPI, CODE OF), and reorganized the judiciary so as to transfer the judicial functions from the priesthood to the "elders" in the cities presided over by the governors of these cities, and to courts whose members were appointed for life by the King, from whose decisions appeal was possible to a supreme court in Babylon and the King himself. The social life of Babylonia in the time of Hammurapi is more intimately known than that of any other period of its history. The determinative for god is sometimes used in connection with the King's name, but that may be due to the first part of it ('Ammu, or Hammu) being, rightly or wrongly, understood to be the name of a god; for from the time of this Amoritish dynasty the kings of Babylonia regarded themselves as the servants of the gods, but not as gods themselves, as their predecessors had done; the meaning of the second part of the name, known to be rapi, and not rabi, is uncertain. Hammurapi wrote his law in the Akkadian language that it might be understood by all, but also many bilingual inscriptions, in Sumerian and Akkadian. He was one of the greatest and noblest of all the kings that reigned in Babylonia. Consult: Winckler, Geschichte Babyloniens and Assyrians (Leipzig, 1892) ; Massaro, Histoire ancienne (Paris, 1897); Rogers, A History of Babylonia anal Assyria (New York, 1900) ; King, Letters and Inscriptions of Hammurabi (3 vols., London, 1898-1900) ; id., A History of Sumer and Akkad, (ib., 1910).