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80-624: The Third Dynasty of Ur immediately preceded the Isin-Larsa period, and its fall was due to the combined attacks of the Amorites from the west, and the Elamites from the east. As its name suggests, the Isin-Larsa period saw successively the emergence of two great powers in Lower Mesopotamia: the kingdom of Isin , which attempts to seek the succession of the kingdom of Ur after its fall and established

160-740: A Hurrian minority, found that the inhabitants of Alalakh were a mixture of Copper age Levantines and Mesopotamians, and were genetically similar to contemporaneous Levantines. The view that Amorites were fierce and tall nomads led to an anachronistic theory among some racialist writers in the 19th century that they were a tribe of " Aryan " warriors, who at one point dominated the Israelites. This belief, which originated with Felix von Luschan , fit models of Indo-European migrations posited during his time, but Luschan later abandoned that theory. Houston Stewart Chamberlain claims that King David and Jesus were both Aryans of Amorite extraction. The argument

240-720: A 270-kilometre (170 mi) wall from the Tigris to the Euphrates to hold them off. The Amorites are depicted in contemporary records as nomadic tribes under chiefs, who forced themselves into lands they needed to graze their herds. Some of the Akkadian literature of this era speaks disparagingly of the Amorites and implies that the Akkadian- and Sumerian-speakers of Mesopotamia viewed their nomadic and primitive way of life with disgust and contempt. In

320-466: A Semitic Amorite origin, even if they quickly acculturated to Mesopotamian traditions. When the deteriorating Third Dynasty of Ur ( Ur III ) finally collapsed at the hands of the Elamites at the end of the third millennium BCE, a power vacuum was left that other city-states scrambled to fill. The last king of the Ur III dynasty, Ibbi-Sin , lacked the resources and the organized government needed to expel

400-1689: A cuneiform tablet dating to the eighteenth or seventeenth century BC at Hazor in Israel containing laws clearly derived from the Code of Hammurabi. ( Shamshi-Adad dynasty 1808–1736 BCE) (Amorites) Shamshi-Adad I Ishme-Dagan I Mut-Ashkur Rimush Asinum Ashur-dugul Ashur-apla-idi Nasir-Sin Sin-namir Ipqi-Ishtar Adad-salulu Adasi (Non-dynastic usurpers 1735–1701 BCE) Puzur-Sin Ashur-dugul Ashur-apla-idi Nasir-Sin Sin-namir Ipqi-Ishtar Adad-salulu Adasi ( Adaside dynasty 1700–722 BCE) Bel-bani Libaya Sharma-Adad I Iptar-Sin Bazaya Lullaya Shu-Ninua Sharma-Adad II Erishum III Shamshi-Adad II Ishme-Dagan II Shamshi-Adad III Ashur-nirari I Puzur-Ashur III Enlil-nasir I Nur-ili Ashur-shaduni Ashur-rabi I Ashur-nadin-ahhe I Enlil-Nasir II Ashur-nirari II Ashur-bel-nisheshu Ashur-rim-nisheshu Ashur-nadin-ahhe II Second Intermediate Period Sixteenth Dynasty Abydos Dynasty Seventeenth Dynasty (1500–1100 BCE) Kidinuid dynasty Igehalkid dynasty Untash-Napirisha Twenty-first Dynasty of Egypt Smendes Amenemnisu Psusennes I Amenemope Osorkon

480-555: A flawed calendar , to taking care of Babylon's massive herds of livestock. Hammurabi died and passed the reins of the empire on to his son Samsu-iluna in c.  1750 BC , under whose rule the Babylonian empire quickly began to unravel. The Code of Hammurabi was a collection of 282 laws dealing with a wide range of issues. It is not the earliest surviving law code but was proved more influential in world politics and international relations as instead of focusing on compensating

560-652: A people speaking a language isolate , from the Zagros mountains region. This Kassite Dynasty ruled Babylon for over 400 years and adopted many aspects of the Babylonian culture , including Hammurabi's code of laws. Even after the fall of the Amorite Dynasty, however, Hammurabi was still remembered and revered. When the Elamite king Shutruk-Nahhunte I raided Babylon in 1158 BC and carried off many stone monuments, he had most of

640-406: A powerful, supernatural force for Marduk: I am the king, the brace that grasps wrongdoers, that makes people of one mind, I am the great dragon among kings, who throws their counsel in disarray, I am the net that is stretched over the enemy, I am the fear-inspiring, who, when lifting his fierce eyes, gives the disobedient the death sentence, I am the great net that covers evil intent, I am

