Enrich Code of Ur-Nammu: physical record, social structure, capital offenses, influenced codes, fix duplicate heading and BCE temporal tags

legal-codes/code-of-ur-nammu.md

@@ -1,77 +1,50 @@
 <!-- factbase:5a1717 -->
 # Code of Ur-Nammu
 
-# Code of Ur-Nammu
-
 ## Overview
-The Code of Ur-Nammu (~2100–2050 BCE) is the oldest known legal code, predating the Code of Hammurabi by ~300 years. It was issued by Ur-Nammu (or his son Shulgi) of the Third Dynasty of Ur. @t[2100 BCE..2050 BCE]
+The Code of Ur-Nammu (~2100–2050 BCE) is the oldest known surviving legal code, predating the Code of Hammurabi by ~300 years. It was issued by Ur-Nammu (or his son Shulgi) of the Third Dynasty of Ur. @t[~2100 BCE..~2050 BCE]
 
 ## Key Facts
-- Date: ~2100–2050 BCE @t[2100 BCE..2050 BCE]
-- Issuer: Ur-Nammu or Shulgi, Third Dynasty of Ur
-- Language: Sumerian
-- Discovered: Fragments found at Nippur and Ur
+- Date: ~2100–2050 BCE @t[~2100 BCE..~2050 BCE]
+- Issuer: Ur-Nammu (r. 2112–2095 BCE) or his son Shulgi (r. 2094–2047 BCE), Third Dynasty of Ur
+- Language: Sumerian (cuneiform script on clay tablets)
+- Discovered: Fragments found at Nippur, Ur, and Sippar; primary tablet (Ni 3191) held at Istanbul Archaeology Museums
+- First translated: Samuel Noah Kramer, 1952 [^2]
+
+## Physical Record
+- Primary tablet (Ni 3191): Two fragments from Nippur, Old Babylonian period copy; held at Istanbul Archaeology Museums
+- Ur fragments (IM 85688+85689): Found at Ur, translated 1965; held at Iraq Museum, Baghdad
+- Sippar exemplars: Two tablets — Si 277 (Istanbul Museum) bears the prologue; BM 54722+ (British Museum) bears the laws
+- Schoyen Collection cylinder (MS 2064): Clay cylinder of unknown provenance, dated to Ur III period, preserves 8 columns [^3]
+- Total laws: ~57 reconstructed across all fragments; ~30 legible in any single recension [^3]
 
 ## Content
-- Prologue establishes the king as agent of divine justice
-- ~30 surviving laws (originally more)
-- Covers: Bodily injury, robbery, sexual offenses, marriage, slavery, agricultural disputes
-- Uses monetary compensation (fines) rather than *lex talionis* ("eye for an eye") [^1]
+- Prologue invokes deities Nanna (moon god) and Utu (sun god), establishing the king as agent of divine justice
+- Prologue also records standardization of weights and measures (the bronze sila-measure, one-mina weight, shekel of silver) [^3]
+- Laws arranged in casuistic form: IF (crime) THEN (punishment) — a pattern followed in nearly all later codes [^1]
+- Uses monetary compensation (fines in silver) rather than *lex talionis* ("eye for an eye") for most offenses [^1]
+- Capital offenses: murder, robbery, adultery (by a woman), and rape of a virgin wife [^3]
+- Covers: Bodily injury, kidnapping, slavery, marriage and divorce, sexual offenses, agricultural disputes, sorcery accusations
+
+## Social Structure Reflected
+- Society divided into two strata: *lu* (free person) and slave (*arad* male, *geme* female) [^3]
+- Fines and penalties differentiated by social status
+- Prologue emphasizes protection of the weak: "the orphan was not delivered up to the rich man; the widow was not delivered up to the mighty man" [^3]
 
 ## Significance
-- Oldest known legal code, predating Hammurabi by ~300 years
-- Shows that Sumerian legal tradition favored fines over physical punishment
+- Oldest known surviving legal code, predating Hammurabi by ~300 years
+- Earlier code of Urukagina (~24th century BCE) is known only through references; Ur-Nammu's is the earliest extant text [^4]
+- Favored fines over physical punishment, contrasting with the later *lex talionis* of Hammurabi's code
+- Influenced subsequent Mesopotamian codes: Laws of Eshnunna (~1930 BCE) and Code of Lipit-Ishtar (~1870 BCE), which in turn shaped the Code of Hammurabi [^4]
 - Demonstrates sophisticated legal thinking in the 3rd millennium BCE [^2]
 
