Hammurabi and his God Given Code of Laws

At that time, the gods Anu and Enlil, for the enhancement of the well-being of the people, named me by my name: Hammurabi, the pious prince, who venerates the gods, to make justice prevail in the land, to abolish the wicked and the evil, to prevent the strong from oppressing the weak,…
(Hammurabi’s Code of Laws, Prologue)

Although Hammurabi’s Code of Laws is one of the most famous collections of laws from the ancient world, it is certainly not the oldest. In fact, it is preceded by at least two other codes of laws, namely the Laws of Ur-Namma (c. 2100 B.C., Ur) and the Laws of Lipit-Ishtar (c. 1930 B.C.., Isin). It may be pointed out these ancient Mesopotamian texts are not legal codes in the modern sense, i.e. collections of written laws compiled according to specific subject matters ( civil code, penal code, etc.), but were rather compilations of laws “carved in stone”. Although these collections preceded that of Hammurabi’s, it cannot be said that the latter borrowed directly from the former, as these were legal rules of political entities that were independent of each other.

Hammurabi, Ruler of the First Dynasty

So, who was Hammurabi? Hammurabi (reigned from 1792-1750 B.C.) was the sixth ruler of the First Dynasty of Babylon. During his long reign, he oversaw the great expansion of his empire, conquering the city-states of Elam, Larsa, Eshnunna and Mari, an act which he regarded was part of a sacred mission to spread civilization to all nations. By ousting the king of Assyria, Ishme-Dagan I, and making his son pay tribute, he made Babylon a major power in Mesopotamia.