720-413: A relatively minor city-state in 1894 BC, which controlled little territory outside of the city itself. Babylon was overshadowed by older, larger, and more powerful kingdoms, such as Elam , Assyria , Isin , Eshnunna , and Larsa for a century or so after its founding. However, his father Sin-Muballit had begun to consolidate rule of a small area of south central Mesopotamia under Babylonian rule and, by

800-514: A royal inscription defeating a coalition of Sumerian cities and Amorites near Jebel Bishri in northern Syria c.  2240 BC. His successor, Shar-Kali-Sharri , recorded in one of his year names "In the year in which Szarkaliszarri was victorious over Amurru in the [Jebel Bishri]". By the time of the last days of the Third Dynasty of Ur , the immigrating Amorites had become such a force that kings such as Shu-Sin were obliged to construct

880-540: Is among the first codes to establish the presumption of innocence . They were intended to limit what a wronged person was permitted to do in retribution . The Code of Hammurabi and the Law of Moses in the Torah contain numerous similarities. Hammurabi was seen by many as a god within his own lifetime. After his death, Hammurabi was revered as a great conqueror who spread civilization and forced all peoples to pay obeisance to Marduk ,

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960-534: Is best known for having issued the Code of Hammurabi , which he claimed to have received from Shamash , the Babylonian god of justice. Unlike earlier Sumerian law codes, such as the Code of Ur-Nammu , which had focused on compensating the victim of the crime, the Law of Hammurabi was one of the first law codes to place greater emphasis on the physical punishment of the perpetrator. It prescribed specific penalties for each crime and

1040-411: Is clothed in sack-leather ... , lives in a tent, exposed to wind and rain, and cannot properly recite prayers. He lives in the mountains and ignores the places of gods, digs up truffles in the foothills, does not know how to bend the knee (in prayer), and eats raw flesh. He has no house during his life, and when he dies he will not be carried to a burial-place. My girlfriend, why would you marry Martu? As

1120-610: Is described as the last "of the remnant of the Rephaim " ( Deut 3:11 ). The terms Amorite and Canaanite seem to be used more or less interchangeably, but sometimes Amorite refers to a specific tribe living in Canaan. The Biblical Amorites seem to have originally occupied the region stretching from the heights west of the Dead Sea ( Gen. 14:7 ) to Hebron ( Gen. 13:8; Deut. 3:8; 4:46–48 ), embracing "all Gilead and all Bashan " ( Deut. 3:10 ), with

1200-557: Is mentioned that in the days of Samuel , there was peace between them and the Israelites ( 1 Sam. 7:14 ). The Gibeonites were said to be their descendants, being an offshoot of the Amorites who made a covenant with the Hebrews ( 2 Samuel 21:2 ). When Saul later broke that vow and killed some of the Gibeonites, God is said to have sent a famine to Israel ( 2 Samuel 21:1 ). In 2017, Philippe Bohstrom of Haaretz observed similarities between

1280-806: Is my god" became common during and after his reign. In writings from shortly after his death, Hammurabi is commemorated mainly for three achievements: bringing victory in war, bringing peace, and bringing justice. Hammurabi's conquests came to be regarded as part of a sacred mission to spread civilization to all nations. A stele from Ur glorifies him in his own voice as a mighty ruler who forces evil into submission and compels all peoples to worship Marduk . The stele declares: "The people of Elam, Gutium, Subartu, and Tukrish, whose mountains are distant and whose languages are obscure, I placed into [Marduk's] hand. I myself continued to put straight their confused minds." A later hymn also written in Hammurabi's own voice extols him as

1360-510: Is not thought to represent a full Amorite pantheon, as it does not include important members such as the sun and weather deities. The term Amorites is used in the Bible to refers to certain highlanders who inhabited the land of Canaan , described in Genesis as descendants of Canaan, the son of Ham ( Gen. 10:16 ). This aligns with Akkadian and Babylonian traditions that equate Syro-Palestine with

1440-662: The Ahlamu during the Late Bronze Age collapse . The Arameans rose to be the prominent group amongst the Ahlamu. From c. 1200 BC onward, the Amorites disappeared from the pages of history, but the name reappeared in the Hebrew Bible . The language was first attested in the 21st–20th centuries BC and was found to be closely related to the Canaanite , Aramaic and Sam'alian languages. In

1520-592: The Dynasty of Isin , and the kingdom of Larsa , whose fall marks the end of the period. In reality, neither of these two kingdoms exercised an undeniable hegemony in Lower Mesopotamia, and they had to coexist with other less powerful kingdoms (such as Uruk , Babylon , and Mankisum ), while further north their influence was non-existent and gave way to other powerful political entities ( Eshnunna , Ekallatum , Mari , Yamkhad ). The dynasties of this period have in common

