Hammurabi

Examples of Hammurabi in the following topics:

• Babylon

  • Babylon remained a minor territory for a century after it was founded, until the reign of its sixth Amorite ruler, Hammurabi (1792-1750 BCE).
  • To the west, Hammurabi enjoyed military success against the Semitic states of the Levant (modern Syria), including the powerful kingdom of Mari.
  • Hammurabi also entered into a protracted war with the Old Assyrian Empire for control of Mesopotamia and the Near East.
  • After the death of Hammurabi, his empire began to disintegrate rapidly.
  • The extent of the Babylonian Empire at the start and end of Hammurabi's reign.

• Hammurabi's Code

  • The Code of Hammurabi was a collection of 282 laws, written in c. 1754 BCE in Babylon.
  • Written in about 1754 BCE by the sixth king of Babylon, Hammurabi, the Code was written on stone stele and clay tablets.
  • Some of the provisions may have been codification of Hammurabi's decisions, for the purpose of self-glorification.
  • Under Hammurabi's reign, there were three social classes.
  • This basalt stele has the Code of Hammurabi inscribed in cuneiform script in the Akkadian language.

• Nebuchadnezzar and the Fall of Babylon

  • The Kassite Dynasty ruled Babylonia following the fall of Hammurabi and was succeeded by the Second Dynasty of Isin, during which time the Babylonians experienced military success and cultural upheavals under Nebuchadnezzar.
  • Following the collapse of the First Babylonian Dynasty under Hammurabi, the Babylonian Empire entered a period of relatively weakened rule under the Kassites for 576 years— the longest dynasty in Babylonian history.

• Ur

  • Advances during this time included the building of temples, like the Ziggurat, better agricultural irrigation, and a code of laws, called the Code of Ur-Nammu, which preceded the Code of Hammurabi by 300 years.