Code of Hammurabi

The Prologue consists of a religious-mythical introduction and an account of Hammurabi’s virtues and accomplishments. The opening lines invoke the roles of several of the chief gods of the Babylonian pantheon, recounting the establishment of Babylon by the actions of Anu (god of the sky and king of the gods), Bel (a generic title for a divinity), and Marduk (the chief patron-god of Babylon). Hammurabi attributes to these gods both the foundation of the city of Babylon and his own calling to be king. Hammurabi describes his divinely-given vocation as one of establishing justice for his realm: “[T]o bring about the rule of righteousness in the land, to destroy the wicked and the evil-doers; so that the strong should not harm the weak” (27).

After the introductory lines, the remainder of the Prologue is a running list of Hammurabi’s character traits and achievements. It is a single sentence composed of dozens of separate clauses and phrases, and set in a traditional poetic form (though many modern versions choose to render it as prose rather than poetry). The beginning and end of this long litany of Hammurabi’s virtues are marked by a mirrored construction built around the phrase “am I”: “Hammurabi, the prince, called of Bel am I […] the king, obeyed by the four quarters of the world; Beloved of Ninni, am I” (27-29).