1600-585: The Fourteenth Dynasty of Egypt during the fragmented era of the Second Intermediate Period in the Nile Delta , which was characterized by rulers bearing Amorite names such as Yakbim Sekhaenre , and were likely part of the later Hyksos . The term Amurru in Akkadian and Sumerian texts refers to the Amorites, their principal deity , and an Amorite kingdom . The Amorites are mentioned in

1680-695: The Hebrew Bible as inhabitants of Canaan both before and after the conquest of the land under Joshua . It is thought that terms like mar.tu were used to represent what we now call the Amorites: In two Sumerian literary compositions written long afterward in the Old Babylonian period, Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta and Lugalbanda and the Anzu Bird , the Early Dynastic ruler of Uruk Enmerkar (listed in

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1760-527: The Jerusalem region, and the Jebusites may have been a subgroup of them ( Ezek. 16:3 ). The southern slopes of the mountains of Judea are called the "mount of the Amorites" ( Deut. 1:7, 19, 20 ). The Book of Joshua states the five kings of the Amorites were first defeated with great slaughter by Joshua ( Josh. 10:5 ). Then, more Amorite kings were defeated at the waters of Merom by Joshua ( Josh. 11:8 ). It

1840-524: The Jordan Valley on the east of the river ( Deut. 4:49 ), the land of the "two kings of the Amorites", Sihon and Og ( Deut. 31:4 and Joshua 2:10; 9:10 ). Sihon and Og were independent kings whose people were displaced from their land in battle with the Israelites ( Numbers 21:21–35 )—though in the case of the war led by Og/Bashan it appears none of them survived, and the land became part of Israel ( Numbers 21:35 ). The Amorites seem to have been linked to

1920-611: The Kassite dynasty under the name of Karduniaš around 1595 BC. In far southern Mesopotamia, the native First Sealand dynasty had reigned over the Mesopotamian Marshes region until the Kassites brought the region under their control. In northern Mesopotamia , the power vacuum left by the Amorites brought the rise of the Mitanni (Ḫanigalbat) c. 1600 BC. From the 15th century BC onward,

2000-634: The Kassites from the northeast. Thus was Babylon quickly reduced to the small and minor state it had once been upon its founding. The coup de grace for the Hammurabi's Amorite Dynasty occurred in 1595 BC, when Babylon was sacked and conquered by the powerful Hittite Empire , thereby ending all Amorite political presence in Mesopotamia. However, the Indo-European-speaking Hittites did not remain, turning over Babylon to their Kassite allies,

2080-466: The Levant and central Mesopotamia , although his untimely death would somewhat fragment his empire. Elam Larsa The first few years of Hammurabi's reign were quite peaceful. Hammurabi used his power to undertake a series of public works, including heightening the city walls for defensive purposes, and expanding the temples. The powerful kingdom of Elam, which straddled important trade routes across

2160-576: The Levant . Initially appearing in Sumerian records c. 2500 BC, they expanded and ruled most of the Levant, Mesopotamia and parts of Egypt from the 21st century BC to the late 17th century BC. The Amorites established several prominent city-states in various locations, such as Isin , Kurda , Larsa , Mari , and Ebla , and later founded Babylon and the Old Babylonian Empire . They also founded

2240-591: The Mediterranean Sea , the Arabian Peninsula included. The most common view is that the "homeland" of the Amorites was a limited area in central Syria identified with the mountainous region of Jebel Bishri . The Amorites are regarded as one of the ancient Semitic-speaking peoples . Ancient DNA analysis on 28 human remains dating to the Middle and Late Bronze Age from ancient Alalakh , an Amorite city with

2320-583: The Sumerian King List ) mentions "the land of the mar.tu ". It is not known to what extent these reflect historical facts. There are also sparse mentions about Amorites (often as MAR-DU ) in tablets from the East Semitic -speaking kingdom of Ebla , dating from 2500 BC to the destruction of the city in c.  2250 BC. From the perspective of the Eblaites, the Amorites were a rural group living in

2400-596: The Zagros Mountains , invaded the Mesopotamian plain. With allies among the plain states, Elam attacked and destroyed the kingdom of Eshnunna, destroying a number of cities and imposing its rule on portions of the plain for the first time. In order to consolidate its position, Elam tried to start a war between Hammurabi's Babylonian kingdom and the kingdom of Larsa. Hammurabi and the king of Larsa made an alliance when they discovered this duplicity and were able to crush

2480-522: The chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives in the United States Capitol . A frieze by Adolph Weinman depicting the "great lawgivers of history", including Hammurabi, is on the south wall of the U.S. Supreme Court building . Hammurabi was honored above all other kings of the second millennium BC and he received the unique honor of being declared to be a god within his own lifetime. The personal name "Hammurabi-ili" meaning "Hammurabi

