The Law Codes of Ancient Ur

Introduction

The ancient kings of the Tigris and Euphrates river valley are noteworthy for their consistent rigor to enact and enforce their style of government. Much information is absent from the pages of history, yet the profoundly positive contribution of certain rulers is quite admirable and noble.

The Mesopotamian river valley is situated at the crossroads of three continents, and was hence prone to wave after wave of social changes, usually in the form of invasion by bordering peoples.

Several generations of rulers left a remarkable impression of noble and wise leadership, with the great law code of Hammurabi as the watershed of the tradition of ancient Babylonian lawmakers.

The preceding generations of ancient kings were certainly an inspiration to the good kings of Mesopotamia who were so often outmatched by the coordination of kingdoms of lesser moral fiber that sprawled across the plains and mountains of the ancient Babylonian region.

In memory of the good kings nobility, and to inspire the present modern day age, the known records of the ancient laws codes, and a book of praises of the benevolent kings of ancient Babylon are now presented within the context of the hypothetical restored canon.

The Law Code of King Uruk-agina

The Law Code of King Ur-Nammu

The Law Code of King Bil-alama, of Esh-nunna

The Law Code of King Lipit-Eshtar

The Law Codes of Ancient Ur

The Law Code of King Uruk-agina Lost

King Uruk-agina (alternately Irik-agina) was a ruler of the city-state Lagash in Mesopotamia. He assumed the title of king, claiming to have been divinely appointed, upon the downfall of his corrupt predecessor, Lug-alanda.

He is best known for his reforms to combat corruption, which are sometimes cited as the first example of a legal code in recorded history. Although the actual text has not been discovered, much of its content may be surmised from other references to it that have been found.

In it, he exempted widows and orphans from taxes; compelled the city to pay funeral expenses (including the ritual food and drink libationsfor the journey of the dead into the lower world); and decreed that the rich must use silver when purchasing from the poor, and if the poor does not wish to sell, the powerful man (the rich man or the priest) cannot force him to do so.

Urukagina's code has been widely hailed as the first recorded example of government reform, seeking to achieve a higher level of freedom and equality. It limited the power of the priesthood and large property owners, and took measures against usury, burdensome controls, hunger, theft, murder, and seizure (of people's property and persons); as he later states, "The widow and the orphan were no longer at the mercy of the powerful man".

Despite these apparent attempts to curb the excesses of the elite class, it seems elite or royal women enjoyed even greater influence and prestige in his reign than previously. Uruk-agina greatly expanded the royal "Household of Women" from about 50 persons to about 1500 persons.

He renamed it the "Household of the goddess Bau", and gave it ownership of vast amounts of land confiscated from the former priesthood, placing it under the supervision of his wife, Shasha (Shagshag). In his second year of reign, Shasha presided over the lavish funeral of his predecessor's queen, Baranamtarra, who had been an important personage in her own right.

Tracts restated from the lost law code

From the border territory of Ningirsu to the sea,

no person shall serve as officers.

For a corpse being brought to the grave,

his beer shall be 3 jugs and his bread 80 loaves.

One bed and one adult goat shall the undertaker take away,

and 3 ban of barley shall the [mourning] persons take away.

When to the reeds of Enki a [prominent] person has been brought,

his beer will be 4 jugs, and his bread 420 loaves.

One barig of barley shall the undertaker take away,

and 3 ban of barley shall the persons of [mourning] take away.

One woman’s headband, and one sila of princely fragrance

shall the eresh-dingir priestess take away.

420 loves of bread that have sat are the bread duty,

40 loaves of hot bread are for eating, and 10 loaves of hot bread are the bread of the table.

5 loaves of bread are for the persons of the levy,

2 mud vessels and 1 sadug vessel of beer are for the lamentation singers of Girsu.

490 loaves of bread, 2 mud vessels and 1 sadug vessel of beer

are for the lamentation singers of Lagash.

406 loaves of bread, 2 mud vessels, and 1 sadug vessel of beer

are for the other lamentation singers.

250 loaves of bread and one mud vessel of beer are for the old wailing women.

180 loaves of bread and 1 mud vessel of beer are for the men of Nigin.

The blind one who stands in [mourning for the dead]

his bread for eating is one loaf, 5 loaves of bread are his at midnight,

one loaf is his bread at midday, and 6 loaves are his bread in the evening.

60 loaves of bread, 1 mud vessel of beer, and 3 ban of barley

are for the person who is to perform as the sagbur priest.

Adapted from Wikipedia.com

The Reforms of Uruk-agina

'He established freedom.'

While Greek political experience was so rich and varied that it has been said with little exaggeration that the Greeks "invented politics," the political realms of ancient Mesopotamia is commonly said to have been limited to an unvarying despotism that was total and non-benevolent, whose subjects knew only "the language of the whip."

There is good evidence, however, that a fair number of these rulers were benevolent, and, also that ancient Mesopotamia experienced forms of government other than despotism.

The greatest political achievement of the Greeks was democracy, which never developed in Mesopotamia or elsewhere in the ancient Near East. Yet before the Greeks attained democracy they had experienced three other types of government, which they called monarchy, oligarchy, and tyranny. These three constitutional forms did develop in Mesopotamia also.

Gilgamesh was the last of the Sumerian primitive monarchs whose exploits were celebrated in epics. Thereafter, for more than a century, priest-dominated aristocratic councils ruled the Sumerian city-states through weak and compliant magistrates called ensi-gar, "governors installed (by a superior)."

Yet from about 2550 BC, when true historical sources first become relatively abundant, to about 2350 BC, when Sargon of Akkad conquered Sumer, dissatisfaction with oligarchic rule led intermittently to the rise of tyrants in the Greek sense of the term.

Best known among these Lugal's (literally "great man," a term used also in the sense of "lord" and usually translated "king") was Uruk-agina, who usurped power as "lugal of Lagash" after 2400 BC. He promoted so many reforms in the interest of the oppressed common people that Uruk-agina has been called one of the first social reformer in history.

Urukagina's inscriptions, begin with a description of the abuses which 'since time immemorial,' had been undermining the original 'divinely decreed way of life.' It is Uruk-agina's view that all the leading elements in society, the priests, administrators, powerful men, and even the governor and his family, were guilty of acting 'for his own benefit.'

Also of interest is King Uruk-agina's use of a contractual theory of government to justify both his usurpation of power and his reforms. He made a 'covenant' with Ningirsu, the patron god of the kingdom of Lagash, and he carried out Ningirsu's instructions.

Adapted from World History Project

The story of the reformer echoes through a number of benevolent kings of ancient Mesopotamia.

Read 'the Praise of King Uruk-agina' for a view of his reforms.

The Law Codes of Ancient Ur

The Law Code of King Ur-Nammu CHAPTER ONE

Prologue

1.

After An and Enlil had turned over the Kingship of Ur to Nanna,

at that time did Ur-Nammu, son born of Ninsun,

for his beloved mother who bore him, in accordance with his principles of equity and truth,

2.

Then did Ur-Nammu the mighty warrior,

king of Ur, king of Sumer and Akkad,

by the might of Nanna, lord of the city,

and in accordance with the true word of Utu,

establish equity in the land;

3.

He banished malediction, violence and strife,

and set the monthly temple expenses at 90 gur of barley, 30 sheep, and 30 sila of butter.

4.

He fashioned the bronze sila-measure, standardized the one-mina weight,

and standardized the stone weight of a shekel of silver in relation to one mina.

5.

The orphan was not delivered up to the rich man;

the widow was not delivered up to the mighty man;

the man of one shekel was not delivered up to the man of one mina.

1 Mina equals 60 Shekels

6.

If a man commits a murder,

that man must be killed.

5.

If a man commits a robbery,

he will be killed.

6.

If a man commits a kidnapping,

he is to be imprisoned and pay 15 shekels of silver.

7.

If a slave marries a slave, and that slave is set free,

he does not leave the household.

8.

If a slave marries a native free person,

he or she is to hand the firstborn son over to his owner.

9.

If a man violates the right of another and deflowers the virgin wife of a young man,

they shall kill that male.

10.

If the wife of a man followed after another man, and he slept with her,

they shall slay that woman, but that male shall be set free.

11.

If a man proceeded by force, and deflowered the virgin slavewoman of another man,

that man must pay five shekels of silver.

12.

If a man divorces his first-time wife,

he shall pay her one mina of silver.

If it is a former widow whom he divorces,

he shall pay her half a mina of silver.

14.

[ missing ]

15.

If the man had slept with the widow without there having been any marriage contract,

he need not pay any silver.

16.

If a man is accused of sorcery he must undergo ordeal by water;

if he is proven innocent, his accuser must pay 3 shekels.

17.

If a man accused the wife of a man of adultery, and the river ordeal proved her innocent,

then the man who had accused her must pay one-third of a mina of silver.

18.

