Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1903-02-26
OLDEST OF LAW BOOKS.


Just Found at Susa.
This Inscription is doubtless the
most important find that has ever been
made In Babylonian literature"
Such Is the opinion expressed by
Prof. Hugo Winckler. Of the Universe
ty of Berlin, in his translation. just
published. of the Laws Of Hammurabi,
taken from stele discovered a few
months ago by the French expedition
that has been for years engaged In
archaeological researches In Susa. the
ancient capital Of Persia. under the d.
rection Of Prof. De Morgan. The in
scription was found on diorite block,
2.25 meters in height, taken from the
old royal castle In Susa.
The STEELE contains, besides a picture
illustrating how King Hammurabi re-
ceived these laws from the sun god. q
complete legal code Of 282 separate
laws, Of which, however, Nos. &C to 81
have been chiseled out. The gap is in
part remedied by fragments found In
the great library Of Assurbanipal.
There are sixteen columns Of inscrip-
ton found on the front Of the stone
beneath the picture Of Hammurabi.
and twenty-eight on the rear.
A special Introduction and cOnclud-
Ing admonition to future generations
to observe faithfully the requirements
of this code indicate that the laws con-
tanned In 1t We're made by Hammurabi,
the contemporary of Abraham. the AM
raphal Of the Scriptures, and that this
is the oldest corpus juris extant, ante
dating even the days of Moses by half
a thousand years or more, the date OF
the Hammurabi being about 23OO b. g.
That Babylonian inscription Of this
sort should be found in the Persian
capital is readily explained by the fact
that 1t was brought to Susa as booty
by the Elamite kings, and 1t Is not the
only specimen Of the kind here found,
the transfer being made probably In
the seventeenth or sixteenth century
The discovery only confirms what was
indicated by the Tel-el-Amarua finds in
Egypt dating from the fourteenth CEN
fury, which are also in cuneiform writ
ing. namely, that this was at that early
period the common language of d.
plomacy and international and bust
ness communication.
An analysis of these laws shows that
the code was confined to secular mat
tiers; and while in many instances 1t
forces upon the reader. both by Its
agreements and Its disagreements, a
comparison with the legal system Of
Pentateuch. it is sharply distinguished
from this by the absence of religious
or ceremonial commands and prohibit
lions.
1t is exclusively civil code. In
general it shows its Semitic origin by
recognizing. even to greater extent
than is done by the Pentateuch, the
lex talionis of an eye for an eye and
tooth for 4 tooth; and many of the
merciful characteristics of the Mosaic
legislation are conspicuous by their alb
sence. But within these limitations 1t
doubtless Is what Winckler calls it,
zone of the most important original
! sources in the history of mankind In
general
The original text, together with a
French translation. Is published by
the AssyrlOloglst Of the expedition, p.
V. Scheil. in the fourth volume Of the
Delegation en- Perse." the official mar
rative of the expedition. There Is a
remarkable monotony in the forms Of
these laws. each beginning with the
word "If." and this popularity. as well
| as Its stringent measures. Is suggestive
Of the Draconian legislation.-New
York Sun.