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2560-551: The national god of the Babylonians. Later, his military accomplishments became de-emphasized and his role as the ideal lawgiver became the primary aspect of his legacy. For later Mesopotamians, Hammurabi's reign became the frame of reference for all events occurring in the distant past. Even after the empire he built collapsed, he was still revered as a model ruler, and many kings across the Near East claimed him as an ancestor. Hammurabi

2640-600: The "land of the Amorites". They are described as a powerful people of great stature "like the height of the cedars" ( Amos 2:9 ) who had occupied the land east and west of the Jordan . The height and strength mentioned in Amos 2:9 has led some Christian scholars, including Orville J. Nave, who wrote the Nave's Topical Bible , to refer to the Amorites as "giants". In Deuteronomy , the Amorite king Og

2720-672: The 18th century BC at Mari Amorite scribes wrote in an Eshnunna dialect of the East Semitic Akkadian language . Since the texts contain Northwest Semitic forms, words and constructions, the Amorite language is thought to be a Northwest Semitic language. The main sources for the extremely limited extant knowledge of the Amorite language are the proper names and loanwords, not Akkadian in style, that are preserved in such texts. Amorite proper names were found throughout Mesopotamia in

2800-517: The Amorites and the Jews, since both historically existed as well-connected diasporic communities. He also believes that Abraham was among the Amorites who migrated to the Levant, around the same time that the Amorites conquered Ur at 1750 BC, due to his north Syrian heritage and shepherding-based lifestyles. Nonetheless, the Biblical authors only applied the Amorite ethnonym to the pre-Israelite inhabitants of

2880-456: The Amorites were also part. Based on temple architecture, Manfred Bietak argues for strong parallels between the religious practices of the Hyksos at Avaris with those of the area around Byblos , Ugarit , Alalakh and Tell Brak and defines the "spiritual home" of the Hyksos as "in northernmost Syria and northern Mesopotamia", areas typically associated with Amorites at the time. In 1650 BC,

2960-542: The Code of Hammurabi later became a major part of Delitzsch's argument in his 1920–21 book Die große Täuschung ( The Great Deception ) that the Hebrew Bible was irredeemably contaminated by Babylonian influence and that only by eliminating the human Old Testament entirely could Christians finally believe in the true, Aryan message of the New Testament . In the early twentieth century, many scholars believed that Hammurabi

3040-707: The Elamite invaders. One of his governmental officials, Ishbi-Erra , relocated from Ur to Isin, another city in southern Mesopotamia , and established himself as a ruler there. One of Ishbi-Erra's year names reports his defeat of Ibbi-Sin in battle. Although he is not considered to be a part of the Third Dynasty of Ur, Ishbi-Erra did make some attempts at continuing the trappings of that dynasty, most likely to justify his rule. Ishbi-Erra had ill luck expanding his kingdom, however, for other city-states in Mesopotamia rose to power as well— Eshnunna and Ashur were developing into powerful centers. However, he did succeed in repulsing

3120-648: The Elamites from the Ur region. This gave the Isin dynasty control over the culturally significant cities of Ur, Uruk , and the spiritual center of Nippur . For over 100 years, Isin flourished. Remains of large building projects, such as temples, have been excavated. Many royal edicts and law-codes from that period have been discovered. The centralized political structure of Ur III was largely continued, with Isin's rulers appointing governors and other local officials to carry out their will in

3200-406: The Elamites, although Larsa did not contribute greatly to the military effort. Angered by Larsa's failure to come to his aid, Hammurabi turned on that southern power, thus gaining control of the entirety of the lower Mesopotamian plain by c.  1763 BC . As Hammurabi was assisted during the war in the south by his allies from the north such as Yamhad and Mari , the absence of soldiers in

3280-901: The Elder Siamun Psusennes II Twenty-third Dynasty of Egypt Harsiese A Takelot II Pedubast I Shoshenq VI Osorkon III Takelot III Rudamun Menkheperre Ini Twenty-fourth Dynasty of Egypt Tefnakht Bakenranef ( Sargonid dynasty ) Tiglath-Pileser Shalmaneser Marduk-apla-iddina II Sargon Sennacherib Marduk-zakir-shumi II Marduk-apla-iddina II Bel-ibni Ashur-nadin-shumi Nergal-ushezib Mushezib-Marduk Esarhaddon Ashurbanipal Ashur-etil-ilani Sinsharishkun Sin-shumu-lishir Ashur-uballit II Hammurabi Hammurabi ( / ˌ x æ m ʊ ˈ r ɑː b i / ; Old Babylonian Akkadian : 𒄩𒄠𒈬𒊏𒁉 , romanized:  Ḫâmmurapi ; c.  1810  – c.  1750 BC ), also spelled Hammurapi ,

