The Code Of Hammurabi Ancient Babylonian Culture And...

The Code of Hammurabi is the most fascinating and useful source on Ancient Babylonian culture and justice. The intricately carved cuneiform record of a legal code is evocative of Hammurabi and his authoritarian style of leadership, and indicative of how important his legacy was to him. It also reveals that the kingdom under his rule had an organised society, with a rigid class-structure. This code was no mere theoretical exercise, but a series of practical laws that extended to shaping the society’s way of life. The manner in which Hammurabi’s Code was recorded, an eight-foot-high work of art, reveals much about Hammurabi. As king, Hammurabi had a responsibility to bring about justice. To affirm that he was fulfilling this obligation, he†¦show more content†¦Hence, Hammurabi took great pains to ensure that he and his code would be considered important, not only by his current subjects, but by future generations as well. The epilogue of the Code makes this clear, where Hammurabi orders his teachings to be passed down: In future time, through all coming generations, let the king, who may be in the land, observe the words of righteousness which I have written on my monument; let him not alter the law of the land which I have given, the edicts which I have enacted†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (King, 1910) The introduction to the Code, with a long list of his achievements, also indicates that Hammurabi’s legacy was important to him: â€Å"Hammurabi, the prince, called of Bel am I, making riches and increase, enriching Nippur and Dur-ilu beyond compare, sublime patron of E-kur; who reestablished Eridu and purified the worship of E-apsu; who conquered the four quarters of the world, made great the name of Babylon†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (ibid.) Hammurabi was successful in both securing a complimentary legacy for himself and creating a code that would have a long-lasting effect. One indication of this is to be found in archaeological records, which were discovered in the library of Ashurbanipal. One fragment of these records, dating from c.1600 B.C., reveals a Babylonian proverb, which is clearly derived from the eye-for-an-eye, tooth-for-a-tooth philosophy that Hammurabi’s code teaches: