The Code of King Khammurabi.

Woodville Examiner, Volume XXI, Issue 3570, 26 June 1903, Page 1 (Supplement)

The Code of King Khammurabi.

“ln that day I, Khammurabi, the glorious Prince, the worshipper of my God, justice for the land for witness, plaintiff and defendant; to destroy the tyrant, and not to oppress the weak like unto the Sim God, I promulgated.” With these astonishing words opens one of the most remarkable historical monuments that has ever been recovered from the buried cities of the ancient world. As wc read this record of a -King who must live for all time as the Father of Laws, it seems impossible to believe that we have in this carefully drawn series of law.s a code a thousand years older than the Mosaic age, older than, the laws of Manu or Minos, or any system of ancient legislation. Not only is this the fact, but there arc ample indications that the laws which this great Oriental ruler so care- ■ fuly codified are many of them''of far ■greater antiquity than his reign, somewhere about B.C. 2200.” The monument and the circumstances of its discovery are alike remarkable. The monument itself is a pillar of black diprite, Bft. high, was found by M. de Morgan at Susa, in the Acropolis mound, on .December and January, 1901-2, and the whole has been carefully photographed" and published, with a translation by Father V.. Schiel, 0.P., the Assyriologist of the expedition, by order of the French minister of public instruction, by Messrs E. Leroux and Cic. The obverse of the column is surmounted by a plaque in bas-relief which represents the King standing before the throne of a seated divinity, from whose shoulders flames of fire proceed to form wings, who is dictating to the King the law’s. Dr Schiel would identify- this figure with the Sun god, hut it is more probably the old Bel or Eliu,. the god Sadu-rahru of the “great Mountain” or El Shaddai, who figures prominently in the text as the god who inspired the King. In the opening of the inscription ho is called “the Supreme God, the King of the spirits of Earth, the Lord of Heaven and Earth who foretells the destiny of all.” And the great prominence given to Nippur, the holy city of Bel, and his temple, “the Mountain House,” would confirm this conATjecturc. The old Bel was the god who “awelt on the maountain of the world and gave laws to men and wore on his breast the tablets of destiny. So here we have a curious proof of the existence of the tradition of the mountain-given law long before the Mosaic reception on Sinai. The inscription which covers this stately monolith is the longest Babylonian record ever discovered. It contained originally about three thousand lilies of writing, divided into 49 columns; but five columns on the front have been erased by some - Elamite King, probably Sutruk Nakbunti, who served the stele of Naram-Sin in a similar manner. The writing is a very beautiful typo of the best archaic script, a kind of black-letter cuneiform, long used by Kings for Royal inscriptions, after the cursive writing was invented—as, for example, the Cyprus monolith of Sargon 11., B.C. 721, in the museum at Berlin. The inscription opens With a long enumeration of- the King’s titles, of his installation as 1 King by the gods and of the elevation of Babylon to the position of capital. This portion of the inscription, if not eclipsed by the code, which follows it, would be regarded as one of the most important historical records ever discovered, for it abounds in references to public works and historical events of the period. Wc must, however, notice one most important passage which throws, great light upon the history of Assyria at a much earlier period than hitherto known. In one of the letters of this King recently published there is the reference to moving troops from Assyria, but the new find is more explicit We read—the King is speaking of himself —“(I am) the settler of the tribes, the director of the people, who restored its propitious genie (winged bull) to the city of Assur, who caused it to shine with splendour; the King who in the city of Nineveh, in the temple Duhdub (?) has made brilliant the adornments of the goddess Istar.” Hence not only Assur, but Nineveh also was contemporary with the time of Khammurabi. Is the passage in Gen. x., 11 based on this spread of Babylonian rule? We now pass to the code, which occupied nineteen columns, and is divided into about 280 clauses, and which is introduced by the words “Law and justice I established in the land, I made happy the human race in those days.” How little King Khammurabi thought of the truth of Ills words, uttered some 4000 years ago, for from this code came the basis of the Mosaic code, and by that the races of mankind are largely ruled. One other important point -remains to he noticed. What was the reason for the erection of this monolith and its inscription? The King tells ns; “the law of the land as to judgments, the decisions of the land as to decisions, my precious decrees for the information of the oppressed upon this stone I wrote and placed in the temple of Morodach in Babylon.” Were it not for the evidence of the King’s letters in the British Museum, which show how he concerned himself with the humblest of his people, this would seem a vain boast. The remarkably simple wording of the text, the purest language—freedom from ideograms—show how it was evidently intended to be consulted by all who were “poor and afflicted.” Surely such a monarch has a just title to iise the remarkable words: “I was a master who was unto my people as the father who had begotten them.” The code is a remarkable document; it shows a most careful and systematic order, beginning with witchcraft, which, perhaps, connects it with a religions code: it passes through all grades of social and domestic life, ending with a scale of of-

ficiiil wages for all classes of workmen, even the lowest in the scale. In this notice it is impossible to deal with more than a small portion of the work, sufficient to show the general principles on which it is based. As the laws of witchcraft arc rather outside the general scope of the code, but preserve a most curious custom —namely, the “ordeal of water”—we may just notice them. “If a man place an enchantment upon a man, and has not justified himself, he upon whom the enchantment is placed to the Holy River (Euphrates).shall go; into the Holy River ho shall plunge. If the Holy River holds (drowns) him he who enchanted him shall take his house. If, on the contrary, the man is safe and thus is innocent the wizard loses his life and his house.” The same ordeal was applied to a wife for unfaithfulness or extravagance, or to a wine-seller who sold drink too cheap. The three essential features of the code may be clearly defined. First it is based on personal responsibility and the “jus talionis” and tempered with the law of ransom; next the belief in the sanctity of the oath before God, as in the Hebrew code, and also the absolute necessity of written evidence in all legal matters, as became a nation of scribes. Judgments in law Courts required a “sealed” document; an agent must take and give rcpcipts for all moneys or goods entrusted to him; bonded goods required a deposit note. One of the most interesting scries of clauses relates to officers or constables employed on active service; the estate of such n person could be entrusted to management, must not be sold or mortgaged, but he must depute a representative, or three years’ absence and neglect forfeited fief. Substituted service was not allowed. As might be expected in a land so rich in cultivation, the agricultural laws arc most explicit. Land, must be cultivated, and if neglected the owner had to pay the same as neighbouring land. Damage to crop by storm excused the payment of interest on loan. There arc very stringent laws as to the tending of the irrigation canals and ditches, and any damage to adjacent land by neglect had to be made good. The commercial laws arc extremely important, as showing a. highly developed system, such as we might expect from the trade activity of the Babylonians. Especially curious arc the clauses relating to agents or pedlars, commercial travellers of the period. The name for the agent means one who carries “the stones (weights) in the bag,” a phrase used for traders in Isaiah (xlvi., G) and Proverbs (i. 14). To quote some passages: “If, on the road on his business, the enemy the property he bore have caused him to lose, the agent by the name of God shall swear and he shall be quit. If a merchant gives goods to an agent to trade with, the agent shall write down the money, and to the merchant he shall render, the agent a scaled (receipt) .for the money he gave to the merchant shall take. Money for which no receipt was taken was not to be included in the accounts. In case of dispute all witnesses and documents must be produced. Among the com•mercial laws arc some of much interest at the present time relating to licensed premises. It "is curious to note that all wjnc merchants were females. “If riotous persons assemble in the house of a wine merchant and those riotous persons she seizes not and drives to the palace that wine merchant shall bo put to death.” Curious, too, is the following;—“No votary or woman not residing in the cloister might open a wine shop or enter, one for drink on pain of being burned.” Have we here a Nazarifc law? Passing now to domestic legislation, the most striking feature is the high position' and legal protection extended to women. If a man caused a votary or the wife of a man “to have the finger (of scorn) pointed at her and has not justified himself,” he was to be branded on the forehead. To. justify herself from scandal a woman could claim the ordeal of plunging in the sacred river. The mere formula of marriage “taking to wife” was not sufficient, for “if a man married a woman and executed not her deeds that woman is no wife.” Divorce law is most fully given —a childless woman could be divorced; If divorced without cause the husband must give alimony and custody of her children, and a portion ■> of the estate equal to a son, and the woman was free to marry. The , woman could get divorce, but must justify her right to do so. This is one of the most interesting clauses in the code. Thus we read; “If the wife of a man who dwells in house of that man has set her face to go forth, and has acted the fool, and wasted his house, and impoverished his house, they shall call her to account. If the husband shall say, I put her away, he shall put her away. She shall go her way; for her divorce he shall give her nothing.” If the husband insisted, such a wife could be drowned. There is, however, a kindlier tone in the law as to a sick wife. “If a man has married a wife, and sickness has seized her, he may take a second wife, but the sick wife he shall not put away; in the home she shall dwell: as long as she lives he shall sustain her.” Space will not permit of our dealing with the laws of property, which arc most full and based on a most equitable system, but one clause certainly comes as a surprise, when we remember the antiquity of this code. It relates to the re-marriage of a widow with young children, and might he present-day law; “If a widow whose children are young has set her face to enter into the house of another, without the consent of the judge she shall not enter. When she en-

, ters into the house of another, the judge - shall enquire regarding the house of her 3 former husband. The house of her former 1, husband to that woman and her future i husband he shall entrust and cause them 3 to deposit a deed. They shall keep the 3 house and rear the little ones, but furnii turc for money they shall not sell. A r purchaser that has brought any furniture from the children of the widow shall i forfeit his money and return the property 3 to its owner.” ) Hero we have all the essential features > of the modern ward in chancery. The 3 temple in Babylonia was the heart of the - city. It was there in the Surinam or i judgment hall that cases were tried, the i Court of the temple was the modern Chans eery Court administering intestate or disputed estates. The treasury of the temple > was bound to pay the ransom of a captive i official: Wo now come to the important question • of the relation of this code to the law of I the Covenant and the Deuteronomy Laws ! of the Hebrews. At once wo find an as- ■ tonishing agreement. Both are laws based • on the “jus talionis.” The Hebrew is em- ■ phatic on this (Ex. 21, 23-24). So the ■ Babylonian code (Clauses 196-201). A cui rious parallel is afforded by one clause on unintentional assault. “If a man has struck another in a quarrel and caused • him a wound, and that man shall swear T did not strike him knowingly,’ ho shall answer for the doctor” (compare Exodus 21, 19)), where the assailant is “to pay i for loss of time and cause him to be tho- ' roughly healed.” The Hebrews punished an assault on the father by death, the Babylonians by loss of the hands. The • most striking example,' and an almost undoubted proof of connexion, is found in the clauses relating to" goring by an ox. “If a man has a savage ox in his ; charge and it has gored a man and caused him to die there is no claim.” So also the : Hebrew law' (Ex. 21, 28). But if the ox , has pushed a man, and by pushing him has made known his vice, and he has not blunted his horn, has not shut up his ■ ox, and the ox has gored a free man and i caused him to die he shall pay half a ■ mad a of silver (30 shekels). The Hebrew penalty was death, or a redemption at a fixed penalty, fixed by the Judge. It is . curious to find doctors coming under a ■ penalty of “jus talionis” —an unsuccessful ■ operation was drastically punished by cutting off the hands. Wc find also the barber surgeon practising chiefly for the I branding of slaves. Many'other close similarities between the Babylonian code and the Hebrew might be traced, but sufficient have been i noticed to show that the Law of the Covenant at least must have been iu- ■ financed by this code. It was during the ' timo of the dynasty of Khammurabi and i the subsequent Kassitc line—that is, for some seven centuries —that Babylonian influence was predominant in Palestine and Syria, and although the Ramcsidc conquests and the Israelite invasion obliterated much of it, such a code would not, die out, and, indeed, much of it exists to this day in the land laws of the Palestinian fellaheen. One last remark. This code shows the wonderful organizing faculty of these ancient Arab rulers of Babylon, who laid the foundations on a basis which endured, we might say, to all time—for their work is with us unto this day, and the words which occur in the opening column are, after all, no vain boast—“Of Babylon they proclaimed its noble name and exalted it among nations; within it he cstblishcd an everlasting dynasty, which like heaven and earth is its throne.” And no one did more to exalt the name of Babylon than this mighty King-lawgiver, the father of his people, who but a few years ago was unknown to us even by name.