Hammurapi
Hammurapi names 3 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below.
Hammurapi CODE OF, the recorded collection of the body of
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
CODE OF, the recorded collection of the body of rules governing the procedure of courts, the administration of justice, the positive and negative rules of conduct ordered to be observed in the daily social and commercial life of Babylon in the 22d century B. C. The Code of Hammurapi is contained upon a block of black diorite, a stone of peculiarly high resisting power to weather. This block, about eight feet the discovered was in height, on acropolis at Susa, a former capital, by De Morgan in 1901. Originally found in three pieces, it has been restored, and exhibits beneath a bas-relief of the King receiving the Code from Shamash, the sun-god, 16 columns of engraved text. There were originally 28 of these columns. The authenticity of this block has been established by the later discovery of fragments of copies made the from the original text. Among laws appearing in the Code are recitals witchcraft, including tranbyrdeal. There were sections of punishment for devoted to the rights, obligations and duties due to and from owners of private considerable property. There was a section devoted to commercial law, covering loans, pledges and the debtor's position. The law governing injuries to the person or torts provided a graduated scale of damages or reparation which is granted upon the basis of ability of the injured party to stand the loss. The Code is strictly a civil code and there are no religious injunctions. The whole fabric of the Code indicates the state of social flux between an absolute imposition of penalties and a fixed law, and a fixed law with a gradation of greater and lesser offenses with corresponding punishment.
Hammurapi a King of Babylon (2124-2081 B
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a King of Babylon (2124-2081 B. C.). The sixth ruler of the first dynasty of Babylon of the line of Sumuabu the Amorite (2232-2217 B. c.). It is believed that at an early period of his rule he recognized the overlordship of the Elamite King, Kudur Mabuk, his immediate and warlike neighbor. The passage in Gen. xiv: 1 is suggestive of a possible northerly raid by Hammurapi with another King of Elam, Kudur Lagamar by name. It is likely that this event took place subsequent to Hammurapi's operations operations against the Mesopotamian cities which he is known to have conducted during the early half of his reign. In 2094 he extended his conquests and achieved his independence
Hammurapi CODE OF over Elam
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
CODE OF over Elam. From this date, his aggressive policy against the outer borders of the Fertile Crescent sent his conquering armies to wrest submission from the Assyrians. Hammurapi possessed a genius for organization, rare among the tribal Kings of the Valley lands. His methods of centralization, communication by writing and delegation of power to properly instructed military sub-lords, together with his wise and economic encourgement of agriculture, building and the arts of peace which brought his kingdom economic prosperity marked him as a great ruler. Perhaps his most valuable contribution from the standpoint of civilization was his codification of the laws of his realms.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
The single biggest change is the calendar. Collier's placed Hammurapi in 2124-2081 B.C. and his code in "the 22d century B. C."; the accepted reckoning now puts his reign at roughly 1792-1750 B.C., some three centuries later, after Assyrian and Babylonian king-lists and astronomical data were re-worked. The identification hinted at here, of Hammurapi with the Amraphel of Genesis xiv, was abandoned by scholars during the twentieth century and is no longer maintained. Nor is the stele the oldest law collection any more: earlier Sumerian codes attributed to Ur-Nammu and Lipit-Ishtar are now known, and specialists tend to read Hammurapi's text less as a working statute book than as a royal monument advertising the king's justice. The diorite block itself, found at Susa in 1901-02 by Jacques de Morgan's French expedition, has stood in the Louvre ever since.
Written for this edition, 2026.