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Hammurabi

Hammurabi was the sixth king of Babylon Babylon

Babylon was an ancient city in Mesopotamia, the ruins of which can be found in present-day Babil Province [i] ... 

. Achieving the conquest of Sumer Sumer

Sumer... 

 and Akkad Akkad

Akkad was a city and its region of northern Mesopotamia [i], ... 

, and ending the last Sumerian dynasty of Isin, he was the first king of the Babylonian Empire. Hammurabi reigned over the Babylonian Empire from 1792 BC until his death in 1750 BC . He was born in 1810 BC. It was he who first gave the city of Babylon hegemony over Mesopotamia Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia refers to the region [i] now occupied by modern Iraq [i], eastern Syria [i], and southeaster ... 

. The first few decades of his reign were relatively peaceful. In the 30th year of his reign, Hammurabi crushed an invading army consisting of Elam Elam

Elam is one of the oldest recorded civilization [i]s. ... 

ite and other forces in a decisive battle, and drove them out of Babylonia.

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Encyclopedia

Hammurabi was the sixth king of Babylon Babylon

Babylon was an ancient city in Mesopotamia, the ruins of which can be found in present-day Babil Province [i] ... 

. Achieving the conquest of Sumer Sumer

Sumer... 

 and Akkad Akkad

Akkad was a city and its region of northern Mesopotamia [i],
... 

, and ending the last Sumerian dynasty of Isin, he was the first king of the Babylonian Empire.

Hammurabi reigned over the Babylonian Empire from 1792 BC until his death in 1750 BC . He was born in 1810 BC. It was he who first gave the city of Babylon hegemony over Mesopotamia Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia refers to the region [i] now occupied by modern Iraq [i], eastern Syria [i], and southeaster ... 

.

The first few decades of his reign were relatively peaceful. In the 30th year of his reign, Hammurabi crushed an invading army consisting of Elam Elam

Elam is one of the oldest recorded civilization [i]s. ... 

ite and other forces in a decisive battle, and drove them out of Babylonia. The next two years were occupied in adding Larsa Larsa

Larsa , was an important city of ancient Mesopotamia [i]. ... 

 and Yamutbal to his dominion, and he formed Babylonia into a single monarchy centred on Babylon. A great literary revival followed the recovery of Babylonian independence, and the rule of Babylon was obeyed as far as the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Vast numbers of contract tablets, dated in the reigns of Hammurabi and his successors, have been discovered, as well as their autographed letters. Among them is one ordering the dispatch of 240 soldiers from Assyria Assyria

Assyria in earliest historical times referred to a region on the Upper Tigris [i] river, named for its o ... 

 and Situllum, a proof that Assyria was at the time a Babylonian dependency.

Hammurabi expanded the rule of Babylon by first conquering cities towards the south, before his conquest expanded to cover most parts of Mesopotamia. His military conquests came late in his reign, perhaps brought on by the fall of Shamshi-Adad's empire.

He is perhaps best known for his code of law Law

Law is the set of rules or norms [i] of conduct which forbid, permit or mandate specified actions... 

s, known as the Code of Hammurabi Code of Hammurabi

The Code of Hammurabi , created ca. 1780 BC , is one of the earliest sets of laws found and one of ... 

. This was written on a stela Stele

A stele is a stone or wooden slab, generally taller than it is wide, erected for funerary [i] or commemo... 

 and placed in a public place, so that all could see it, even though very few could read. This stela was removed as plunder to the Elamite capital Susa Susa

Susa is a city in the Khuzestan [i] province of Iran [i]. It had an estimated population of 64,960 in 2 ... 

, where it was rediscovered in 1901, and it now stands in the Louvre Louvre

The Louvre Museum in Paris [i], France [i], is one of the largest, oldest, most important and famous art galleries [i] ... 

 museum. While the penalties of his laws may seem cruel to modern readers, the fact that he not only put into writing the laws of his kingdom, but attempted to make them a systematic whole, is considered an important step forward in the evolution of civilization Civilization

The word civilization has a variety of meanings related to human society [i]. ... 

. The "innocent until proven guilty" idea comes from his laws.

One fairly new theory is that the modern designation of it as a law code is wrong: it is thus seen merely as a monument "presenting Hammurabi as an exemplary king of justice." While dealing with many areas of life, the entries do not, by far, cover all possible crimes, and the stele may actually contain contradictions. While the code was applied and studied extensively in later Babylonian law , there as of yet have been no contemporary records discovered that record its use as an actual functioning law code during Hammurabi's own time.



Hammurabi also did other things in order to make Babylon a better place, such as helping to improve the irrigation Irrigation

Irrigation is the replacement or supplementation of rain [i]fall with water from another source in order ... 

 process.

Following Hammurabi's successors, the Babylonian Empire collapsed due to military pressure from the Hittites Hittites

The Hittites were an ancient people who spoke an Indo-European language [i], and established a kingdom c ... 

, led by their king Mursilis I. However it was the Kassites, led by their king Agumkakrine, who eventually ruled Babylon. Although there were many rebellious cities, the Kassites ruled for 400 years, and respected the Code of Hammurabi Code of Hammurabi

The Code of Hammurabi , created ca. 1780 BC , is one of the earliest sets of laws found and one of ... 

.

References

  • Van De Mieroop, Marc. A History of the Ancient Near East. Blackwell Publishing: Malden, 2005. ISBN 0-631-22552-8
  • . Britannica, 1911.


According to Charles N. Pope, the Biblical Patriarch Eber was The Babylonian King Hammurabi who reigned over the Babylonian Empire from 1792 BC until his death in 1750 BC

See also

  • Ur-Nammu
  • First Babylonian Dynasty
  • Code of Hammurabi Code of Hammurabi

    The Code of Hammurabi , created ca. 1780 BC , is one of the earliest sets of laws found and one of ... 



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