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3360-717: The Elder Siamun Psusennes II Twenty-third Dynasty of Egypt Harsiese A Takelot II Pedubast I Shoshenq VI Osorkon III Takelot III Rudamun Menkheperre Ini Twenty-fourth Dynasty of Egypt Tefnakht Bakenranef ( Sargonid dynasty ) Tiglath-Pileser Shalmaneser Marduk-apla-iddina II Sargon Sennacherib Marduk-zakir-shumi II Marduk-apla-iddina II Bel-ibni Ashur-nadin-shumi Nergal-ushezib Mushezib-Marduk Esarhaddon Ashurbanipal Ashur-etil-ilani Sinsharishkun Sin-shumu-lishir Ashur-uballit II Amorites The Amorites ( / ˈ æ m ə ˌ r aɪ t s / ) were an ancient Northwest Semitic -speaking Bronze Age people from

3440-784: The German Assyriologist Friedrich Delitzsch gave a lecture at the Sing-Akademie zu Berlin in front of the Kaiser and his wife, in which he argued that the Mosaic Laws of the Old Testament were directly copied off the Code of Hammurabi. Delitzsch's lecture was so controversial that, by September 1903, he had managed to collect 1,350 short articles from newspapers and journals, over 300 longer ones, and twenty-eight pamphlets, all written in response to this lecture, as well as

3520-530: The Hyksos established the Fifteenth Dynasty of Egypt and ruled most of Lower and Middle Egypt contemporaneously with the Sixteenth and Seventeenth dynasties of Thebes during the chaotic Second Intermediate Period . In the 16th century BC, the Amorite era ended in Mesopotamia with the decline and fall of Babylon and other Amorite-ruled cities. The Kassites occupied Babylon and reconstituted it under

3600-415: The Isin ruler Ishbi-Erra , which marked the beginning of the Isin-Larsa period. After the decline of Ur III, Amorite rulers gained power in a number of Mesopotamian city-states beginning in the Isin-Larsa period and peaking in the Old Babylonian period. In the north, the Amorite ruler of Ekallatum , Shamshi-Adad I conquered Assur and formed the large, though short-lived Kingdom of Upper Mesoptamia. In

3680-590: The Old Babylonian period, as well as places as far afield as Alalakh in Turkey and modern day Bahrain ( Dilmun ). They are also found in Egyptian records. Ugaritic is also a Northwest Semitic language and is possibly an Amorite dialect. A bilingual list of the names of ten Amorite deities alongside Akkadian counterparts from the Old Babylonian period was translated in 2022. These deities are as follows: This list

3760-428: The Semitic background of the two. Nonetheless, fragments of previous law codes have been found and it is unlikely that the Mosaic laws were directly inspired by the Code of Hammurabi. Some scholars have disputed this; David P. Wright argues that the Jewish Covenant Code is "directly, primarily, and throughout" based upon the Laws of Hammurabi. In 2010, a team of archaeologists from Hebrew University discovered

3840-478: The Sumerian myth "Marriage of Martu", written early in the 2nd millennium BC , a goddess considering marriage to the god of the Amorites is warned: Now listen, their hands are destructive and their features are those of monkeys; (An Amorite) is one who eats what (the Moon-god) Nanna forbids and does not show reverence. They never stop roaming about ..., they are an abomination to the gods' dwellings. Their ideas are confused; they cause only disturbance. (The Amorite)

3920-431: The centralized structure of the Third Dynasty of Ur slowly collapsed, the city-states of the south such as Isin, Larsa and Eshnunna, began to reassert their former independence, and the areas in southern Mesopotamia with Amorites were no exception. Elsewhere, the armies of Elam were attacking and weakening the empire, making it vulnerable. Ur was eventually occupied by the Elamites. They remained until they were rejected by

4000-450: The code is very specific, with each offense receiving a specified punishment. Many offenses resulted in death, disfigurement, or the use of the Lex Talionis philosophy (" Eye for eye, tooth for tooth "). The Code of Hammurabi was inscribed on a stele and placed in a public place so that all could see it, although it is thought that few were literate. The stele was later plundered by the Elamites and removed to their capital, Susa ; it

4080-414: The high mountains. Reasons include the polemical need to associate them with the "barbaric raw meat eating" Amorites that the Sumerians imagined them as. The authors also wanted to portray these inhabitants as having an ancient history. There are a wide range of views regarding the Amorite homeland. One extreme is the view that kur mar.tu / māt amurrim covered the whole area between the Euphrates and