+## Related Documents
+- [Code of Hammurabi](../legal-codes/code-of-hammurabi.md) — later Babylonian code, ~300 years after Ur-Nammu
+- [Ur-Nammu](../rulers/ur-nammu.md) — issuer of the code
+- [Third Dynasty of Ur](../cities/ur.md) — political context
+
 ---
 [^1]: Roth, M.T. *Law Collections from Mesopotamia and Asia Minor* (1997)
-[^2]: Kramer, S.N. "Ur-Nammu Law Code" *Orientalia* 23 (1954)
----
-
-## Review Queue
-
-<!-- factbase:review -->
-- [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 10: "Date: ~2100–2050 BCE" - when was this true?
-> 2050 BCE event. Attested by Roth (1997) [^1]; Kramer (1954) [^2]. BCE temporal tags not yet supported by factbase.
-- [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 11: "Issuer: Ur-Nammu or Shulgi, Third Dynasty of Ur" - when was this true?
-> Historical event. Attested by Roth (1997) [^1]; Kramer (1954) [^2].
-- [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 12: "Language: Sumerian" - when was this true?
-> Historical event. Attested by Roth (1997) [^1]; Kramer (1954) [^2].
-- [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 13: "Discovered: Fragments found at Nippur and Ur" - when was this true?
-> Historical event. Attested by Roth (1997) [^1]; Kramer (1954) [^2].
-- [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 16: "Prologue establishes the king as agent of divine justice" - when was this true?
-> Historical event. Attested by Roth (1997) [^1]; Kramer (1954) [^2].
-- [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 17: "~30 surviving laws (originally more)" - when was this true?
-> Historical event. Attested by Roth (1997) [^1]; Kramer (1954) [^2].
-- [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 18: "Covers: Bodily injury, robbery, sexual offenses, marriage, slavery, agricultu..." - when was this true?
-> Historical event. Attested by Roth (1997) [^1]; Kramer (1954) [^2].
-- [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 19: "Uses monetary compensation (fines) rather than *lex talionis* ("eye for an ey..." - when was this true?
-> Historical event. Attested by Roth (1997) [^1]; Kramer (1954) [^2].
-- [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 22: "Oldest known legal code, predating Hammurabi by ~300 years" - when was this true?
-> Historical event. Attested by Roth (1997) [^1]; Kramer (1954) [^2].
-- [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 23: "Shows that Sumerian legal tradition favored fines over physical punishment" - when was this true?
-> Historical event. Attested by Roth (1997) [^1]; Kramer (1954) [^2].
-- [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 24: "Demonstrates sophisticated legal thinking in the 3rd millennium BCE [^2]" - when was this true?
-> Historical event. Attested by Roth (1997) [^1]; Kramer (1954) [^2].
-- [x] `@q[missing]` Line 10: "Date: ~2100–2050 BCE" - what is the source?
-> Roth (1997) [^1], Kramer (1954) [^2]
-- [x] `@q[missing]` Line 11: "Issuer: Ur-Nammu or Shulgi, Third Dynasty of Ur" - what is the source?
-> Roth (1997) [^1], Kramer (1954) [^2]
-- [x] `@q[missing]` Line 12: "Language: Sumerian" - what is the source?
-> Roth (1997) [^1], Kramer (1954) [^2]
-- [x] `@q[missing]` Line 13: "Discovered: Fragments found at Nippur and Ur" - what is the source?
-> Roth (1997) [^1], Kramer (1954) [^2]
-- [x] `@q[missing]` Line 16: "Prologue establishes the king as agent of divine justice" - what is the source?
-> Roth (1997) [^1], Kramer (1954) [^2]
-- [x] `@q[missing]` Line 17: "~30 surviving laws (originally more)" - what is the source?
-> Roth (1997) [^1], Kramer (1954) [^2]
-- [x] `@q[missing]` Line 18: "Covers: Bodily injury, robbery, sexual offenses, marriage, slavery, agricultu..." - what is the source?
-> Roth (1997) [^1], Kramer (1954) [^2]
-- [x] `@q[missing]` Line 22: "Oldest known legal code, predating Hammurabi by ~300 years" - what is the source?
-> Roth (1997) [^1], Kramer (1954) [^2]
-- [x] `@q[missing]` Line 23: "Shows that Sumerian legal tradition favored fines over physical punishment" - what is the source?
-> Roth (1997) [^1], Kramer (1954) [^2]
-- [x] `@q[stale]` Line 19: "Uses monetary compensation (fines) rather than *lex talionis* ("eye for an ey..." - Roth source from 1997 may be outdated, is this still accurate?
-> Scholarship remains current. Roth's work on ancient law codes is still authoritative.
-- [x] `@q[stale]` Line 24: "Demonstrates sophisticated legal thinking in the 3rd millennium BCE [^2]" - Kramer source from 1954 may be outdated, is this still accurate?
-> Scholarship remains current. Kramer's foundational work on Sumerian law is still cited.
+[^2]: Kramer, S.N. "Ur-Nammu Law Code" *Orientalia* 23 (1954); *History Begins at Sumer* (1956)
+[^3]: Wikipedia contributors, "Code of Ur-Nammu," *Wikipedia* (accessed 2026-02-23), citing Finkelstein (1968), Yildiz (1981), Frayne (1997), Gurney & Kramer (1965)
+[^4]: Mark, J.J. "The Ancient Mesopotamian Legal Code of Ur-Nammu," *World History Encyclopedia* (2021)