If a prospective son-in-law enters the house of his prospective father-in-law,

but his father-in-law later gives his daughter to another man,

the father-in-law shall return to the rejected son-in-law

twofold the amount of bridal presents he had brought.

19.

If [the son-in-law returns the father-in-law's daughter after the wedding],

he shall weigh and deliver to him 2 [shekels] [mina?] of silver.

20.

If a slave escapes from the city limits, and someone returns him,

the owner shall pay two shekels to the one who returned him.

The Law Code of King Ur-Namma CHAPTER TWO

Divisions 21-50

21.

If a man knocks out the eye of another man,

he shall weigh out 1/2 a mina of silver.

22.

If a man has [cut off] [injured] another man’s foot,

he is to pay ten shekels.

23.

If a man, in the course of a scuffle, smashed the limb of another man with a club,

he shall pay one mina of silver.

24.

If someone severed the nose of another man with a copper knife,

he must pay two-thirds of a mina of silver.

25.

If a man knocks out a tooth of another man,

he shall pay two shekels of silver.

26.

[If a man accidentaly kills another man's slave,

he must repay him with a slave of the same value.]

27.

If he does not have a slave, he is to pay 10 shekels of silver.

If he does not have silver, he is to give another thing [of the same value] that belongs to him.

28.

If a man’s slave-woman, comparing herself to her mistress, speaks insolently to her,

her mouth shall be scoured with [1 quart] of salt.

[2 lines of laws missing?]

29.

If a slave woman strikes someone acting with the authority of her mistress,

[she shall be struck my her mistress.]

30.

If a man appeared as a witness, and was shown to be a perjurer,

he must pay fifteen shekels of silver.

31.

If a man appears as a witness, but withdraws his oath,

he must make payment, to the extent of the value in litigation of the case.

32.

If a man stealthily cultivates the field of another man and he [then] raises a complaint [of loss],

this is however to be rejected, and this man will lose his expenses.

33.

If a man flooded the field of a man with water,

he shall measure out three kur of barley per iku of field.

34.

If a man had let an arable field to anothe r man for cultivation,

but he did not cultivate it, turning it into [fallow] wasteland,

he shall measure out three kur of barley for each iku of field.

35.

[ the remaining laws are unknown ]

36.

37.

38.

39.

40.

The Law Code of King Ur-Namma CHAPTER THREE

Divisions 41-60

41.

42.

43.

44.

45.

46.

47.

48.

49.

50.

51.

52.

53.

54.

55.

56.

57.

58.

59.

60.

The Law Codes of Ancient Ur

The Law Code of King Bil-alama, of Esh-nunna CHAPTER ONE

The law code of King Bil-alama was recorded in approximately 1930 BC, a generation before Abraham was born in Ur. The town of Eshnunna is located on a branch of the Tigris River valley, situated some distance to the south of Nineveh.

The law code covers the main areas of law concering crimes of bodily injury, sexual crimes,marriage issues, murder, property crimes, false accusations, and gossip.

The name of the false prophet Balaam appears to invoke the name of the king of the town of Eshnunna. (Numbers 22-24, circa 1400 BC)

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

etc.

The Ancient Law Codes

The Law Code of King Lipit-Eshtar CHAPTER ONE

Divisions 1-25

From about 100 years before the Code of Hammurabi, King Lipit-Eshtar (or Ishtar) was the fifth ruler of the first dynasty of Isin, and ruled from about 1870 BC to 1860 BC.

Some documents and royal inscriptions from his day have survived, yet he is known mostly due to Sumerian language hymns written in his honor, as well as a legal code written in his name, which were used for academic instruction for hundreds of years after his reign. The records of his rule state that he also defended his kingdom from invasion by the Amorites.

1.

When Anu and Enlil had called Lipit-Ishtar,

Lipit-Ishtar the wise shephard

whose name had been pronounced by Nunamnir to the princeship of the land,

2.

in order to establish justice in the land,

to banish complaints,

to turn back enmity and rebellion by force of arms,

and to bring well-being to the Sumerians and Akkadians,

3.

then I, Lipit-Ishtar, the humble shephard of Nippur,

the stalwart farmer of Ur, who abandons not Eridu,

the suitable lord of Erech,

4.

king of Isin, king of Sumer and Akkad,

who am fit for the heart of Manna,

established justice in Sumer and Akkad in accordance with the word of Enlil.

5.

I made the father support his children,

and i made the children support their father.

I made the father stand by his children,

and I made the children stand by their father.

6.