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4160-421: The inscriptions on these monuments erased and new inscriptions carved into them. On the stele containing Hammurabi's laws, however, only four or five columns were wiped out and no new inscription was ever added. Over a thousand years after Hammurabi's death, the kings of Suhu , a land along the Euphrates river, just northwest of Babylon, claimed him as their ancestor. A Neo-Babylonian royal inscription, which

4240-446: The most common language at this time. A carving at the top of the stele portrays Hammurabi receiving the laws from Shamash , the Babylonian god of justice, and the preface states that Hammurabi was chosen by Shamash to bring the laws to the people. Because of Hammurabi's reputation as a lawgiver, his depiction can be found in law buildings throughout the world. Hammurabi is one of the 23 lawgivers depicted in marble bas-reliefs in

4320-495: The narrow basin of the middle and upper Euphrates in northern Syria. The Eblaites used the term MAR.TU in an early time for a state and people east to Ebla (around Emar and Tuttul ), which means the name Amurru for the west is later than the name for the state or the people. For the Akkadian emperors of central Mesopotamia, mar.tu was one of the "Four Quarters" surrounding Akkad, along with Subartu (north), Sumer (south), and Elam (east). Naram-Sin of Akkad records in

4400-523: The north led to unrest. Continuing his expansion, Hammurabi turned his attention northward, quelling the unrest. Soon after, he destroyed Eshnunna. Next the Babylonian armies conquered the remaining northern states, including Babylon's former ally Mari, although it is possible that the conquest of Mari was a surrender without any actual conflict. Hammurabi entered into a protracted war with Ishme-Dagan I of Assyria for control of Mesopotamia, with both kings making alliances with minor states in order to gain

4480-1358: The northwest of Mesopotamia. Life was often unstable, and non-Sumerian invasions a recurring theme. It is often difficult to distinguish between the art of Isin-Larsa and the art of the First Babylonian Dynasty , except when inscriptions permit datable attribution. ( Shamshi-Adad dynasty 1808–1736 BCE) (Amorites) Shamshi-Adad I Ishme-Dagan I Mut-Ashkur Rimush Asinum Ashur-dugul Ashur-apla-idi Nasir-Sin Sin-namir Ipqi-Ishtar Adad-salulu Adasi (Non-dynastic usurpers 1735–1701 BCE) Puzur-Sin Ashur-dugul Ashur-apla-idi Nasir-Sin Sin-namir Ipqi-Ishtar Adad-salulu Adasi ( Adaside dynasty 1700–722 BCE) Bel-bani Libaya Sharma-Adad I Iptar-Sin Bazaya Lullaya Shu-Ninua Sharma-Adad II Erishum III Shamshi-Adad II Ishme-Dagan II Shamshi-Adad III Ashur-nirari I Puzur-Ashur III Enlil-nasir I Nur-ili Ashur-shaduni Ashur-rabi I Ashur-nadin-ahhe I Enlil-Nasir II Ashur-nirari II Ashur-bel-nisheshu Ashur-rim-nisheshu Ashur-nadin-ahhe II Second Intermediate Period Sixteenth Dynasty Abydos Dynasty Seventeenth Dynasty (1500–1100 BCE) Kidinuid dynasty Igehalkid dynasty Untash-Napirisha Twenty-first Dynasty of Egypt Smendes Amenemnisu Psusennes I Amenemope Osorkon

4560-538: The point of reference for all events in the distant past. A hymn to the goddess Ishtar , whose language suggests it was written during the reign of Ammisaduqa , Hammurabi's fourth successor, declares: "The king who first heard this song as a song of your heroism is Hammurabi. This song for you was composed in his reign. May he be given life forever!" For centuries after his death, Hammurabi's laws continued to be copied by scribes as part of their writing exercises and they were even partially translated into Sumerian. During

4640-407: The preceding one about the Flood story in the Epic of Gilgamesh . These articles were overwhelmingly critical of Delitzsch, though a few were sympathetic. The Kaiser distanced himself from Delitzsch and his radical views and, in fall of 1904, Delitzsch was forced to give his third lecture in Cologne and Frankfurt am Main rather than in Berlin. The putative relationship between the Mosaic Law and

4720-424: The provinces. Lucrative trade routes to the Persian Gulf remained a crucial source of income for Isin. The city of Larsa had been subject to the city of Lagash, which had been captured by the Isin ruler Ishbi-Erra . He and his successors appointed governors to rule over Larsa. One such governor was an Amorite named Gungunum , who eventually broke with Isin and established his own independent dynasty in Larsa. This

4800-405: The reign of Hammurabi, Babylon usurped the position of "most holy city" in southern Mesopotamia from its predecessor, Nippur . Under the rule of Hammurabi's successor Samsu-iluna , the short-lived Babylonian Empire began to collapse. In northern Mesopotamia, both the Amorites and Babylonians were driven from Assyria by Puzur-Sin a native Akkadian -speaking ruler, c.  1740 BC . Around

