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mesopotamiababylonian

Stele of Hammurabi

Black diorite stele (c. 1754 BCE) inscribed with the law code of Hammurabi, King of Babylon. 2.25 m tall; the upper portion bears a bas-relief of Hammurabi receiving the laws from the sun god Shamash. Discovered at Susa, Iran, in 1901 by the French expedition of Jacques de Morgan. Held at the Louvre, Paris.

Scholarly Significance

Anchor the Babylonian art cluster with the Stele of Hammurabi, the most important surviving document of ancient Babylonian law and a canonical example of Mesopotamian relief sculpture.

Notes

  • ·Hammurabi (r. c. 1792–1750 BCE) was the sixth king of the First Babylonian Dynasty. His law code, inscribed on this stele, is one of the earliest and most complete written legal codes in human history.
  • ·The upper section contains a bas-relief showing Hammurabi standing before Shamash, the Babylonian sun god and god of justice, who presents the king with a ring and measuring rod — symbols of royal authority to legislate. Hammurabi is depicted in a gesture of supplication or reception.
  • ·The remainder of the stele (approx. 3,500 lines of cuneiform Akkadian) contains a prologue, 282 laws (covering trade, wages, property, theft, family, slavery, debt), and an epilogue threatening divine punishment on those who alter the laws.
  • ·The laws operate on the lex talionis ('eye for an eye') principle but vary penalties by social class (free citizens, commoners, slaves receive different punishments).
  • ·The stele was taken from Babylon to Susa c. 1157 BCE by the Elamite king Shutruk-Nakhunte as war booty. An Elamite king erased approximately five columns of laws near the bottom (presumably to add his own inscription, which was never completed).
  • ·Discovered December 1901 by Jacques de Morgan's French archaeological expedition at Susa in three fragments (upper portion) and one large lower fragment.
  • ·The original stele was erected in a public place in Babylon (possibly the Esagila temple complex) where it could be read by the literate.
  • ·Iraq has periodically requested the stele's return; it remains in the Louvre.