[missing]

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

If a man gave bare ground to another man to set out as an orchard

and the latter did not complete setting out that bare ground as an orchard,

he shall give to the man who set out the orchard

the bare ground which he neglected as part of his share.

13.

If a man entered the orchard of another man and was seized there for stealing,

he shall pay ten shekels of silver.

14.

If a man cut down a tree in the garden of another man,

he shall pay one-half mina of silver.

15.

If adjacent to the house of a man the bare ground of another man has been neglected

and the owner of the house has said to the owner of the bare ground,

"Because your ground has been neglected, someone may break into my house:

strengthen your house,"

and this agreement has been confirmed by him,

the owner of the bare ground shall restore to the owner of the house

any of his property that is lost.

16.

If a slave-girl or the slave of a man has fled into the heart of the city

and it has been confirmed that he or sh e dwelt in the house of another man for one month,

he shall give slave for slave.

17.

If he has no slave, he shall pay fifteen shekels of silver.

If a servant is the grant of a king, he shall not be taken away

18.

If a servant went to a man of his own free will, that man shall not hold him;

the servant may go where he desires.

19.

If a man without authorization bound another man to a matter

of which the latter had no knowledge, that man is not legally obligated;

the first man shall bear the penalty in regard to the matter unto which he had bound the latter.

20.

If the master or the mistress of an estate has defaulted on the tax of an estate

and a stranger has borne it,

for three years the owner may not be evicted.

21.

Afterwards, the man who bore the tax of the estate shall possess that estate

and the former owner of the estate shall not raise any claim.

22.

[The daughter of a priest is considered to be a priestess,

and should be married only to a man that is a priest.]

23.

[If she marry a man that is not a priest,

her children may not be regarded as priests or priestesses.]

24.

If the father is living, his daughter,

whether she be a high priestess, a priestess, or a hierodule, shall dwell in his house like an heir.

25.

[If a man's wife bore him no children,

and he marry a second wife, ]

If the second wife whom he had married bore him children,

the dowry which she brought from her father's house belongs to her children,

but the children of his first wife and the children of his second wife

shall divide equally the property of their father.

The Law Code of King Lipit-Eshtar CHAPTER TWO

Divisions 26-50

26.

If a man married his wife and she bore him children, and those children are living,

and a slave also bore children for her master,

yet the father granted freedom to the slave and her children,

the children of the slave shall not divide the estate with the children of their former master.

27.

28.

If a man's wife has not borne him children

yet a harlot from the public square has borne him children,

he shall provide grain, oil, and clothing for that harlot.

29.

The children which the harlot has borne him shall be his heirs,

and as long as his wife lives, the harlot shall not live in the house with the wife.

30.

If a son-in-law has entered the house of his prospective father-in-law,

and afterwards they made him go out of the house,

and gave his wife to his companion,

they shall present to him the betrothal gifts which he brought,

and that wife may not marry his companion.

31.

32.

33.

34.

35.

If a man rented an ox and injured the flesh at the nose ring,

he shall pay one-third of its price.

36.

If a man rented an ox and damaged its eye,

he shall pay one-half its price.

37.

If a man rented an ox and broke its horn,

he shall pay one-fourth its price.

38.

If a man rented an ox and damaged its tail,

he shall pay one-fourth its price.

39.

40.

Epilogue

41.

In accordance with the true word of [the sun god] Utu,

I caused Sumer and Akkad to hold to true justice.

42.

In accordance with the pronouncement of Enlil,

I, Lipit-ishtar, the son of enlil,

abolished enmity and rebellion,

made weeping, lamentations and [suffering] taboo,

43.

caused righteousness and truth to shine forth

and brought well-being to the Sumerians and Akkadians.

44.

When I had established the wealth of Sumer and Akkad,

I erected this tablet.

45.

May he who will commit an evil deed with regards to this tablet,

who will not damage my work,

who will not erase its inscription,

who will not write his own name upon it,

46.

be presented with life and breath of long days,

may he rise high in the [air];

may Enlil's right forehead look down upon him.

47.

He who will commit some evil deed with regards to this tablet,

who will damage my work,

who will enter the storeroom and change its pedestal,

48.

who will erase its inscription,

who will write his own name upon it

or because of this curse, substitutes someone else for himself,

49.

that man, [may he be cursed with shortness of days,

may he sink into the lower regions of the Earth,

(and despised by the gods) ]

50.

[The end of the words of the laws of King Lipit Ishtar,

the king of the city of Isin. (near Ur) ]

Introduction adapted from Wikipedia

Translation by F. Steele

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