4880-403: The same time, native Akkadian speakers threw off Amorite Babylonian rule in the far south of Mesopotamia, creating the Sealand Dynasty , in more or less the region of ancient Sumer. Hammurabi's ineffectual successors met with further defeats and loss of territory at the hands of Assyrian kings such as Adasi and Bel-ibni , as well as to the Sealand Dynasty to the south, Elam to the east, and to

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4960-426: The south, Babylon became the major power under the Amorite ruler Sumu-la-El and his successors, including the notable Hammurabi . Higher up the Euphrates, to the northwest, the Amorite kingdom of Mari arose, later to be destroyed by Hammurabi. Babylon itself would later be sacked by the Hittites, with its empire assumed by the Kassites . West of Mari, Yamhad ruled from its capital Halab, today's Aleppo, until it

5040-429: The term Amurru is usually applied to the region extending north of Canaan as far as Kadesh on the Orontes River in northern Syria. After the mid-2nd millennium BC, Syrian Amorites came under the domination of first the Hittites and, from the 14th century BC, the Middle Assyrian Empire . They then appear to have been displaced or absorbed by other semi-nomadic West Semitic -speaking peoples, known collectively as

5120-403: The territory controlled by other dynasties in Mesopotamian history. Nevertheless, huge building projects and agricultural undertakings have been found by archaeologists. Around 1860 BCE, an outsider named Enlil-bani seized the throne of Isin, ending the hereditary dynasty established by Ishbi-Erra over 150 years earlier. Hammurabi of Babylon founded the First Babylonian dynasty and united

5200-533: The time of his reign, had conquered the minor city-states of Borsippa , Kish , and Sippar . The powerful kingdom of Eshnunna controlled the upper Tigris River, while Larsa controlled the river delta. To the east of Mesopotamia lay the powerful kingdom of Elam , which regularly invaded and forced tribute upon the small states of southern Mesopotamia. In northern Mesopotamia, the Assyrian king Shamshi-Adad I , who had already inherited centuries-old Assyrian colonies in Asia Minor , had expanded his territory into

5280-417: The upper hand. Eventually Hammurabi prevailed, ousting Ishme-Dagan I just before his own death. Mut-Ashkur , the new king of Assyria, was forced to pay tribute to Hammurabi. In just a few years, Hammurabi succeeded in uniting all of Mesopotamia under his rule. The Assyrian kingdom survived but was forced to pay tribute during his reign, and of the major city-states in the region, only Aleppo and Qatna to

5360-434: The victim of crime, as in earlier Sumerian law codes, the Code of Hammurabi instead focused on physically punishing the perpetrator. It was also one of the first law codes to place restrictions on what a wronged person was allowed to do in retribution and one of the earliest examples of the idea of presumption of innocence , suggesting that the accused and accuser have the opportunity to provide evidence . The structure of

5440-473: The west in the Levant maintained their independence. However, one stele (stone monument) of Hammurabi has been found as far north as Diyarbekir , where he claims the title "King of the Amorites". Vast numbers of contract tablets , dated to the reigns of Hammurabi and his successors, have been discovered, as well as 55 of his own letters. These letters give a glimpse into the daily trials of ruling an empire, from dealing with floods and mandating changes to

5520-399: The whole region, after defeating the city of Larsa in 1763 BCE, as well as Eshnunna and Mari . After the defeat of Rim-Sin I by Hammurabi of Babylon , Larsa became a minor site, though it has been suggested that it was the home of the First Sealand Dynasty of Babylon. Artistically, the Isin-Larsa period is a period of turmoil, marked by the rise of the influence of the Amorites for

5600-421: The young lion, who breaks nets and scepters, I am the battle net that catches him who offends me. After extolling Hammurabi's military accomplishments, the hymn finally declares: "I am Hammurabi, the king of justice." In later commemorations, Hammurabi's role as a great lawgiver came to be emphasized above all his other accomplishments and his military achievements became de-emphasized. Hammurabi's reign became

5680-416: Was Amraphel , the King of Shinar in the Book of Genesis 14:1. This view has now been largely rejected, and Amraphel's existence is not attested in any writings from outside the Bible. Parallels between this narrative and the giving of the Covenant Code to Moses by Yahweh atop Mount Sinai in the Biblical Book of Exodus and similarities between the two legal codes suggest a common ancestor in

5760-402: Was akin to a coup d'état , and Isin quickly lost political and economic force, which it never again regained. The exact events surrounding Isin's disintegration as a kingdom are mostly unknown, but some evidence can be pieced together from the historical and archaeological record. For Gungunum to legitimize his rule and deliver a blow to Isin, he captured the city of Ur. As the region of Larsa

