Hammurabi's Code and The Epic of Gilgamesh - Study Notes"

Code of Hammurabi: Prologue, Laws, Epilogue

• Timeframe and context

  • Hammurabi (?-1750 B.C.E.) ruled Babylonia about 1792–1750 B.C.E.; expanded a unified kingdom by combining new territories with inherited lands and extending the bureaucracy.

  • After his death, Amorite dynasty declined; within about two centuries the Kassites conquered Babylonia.

  • The Code of Hammurabi was promulgated to unify diverse subjects and survived long after the dynasty’s fall; it was inscribed on a seven-foot stele and enshrined in the temple of Marduk.

  • Discovery and custody: rediscovered in 1901 at Susa (southwest Iran); now on display in the Louvre.

  • The Code is now thought to be a summary of a body of long-standing Sumerian laws, not original to Hammurabi. Earlier Sumerian tablets (c. 2200 B.C.E.) cover prices, wages, loans, marriage, property, slaves, etc., indicating the Code borrowed and adapted earlier ordinances.

  • The Code likely drew on local ordinances used to control commerce, trade, and personal relations; it reflects a shared cultural tradition rather than direct Mosaic influence.

  • Structure: three parts – prologue, the laws, and an epilogue.

  • Prologue: Hammurabi’s achievements are listed; divine support asserted. Epilogue repeats the idea that just rule, under divine blessing, ensures justice, peace, and prosperity; it also issues curses against rulers who fail to follow the laws or fear the gods.

• Prologue: divine legitimation and Hammurabi’s mission

  • Prologue formula: the gods Anum (Anu) and Illil (Enlil) grant Hammurabi kingship, establish justice, and command him to rule for the prosperity of the land.

  • Hammurabi praises the sun god Shamash (god of justice) and asserts that, under divine command, he brings truth and justice to the land and prospers the people.

  • Key divine authorities named: Anu, Illil, Shamash, Marduk, Ea (Enki).

  • The prologue asserts that Hammurabi was chosen by the gods to