This reading on King Hammurabi allowed a lot of insight into the complexities of interactions between states in early Mesopotamia. While earlier readings have focused mainly on one city or city-state, the description of Hammurabi’s relations with neighboring states was overwhelmed by twists and turns, alliances and treachery. It is never easy to tell who is aligned with who, and in a context of rulers vying for supremacy, determining who is on which side is clearly very important.
Firs of all, though I read the chapters carefully, I had a tough time figuring out exactly what was going on. In the build up to Babylon’s defeat over Elam, I’ll name at least two false alliances that were formed, though there were certainly more. First there was the alliance that Elam attempted to make with both Babylon and Larsa, who would be pitted against each other in order to weaken both. However, Hammurabi and Rim-Sin, king of Larsa, were clever enough to avoid the trap. They obviously understood how treacherous leaders could be and were cautious in their acceptance of the powerful allegiance they could have made. This mistake on the side of Elam’s king lead to a powerful alliance against him, turning the tables on his ill-fated plan.
The next example can be seen in Zimri-Lim of Mari’s treachery against Hammurabi. When Elam began to threaten Babylon, Hammurabi and Zimri-Lim swore an allegiance against Elam. While Mari and Elam were once allies, Elam’s advances onto Mari territory weakened their relations. Although the oath was sworn in a strict ritual, Zimri-Lim did not hesitate to break it and continue it’s support of Elam. Once again, Hammurabi knew this game well enough to foresee the switch, and avoided danger at the hands of Zimri-Lim. The fact that these events I’ve described happened very close to each other in time and that the rulers saw through plots with little problem demonstrates the frequency with which complicated interstate relations made dramatic shifts.
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