5840-573: Was destroyed by the Hittites in 16th century BC. The city of Ebla , under the control of Yamhad in this period, also had Amorite rulership. There is thought to have been an Amorite presence in Egypt from the 19th century BC. The Fourteenth Dynasty of Egypt , centred in the Nile Delta , had rulers bearing Amorite names such as Yakbim . Furthermore, increasing evidence suggests that the succeeding Hyksos of Egypt were an amalgam of peoples from Syria of which

5920-517: Was intended for display on a stele, commemorates a royal grant of tax exemptions to nine Babylonian cities and presents the royal protagonist as a second Hammurabi. In the late nineteenth century, the Code of Hammurabi became a major center of debate in the heated Babel und Bibel ("Babylon and Bible") controversy in Germany over the relationship between the Bible and ancient Babylonian texts. In January 1902,

6000-457: Was one of the many largely Amorite-ruled city-states that dotted the central and southern Mesopotamian plains and waged war on each other for control of fertile agricultural land. Though many cultures co-existed in Mesopotamia, Babylonian culture gained a degree of prominence among the literate classes throughout the Middle East under Hammurabi. The kings who came before Hammurabi had founded

6080-430: Was rediscovered by archaeologists in the late nineteenth century and has since been seen as an important figure in the history of law . Hammurabi ascended to the throne as the king of a minor kingdom in the midst of a complex geopolitical situation. Hammurabi was an Amorite First Dynasty king of the city-state of Babylon , and inherited the power from his father, Sin-Muballit , in c.  1792 BC . Babylon

6160-614: Was rediscovered there in 1901 in Iran and is now in the Louvre Museum in Paris . The code of Hammurabi contains 282 laws, written by scribes on 12 tablets. Unlike earlier laws, it was written in Akkadian , the daily language of Babylon, and could therefore be read by any literate person in the city. At this time, Akkadian replaced Sumerian , and Hammurabi began language reforms that would make Akkadian

6240-1324: Was repeated by the Nazi ideologue Alfred Rosenberg . In the Levant: In Mesopotamia: In Egypt: ( Shamshi-Adad dynasty 1808–1736 BCE) (Amorites) Shamshi-Adad I Ishme-Dagan I Mut-Ashkur Rimush Asinum Ashur-dugul Ashur-apla-idi Nasir-Sin Sin-namir Ipqi-Ishtar Adad-salulu Adasi (Non-dynastic usurpers 1735–1701 BCE) Puzur-Sin Ashur-dugul Ashur-apla-idi Nasir-Sin Sin-namir Ipqi-Ishtar Adad-salulu Adasi ( Adaside dynasty 1700–722 BCE) Bel-bani Libaya Sharma-Adad I Iptar-Sin Bazaya Lullaya Shu-Ninua Sharma-Adad II Erishum III Shamshi-Adad II Ishme-Dagan II Shamshi-Adad III Ashur-nirari I Puzur-Ashur III Enlil-nasir I Nur-ili Ashur-shaduni Ashur-rabi I Ashur-nadin-ahhe I Enlil-Nasir II Ashur-nirari II Ashur-bel-nisheshu Ashur-rim-nisheshu Ashur-nadin-ahhe II Second Intermediate Period Sixteenth Dynasty Abydos Dynasty Seventeenth Dynasty (1500–1100 BCE) Kidinuid dynasty Igehalkid dynasty Untash-Napirisha Twenty-first Dynasty of Egypt Smendes Amenemnisu Psusennes I Amenemope Osorkon

6320-745: Was the main center of trade via the Persian Gulf , Isin had lost access to enormously profitable trade routes. Ur was a city with tremendous historic and cultic significance; at some point, another cultic center, Nippur, was also lost. Documents also indicate that Isin had a huge problem maintaining access to its water sources. Gungunum's two successors, Abisare (c. 1841–1830 BCE) and Sumuel (c. 1830–1801 BCE), both took steps to completely cut off Isin's access to canals by rerouting them into Larsa. Larsa grew powerful, but never accumulated much territory. At its peak, under king Rim-Sin I (c. 1758–1699 BCE), Larsa only controlled 10–15 other city-states — nowhere near

6400-460: Was the sixth Amorite king of the Old Babylonian Empire , reigning from c.  1792 to c.  1750 BC. He was preceded by his father, Sin-Muballit , who abdicated due to failing health. During his reign, he conquered the city-states of Larsa , Eshnunna , and Mari . He ousted Ishme-Dagan I , the king of Assyria , and forced his son Mut-Ashkur to pay tribute, bringing almost all of Mesopotamia under Babylonian rule. Hammurabi

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