New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1903-08-09
KHAMMURABFS CODE.
Remarkable Provisions DEVISED by
the Father of Lazcs.

sun goa. L promulgated WIN tAcSc dStuLlStiiuS
words opens of the most remarkable historical
monuments that has ever been recovered from the
buried cities Of the ancient world As we read this
record of q 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 laws a
code thousand years older than the Mosaic age.
older than the laws of Manu- or Minos. any sys
TEN of ancient legislation. Not only is this the
fact but there are ample indications that the laws
which this great Oriental ruler carefully cOdihed
are many of them of far greater antiquity than his
reign. somewhere about B. c. 200 says The Lon
don Times"
The monument and the circumstances of its dis
covery are alike remarkable The monument itself
found by NJ. de Morgan at Susa, in the AcropOlis
mound, on December and January, 19Ol-02, and the
whole has been carefully photographed and pub
lished. with a translation by Father V Schiel, o.
p the Assyriologfst of the expedition. by order OF
the French Minister of Public Instruction. by
Messrs. F. Leroux ct Gle. The diverse of the
column is surmounted by plaque in bass-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 die
tating to the king the laws Dr. Schiel would
identify this figure with the Sun god. but it more
probably the old Bel ElIu the god Sadu-rabru OF
the great Mountain FL ShaddaL who figures
prominently in the text the god who inspired the
king In the opening of the inscription he 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 conjecture.
The old Bel was the god who dwelt on the noun
tain of the world and gave laws to men and wore
his breast the tablets of destiny So here we
have curious proof of the existence of the tradi
ton of the mountain-gven law long before the
Mosaic reception on Sinai.
The inscription which covers this stately monolith
is the longest Babylonian record ever discovered.
1t contained originally about three thousand lines
of writing. divided into forty-nine columns; but
five columns the front have been erased by
some Elamite king probably Sutruk Nakhunti.
who served the stele of Naram-Sin in a similar
manner. The writing is very beautiful type on
the best archaic script. a kind of black letter
cuneiform, long used by kings for royal inscrip-
tions. after the cursive writing invented-as,
for example. the Cyprus monoIth of Sargon II, 72l
B. C., in the museum at Berlin. The inscription
opens with long enumeration of the Kings titles.
of his installation as King by the gods and of the
elevation of Babylon to the position of capital
This portion of the inscription il ecIipsed by
the code, which follows il, would be regarded
of the most important historical records
discovered. for 1t aboundS in references public
works and historical events of the period. We
must, however. notice most important passage
which throws great light upon the history of As
syria at much earlier period than hitherto known
In of the letters of this King recently pub
lshed there is the reference moving troops from
Assyria, but the new find is more explicit We
Tedu-lNe hluS Is speaking or nlmSeI-'(l ann the
settler of the tribes, the director OF the people who
restored its propitious genie winged BULL to the
city of Assur who caused il shine with splendor;
the King who in the city of Nineveh in the temple
Dubdub 90 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 Genesis x, Il. based
on this spread of Babylonian rule?
We now pass to the code. which occupied nine
teen columns. and is divided into about two hun
dred and eighty clauses, and which is introduced
by the words: Law and justice 1 established in
the land made happy the human race in those
days How little King Khammurabi thought Of
the truth of his words uttered some four thousand
years for from this code the basis of the
Mosaic code, and by that the races of mankind are
largely ruled One other important point remains
to be noticed. What was the reason Of the erec-
ton OF this monolith and its inscription? The
hlnS tells us The law of the land to judg
ments the decisions of the land to decisions.
pressed upon this stone wrote and placed in the
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 kilograms
suited by all who poor and afflicted Surely
such monarch has a just title to the remark
able words. I was a master who was unto my
people as the father who had begotten them
Inc code is a remarkable document; it shows
wltchcraft which, perhaps. connects it with
social and domestic life. ending with a scale Of
Gfhclal wages for all classes of workmen. the
to deal with more than small portion of the
which it is based AS the LAWS of uitcbcrpFt am G
rather outside Of the general scope of the CODE
preserve a most curious custom-namely the or
deal Of water-we may just notice them
If man has paced an enchantment upon a man. and
oe lts'ihed hnss ne upon whom the enchantEnent
Hqy Kver he shall plunge II the Holy River holds
the wizard loses his life and his house.
me same ordeal applied to a wife for IN
Ialth1uiness or extravaganza or to wine seller
who sold drink too cheap.
clearly defined. First, it is based on personal re-
sPonsl3ility and the jus talonis. and tempered
sanctity of the oath before God, in the Hebrew
code, and also the absolute necessity of written
eyidence IN all legal matters. as became nation
Of scribes. Judgments in the law courts required
receipts for all money or goods intrusted to him
bonded goods required a deposit note One OF
the most interesting series OF clauses relates to
officers or constabes employed on active service:
the estate of such a person could be intrusted to
management must NOT be sold or mOrtgaged hut
he must depute representative, or three years
vice not allowed. AS might be expected in a
land so rich in cultivation the agricultural laws
are most explicit Land must be cultivated. and II
neglected the owner had TO pay the same neigh
Davrnent Of interest on loan There are Terv Strn
gent laws to the tending Of the irrigation canals
g s Rad to be MADE good T5e
laws are extremely important showing highly
the trade activity of the Babylonians. Especially
curious the clauses relating to agents or
peoers. commercial travellers Of the period The
for the agent means who carries the
stones (weights) in the bag" phrase used Tor
traders in Isaiah (xlvi, 81 and Proverbs q, ID To
quote some passages:
N business. the the properly
have by the name OF
and he shall be quit. II merchant gives
goods 70 agent with, the shall write
down the money. o merchant he shall render
agent sealed Geeeipo for the money ne gave 10 the
merchant shall take
to be included In the accounts. In case OF dispute