The image presented of Hamurabi in King Hammurabi: a Biography is one of a great King who served his people very well. However, this image is most probably biased, because of how the only information known about Hammurabi is from Hammurabi himself. He wrote about his own reign (kind of like an autobiography) on tablets. These tablets were found and the biography was written based on the information contained in them.
Marc Van De Mieroop states in the biography that Hammurabi might have been a great ruler, or he might just have been acting in the same ways as his predecessors. If this is true, then he might not have been as “just” and “special” as a ruler as is thought of him today. Van De Mieroop cites three defining things that Hamurrabi did in his reign as King.
Hammurabi’s first order of business when he took the throne was “establishing justice in the land.” He did this by cancelling any outstanding debts any of his subjects might have accrued. He did this around three times during his reign, at the beginning, one after ruling for thirteen years, and one in his thrity first year. The first one was most probably done out of political motivations; he had just taken the throne and wanted to get the alligience of his people and to show them that he was going to be a good king. The last one most probably also was done out of political motivations for he had just acquired new territory to his kingdom, and he excused the debts of the people iving in that area. Once again, he wanted to gain the alligience of his newly conqured people. Even though the cancellation of debts helped many in the kingdom, one must look at the motivations behind why Hammurabi did this to gauge his “greatness” as a ruler. Also, an important note is that it was common practice for rulers of the time to cancel the debts of their people, so this was not something new and unheard of.
King Hammurabi also took care of the Gods; the patron deity of the city as well as others. He did this by donating expensive objects to them. He claims in his writing that he made an extravagant throne for the Gods. He also built and restored many temples. However, all of this was also common practice for kings that not only ruled during his time, but also his predecessors.
King Hammurabi also provided for his people. He built irrigation canals for their fields, which made their jobs a lot easier than before. Similar things were also done by other rulers. He also protected his people from danger by reinforcing the city walls, and their protection was guaranteed by the army, who were under his command as well.
King Hammurabi did many great things for his people, but evidence points that none of what he did was novel; rulers before, during, and after his time did much of the same for their people. If he was merely emulating others and keeping with the status quo, is he truly “great”? What did he do to deserve this glorified status?
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