Hammurabi: The Antithesis of Gilgamesh

If there were ever a person who could be the antithesis of Gilgamesh, it would be King Hammurabi! In all their splendor and glory of ruling the great empires of Uruk and Babylonia, respectively, their attitudes towards their obligation to command their people were very different. And because of this, their people’s view of them was not at all alike. While Gilgamesh was notorious as a tyrant, Hammurabi was regarded as the greatest upholder of justice. It would have been interesting to see what would have happened had their periods of reign coincided with one another and their paths had crossed — who knows? Perhaps Hammurabi could have taught Gilgamesh a thing or two about ruling properly, or maybe Gilgamesh might have swayed him to rule with an iron fist.

Whatever may have happened, I think it crucial for me to point out an example of just how different their style of rule really was. First, the manner in which finances were taken care of in these two kingdoms was as opposite as black and white: in Uruk, the temple administration not only oversaw but owned part of the economic process to distribute and accumulate, while in Babylonia, the king made sure that his citizens didn’t suffer economically, for he was revered for his “cancellation of outstanding debts” (10). It would seem here that the management of money was compacted centrally in Uruk, while wealth in Babylonia wasn’t intent on creating a hierarchy of the people (in terms of the rich and the poor). In addition, the grandiose amount of gifts that Gilgamesh offered in Enkidu’s passing, from the “x + 10 minas of gold” to the “ivory”, would suggest that the king owned an exorbitant amount of riches that he kept away from his people (66).

This polarity of a tyrant lord in Gilgamesh and a just king in Hammurabi, makes it interesting to note that, despite their very opposite manner of rule, these two men were able to hold onto very powerful and withstanding empires. Like today, free and corrupt governments continue to rule different parts of the world, each by a different hand, but most lasting for surprisingly long time.