[ No introduction written yet. ]
Prologue.
When the lofty Anu, king of the Anunnaki, and Enlil, lord of heaven and earth, who determines the destinies of the land, committed the rule of all mankind to Marduk, the first-born son of Ea, and made him great among the Igigi;... at that time Anu and Enlil named me, Hammurabi, the exalted prince, the worshipper of the gods, to cause righteousness to prevail in the land, to destroy the wicked and the evil, to prevent the strong from plundering the weak, to go forth like the sun over the black- headed race, to enlighten the land and to further the welfare of the people. Hammurabi, the shepherd, named by Enlil am I, who increased plenty and abundance; who made everything complete for Nippur, the bond of heaven and earth; the exalted supporter of Ekur; the wise king, who restored Eridu to its place.... The ancient seed of royalty, the powerful king, the sun of Babylon, who caused light to go forth over the lands of Sumer and Akkad; the king who caused the four quarters of the world to render me to rule the people and to bring help to the land, I established law and justice in the language of the land and promoted the welfare of the people.
Hammurabi's Law Code. The Laws. Selections.
1. If a man accuse a man, and charge him with murder, but cannot convict him, the accuser shall be put to death.
2. If a man charge a man with sorcery, but cannot convict him, he who is charged with sorcery shall go to the sacred river, and he shall throw himself into the river; if the river overcome him, his prosecutor shall take to himself his house. If the river show that man innocent and he come forth unharmed, he that charged him with sorcery shall be put to death. He who threw himself into the river shall take to himself the house of his accuser.
3. If a man, in a case before the court, offer testimony concerning deeds of violence, and do not establish the testimony that he has given--if that case be a case involving life, that man shall be put to death.
4. If he offer testimony concerning grain or money, he shall himself bear the penalty imposed in that case.
5. If a judge pronounce a judgment, render a decision, deliver a sealed verdict, and afterward reverse his judgment, they shall prosecute the judge for reversing the judgment which he has pronounced, and he shall pay twelvefold the damages which were awarded in said judgment; and publicly they shall expel him from his seat of judgment, and he shall not return, and with the judges in a case he shall not take his seat.
6. If a man steal the property of god or palace, that man shall be put to death; and he who receives from his hand the stolen property shall be put to death.
7. If a man purchase silver or gold, manservant or maidservant, ox, sheep, or ass, or anything else from a man's son, or from a man's servant without witnesses or contracts, or if he receive the same for safekeeping, that man is a thief, he shall be put to death.
8. If a man steal ox or sheep, ass or pig, or boat--if it belonged to god or palace, he shall pay thirtyfold; if it belonged to a common man, he shall restore tenfold. If the thief have nothing wherewith to pay, he shall be put to death. ...
The Code of Hammurabi. Conclusion.
The righteous laws which Hammurabi the wise king established and (by which) he gave the land a firm support and a gracious rule. Hammurabi the perfect king am I. I was not careless nor was I neglectful of the black-headed (people) whom Bel presented to me and whose care Marduk gave to me. ...The great gods have named me and I am the guardian shepherd whose scepter is righteous; my beneficent shadow is spread over the city. In my bosom I have carried the peoples of the land of Sumer and Akkad...that the strong might not oppress the weak, and that they should give justice to the oppressed, my weighty words I have written upon my monument, and in the presence of me, king of righteousness, have I set it up. The king who is pre-eminent among kings am I. My words are precious, my wisdom is unrivaled....
Let any oppressed man who has a cause come before the image of me, the king of righteousness! Let him give heed to my weighty words! And may my monument enlighten him as to his cause and may he understand his case! May it set his heart at ease....In the days to come, for all time, let the king who arises in the land observe the words of righteousness which I have written upon my monument! Let him not alter the judgments of the land which I have pronounced, the decisions of the country which I have rendered! Let him not efface my statues!...Let him root out the wicked and evildoer from his land! Let him promote the welfare of his people!...If that man give heed to my words ..., may Shamash prolong his reign as he has mine, who am king of righteousness. If that man do not give heed to my words..., may the great Anu, father of the gods, who foreordained my reign, take from him the glory of sovereignty, may he break his scepter and curse his fate! May Enlil, the lord, determiner of destinies, whose word cannot be altered, who has enlarged my kingdom, kindle against him in his dwelling a revolt which cannot be controlled, the misfortune of his ruin! May he determine as his fate a reign of sighs, days few in number, years of famine, darkness without light, sudden death!...
May Ea, the great prince whose decrees take precedence, the leader of the gods, who knows everything, who prolongs the days of my life, deprive him of knowledge and wisdom, and bring him to oblivion. May he dam up his rivers at their sources! May he not permit corn which is the life of the people to grow in his land! May Shamash, the great judge of heaven and earth who rules all living creatures, the lord, my refuge, overthrow his dominion; may he not grant him his right!Š Above, may he cut him off among the living! Below, within the earth, may he deprive his spirit of water!...May Inanna, goddess of battle and conflict, who makes ready my weapons, my gracious protecting deity who loves my reign, curse his dominion with great fury in her wrathful heart, and turn good into evil for him! May she shatter his weapons on the field of battle and conflict! May she create confusion and revolt for him! May she strike down his warriors, water the earth with their blood! May she cast the bodies of his warriors upon the field in heaps! May she not grant his warriors mercy! May she deliver him into the hands of his enemies, and may they carry him away bound into a hostile land!...
May Nintu, the exalted mistress of the lands, the mother who bore me, deny him a son! May she not let him have a name, among his people create no heir! May Ninkarrasha, the daughter of Anu, who commands favor for me, in Ekur, cause to come upon his members a grievous malady, an evil disease, a dangerous sore which cannot be cured, which the physician cannot diagnose, which he cannot allay with bandages, and which like the bite of death cannot be removed; and that he, until he brings his life to an end, may lament the loss of his vigor! May the great gods of heaven and earth, the Anunnaki in their totality, the protecting deity of the temple and the walls of Ebarra, curse him, his seed, his land, his army, his people, and his troops with an evil curse him with powerful curses, and may they come upon him speedily!
