King of Justice?

Chapters 7 and 8 describe how Hammurabi governed his extensive territories. One of his most defining characteristics as king is recognizing and respecting the many cultures that his territories encompass. During the time, many people feel an attachment first and foremost to their city before any king. Each city had its own customs and gods that they especially worship. Hammurabi is a way adopted their culture by claiming that the gods of their city selected him to be their king and that he will help them build temples for the gods that they worship. His adaptation of other cultures is similar to that of Genghis Khan, though in Khan’s case, it was countries, not cities. By adopting their culture, Hammurabi is better able to make his subjects identify with him.

Chapter 7 goes into further detail of the complexity of the administration of Hammurabi’s rule. Hammurabi makes his role as king visible to his subjects by directly taking a role in mediating disputes no matter how small or big. He sends numerous letters to the “registrar” or the person keeping track of the ownership and tenancy of land and the “sheriff”. However, the extensiveness of his territories and thus the over-extent of his control are evident in his impatience in letters demanding a person to be summoned quicker to him or an issue to be resolved. The problems of having a king deal directly with his subjects’ issues, instead of a bureaucracy doing so, in such an extensive area is showing.

Although Hammurabi likes to be portrayed as the King of Justice, modern-day readers may not see him as thus. His code of laws, as described in the biography, acted not as a standard for enforcers of justice to follow, but as an emblem of his own judiciousness. The laws also do not dispense “an eye for an eye” punishment as Hammurabi himself describes. Instead, they explicitly state instances where punishments are harsher for lower-class peoples and more lenient for higher-class people. But then again, readers must also remember that Hammurabi’s code of laws is still the first of its kind. It is still one of the first of its kind to establish a sense of justice for all peoples.

-Ruby Lin