Hammurabi facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Hammurabi𒄩𒄠𒈬𒊏𒁉 |
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| King of Babylon King of the Four Corners of the World |
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Hammurabi (standing), shown receiving his royal symbols from Shamash (or possibly Marduk). Hammurabi holds his hands over his mouth as a sign of prayer (relief on the upper part of the stele of Hammurabi's code of laws).
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| King of the Old Babylonian Empire | |
| Reign | 42 years; c. 1792 – c. 1750 BC (middle) |
| Predecessor | Sin-Muballit |
| Successor | Samsu-iluna |
| Born | c. 1810 BC Babylon |
| Died | c. 1750 BC middle chronology (modern-day Iraq) (aged c. 60) Babylon |
| Issue | Samsu-iluna |
Hammurabi was a very important king of Babylon. He ruled from about 1792 BC to 1750 BC. He became king after his father, Sin-Muballit, stepped down. Hammurabi was the first ruler of the Babylonian Empire.
He won many wars and made his empire very large. But after he died, his son and other kings lost some of this land. Hammurabi is most famous for his laws. These laws are called the Code of Hammurabi. It was one of the first written sets of laws ever!
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Hammurabi's Rise to Power
Hammurabi became king of Babylon around 1792 BC. His father, Sin-Muballit, gave up the throne. At that time, Babylon was one of many small, independent cities in ancient Mesopotamia. These cities often fought each other for control of land.
Babylon was already one of the stronger cities when Hammurabi became king. Earlier kings had already taken over nearby cities like Borsippa, Kish, and Sippar.
Building the Babylonian Empire
In the early years of his rule, Hammurabi did not fight many big wars. Instead, he worked on improving Babylon. He built taller city walls to make the city harder to attack. He also made the temples bigger and better.
Around 1771 BC, a kingdom called Elam attacked Mesopotamia from the east. Elam invaded Eshnunna, a city-state northeast of Babylon. They destroyed many of its cities. Elam also tried to make Babylon and Larsa (a city in southern Mesopotamia) fight each other.
But Hammurabi did something different. He made an alliance with Larsa against Elam. Hammurabi defeated Elam. However, he felt that Larsa had not helped him enough. So, he attacked Larsa. By about 1763 BC, Babylon had taken over all of southern Mesopotamia.
Hammurabi's allies in northern Mesopotamia had sent their armies south to help Babylon. This caused problems in the northern area. So, Hammurabi went back north. He stopped the unrest and defeated Eshnunna. Then, he attacked and conquered the remaining cities in northern Mesopotamia. This included Mari, which had been Babylon's ally. It's possible Mari gave up to Babylon without a fight.
After these victories, Hammurabi controlled most of Mesopotamia. Only Aleppo and Qatna, two western cities in modern Syria, remained independent. When Hammurabi died around 1750 BC, his son Samsu-iluna became king.
Hammurabi's Famous Law Code
Hammurabi is most famous for creating the Code of Hammurabi. He said that he received these laws from Shamash, the Babylonian god of justice. Earlier law codes, like the Code of Ur-Nammu, focused on paying back the victim of a crime. But Hammurabi's Code was different. It was one of the first law codes to focus more on punishing the person who committed the crime.
The code listed specific punishments for each crime. It was also one of the first codes to say that a person is innocent until proven guilty. The laws were meant to limit how much a wronged person could get back. The Code of Hammurabi and the Law of Moses in the Torah have many things in common.
The Code of Hammurabi was carved onto a large stone pillar called a stele. This stele was placed in a public area so everyone could see it. However, most people could not read at that time. Later, people from Elam took the stele to their capital city, Susa. It was found there in 1901 in Iran. Today, it is in the Louvre Museum in Paris.
The Code of Hammurabi has 282 laws. Scribes (people who wrote for a living) wrote them on 12 clay tablets. Unlike earlier laws, this code was written in Akkadian. This was the everyday language of Babylon. So, any person who could read in the city could understand it. At this time, Akkadian was replacing Sumerian. Hammurabi started language changes that made Akkadian the most common language.
Because Hammurabi is known as a great lawgiver, you can find his image in law buildings around the world. He is one of 23 lawgivers shown in marble carvings in the chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives. A large carving by Adolph Weinman, showing "great lawgivers of history" (including Hammurabi), is on the south wall of the U.S. Supreme Court building.
Hammurabi's Lasting Impact
Many people saw Hammurabi as almost like a god during his lifetime. After he died, people honored him as a great conqueror. They believed he spread civilization and made everyone worship Marduk, the main god of the Babylonians.
Later, his military wins became less important. His role as the perfect lawgiver became the most important part of his legacy. For people in Mesopotamia after him, Hammurabi's rule became the main way to remember events from the distant past. Even after his empire fell apart, he was still seen as a model ruler. Many kings across the Near East claimed to be his descendants.
Archaeologists rediscovered Hammurabi in the late 1800s. Since then, he has been seen as a very important figure in the history of law.
| Preceded by Sin-muballit |
Kings of Babylon |
Succeeded by Samsu-Iluna |
Images for kids
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Code of Hammurabi stele. Louvre Museum, Paris
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Tablet of Hammurabi (𒄩𒄠𒈬𒊏𒁉, 4th line from the top), King of Babylon. British Museum.
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The bas-relief of Hammurabi at the United States Congress
See also
In Spanish: Hammurabi para niños
