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# Hammurabi

## Overview
Hammurabi (~1792–1750 BCE) was the sixth king of the First Babylonian Dynasty who transformed Babylon from a minor city-state into the dominant power in Mesopotamia. He is best known for the Code of Hammurabi. @t[1792 BCE..1750 BCE]

## Key Facts
- Reign: ~1792–1750 BCE @t[1792 BCE..1750 BCE]
- Title: King of Babylon; also styled "King of the Four Corners of the World" @t[1792 BCE..1750 BCE]
- Capital: Babylon
- Dynasty: First Dynasty of Babylon (Amorite)
- Father: Sin-Muballit (predecessor, abdicated due to failing health)
- Successor: Samsu-iluna (r. ~1750–1712 BCE) @t[~1750 BCE..~1712 BCE]

## Achievements
- Inherited a small kingdom (Babylon, Kish, Sippar, Borsippa) and expanded it through military campaigns and diplomacy [^3]
- Formed a temporary alliance with Larsa to repel an Elamite invasion, then turned against Larsa and absorbed its territories [^3]
- Conquered city-states of Larsa, Eshnunna, and Mari; ousted Ishme-Dagan I of Assyria, forcing his son Mut-Ashkur to pay tribute [^3]
- Was the first ruler to successfully govern all of Mesopotamia without revolt following his initial conquests [^3]
- Issued the Code of Hammurabi (~1754 BCE): 282 laws inscribed on a diorite stele @t[~1754 BCE] [^1]
- Improved irrigation systems and infrastructure; control of canal flow also served as a strategic tool against rival city-states [^3]
- Established Marduk as the supreme deity of Babylon
- Over 200 surviving royal letters document his direct administrative oversight of conquered territories, including correspondence with officials in Larsa [^3]

## The Code of Hammurabi
- The longest, best-organized, and best-preserved legal text from the ancient Near East [^3]
- Written in the Old Babylonian dialect of Akkadian cuneiform
- Structured as: poetic prologue, 282 case laws, and epilogue (~4,130 lines total) [^3]
- The stele's relief depicts Hammurabi receiving the laws from Shamash, the sun god of justice, symbolizing divine authority [^3]
- 282 laws covering property, trade, family, labor, and criminal matters
- Among the first legal codes to establish the presumption of innocence [^4]
- Principle of *lex talionis* ("an eye for an eye") with class-based distinctions
- Influenced later legal traditions, including Mosaic Law in the Hebrew Bible [^3]
- Stele discovered at Susa in 1901, now in the Louvre [^2]
- Not the earliest code (preceded by Code of Ur-Nammu) but the most complete

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[^1]: Roth, M.T. *Law Collections from Mesopotamia and Asia Minor* (1997)
[^2]: Harper, R.F. *The Code of Hammurabi* (1904)
[^3]: World History Encyclopedia. "Hammurabi." https://www.worldhistory.org/hammurabi/ (accessed 2026)
[^4]: Wikipedia. "Hammurabi." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hammurabi (accessed 2026)