, 1903-04-03
D OF LAW BOOKS.
Code of King Hammurabi In Stons
Just Found at Susa.

Just Found at Susas
"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 a STEELE 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 di-
rection of Prof. De Morgan. The In
scription was found on a diorite block,
2.25 meters in height, taken from the
old royal castle in Susa.
The stele contains, besides a picture
illustrating how King Hammurabi re-
ceiyed these laws from the sun god, a
complete legal code of 2S2 separate
laws, of which. however, Nos. sc 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 tw~enty-eight oil 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 it were 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 or
the Hammurabi being about 230O b. q.
That a 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 it 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 thai early
period the common language OF di.
plomacy and international and bust
ness communication.
An analysis of these laws shows that
the code was confined to secular mat
tiers; and, while tn many instances II
forces upon the reader, both by its
agreements and It's disagreements, a.
comparison with the legal system of
Pentateuch, 1t is sharply distinguished
from this by the absence Of religious
or ceremonial commands and prohibi-
lions.
1t Is exclusively a civil code. In
general 1t shows Its Semitic origin by
recognizing, even to a greater exteRt
than Is done by the Pentateuch, the
lex talionis of an eye for an eye and a
tooth for a tooth; and many ofathe
1mf,ssrcffHf 49,
legislation are conspicuous by then alb
sence. But within these limitations 1t
doubtless is what Winckler calls 1t,
lone oil the most important original
sources in the history of mankind in
general"
The original text, together with a
French translation, is published by
the Assyriologist 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 eff" and this popularity, as well
as Its stringent measures, is suggestive
of the Draconian legislation.-New
York Sun.